Bubble

Chapter 23

"Are you positive it's safe?" I questioned as Will led me down the street, hand in hand, towards the command center.

"Absolutely. The lake has been inspected and even has its own fence around it," he reassured me. He had promised to take me to learn how to swim that weekend, and was sticking to his promise; even if I was the one wanting to back out.

We approached the desk of the command centre's storage facility, and Will began to fill out a form sitting on the counter. "Hey Ryans. We're just checking out a rover to take to the lake," he told the man sitting behind the desk. I looked up, and recognized the soldier as Parker, Leah's brother that I had met earlier in the week. Parker noticed me also and smiled.

"Hey Emma!"

"Hi Parker!" I returned his greeting. Will looked at us with a puzzled expression. "Parker's sister Leah is dating Austin," I clarified, answering his question before he could ask, and getting a goofy grin in return.

"So what are you gonna do at the lake?" Parker asked as Will resumed the paperwork.

"Will is teaching me how to swim," I answered, blushing slightly. Parker laughed and wished me luck as we walked over to a small vehicle.

"This is cool," I said as we approached. I'd seen military personnel driving around in them, and we'd had a similar one when we went out for field work.

"Yeah," Will agreed. "They're called rovers. They're kind of like fancy golf carts."

"Golf carts?" I asked, confused.

"Yeah like the things they drive around in golf—oh wait," he cut himself off. "You probably don't know what golf is."

"Is that the sport with the little rackets and—"

Will chuckled loudly. "No, not quite."

He opened the passenger door for me, and offered his hand to help me in before jogging around to the other side and hopping in the driver's seat. The rover was silent as Will turned it on, and the motion felt weird as he pulled out of the parking lot. I'd only been in electromagnet cars, and rovers were quite a bumpy contrast to the smooth ride of cars. We buzzed down to the South Gate in just three minutes, and told the guards we would be back by seven.

"This is so fun!" I exclaimed over the noise of zooming through the jungle. The wind blew in my hair and I watched the dirt road disappear beneath us as we raced towards the lake.

"I love driving out here!" Will said, his hands on the wheel and eyes focused on the road. I watched as the wind rippled his shirt against his body, showing off the muscles that lie beneath. I peeled my eyes away and whipped my attention back to the road before he caught me staring at him.

"Can I drive?" I asked, feeling adventurous.

Will chuckled and raised an eyebrow. "Did you even have your license on Earth?"

I rolled my eyes. "That's a technicality."

"So, no."

"I'm a fast learner!" I threw out, hoping he'd take the bait.

He fought back a smile. "We'll save that lesson for another time."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

The drive to the lake took about twenty minutes, and we pulled through the gates to reveal a medium-sized shimmering pool of water surrounded by the dense jungle we had just driven through. It was situated next to a fairly large cliff, and a fifty foot waterfall poured into a lagoon that stretched off of the main body of water, misting the entire area around it. I gasped as I took in the spectacular view, only having seen pictures of anything remotely similar. However, I was quite sure nothing that had ever existed on Earth could rival the beauty of this place.