supernova

4

"This radioactive decay shit still making no sense to me," Michael said slamming his pencil on the desk making me flinch.

It had been a couple weeks since the whole thing with Atlas, and I did my best to stay in my lane. It wasn't that hard considering that I was good at hiding and suppressing emotion and faking being okay, but it was all stuff that is necessary to get through high school.

"It's ninety-two, so it's alpha, look at this chart. If it's a synthetic element, meaning above 91, it's alpha," I said to him. We were in the library during lunch doing the study guide for a test next week. I don't sit with him during lunch, but once or twice a week, he'll ask me to work together.

"Can I take a five minute nap?"

"Will you wake up in five minutes?"

"No," he said and I laughed.

"Why are you so tired?" I asked him. He was usually 'well rested and ready to football', as he would put it.

"I couldn't sleep. I was actually stressed about school and everything," he sounded ashamed of himself, but he had no reason to be.

"That's high school. Sometimes a bit of stress is good for you, but you're kind of new at doing all this, so take it easy. Don't overwork yourself It's a good thing that you're actually learning to get your shit together before college though." I heard the library door open and I got up from the table in the librarians lounge and went over to the counter.

"I told ya, he wanted to fuck you," Phoenix said.

"I'm doing the chem study guide with him. I told you already, he doesn't. If he does, that's his problem not mine. So don't try to make it my problem." Now, he'd probably get mad at my little outburst.

"Prove it,"

"Wha- how?" I asked shocked. I was expecting a more aggressive answer.

"Yo, Smith do you mind me working with you guys?"

"I mean, if you want, sure," he said and I looked back at him expecting an answer, but he was as stoic as ever.

"Do you even need anything?" I asked annoyed when he didn't say anything.

"Your attitude. Drop it. Yes, can you have the milkshakes ready Friday at 7:30?" he asked lowering his voice.

"Yea, I got it," I said and let him into the back where Michael and I were working.

"We have a test on this?" he asked.

"Yea, we learned radioactive decay like -"  Michael started but was cut off by Atlas.

"No. I meant we have a test?" I struggled to hold back an eye roll.

"She's been going on about it for a week," Michael said. If he's not gonna give a single shit, what was the point of taking the class.

"Well, you wanna give me the answer to the first one?" I moved my already finished study guide towards him and he started writing things down. I didn't respond to him, acting like I didn't hear. I heard him cough up a laugh. "Prude." I opened my mouth, but Michael butted in.

"Trust me, Monkey isn't a prude," Michael said with a half-annoyed laugh, but didn't look up from his paper and I wish he had. Atlas looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"So you're not a virgin?" he asked and I rolled my eyes and shook my head no.

It wasn't any of his business.

His face hardened when I rolled my eyes and I felt him grab my elbow roughly. I tried to keep a straight face, as if I didn't feel like my bone was about to break. "Cool. What's your body count?" he asked coolly.