Be Brave | Zach Mitchell [OLD VERSION]

[02]

"It's adorable."

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Elle was following behind Gray in the innovation centre, Zach further behind, not caring enough about what was around him. She reached him as he stopped in front of a game that allowed you to identify the different bases that made up DNA. 

"Cytosine, guanine, adenine and..." Gray trailed off. 

"Thymine," Elle finished, pressing the final button for him.

 "The same four things in everything that ever lived," Gray spoke. 

Zach finally reached the pair.

"Hey, don't wander off, all right? Mom's not paying me for babysitting," he complained.

"Well, Claire's paying me, so shut up and let Gray enjoy this," she argued. 

"How about you-" Zach began but was cut off. 

"Gray, is that you?" Claire called out. She was on her phone but quickly hung up. 

"Aunt Claire," Gray yelled, running towards her and embracing the woman. 

"Hi. Oh, my gosh, you're so- you're so sweet," she laughed. 

Gray let go and Claire turned to Zach. 

"Whoa, Zach. Last time I saw you, you were like," Claire began, holding her up to show how tall he was before, it was around the same height as Gray. "That must've been, what? Three, four years ago?"

"Uh, seven. Seven years. But, you know, close," he bit back, the annoyance in his voice obvious. 

There was an awkward silence between them as Elle frowned. She felt bad for Zach even though she didn't like him. 

"So I see you already got your wristbands and this is for food," she spoke up, handing them an envelope full of money. "And Elle here is going to take great care of you and make sure you have fun. She's super sweet and she'll be with you until I'm finished with work."

"You're not coming with us?" Gray asked, disappointed. 

"Oh, um, I really wish that I could, but tomorrow I can take you into the control room, show you behind the scenes and all of that. That's- that's gonna be cool, right?" She replied, glancing to Elle for reassurance. She sent her a smile, shrugging, unsure of what to say.

Zach rolled his eyes while Gray glanced to Elle. Claire's phone then went off. 

"Okay, so I will see you tonight at, uh," Claire paused, thinking. "Six."

Elle sighed as she corrected her, "don't forget you have the-"

"Right, of course. I will see you tonight at eight. What time do you go to sleep? Or do you go to sleep at different times?" She questioned, gesturing between the two.