Infinite

Chapter 8: Spring in Seattle- Part 1

Seattle, Washington, at the Summit Convention Center, on Friday, June 14th, 2030 at 6:30 pm

Rachel

The room that the dinner was being held in looked similar to the auditorium in terms of size, but the lighting was much more elegant and the floor was made of wood instead of linoleum. There were rounded tables that stretched from every corner. Vases of flowers, candles, and place settings with name tags sat upon the long white table cloths. There was a small stage in the back of the room, although it was nothing compared to the one I was just on.

"Well, time to find our table!" Erika exclaimed as she searched for our table. We spotted a sign that had our school's name on it and headed over.

"Well, howdy!" Vance said as he stood up from the table to shake our hands.

"If it isn't our brothers from Texas," Sam jested as he stood up next to Vance. He wasn't as tall as Lucas, and not nearly as broad. He clapped a hand on Tyler's shoulder. Tyler's face was beaming with joy.

"Oh, this is gonna be fun!" he exclaimed as he patted Sam's shoulder. I smiled awkwardly, trying to compose myself.

I'm going to have to sit at a table with him for hours.

Sam walked over to me and held out his hand.

"It's nice to see you again, Rachel," I shook his hand timidly, my cheeks on fire. He smiled widely at me, not letting go.

"Let's sit down, I'm exhausted," Artemis exclaimed as she plopped down next to me.

Sam didn't break eye contact with me as he took his seat across the table. The tension between us was broken as a waitress came by to bring us water and wine glasses.

"Oh, we are definitely going to be having some of that," Artemis sang as she moved the wine glass closer to her. Vance laughed heartily and nodded in agreement.

"Well, how did you folks enjoy our presentation?" he asked, leaning with one elbow on the table.

"Oh. My. God. It was fabulous!" Erika squealed. "Rachel has never spoken in front of that many people before!" I shot her a quick glare, embarrassed. "Oh, don't worry about it, Rach! You overcame a fear today! Your students would be so proud!"

My expression softened at her comment, and my lips curved into a smile.

"Yeah, you're already inspiring to them. They're going to get a kick out of that story!" Tyler added, stacking his silverware up to make a bridge between his glasses.

I looked down shyly as I played with a strand of my hair. Everyone continued to talk about Sam's magic background for a while as dinner was served. It was a beautiful chicken breast with garlic risotto.

"Rachel, this is almost as good as yours!" Erika said as she ate her food. Sam's eyes darted up from his plate at me.

"You like to cook?" he smirked at me.

"Oh, she doesn't like to cook. She could be a chef!" Tyler added, nodding at Sam. "I wish my birthday was every week so I could have her make me delicious treats all the time!"

Sam smiled at Tyler before glancing back at me again. His eyes were full of heat as he stared at me while taking a sip from his wine glass.

"I think that a woman who can cook is incredibly sexy," Sam said boldly. I almost spit out my drink before Tony started talking.

"Hey, Sam, you didn't finish telling us about when you started doing magic," Tony said as he gestured to Sam, winking.

"I went to college in Florida and would perform on the beaches to make money. That's pretty much it," he took another sip of his wine, and his expression looked almost embarrassed. His sudden sign of innocence was adorable.