Infinite (Unedited)

∞CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR∞

Thirty minutes of time to kill. I wander towards the cylinder room in hopes of finding someone I know before I get there. I notice Erik walking with Anna in the distance, and Shaun with his back towards me on his phone. I walk over and tap him on the shoulder. He jumps and puts his phone in the back pocket of his black jeans.

"Hi Aria!" He beams.

"Hey," I reply. "How's it going?"

"Pretty good. Kind of excited for the sim. It was really interesting last time. How about you?"

"Me too," I smile, remembering Nate's reassurance. "We've got a little while before we're supposed to go in though."

"Yeah."

"Hey I have a question?" I look up and say.

"Shoot."

"How did your sister pass the anger test?" I say awkwardly.

Shaun laughs. "Lots of practice. She's good at acting innocent. Our parents always did love her more. Thought she was so perfect," He frowns and sadness clouds his eyes.

I put a hand on his arm. "Well, if it's any consolation, I like you a lot better."

"Well that's good," he glances at my hand, still on his arm. "I like you better than I like her too."

"Really?" I give a surprised look.

"Of course."

"But she's your sister!" I laugh.

"Yeah, but you know the saying, blood is thicker than water? I don't think it is. Might be different for some people, but for me? Nah. If you're a good person, I like you. Doesn't matter who you are."

"So I'm a good person then?" I ask.

Shaun looks taken aback. "Yeah, you are. A really good person!"

"You are too you know."

"Yeah, sure," he doesn't seem to believe me.

"You are," I bite my lip. "Why don't you think so?"

He shrugs and looks away. "Let's talk about something else?"

"Okay, I'm sorry if I upset you," I say worriedly.

"No, you didn't. It's fine," he looks over at me again. "That's just me I guess, sorry."

"Well I like you, so don't apologize!"

He smiles and reaches for my hand. "Wanna go in?" He nods at the room.

"Sure!" We walk over to the doorway.

"When I first got here, I thought all the white walls, the glass rooms, and all that was exciting," Shaun looks around the room. "I think it's kind of boring now."

"You're right," I sigh.

"Hey, do you want to go to the garden room tomorrow? It's nice in there," he smiles.

"I'd love to!" I beam. "I haven't seen it yet."

"Oh good!" He says excitedly.

"Where's yours? Your cylinder," I ask.

"Left, back corner," he answers. "Yours?"

"Right over there," I point at a nearby cylinder on the right.

"Oh," He looks from mine to his. "Far apart."

"Yeah. Lots of cylinders in here, even though they've taken out the ones belonging to anyone who was eliminated," I take a step back for someone to walk pass me. A lot of people have already went inside their cylinders, even though we still have five minutes left.