The Experiment (Draft)

Welcome

Owen:

I let Lydia get out of the car first. I was dying of heat, stuck in that stuffy car for six and a half hours with nothing to do except wonder why I called the lady in the first place to volunteer. I hope this didn't involve any more car rides. I lean against the car door  and take in the massive house in front of me. The woman who drove us speaks up.

"You are in an experiment testing the formation of relationships between teens." Relationships? Like, love? Boyfriend and Girlfriend stuff?

"This experiment is what you make of it. Let us go in." She leads the way to the huge oak door, and unlocks it, revealing a living room with huge vaulted ceilings, lavishly furnished, complete with a chandelier. On the coffee table is three copies of the same thing, a form of some sorts. Each has our individual names on it. We sit on the couch, in front of the paper with our name on it, leaving Lydia in the middle.

"Please read." the woman says.

RELATIONSHIP EXPERIMENT RULES AND REGULATIONS:

-AVOID DESTROYING THINGS

-YOU MUST OBEY ALL RULES SET BY THE OTHERS, WRITTEN ON THE "RULES BOARD"

-YOU MAY ONLY BE ALONE FOR 2 HOURS EVERYDAY.

WHEN THIS EXPERIMENT IS FINISHED, YOU MAY TAKE UP TO FIVE ITEMS FROM YOUR INDIVIDUAL DRESSING ROOMS. AS REWARD FOR PARTICIPATING, YOU WILL RECIVE $100,00. FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THESE RULES WILL RESULT IN AN IMMEDIATE REVOKE OF YOUR REWARDS.

SIGNED,

---------------------------------------------------------------

Well, this is even weirder. The woman speaks again,

"Hello, my name is Katie. I am the head of this experiment, and I am hear to introduce you to what you will be doing for the next seven days and six nights. Let us go through this list. The first is obvious, don't deliberately burn down the house. It's okay if you break a dish on accident though, just don't be a nuisance. 

"The next part will be determined by you. These are rules that each of you may pick, activities you will do every day together, at the same time. For example, we must play a card game everyday at ten. that is an example, but you get the point. Each of you gets to pick one rule to enstate. Lucas, why don't you go first?"

"Umm okay. How about everyday we must do each other hair." He laughs. It's a joke. Katie writes it down on a huge piece of poster paper.

"Wait, no I was joking!" Lucas says.

"Well, that's what you said. Owen?"

"Every day we must sit in the hot tub for thirty minutes." I saw a hot tub out the window, and wanted an excuse to soak. As soon as I spoke it, I regretted saying it. That sounded really creepy. Luke squinted his eyes at me like, why dude?

Lydia pipes up."Everyday we must sit down to a formal dinner, in black-tie formal attire." Oh no, isn't that like, prom dresses and cummerbunds? If I had to dress up everyday for dinner, I'm not eating.

"Okay those are the house rules. Now the next one is simple to understand. This is a social experiment, not to see how long someone can stare at a wall before going crazy. You need to interact. Feel free to explore, there will be a car waiting for you at six am one week from now. This house is yours until then."Katie walks down the hallway to the door before she turns around.

"And one more thing, you may not go outside the white fence surrounding the property. Good luck." She says before she walks out.

We all look at each other and laugh. Lydia looks nervous, like really nervous. She flips her red hair over her shoulder and stands to her full five foot two height. 

"Well, shall we look?" She gestures to the grand staircase in the corner of the room. Luke stands and rubs his thighs as we climb the stairs. Windows along the top reveal a small lake surrounded by oak trees and aspen quakes. when we reach the top of the staircase, a long, hardwood hallway reveals several doors with variating signs on them, the first with Lydia's name on it in gold letters. She opens the door, and practically blinds me, the amount of white in the room. Huge windows and matching white shelves bring out the color of the various perfume bottles and books along the wall. The thick plush carpet the purest white I have ever seen.

My attention is diverted to the center of the room when Lydia throws herself on the huge bed, the comforter practically swallowing her whole. She squeals in delight as she hugs a snowy pillow and smiles.