Gamma Stellaris

Chapter 7

        Leanne quickly made her way down the hallway, looking for more supplies. Now that Stefanie was down for the count, that meant she needed to take on more responsibility to help.

         This felt like her fault. After all, she was the one who had suggested taking the trip to the park.

          So of course she had to be the one to try and make things better. She had to be the one to take care of her friends when they were in trouble. And she would do whatever it took to stop Stefanie from turning into one of those things.

        But despite everything, she still wasn't scared. And she hated that! Maybe it was some weird medical condition or something wrong with her, but she still didn't even have a pit in her stomach.

        Was it wrong that some of her really wanted to experience fear? She wanted to know what everyone was talking about when they talked about fear.

         Sure she had things she didn't want to happen, but it's not like it ever kept her up at night or anything.

          Leanne honestly felt a little left out. She just wanted to feel a little more normal, to know that she wasn't some freak who was immune to fear.

         Was that so wrong to want?

        She quickly shook her head. What a stupid time to be thinking about something like that! Their lives were in danger and all she could manage to think about was her stupid not having any fears.

         She needed to get her act together.

         Finally, she found the storage room that held the food and water. She grabbed a large jug of water, surprised Jared had managed to carry multiple of these jugs at once. She was struggle to carry even one, which felt as heavy as a boulder.

        "And that's why I told you not to rush off ahead." Brian answered, easily picking up a jug.

          "I just wanted to sc-scope the place out." She muttered, dropping the jug of water.

           "I've got the water, why don't you just grab us some snacks?"

          "Yeah, okay."

         Leanne piled as many snacks into her arms as she could physically carry without dropping anything. Brian lifted up both jugs of water, a smug look on his face. Leanne pursed her lips jealously as she tried to ignore him, which didn't last long.

         "You don't have to show off, you know." Leanne muttered.

          "Hey, I'm just trying to get the supplies that we need."

          "Sure you are." She answered, a smirk playing at her lips as she studied him.

          They came together so quickly that neither one of them realized it had hapened. Their supplies clattered to the floor as Brian pulled Leanne into a kiss.

          "What was that?!" Leanne whispered hastily,  pulling away from him.

           "I have no idea."

          "What do you mean you have no idea?! You're the one that kissed me!"

         "N-Nuh-uh!"

          "Yes you did!"

           Brian's face went a deeper red. "I could've sworn you kissed me!"

          "Why would I kiss you?!"

          "I-I don't know! But you did!"

          "No way! Why would I kiss you?!"

         His eyes widened slightly. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

          "Nothing!"

         "Clearly it meant something! If I'm just repulsive or something tell me but-"

         "God, you're reading too much into this!"

          "Well it's not everyday a girl kisses me-"

         "You kissed me!" She hissed over him.

         "-and then starts insulting me!"

           "Stop trying to put the blame on me! This is- God! What even was that?!"

          "Guys!" Jared hissed, rushing over. "We can hear you two all the way from the classroom! What is the big deal?!"

           "Nothing!" They both answered.

           Jared studied them both for a moment, wearily sighing. "Well we need to get the supplies back. Stefanie isn't doing any better."

            "Right." Leanne whispered, kneeling down to start picking up the snacks she dropped.

            "Why are you two being weird?" Jared asked, walking with them and carrying some of the snacks and one of the water jugs.

             "Us? Weird?" Brian asked, setting the water jug in front of the classroom.

            Leanne nodded, leaning against the wall. "You're the only weird one I'm seeing right now."

           Jared groaned again, shaking his head.

           "You guys take the supplies in, I need some air." Leanne muttered.

          "Are you-" Brian started.

          "Fine! Now go away!"

          "Leanne-" Brian started softly.

          "Give me a minute!"

         He slowly sighed, walking into the classroom.

          She didn't even know how any of that happened. Brian was just a friend. He had always been just a friend. Where did any of that even come from?