The Second Level

Chapter Nineteen- Naomi

"There they are!" Edina shouted. I saw Gabe and Augusta running as fast as they could toward the exit, about twenty guards following them. All the speed training we had been forced to do was the only thing keeping them alive. 

I hit the button, letting the two of them dive under, but pulled my hand off before the guards could get through. The barrier, though, would only keep them for a second. They were guards who also had buttons to remove the barrier. 

Without slowing down, Augusta screamed, "Run!" Emma, Bernard, Alex, Edina, a woman who had followed Edina out of the compound, and myself began to run after them. The guards chased after us. Gabe and Augusta, who both led us away, made sharp twists and turn and even doubled back a few times. We stayed in the thick trees, jumping over brush. After about six miles, just when I felt like I could not run anymore, we stopped. 

"This should be good." Everyone collapsed to the ground at Emma's words. Sometime during our run, the sun had set. It was now completely dark with little moonlight filtering through the trees. Everyone began to greet the others. Gabe hugged his older sister and then, to my surprise, me. 

"Thanks for getting her out safely," he whispered in my ear as he embraced me. I was too stunned to reply, but my heart started to beat a mile a minute and my skin tingled where he touched it. 

There wasn't any food, so we couldn't have dinner. That didn't really matter, though, because the others were too tired to do anything except for crash and sleep all night long. However, I didn't feel that tired, so I volunteered for first watch. Edina volunteered with me. 

I sat down on the ground, leaning against a large oak, and Edina sat next to me. The stars that we could see shined brightly. My sword lay open on the ground next to me, ready for use if need be. Although I was pretty sure we had lost the Lynches, it didn't hurt to be ready. 

We sat silently until the breathing of the others became even as they fell asleep. 

"So," Edina began, "What's going on between you and Gabe." I was suddenly glad that it was night because my face turned beet red in embarrassment. 

"Nothing" I said defensively, pulling strands of grass up from the forest floor.

"Naomi, that's a lie, and I know it. You two have history."

"When we were nine, I almost broke his arm. More recently, I've wanted to kiss him." Edina squealed and then, not wanting to be heard, shoved a hand over her mouth. 

"I knew it! You two are perfect together." With that, she stood up and walked to the other end of our campsite, leaving me wondering how she figured out that I had a crush on Gabe. 

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The rest of the watch past slowly as there wasn't any action. I entertained myself by pulling up stands of grass and twisting them between my fingers, moving from side to side in the cool night air, and thinking about Gabe. Edina's words, "You two are perfect together" kept floating around my brain. When my shift ended, I wasn't really tired, so I decided to stay up for another one. 

"Good night," yawned Edina as she lay down on the forest floor to sleep. 

"Night."

"Are you staying up?" Gabe asked as walked over to me. My heart pounding in my chest. 

"Maybe. I was thinking of."

"Cool." Annoyingly, his response didn't tell me his feelings. Was he happy that I was staying up? Was he annoyed? Did he like me back? I had no idea. 

We were standing next to each other, which made it simple to do what I had been wanting to. I leaned over and, on my tip-toes, planted a light kiss on Gabe's lips. 

"I've been wanting to do that for a while," I said as I pulled away. He didn't answer, but he dipped me down lightly and pressed his lips against mine. I closed my eyes and kissed him back. 

Sparks flew. Fireworks exploded in my head.

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Author's Note: I know that I said the next chapters would be longer, but I really wanted to end this chapter like this. Romance! Also, the next chapter will have a little bit of language(dam-with-an-n, a-word, heck[but with two L's instead of the ck], maybe the s-word). It's not that much, so I hope it doesn't bother anyone. If so, I'm really sorry! Right before I post the chapter, I'll come back here and tell everyone where the cursing is(it's going to be in only one or two spots) so you can kind of skip those parts if it really bothers you. 

XXX

Naomi