Alternate: 300 years into the future

Chapter 16

Alyssa's POV.
I woke up to find myself asleep in Zion's office.
I was seated in one of the chairs and he was asleep on the sofa across the room.
I got up and sighed. Why does this feel like a one night stand?
Don't worry, nothing happened.
Only a make out session that lasted a few hours.
I looked down at him sleeping peacefully. I wish I could just wake him up and kick him. My goal was not to fall for someone who came from a different century.
I reached over and pressed the button on his desk to unlock the door.
I slipped out of the room and closed the door behind me, being careful not to wake him up.
"Alyssa. There you are. I was looking for you everywhere." I almost jumped out of my skin when I heard Queno's voice.
"Oh, yeah - sorry. I was busy." I said and turned away.
"Busy? In Zion's office all night? Is he in there?"
"No. He's not." I lied. Could you blame me, though? As if I would admit to her that I just had a steamy evening with the captain after he was angry at me. That wouldn't really sound right.
She didn't even notice I was lying.
"Oh. Well, why were you in there?" She asked me.
"I wanted to ask him something, but he wasn't there so I waited and ended up falling asleep."
I'm really good at thinking of lies on the spot.
"Do you know where he is?"
"Um..-" I began before the doors opened behind me.
What a bad timing for him to enter the scene.
"Oh. Zion." Queno looked at me confused. "I thought you said-"
"I'm going my room now." I turned and walked away.
Nobody understand how much I'm cursed when I get myself into really awkward situations.
"Wait-" Queno ran after me.
Fuck. What does she want now?
"You said Zion wasn't in there."
"I forgot."
Seriously? I forgot? Forget about what I said about thinking of lies on the spot. You're useless, Alyssa.
"Stop walking so fast." Queno stopped me and turned to face me.
"What happened?" She asks me, looking into my eyes.
"Nothing." I lied.
"Something happened. Oh my god, I knew it. You slept with him, didn't you?"
"Shhh, Queno - keep your voice down. I didn't sleep with him, for fuck sake." I whispered.
"Then what happened?" She asked me.
"I kissed him. But nothing too seriously or anything." I had to turn away when I was saying that. I didn't want her to see me smiling like a schoolgirl.
I opened the door to my temporary room and sat down on the bed.
"That's great, Alyssa!" Queno entered the room and sat down beside me.
"I really don't see how that's great. Look, you can't tell anyone. Not Spire and especially not Nyla."
"Don't worry, I can keep a secret. This is great." She smiled.
I tried to hide how happy I was too .
"I hope that Zion gets over Dolly. I mean, I know the whole situation is bad but he really needed a distraction." she laid on the bed and stared up at the ceiling.
My smile faded. Is it bad that I completely forgot about his Maybe- Dead girlfriend?
"Yeah, great." I laid beside her and sighed, hoping she won't hear the shake in my voice because I'm sad at the fact that I don't want to be just a distraction.

*

"..Meeting adjourned." Zion said, grabbing the papers on his desk and standing up.
Everyone got out of their seats and grabbed their stuff and I stood up after them.
Just as I turned to walk out of the door, I heard him clear his throats and call me name.
"Can I speak with you for a moment?" he almost whispered.
Queno, across the table was ever so obviously trying to hide her smile and Nyla rolled her eyes and scoffed.
"Sure." I sat back down and faced him. He gestured for the rest to leave the room.
Not really a good sign.
He cleared his threat again and looked down at the table.
"Alyssa,-" he began but I interrupted him.
"Zion, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."
Of course I already knew he was going to give that big speech. I've heard that speech before. The, 'We just wouldn't work.'speech and the 'it's not you, it's me.' I know he would just tell me not to talk about it and pretend it never happened. I didn't want to pretend it didn't happen, though. I couldn't stop replaying it over and over again in my head - it that wrong?
"Alyssa, we don't have to talk about it." He spoke softly and looked at me into my eyes. I didn't even notice he was moving closer to me.
You know what? Maybe he was replaying the moment again in his head too. How great would that be?
I smiled idiotically while I stared at his lips and he stared at mine. Our faces, again, were only a couple of inches away from each other.
Maybe it could happen again.
Suddenly, someone cleared their throat from the doorway.
Maybe not.
He almost jumped back, surprised. Hero was leaning on the doorway, holding files and staring at us as if nothing had happened.
"Bad time, captain?" Hero asked Zion, tilting his head.
Zion looked at me, as if my answer would be the one that would go and I looked down at my hands.
Zion looked back up to Hero and he shook his head.
"No, Hero. What is it?" Zion stood up and walked to the door.
They were almost whispering about something. I couldn't care less, I just kinda feel disappointed that I didn't get a second make out session.
I stood up and walked towards the two of them.
"I'm gonna go." I spoke quietly, but they both turned their heads facing me.
Zion smiled slightly and nodded his head and Hero raised an eyebrow.
"I can take you back to your room, if you'd like."
Take me back to my room? Dude, I'm not a child. But then again, I've gotten lost in this maze before.
I was about to argue with why I couldn't go with him, but he interrupted me in my tracks.
"Come on, Alyssa." He placed one of his arms around my shoulder. "Let's go for a walk."
I turned to face Zion but he just shrugged in confusion.
What a kind of expected turn of events.

*
"Getting cozy with our captain?" Hero smiled at me as soon as the door closed.
I could feel my face turning red. This guy really doesn't know where he crosses the line.
"The silent treatment? Why? You think Zion would treat you better than I would?"
What a douche. I rolled my eyes and sighed.
"Hero, just - don't tell anyone. Okay?"
I felt as if I was keeping a god-forsaken secret. It's only like, my second week here and I'm already being an idiot.
"Don't worry. My lips are sealed." He smiled again at me.
You know what's weird about this guy? One moment he's being a weirdo and I want to punch him, then the next second he's being all seductive and smiling and I really hate it.
Does that make sense?
"I'm gonna go to my room now. Thanks." I looked down at my feet and turned to walk away.
He grabbed my hand and spun me around. You know, like what they do in cheesy rom-coms? Exactly.
"Leaving without a kiss? If he can get one, why can't I?"
His grip, obviously, was way too tight for me to just push him off.
He laughed and let go of my wrist.
"Jeez, Alyssa. I was only kidding. You looked so scared for a second there, I thought you might have an accident."
You know what? Maybe I've already had an accident. Asshole.
"You're so cute when you're mad." He winked and walked away.
He's so irritating. He didn't even walk me to my room.