The Love Among Us

Chapter 8: What's Going On?

I found Dawn and Shae in comms. "Oh, there you are,"

"Oh hey," Dawn walked a few steps in my direction before tossing me something.

Caught off guard, I barely caught it. "A brush? Where did you find one?" I asked.

"One of the employees had one she said we could borrow, and we were about to come out and share the wealth when you came in," Shae explained.

I nodded as I worked the small travel brush through my hair. "Where are the other two?"
"Other who?" Dawn and Shae finished walking up to me. Dawn adjusted her dress, "it's hot in here," She complained in a mumble.

"Ow," I whispered when I ripped through a tangle, deciding to ignore her correct murmurings, "um, Opal and Nick."

"Uh, no we haven't, but we can go look," Shae started walking.

We checked a few of the rooms immediately around comms, like shields and storage, but then an alarm sounded.

The lights (the ones that before were slowly rotating and noticeably silent, were now rapidly spinning and blaring.)

"I thought we were done with that," I said, exasperated.

I groaned as Dawn and Shae rushed to the cafeteria, "Guys!" I said hurrying after them.
Mostly everyone was in the cafeteria, but after a few minutes Opal and Nick walked in, "What's going on?" Opal practically had to shout to be heard over the wailing alarm.

I looked at their intertwined hands, and burst into laughter.

So that's what they were doing.

"Where were you two?" Sue asked, but I'm guessing they didn't hear her (or chose not to) because Opal just repeated her question.

A few of us shrugged and I got tired of standing as the alarm broke my eardrums.

I left the table and went to comms, I walked in and noticed the door to the employees room was open.

The shy intern from before was waving her arm in invitation to me.

I rushed inside and someone brushed up behind me, I glanced back.

Owen.

And Adam, and Thalia, and Shae, and Opal, and Dawn, and Daniel.

But... Owen was right behind me.

I brushed out the butterflies that webbed up my stomach and felt slightly anxous as we flooded the room.

"What's going on!" I yelled over the alarm.

The brave employee who spoke to me before yelled to me, "We had to get your attention somehow!"

"Turn of the alarm!"

She laughed and switched a lever, the screeching alarm died and though the lights still flashed, the spreading headache was already receding.
I whacked Owen in the arm, "Will you go ask everyone else to join us?"

"I will," Adam walked out of the room.

Adam needed to stop interfering with my plans to get Owen further away from me.

My minds rational way of thinking about Owen and his treacherous actions was always thwarted by the butterflies that filled my stomach whenever he was around.

"While we wait for them to come I guess I can fill you in, we've gotten contact with someone from the outside." She said.

I rushed forward, "Where, when, why, how?"

"Slow down Kid," (I almost punched her) "Eve is on the phone with my boss as we speak."

"Who is Eve?" Thalia stepped toward us, dragging Daniel with her.

The employee nodded toward a short blonde girl sitting at a desk.

I walked over to her to hear her better.

"...there are 22 players, and 5 of us employees."
I heard a deep male voice rumble something, Eve responded, "We're coming up on our third night in here."

I waited patiently (vaugly noting that the other players had walked in) until she finished. She hung up the phone and turned to all of us.

"There has been a nation wide power shutdown, the cause is yet to be unknown, and the power that's stored they are trying to conserve until they figure out how to get power back."

"What does that mean for us?" I asked.

She took a moment before she shrugged slowly, "He said they were doing everything they could to fix this, there are 2 other sets of players trapped in their maps."

"So... We're still stuck?"

"For the time being, yes."

A handful of us groaned. I walked out of the room which was heating up fast. I walked into shields, the coolest room on the 'ship'.

I sat down next to the imposter door. I wanted to go home.

I heard footsteps, and then I felt someone sit next to me.

"We'll get through this," Adam said.

I started blubbering, "But what if we never do, and what if we're stuck in here forever, and what if we die here, and what if they never get us out, and what if the power is out forever and we can never return to civilization, what if the people out there start to revert back to acting like cavemen, and what if we all have to start our own society, and what if-"

Adam cut me off by gently grabbing my cheeck and turning my head toward him, "Hey, it's going to be okay,"

My head still in his hand, I started blubbering again, "but what we die in here? What if-"

This time, Adam cut me off with a kiss.

Woah buddy.

My instincts rolled in and told me to play it cool.

He ended the kiss fast. "I have to go." I said quickly.

I rushed out and ran to the bathroom, the one place where no boy could follow.

Adam just kissed me.

I mean, Adam is nice and all, but I've never thought of him like that...

Why haven't I?

I rethought all my interactions with him. I guess it started when the silent alarm went off.

But he never dropped any hints!

Or maybe I wasn't looking for them...

I wasn't sure...

But why didn't I notice them?

I could only think of one reason.

"But why?!" I said to myself.

Because, inner thoughts,

You were always preoccupied... With someone else.