THUMP!
The cube landed on the table on the wooden table and knocked Atlas out of his trance.
"Woah," he mumbled, shaking his head a few times to clear his mind. He surveyed the obsidian cube lying inertly on the table, its dark surface gleaming under the kitchen lights.
"Are you okay, sweetie?" Amber inquired, her concern evident as she gently shook his shoulder.
"I think so?" Atlas replied, still feeling a bit disoriented.
"You surprised us there," James remarked, tousling Atlas's dreads before returning to the dishes. "You seemed lost for a moment."
Amber placed a comforting hand on Atlas's shoulder. "Are you sure you're okay?" she asked, giving his shoulder a light squeeze.
"Huh?" Atlas turned to Amber, feeling the squeeze. "Oh, yeah. I'm okay," he responded, clearing his throat.
What was that? Atlas wondered as he glanced at the obsidian cube. The moment he touched it, he felt something unusual, almost as if the cube had a presence. Cautiously, he picked up the cube and stowed it in his backpack by the stairs. As he swung his backpack on, Amber presented him with a gift-wrapped box.
"Happy birthday, Atlas!" Amber beamed, handing him the gift, which elicited a smile from Atlas.
Excitedly tearing open the wrapping, Atlas discovered a pair of sleek black Bluetooth headphones inside the box.
"Yes!" he exclaimed, embracing Amber. These were the headphones he had been wanting for a while. "Thanks, Ma."
With his new headphones, Atlas no longer had to worry about his old wired earphones getting tangled. As he set up his headphones, he marveled at the speaker mode feature, expressing his gratitude to Amber once more.
"Hmph," James interjected, joining them with his briefcase in hand. "My gift is way better."
Amber rolled her eyes at James's competitiveness.
Atlas raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Oh yeah? Where is it?"
He raised his right hand over his eyes, pretending to search for the gift. "I don't see any gift," he said playfully.
James turned Atlas around by his shoulders so they were facing the front door. "Well, it's outside."
"You didn't get a kid like me a car, did you?" Atlas asked as they started walking to the door.
"Pfft, you wish it was a car."
They all stopped in front of the door. Atlas brought the headband that was holding his locs forward and pressed a button on it, pushing out black-colored lenses that rested on his nose to hide his eyes. Meanwhile, James took his car keys from a hook on the wall and unlocked the door before opening it once he saw that Atlas was set with his headband sunglasses.
By the door was a skateboard that had clearly been used, its wear and tear evident. On it was a blue bow, likely James's gift.
Atlas looked at the board with a 'really -_-' look on his face. "What's that?" he pointed at the skateboard, looking at James.
Amber covered her mouth with her hand, shoulders shaking with laughter she tried to hold back.
"Your gift," James answered, staring back at Atlas with a serious look.
"Yeah, from last year," Atlas retorted, causing James's eyebrow to twitch in annoyance.
"It's an upgraded version," James said, walking to the skateboard that was leaning against the wall. He placed the wheels down on the ground and pressed a button located on the tail side of the board, causing it to float slightly above the ground as the wheels folded in.
"See?"
Atlas looked in amazement at the invention. "Did you turn my skateboard into an actual hoverboard?"
"Cool, huh?" James said proudly. Atlas nodded, walking over to the skateboard-turned-hoverboard and getting on it. Being an inventor and scientist came with its perks.
Atlas placed his left foot in the front, causing the board to sink a bit but not move. Once he placed his other foot on the board, it adjusted to his weight and lifted back up.
"How does it work?" Atlas asked once he was on.
"Lean your weight forward to go forward and lean backward to slow down or stop," James explained.
Atlas followed the directions slowly, leaning forward and making the hoverboard follow suit. When he leaned back, the hoverboard slowed down. Leaning back more, it came to a full stop, hovering in place. He turned around to face James again by twisting his body. The motion made him unbalanced, but he quickly stabilized himself.
He realized that when he was moving forward, the button was covered to prevent accidental pressing. It only reappeared once he slowed down or stopped. When he saw the button again, Atlas pressed it with his back foot. The wheels unfolded, and gravity took over, causing him to land on the wheels.
"This is so cool!" Atlas exclaimed, getting off the board and hugging James. "Thanks, Pops."
"Heh, of course," James said, hugging Atlas back. "Well, it's about time for me to head to work," James continued as he got out of the hug and stood back up.
"What do you plan on doing for the day?" James asked Atlas.
"Hmm," Atlas began thinking, "I might go over to Blake's house for a bit," he responded to James, who nodded.
"I'll see you later then. Have fun," James said, walking to his car and getting in. He walked over to Amber giving her a peck on the lips and waved goodbye to Atlas and Amber, getting in his car, and driving off.
"I'll see you in a bit, Atlas," Amber said as she walked back into the house. Before closing the door, she added, "Don't stay out late."
Atlas nodded. "Okay."
Getting back on his skateboard, Atlas began heading in the direction of his friend's house. On the way, he pulled out his phone and started up some music. He inverted the muffs of his headphones allowing the speaker mode to turn on causing 2055 by Sleepy Hallow to blast out.
Afterward, he texted the group chat that his friends Blake and Allison were in as he skated to Blake's house.
Atlas: Yooo
Blake: Sup! Happy Birthday, bro!
Allison: Hey, Atlas. Happy Birthday!
Atlas: Thx
Atlas: Blake, u home? I'm heading over.
Blake: Yea
Atlas: Cool
Atlas: Allison, u think u can swing by?
Allison: Sure
Blake: Wait? Y u asking her over?
Atlas: Y not?
Blake: Cuz she a girl?
Allison: ?!
Atlas: ...
Atlas: Anyways, Allison might be able to help out. She's smart.
Allison: Well, thank u.
Blake: Wait...what u mean by that? R u calling me dumb?
Atlas: No comment
Blake: F u
Allison: XD
Atlas: Lol
Atlas: I'll fill you in. I'm less than a min away.
Atlas pocketed his phone and stopped his music from playing through his headphones as he neared Blake's house.
Blake and Allison had been friends since they were kids in elementary school. They didn't know about his special abilities and only knew that he always wore glasses wherever he went. If he didn't have glasses, his eyes were always closed.
They had also met his parents and knew he was adopted. However, he contacted them to talk about the cube his biological parents left behind. It was probably foolish to have fellow kids try to help him with a problem like this, but he didn't know who else to turn to.
It might be a shot in the dark, but he hoped they could help him find some kind of clue.
Slowing down on his skateboard, Atlas got off and kicked up the tail end, causing it to pop up, and caught it with his left hand. He placed the board by his side and continued to walk on the sidewalk toward the driveway of a two-story blue-grey house.
As he walked up the driveway, he heard the sound of a bell from a bike and a voice calling his name. He turned to his left to see a young girl on a blue Lulu cruiser bike.
The girl was around his age, with dirty blonde hair that curled at the ends, porcelain-toned skin, and dark brown eyes adorned by brown Ray-Ban-looking eyeglasses. She was a bit shorter than Atlas but not by much, and her figure was slender.
Her outfit consisted of a pink-colored shirt with white stripes, light blue ripped jeans, and white slip-on Vans.
The girl pulled up next to Atlas and got off the bike to give him a side hug. "Hey, Allison," Atlas greeted, accepting the side hug. "Thanks for coming."
"No problemo," she giggled and turned to grab something out of the basket in front of her bike. She pulled out a clear plastic bag with cookies. "Here," she began, handing the cookies to Atlas, who accepted them. "My mom helped me bake them. I hope you like them." She nervously tucked her hair behind her right ear.
Atlas smiled at the gesture. "Thanks, they smell great. I can't wait to try them." He said, putting the cookies in his bag as they walked up the driveway.