Free Atlantis by Lisa Graves Page B

look at me as he picked up his shoes and climbed out the window.
    I probably should have gone after him then, but I still wasn’t sure what to say in regards to the constant confusion I felt in relation to Elliott. And I would definitely have to address that issue now. Plus, I wanted to “talk” to Charlotte alone. Her little stunt pushed our frangible friendship status to broke. She couldn’t undo this.
    I’d be surprised if Charlotte even understood what I was saying I was so angry. “WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?” My arms flew up as I started circling my prey.
    “ Uhh.” My rage caught her off guard.
    “ DID YOU SEE WHAT YOU JUST DID?”
    “ Yeah,” Charlotte got her voice back, “I ruined your plans at stealing Nicholas from me.”
    “ ARE YOU AS DENSE AS HE IS?” I stomped around my room some more. “OR JUST INSANE?”
    Her mouth dropped open, scoffing me.
    “ HE DOESN’T LIKE YOU, LIKE YOU. HE NEVER HAS LIKE LIKED YOU.” I paused. “AND PROBABLY NEVER WILL... NOW, GENIUS.”
    “ You’re just mad that I ruined his crush on you.”
    “ NO, I AM FURIOUS THAT YOU WOULD HURT HIM. UGH!” My circling of my room continued.
    “ He’ll get over it.” Charlotte’s face looked smug as she added. “And then see the light that you’re a nut and there I’ll be.”
    “ YOU WILL NEVER BE IN HIS LIGHT!” My throat was starting to hurt from all the screaming, but the volume control was stuck on pissed.
    She obviously didn’t like my last comment because her voice shot up to match mine. “WELL AT LEAST YOU WON’T BE EITHER, NOW THAT HE KNOWS YOU’RE CRAZY.”
    I starred at her, my face expressionless. I was so mad I was calm. The hate I felt for Charlotte was consuming me so completely. “Get out,” I whispered.
    I may have spoken quietly, but the intensity was unmistakable. The drastic change in my tone and demeanor must have effectively conveyed the threat in my words to Charlotte, for she left in a hurry after that. As she proceeded to shimmy down my roof, I said, “Goodbye,” and shut my window behind her.
    What should I do now? I needed to try and straighten things out with Nicholas. How to do that was a mystery. Especially since his feelings for me had all too obviously moved from friendship to fascination, since I last payed attention. In my defense, I had been overly distracted lately. I scolded myself that I hadn’t seen this coming.
    Charlotte had inadvertently forced me to come to some sort of terms with my Elliott issue. I would need to have some foundation to base what I was going to say to Nicholas on. Yet, I still couldn’t seem to get a footing on what to believe when it came to Elliott. It all seemed transparent.
    Nothing in my experience with Elliott was black and white. Just various shades of grey. The same grey that seemed to keep any aspect of him from landing solidly on the fact or fiction side of my mental tabulation scale. I couldn’t figure him out.
    Maybe some coffee would help. I really should calm down first anyway.
    I had a quickie shower, got dressed, and was out the door in less than ten minutes. A new personal record. I couldn’t be home with my thoughts.
    I decided to walk to the coffee shop since I really shouldn’t drive in my unstable, emotional condition. It wasn’t far, maybe a mile, and walking always helped me clear my head anyways. It was as if the simple act of walking could somehow purge all the unnecessary worries from my head while organizing everything else into manageable piles that made at least some sense.
    By the time I made my way up the hill to the coffee shop, I could feel my mind clearing. I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what had changed yet, just that I didn’t feel so muddled. I sighed, clarity was on the way.
    I decided to get Nicholas his favorite, a caramel frap with extra whipped cream, to try and butter him up. Now all I had to do was find him. My mind ran while I walked back towards home.
    Nicholas had been extra sneaky lately, and I was