Bubble

Chapter 16

I glanced at the clock in the science lab for the hundredth time that hour. I was enjoying my work, and we were making good progress on a cure for the disease, but the thought of my lunch hour with Will hung in my mind, and I bounced nervously on my toes. I only had five minutes left before I could leave, then I would race to the market to grab some lunch and head to the park. It was the first day that my family and I could finally eat real food, but I had skipped breakfast due to the fact that I had overslept, and I was eager to eat for the first time in days.

Dr. Truman must have noticed me watching the time, and nodded in my direction. "You can head out early if you want," she said with a smile. "You've been a great help around here, and you deserve it."

"Really?" I asked in disbelief, and the doctor nodded. "Wow, thank you so much! I'll be back on time!" I said, hurriedly grabbing my bag and racing out the door. I waved to Tina on my way out, who I had gotten to know quite well during my short breaks.

I reached the market in record time, and rather out of breath. Winding my way through the vendor carts, I studied all of the strange foods, trying to decide what to get. I didn't want to overdo it and lose my lunch, but all of the exotic choices looked absolutely delicious. I walked up to a stand that looked like a rainbow with an array of colourful fruits, and was about to ask the shopkeeper about a particular one when someone grabbed me from behind and hands covered her eyes.

I squeaked and tried to pull away. The arms instantly recoiled, and I turned around to find Will with a sorry expression on his face.

"Emma, I didn't mean to-"

I cut him off and burst into a fit of laughter. He nervously chuckled with me until I calmed down, and he pointed to the fruit I was still holding in my hand.

"You probably wouldn't like that, it's really sour," he warned.

I placed the purple sphere back on the shelf. "Okay Mister Food Expert, then what is good around here?" I questioned, and Will smiled. He offered me his arm again, and I took it as he led me to another kiosk that was selling some sort of meat. I scrunched up my nose as he paid for two skewers of the stuff and offered one to me.

"It's Carnotile meat, but it's delicious," he clarified.

"You mean that giant lizard thing that tried to attack my dad the other night?!" I asked, shocked. Will nodded, pressing his lips together to try and suppress his grin.

"Come on, just try it!" he urged me as he held the kabob out to me once more. I reluctantly took the stick from him at ate a tiny bite of of a chunk of meat. I chewed it for a moment, deciding if I liked the taste or not. I looked back up at Will and admitted defeat. He smirked.

"Told you so," he chuckled as we headed off in the direction of the park. We laid down on the grass together and gazed up at the blue sky again.

"So where were you from before you came here?" I asked him, still munching on the Carnotile meat. I found it amazing how comfortable I felt around him now, as opposed to our first couple of meetings when I ended up babbling stupid things out of nervousness.

"Originally? This random city on the East Coast. But we moved to Australia when I was almost seven," he answered.

I smiled. "My mum lived there when she was little," I told him.

"I figured something like that," he stated, making me scrunch up my eyebrows in confusion. "I can hear you picked up the accent from her," he clarified. "So where did you live?" His gaze shifted to me, and I felt mesmerized by his eyes.

"Los Angeles. Things were pretty bad there." I sighed and looked back up at the sky. We were both silent for a moment before I spoke up again. "When did you come here? Were your parents recruited?" He slowly let out a breath, and I wondered if I had said something wrong.