How I cope || Wilbur Soot

Chapter 60~ best of luck

"How on earth did you come up with the idea of an escape room?" Tommy questioned, not holding back the smile on his face.

Phil shrugged with a grin. "I cannot wait." I spoke, already heading towards the entrance doors.

"Have you ever even done one of these before?" Wilbur asked me, the tone of amusement obvious in his voice.

"Plenty of times. I've done loads with Madison, and I did one or two with Noah." I replied, not expecting the next question.

"Who's Noah?" Ranboo asked. My mouth opened to speak but I closed it when I realised I didn't know how to reply.

It was silent for a few seconds as everyone waited for a reply. I felt Wilbur hold onto my hand, giving me the courage to speak. "That is a story for another time." I smiled at them.

"Shall we get going then?" Wilbur squeezed my hand gently, causing me to look up and meet his eyes.

"Oh, definitely." I laughed, following Phil in to the small building in front of us.

"Hello. We're booked for 10am." Phil spoke to the middle-aged man at the entrance. He nodded, scanning through the book he had in front of him before nodding.

"Yep, right this way." He put a ruler between the pages of his notebook and closed it. We followed behind him as he lead us into an open waiting room.

"Take a seat." He gestured to the wooden stools around the room. I pulled one over, sitting down on it and waiting for the man to continue.

Wilbur pulled a stool next to me, also sitting down and waiting. "Is this going to be difficult?" He whispered and I chuckled slightly.

"Not too difficult I presume." I replied right before the man turned on a projector, lighting up the wall in front of us.

"I'm going to take you through the story line, and then you'll be free to begin. But first, how many of you have done one of these before?" The man began.

Only me, Wilbur and Phil raised our hand and the man looked between us, nodding thoughtfully. "Okay, a few experienced members, so you should do just fine." He remarked.

He explained the story line with a whole lot of enthusiasm, and when he finished he lead us into a small room, designed like a simple office.

"I wish you the best of luck." He opened the door, allowing us all in before locking it behind us.

"He actually locks the door?" Tommys face turned to horror. I laughed at the expression, and tapped him lightly on the shoulder.

"Yes, Tommy, but you'll be fine." I assured. "Let's do this." I jumped once before going over to the cupboard at the back of the room.

I tried to open in, stumbling back when it actually opened. "I expected it to be locked." I chuckled, opening the second door and looking inside.

"What's in there?" Tubbo appeared beside me, peaking in. I looked around the room, making sure I wasn't the only one doing something. A smile formed on my face when I realised I weren't.

Wilbur was searching through the office draws, Phil was flicking through books that came from the bookshelf in front of him with Tommy watching his every move, and Ranboo was studying a map on the wall.

"A folder, and a few pens." I told Tubbo, taking out the folder and stepping back once. Tubbo rummaged through the shelves to get the pens.

The folder had a singular piece of paper inside. It was a letter written from the owner of the office to his own boss. "It can't just be me that thinks this is sketchy." I showed the letter to Tubbo.

"Can I take it?" He held out his hands, dropping the pens onto a nearby table first. "Yeah, of course." I handed it to him, excusing myself as I walked towards Wilbur.

I noticed him looking at something carefully which made me curious. "What have you found?" I placed my hand gently at the top of his arm, causing him to jump slightly. "Sorry." I laughed.

"It's a decoding thing. I don't know what for, though." He squinted as if it would help him understand.

"Decoding? That makes sense for an escape room." I nodded, stepping closer when Wilbur stepped to the side. I studied the paper, hoping to get an idea of what it is we would be decoding.

"Bingo! I found something!" Phil informed. I peeled my eyes from the paper, turning my attention to Phil. "It's a piece of paper with a bunch of numbers.

I gasped, taking another glance at the paper Wilbur found and then back up to Phil. "Bring it here?" I requested, and he did, walking over with the small parchment.

"This is going to need decoding..." I tapped Phils findings when it was placed down on the table. "Using this." I grinned at Wilbur when I pointed to the piece he found.

He shook his head with a smile. "What's this?" Tommys voice echoed through the room. I looked up when he was pointing at a small wooden box.

"I'll decode this, you two can go and help him." Wilbur offered. I placed a quick kiss on his cheek before jogging over to Tommy.

"Has it got a lock?" I asked when I appeared behind him. When I looked at the box, I realised it wasn't wooden, it was cardboard.

"Nope, just a cardboard box with a lid." He shrugged. He poked at the box a couple of times before looking up at me. "What?" He smiled.

"Why aren't you opening it?" I smiled back at him, and he let out a quiet laugh, looking back at the box.

"Everything in this room makes me a bit nervous to be honest." He replied honestly.

"Open the box, Tommy." I gestures to the small box in front of him, and he looked up at me like I had told him to fight a lion or something.

"It's okay, I promise." I pushed the box slowly towards him. "Open it." I repeated, and he sighed.

"Okay." He lifted the lid carefully and placed it down on the table. "It's a phone." He picked up the object, holding it in front of his face with a confused look.

"Done!" Wilbur called out at the same time.

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word count: 1067