On The Surface

Chapter 15

Kayla woke Missy up and brushed and braided her hair. Missy had been staying with the Greers since Jason left for Columbia. They tried to eat breakfast, but they were both too excited. Today was a big day. Kayla walked Missy to school and promised she'd be back to pick her up at 11:00 am. She headed to the kitchen and tied on her apron, planning to help with lunch prep. She figured keeping busy would make the time pass more quickly. Checking her watch every 5 minutes didn't help though.

At last, it was almost 11:00 o'clock. She washed her hands, hung up her apron and left for the school. She found Missy waiting in the corridor, dancing from one foot to the other.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

Missy nodded, a huge smile spread across her face. Kayla took her hand and they began to walk. They passed through the tube that led to the Gathering Hall, crossed to the other side and headed for the moon pool. As they entered the room, the transport was just breaking the water. They waited, fidgeting while it was secured and the doors were opened.

Jason exited the transport and scanned the group. When he spotted Missy, he waved and rushed around the pool to where they were standing. He scooped her into his arms and hugged her with all his might. She hugged him back just as hard.

"How's she been?" he asked Kayla.

"Great. She's doing well in school and is becoming quite the little baker. She made a batch of chocolate chip cookies by herself last week. They were as good as mine." Her eyes kept wandering to the door of the transport, where people were slowly unloading. They were new arrivals, selected to replace those who had died from the virus.

"How were midterms?" she asked.

"Not as bad as I thought they'd be. I won't have my grades until next week, but I'm pretty confident. I've still got to put the final touches on my Physics paper, but I can turn it in by email. My prof is pretty cool about that."

Kayla watched the group disembark, a small crease between her brows, and she gnawed on her lip. Then her eyes lit up and her face stretched into a smile. She excused herself and pushed her way through the crowd toward the transport.

There, tugging the largest suitcase she had ever seen, was Abby. Once Kayla cleared the throng of people heading for the exit, she began to run. Abby let go of the suitcase and rushed toward her. Kayla grabbed her and kissed her, not caring who was watching. She was finally there, and that's all Kayla cared about. 

******Author's Note: Thank you for taking this journey with me. It was a lot of fun getting to know Kayla and Jason and Abby. I hope you enjoyed it, too. If you haven't yet, please give it a vote if you enjoyed it. 

Out of curiousity, would you be interested in reading more about Kayla and the underwater city of Atlantis? Maybe see what life is like for Jason at Columbia? Find out more about how Atlantis came to be? Drop me a line and let me know. And if you'd rather see something completely new, tell me that!*******