Wish I Was Better

VI

Monday mornings were my least favourite, for one reason, and one reason only: School.

Especially Physics.

Indubitably, Physics wasn't all that hard to learn. It was more understanding everything and how everything affects everything which is difficult. And the formulas and units and symbols. There were a gazillion to memorise. Thankfully, we were studying Electrostatic forces today, something we'd already studied, so I didn't have to pay too much attention. I got homework though, which effectively popped my bubble of barely-existent joy.

Jake had skipped school today to visit his aunt, so I was alone. Unconsciously, I found myself driving to the arboretum. I don't know if I'd ever brought Rowan here. This arboretum was a frequent visitor of my dreams, and it had blurred my sense of reality a lot, so I couldn't be sure of anything.

It was mostly empty because not many people bothered to go out to a place like this. I slowly walked deeper into the undergrowth, relishing in the small patches of warmth that fluttered on my skin as I walked. The sun peeked through playfully through the leaves, and I couldn't help feeling like it was doing this specially for me.The summer sun glided over the leaves, reflecting some parts of the plants and creating the prettiest portrait of green and gold.

The sheer beauty of the place never failed to steal my breath.

I walked in, further up the hill. The thick evergreens slowly gave way to the sweet fragrance of a cinnamon grove, the beautiful trees bathing in sunlight.

Dried leaves crunched at my feet, and the sound meshed in ariosolly with the birdsong. I made my way quietly to the wooden boardwalk that overlooked the arboretum. The view from the top was well worth the strenuous hike.

About ten minutes later, I reached the start of the wooden steps. My footsteps were a steady pulse in the quiet of the forest, and the scent of cinnamon had slowly faded to the less potent, fresh smell of the earth. I neared the top of the boardwalk, high above the trees.

The city didn't exist up here. It was only trees, and then the horizon, as far as my eyes could see. It was beautiful.

"Atlas?"

I turned around, startled by the voice. It was familiar, but I wasn't oriented enough to immediately put two and two together.

"Brody?" I asked, my eyes settling on the dark-haired boy in front of me.

He had a camera wrapped delicately around his neck, his hands holding it as if it were a child. He was perched casually on the edge of the rail, cross-legged, and my blood went cold when I realised that with even the slightest shift of wood, he'd be cascading down the hill.

He must've been able to read my eyes, because he tapped the rail reassuringly. "It's perfectly safe. Try it."

I walked over to where he was sat, but settled on leaning on the rails instead. He was right - they were firm.

He looked the slightest bit on edge. I felt it too; we'd both never expected to meet each other. All our walls were down, and now we'd have to put them up again. It was weird being slightly vulnerable, showing a different side of yourself, to someone you didn't really know.

Like I didn't know he was into photography.

He raised his eyebrows at me. "I don't bite. You can sit down, Atlas."

I shook my head. "I'm scared of heights." The lie came out easily enough, but I wasn't going to tell him that I was standing up just in case he fell. If I was standing, it'd be easier for me to grab onto him.

"You're lying." His eyes studied me for a moment, before flitting back to the setting sun.

Before I could stop myself, the words slipped my mouth. "It's gorgeous, isn't it?"