Luna ran to my side and helped me up. Jordan was about to approach me again but Atlas cut him off.
"You better fucking apologize right now Jordan." Atlas towered over him.
"Or else what?" He scoffed.
Atlas walked up closer to him, his voice now deeper than it was before, "Or I'll kick the shit out of you."
Atlas hated Jordan with every fiber of his being, due to the fact that he was always harassing me. He told me how he wished he could tackle him on the ground. I always told him he shouldn't because he'd be expelled.
"You wouldn't lay a finger on me, Santiago. Mr. Perfect wouldn't wanna get in trouble now would he?" Jordan laughed and was about to walk away until Atlas grabbed him by his arm.
He grabbed his shirt collar and scowled at him. "Are you sure about that?" Atlas then raised his fist and Jordan winced in fear.
"Atlas!" I called out to him. "Please don't. He's not worth it."
Atlas released him and Jordan fixed himself up. He grunted something under his breath and walked out from the dining hall, his friends eyeing us.
I didn't want either of my friends to get into any trouble because of me. I didn't have anything going for me, but Luna and Atlas were definitely going places. I wouldn't want to take that away from them. But fuck does Jordan piss me off. Everyone in the hall went back to minding their own business but I could still hear them whispering.
Atlas hurried towards me with a worried expression on his face. "Did he hurt you? Are you alright?"
He spoke to me in his normal gentle voice. His demeanor was completely different than what it was just a few seconds ago.
I sighed. "Yes, I'm fine."
Luna had been holding me up this whole time and when I let go of her I felt a jolt of pain spring up from my knee. I wobbled and Atlas grabbed onto me. I could feel myself blush. He was well built, strong yet gentle. Any girl would fall head over heels for Atlas. I mean if your dream guy was standing right in front of you, would you go for it? Hell, I wish I could.
"Fine? Yeah right. Come on Atlas let's take Murphy to see the nurse," Luna said, walking in front of us.
Atlas helped me along the way to the nurse's office. When we got there Luna called out to the nurse, but it seemed like she wasn't there.
"Doesn't matter," Atlas said as he helped me sit on a chair, "I'll just do it myself."
"You do whatever you can, I'll go look for the nurse." Luna then left the office, leaving us two, alone.
I rolled up my pants to see what the damage was. My knee was scraped and bruised and it hurt like a bitch.
"I swear I'll beat the life out of Jordan, just say the word." Atlas was rummaging around for something to disinfect my knee.
"No Atlas, it's fine. Jordan's just an asshole and that's all he'll ever be. I don't want you to get in trouble."
Atlas bent down to take care of my knee, he did it with such care. As a kid, he would always tell me how much he wanted to be a doctor when he grew up. It was his calling, honestly, I couldn't see him doing anything else.
"For you, I'd do anything just to make him go away," he said concentrating on disinfecting my cuts.
I smiled warmly. "I know."
He finished the procedure by wrapping my knee in a bandage.
"There, all done. How do you feel? Are you okay?"
"Yes yes, I'm fine."
Atlas, like Luna, had the tendency to worry about me a lot. I didn't get why but he did. I took a glance out the window, into the smog covered city but then suddenly Atlas placed his hand on my leg. I turned to face him and I realized that he had been looking at me this whole time. He stared at me with wonder and for a moment I thought he was...admiring me? No, that's stupid.
I opened my mouth about to say something but he quickly cut me off, "Murph I-"
"Here I am, what's wrong now Murphy?"
The nurse had horrible timing. Luna was trailing behind her, looking rather upset. I wondered what had happened. Atlas quickly got up and the nurse looked at my knee.
"Did you fix her up young man?" She asked him.
"Yes, I did. It wasn't difficult but I think she needs an ice pack."
"Ah yes, of course, let me look for one."
The nurse was old. She scurried to the other side of the room with her little white coat skidding the ground. I smiled to myself. I came here a lot, don't even bother asking why, yet I didn't even know her name. Suddenly I remembered that Atlas had to tell me something.
I gazed up at him and asked, "Atlas, what were you gonna tell me?"
"It's-uh-I'll tell you another time." He seemed flustered.
I cocked my head to the side, confused. The bell dinged and it was time to go back to class.
The nurse said as she looked at Luna and Atlas, "Leave her here, you two go off to class."
"Alright, come back to class soon Murph." Luna nodded and both her and Atlas headed out the door.
"You have to stop injuring yourself, child." The nurse walked over to me and placed the ice pack on my knee.
"I don't know how to nurse. I'm accident-prone. " I quietly laughed.
She sighed. "Well you're gonna have to go back to class."
"Can't I stay here a little longer?"
"Nope, go on now."
I slowly got up from the chair, feeling a little better, and made my way to the door. I stopped at the door frame.
"By the way nurse," I began, "what's your name?"
She smiled. "Amaryllis."
"Huh, it's a beautiful name."
"Yes," she said smiling looking at the ground, almost nostalgically. "I'm named after a beautiful flower."
I furrowed my eyebrows, confused, and repeated, "Flower?"
"Oh right, not everyone knows what a flower is these days. Don't worry about it, it's not very important. Just go off to class now."
I shrugged and left the nurse's office. Flowers, I thought. What were they again? I remembered learning about them at some point but half the time I didn't pay attention to what was going on in class. I was so lost in thought that I hadn't realized where I was going and bumped into someone. They dropped the things they were carrying and I bent down quickly to help them pick it up. I wasn't much help though, with my stupid knee and all.
"I'm so sorry," I said slowly coming back up.
"It's alright."
I looked up and faced a woman in a lab coat and glasses. She was one of the scientists that roamed around the school. They were everywhere since the school was half of a laboratory research facility, where they conducted research for who knew what.
"Sorry I can't help pick everything up. I accidentally bumped my knee." I awkwardly laughed.
"That must've been one knee bump." She smiled. "Shouldn't you be in class miss-?"
"Murphy, and yeah I should be but I was just coming back from the nurse. Um, should I just call you a scientist?"
She laughed. "No I have a name, just call me Dr. Kasdeya."
"Cool. Well um, I'm gonna get going, see ya doc."
And I limped away. I didn't wanna make conversation with her anymore, scientists freak me out. Like what if you got on their bad side? They could "accidentally" give you a drink with a poisonous chemical that could kill you. I mean anyone could but you get my point. No thanks.
I finally made it to my boring biology class. I mean I guess it was important since we had to learn it in school, but if I had the option to not take it, I wouldn't. So another snooze fest later and it's time for my final class, Earth History. My absolute favorite subject. We pretty much talked about what the Earth was like before the war. Ah yes, the war. I couldn't help but be curious. Everyone didn't seem to know that much about it and whenever you asked someone it's always the same thing. It started about a hundred years ago by aliens who wanted to invade Earth but only ended up killing everything on it. But it wasn't all their fault, we killed plants and some animals off too. That much I knew.
Luna helped me hop to the next class during the passing period.
"How are you feeling?" She asked, concerned.
"Like a million bucks." I smiled. "You and Atlas worry like there's no tomorrow."
"Well, when you have a friend that's prone to hurting herself you're bound to worry. Oh and I tried to keep an eye out for the nurse but, ugh, she slipped through my fingers."
I faced her. "What are you talking about?"
"You know when you two had your little moment in the nurse's office and he was finally gonna confess his love to you-"
My eyes widened. "He was not! No way!"
I couldn't help but imagine it. What it would be like to hold his hand and to hug him all the time. His beautifully delicate complexion, those bluish-green eyes- h-hey! I furiously shook my head.
"Yes way girl, I heard all of it."
I blushed. "You heard our conversation?!"
"Of course I did, that's what friends do duh, but listen I was so into your conversation that I wasn't paying attention when the nurse walked in. My plan was to stall her and let you guys have your moment alone."
"I love you Luna but you can't keep doing that."
"Why not?"
"Cause it's none of your business," I smirked.
"I'm offended, I really am."
I chuckled and we both walked into our last class of the day. My teacher was talking about some mumbo jumbo that I could have cared less about right now. I was too busy trying to figure out what flowers were again. Suddenly, an email notification popped up on the screen before me. I opened it and it read: How's your knee?
Obviously, it came from Atlas, who was sitting on the other side of the room. I smiled and looked down at the screen. I replied: I feel like I've just won the war. By the way, you wouldn't happen to know what flowers are? And emailed it back to him.
Of course, Atlas would know what flowers were. As soon as he read what I had sent him, he raised his hand.
"Yes, Atlas?" Mrs. Cruz asked.
"I can't seem to remember what flowers were again, can you give me a refresher?"
My eyes opened wide, I didn't expect him to ask. He didn't have to ask the teacher!
Mrs. Cruz was shocked. "Sure Atlas, but it's unlike you to forget something so minuscule."
He laughed and I felt like I was gonna die. I was embarrassed that I had ever asked him that question, but it was bothering me to remember what they were. He must have thought I was a complete moron.
"Flowers grew on Earth a very long time ago. They typically grew from seeds that you would plant in soil. Then after a few weeks, with sunlight and plenty of water, a flower would bloom. They came in all different shapes, sizes, and colors. Here's a picture of what they looked like."
An image then popped up in front of the class and appeared on our screens.
An image then popped up in front of the class and appeared on our screens
I couldn't help but be mesmerized. I knew it sounded stupid, but I'd never seen flowers before. I mean maybe the teacher had shown them to us once but I barely paid any attention in class, as you may already know. They were wonderful. I could only imagine what they looked like and felt like in real life.
"There were hundreds of different species of flowers. Not only that but of trees too. All plant life was vital to us and the Earth. It played a key part in our everyday lives. Sadly, these things no longer exist but luckily we have records and pictures to remind us of the beauty that once was mother nature."
Mrs. Cruz ended the recap on plants and continued on with other shit that I drowned out. To think that all of that was gone in the blink of an eye. We relied on synthetic plants now, like herbs and other edible plants. But I'm sure they're nothing like the real deal. It must've been so delicious to eat fresh herbs that came from the ground. It's something I could only imagine now.
The Earth was so beautiful.
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