Far From Home

Chapter Nine

(Hello everyone, sorry I haven't written in 3 months!! I have no excuse but I will put up chapter 10 as quick as I can straight after posting this.)

After a giant dinner which constituted of meals from each food place in a buffet style, we all disbanded back to our floor. The whole trip up the elevator we stayed quiet; we had said all that we had to tell so far. I zoned out, thinking about how much better it was that I now had Mochrie by my side. I realised that I'd been thinking this over and over since I'd seen Mochrie and it was the only thing that I could still really think of. It bought me back to when I'd first met Mochrie; we were both seven years old and had just been put into the schooling system where we would be for the next ten years, both of us scared and confused. We had just happened to be standing near each other when a bigger kid had accidentally knocked Mochrie just enough for his glasses to be knocked off his face. The way all the kids were bustling about it was sure his glasses were going to be broken. I don't know what spurred me to dive down onto the floor next to Mochrie, who was blindly trying to grab them without his hands being stepped, but I quickly snatched them to myself and then dragged Mochrie to his feet. I remember him giving me a really awkward smile and muttering silently, "th-th-thanks a lot, uh I'm M-M-Mochrie D-Diya." From there I stayed by his side and thankfully I was still able to see him next to me as well.

Mochrie and I made our way back to my room, just for us both to have some time to ourselves, together. We sat on either ends of my bed and just sat there holding hands. "So" Mochrie said, an awkward silence followed. "So," I also said, to fill the silence. We looked at each other and smirked, "my data presents to me that this room is filled with slight tension. Would you like me to suggest topic starters or provide popular music which you will both be able to relate to and talk about?" I almost jumped out of my skin and Mochrie whipped his head around so quickly to see who had spoken that his glasses were askew on his face, "who the hell was that?" Mochrie asked the room. "It is the T.H.U.A.C.E.T.D, is there anything else I can answer for you?" The monitor said, I breathed a sigh of relief and then started laughing, Mochrie turned back towards me with a confused look on his face, glasses still askew on his face. This set me off even more and then Mochrie started laughing too, "Adira, I could spend just the rest of my life with you doing exactly this you know that?" I stopped laughing immediately, I looked into Mochrie's eyes and I saw too much hope, hope that could never exist for the both of us.

"What? What did I say? Adira? Look at me, tell me what I said wrong?" Mochrie said, I didn't look at him only down at my lap, hoping that the tears I felt behind my eyelids wouldn't escape. "Nothing Mochrie don't worry about it, it's fine." I said, though it wasn't fine, nothing was going to be fine at all. Mochrie had made me forget all about what I'd been asked to do, the whole reason I was here in the first place. I was going to space, I was going to die. "Mochrie, you know the mission I have to go on right? It's best that we just, we just, I don't know but Mochrie when I go I don't want you to be hurt, I want you to be happy." I looked up to see Mochrie's dark eyes looking at me steadily not blinking at all. I held the stare and watched as Mochrie sighed, shook his head and got up and left my room. Then I let the tears escape, all at once but silently.

"Monitor, what's the time?" I managed to croak out after I finally stopped crying. "Good evening Adira, the time is 12:53 am. May I help with getting you to sleep Adira? I recommend that for someone your age you should be asleep by 9 pm, so that your functions are fully optimal by 8 am the next day. Would you like to hear more Adira?" I groaned, I wasn't tired and I had nothing else to do but entertain myself with the monitor. "No thank you monitor, I'm going to go for a walk if I'm not back in 2 hours assume I am dead." I said getting up and walking to the door. "Affirmed, in two hours I will send an alert out that you may have expired. I stood in the door way half in half out, deciding whether to bother correcting the monitor or to not to. I gave the monitor one hard look, shrugged and continued down the dark hall.

It wasn't dark enough that I couldn't see where I was going. Any object was a gloomy shadow and different coloured buttons shone vibrantly like stars. With the train of thought bringing up stars I knew where I needed to be most, outside. As I waited for the elevator to arrive, I realised I hadn't seen the sky for two days or felt the heat of the sun. I hadn't seen the stars or the moon either and I missed them just as much. Thinking about being outside had completely taken me away, as I had already reached the ground floor. I walked down the entrance hallway and came up to Culan's desk; the dark-skinned beauty was asleep resting her head on her crossed arms. I crept past as quietly as I could. I had forgotten to put shoes on and there was a slight sticking noise as my bare feet walked across the linoleum. I hesitated at the see-through doors that showed the dark grounds, I knew that if I went out there I would look up and I would be looking into my fate.