Page 9 of What’s Left of Us

“I found a frog!” He announced as he barreled into our group. From our bedroom window he had looked so young, but down here, he seemed older. It was his height, I decided. He was as tall as his sister, almost a head taller than I was. He puffed his chest as he looked from Phoebe to us. “Phoebe said they don’t exist here, but they do. I knew they did. I already found one.”

“No, you didn’t.” Phoebe shoved the boy’s shoulder, and despite his height, he stumbled. He was as skinny as he was tall, and as clumsy, it seemed. “Don’t lie, Atlas.”

I’d never heard the name Atlas before, but I liked it. If I weren’t so shy, I’d tell him.

“I did.” Atlas crossed his arms over his chest and proudly lifted his chin. “It slipped out of my hands, but I found one.”

Atlas looked like he was waiting for Phoebe to argue with him, but she didn’t. Instead, she asked Nat another question about her list.

“Who are you, anyway?” Atlas asked. It took me a moment to realize he was talking to me. After being ignored by Nat and Phoebe for the last several minutes, I felt a surge of hope.

Maybe Mom was right. Maybe a boy could be my friend.

“Violet. Like the flower. Or the color.”

“I’m Atlas,” he said, even though I’d already figured that out. “Like the guy who holds the whole world.”

I didn’t know what he was talking about, but I wasn’t going to admit it. I decided not to say anything at all.

“Do you want to see my room?” Phoebe gave the list back to Nat and stepped toward her porch. My sister’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, and a smile blossomed over her lips.

“Yeah, sure!”

“Can I come?”

“No, you’re too little. Maybe Atlas will show you his room though.”

“Next time, Vi,” Nat promised as she got dragged away.

Liar! I wanted to scream. You said we’d all be friends!

“My room’s really messy,” Atlas informed me. I knew it wasn’t his fault I wasn’t invited to go with Phoebe and Nat, but I despised him all the same.

“I don’t want to see your room. I don’t want to be your friend at all!”

It was stupid and mean, but my heart ached that Nat had chosen Phoebe over me. She didn’t even know her, and she’d replaced me that eagerly.

I left Atlas standing in the space between our lawns, too busy crying to worry over him. I didn’t figure he’d care that I ran off, but when I peeked through the living room blinds, he was standing right where I’d left him.

Chapter 4

now

“You’re lucky this worked.” Hayden holds a strand of my blonde hair between her fingers. It’s not exactly the color it was before I dyed it, but it’s pretty damn close. “That blue did not work for your skin tone.”

I tip my head back to look at her.

“Can you braid it?”

“What am I, your personal servant?”

“Yes.”

Hayden playfully tugs my hair, then gets to work. She’s in school for a marketing degree, but I’m convinced she missed her calling as a hair stylist. No matter what look she attempts, it always comes out perfectly. Exhibit A: she got my hair 95% back to normal with one box of UnDye.

“There, you’re beautiful.” She twists a hair band around the end of my braid and pats my head.

I grin at her in the mirror. Where I’m tall and lean, blonde and blue-eyed, Hayden is short and muscular. Her brown hair is cut just above her shoulders in a flawless bob she did herself. Even without makeup, she’s one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen.