[Cordelia] “Cordy, what’s wrong?” I look up to see Tilly watching me. Seeing her look of concern I almost start to cry. “Nothing,” I lie. “I just… I just saw Atlas is here with…her.” I don’t need to tell Tilly who. She and I have had enough late-night cry sessions to know exactly why seeing them together might make me upset. “If you want, we can leave,” Tilly suggests, picking up her coat. “I don’t want you to suffer…” “No,” I insist, wiping my tears away. “See, I’m fine. In fact, I think I’m going to go over there and say hi.” I try to appear pleasant, but inside I am angry, sad, and frustrated. I am feeling it all at once. It's worse than going through puberty. I’d almost rather be a confused teenager again. Maybe if I go over there, be direct, and stop hiding in the corner, I can feel more like a grown-up in control of her life. “Atlas,” I smile as brightly as I can manage while on the verge of tears. “And Sydney! I just saw you two over here and wanted to say congratul

[Cordelia] Tilly looks up and drops her keys, her mouth open slightly. Blinking she closes her mouth. “Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t realize that you were…” She looks at his hand on my thigh. “Having an examination…” “Oh, yeah, um…” I reach down to pull up my pants, wincing. “I think we are done.” Tilly shakes her head, amused by my embarrassment. “No need to rush, but if you could call the repairman that would be great.” She picks up her keys and heads out the door. As I wave goodbye, I grab my phone and dial the number. When I finally get through to make an appointment, the earliest the repair man can get here is next Thursday after 3 pm. “Agh, that’s not going to work,” I set my phone down after writing the appointment on the wall calendar. Jude looks concerned so I explain. “I need to get these clothes cleaned and pressed so that they’ll be ready for the show ” I point to the pile of clothing lying in a heap in a corner of the room. “I guess I’ll have to take it all to the lau

[Cordelia] Jude pauses at the door, his face a bit uncertain as he touches his lips where I had just kissed him for the first time. “I know this is sudden but I was wondering if maybe you’d be open to going out later today?” he asks with a small smile. “Maybe we could head to the beach, get a bit more sunshine, and you could come to my lab after,” his eyes are bright with hope, “ What do you think?” I usually avoid the beach. I am terrified of the water. But he looks so earnest and hopeful that I agree. “Great!” he claps his hands. “That’s settled. We’ll do a little swimming and then…” “Swimming?” my nervous voice hitches, raising an octave. The problem is, I never learned how to swim. I’ve always been a bit afraid of the water. Silly, I know, living near the coast. But I rarely made it out to the beach. I tell Jude all of this and he laughs. “Oh don’t worry about that,” he brushes aside my fear. “I am an excellent swimmer. I used to spend my summers in the Catalina Islands.

[Atlas] When Sydney said “bonfire” with some “friends, " she didn’t tell me that it would be more of a nightclub on the beach. Future Hollywood starlets in bikinis mingle with shirtless college athletes with sculpted abs and perfect California beach tans. The closer we get to it, the more I am certain that coming out tonight was a bad idea. I am in no mood to socialize, especially with a bunch of overgrown children. Sydney leads me to a group of jocks wearing board shorts and tank tops. They are all giving Sydney appreciative glances as they see her approach in her bright bikini and cut-offs. “This is my boyfriend, Atlas,” she announces proudly. She tells me their names but I don’t bother with remembering them. I don’t plan on spending time with them in the future. “Hey Boyfriend Atlas,” one of the large college boys laughs as he punches me playfully in the arm and he hands me a beer. “You’re going to need this. We’re about to play “Two Truths and a Lie.” You drink every time you

[Cordelia]“Cordelia, please sit down,” Atlas makes enough room for me to sit next to him. I stand in the doorway, stubbornly refusing to budge, preferring to shiver in the cold than to spend any more time with him. “Look, I promise I won’t do anything but talk to you,” he holds up his hands in surrender. “If I do, you can just punch me.”I glower at his cavalier attitude over his previous attack and my threat. Does he really think I’ll be okay with him in the back seat of the car after he had treated me so roughly?“Please Cordelia,” he pleads. He is usually so arrogant but right now he seems so vulnerable. “I just want to make sure you get home safely.”I think of fighting back, of waiting out in the cold just for spite, but that would be useless, silly, and only hurt me. Hesitantly I agree to his offer for a ride home. His whole body relaxes as the door shuts behind me. Atlas doesn’t look like his usual self. It isn’t just that he is still dressed in his beach clothes, but he lo