Intertwined

by Cooper Eaton

  “I doubt our own government would do any of those things to us. We have a purpose here, and I don’t think it's that. Plus we have families, they can’t just do whatever they want, we’d be missed.” Steven’s words calmed everyone down.

  “Although, no one would miss you much.” Jack poked at Steven once again which raised a few laughs.

  “Says the one who hasn’t had a real girlfriend.”

  “Haha.” Everyone’s moods began to shift.

  Jack fired back with another joust, but I wasn’t listening. There she was! Her green eyes sparkling under the giant chandeliers caught mine! Her hair, which I could now tell was strawberry blonde, bobbed as she laughed. Her teeth briefly showed as she giggled with the group of girls she sat with her. She’s stunning! I couldn’t help it; I couldn’t take my eyes off her! She kept glancing at me and then looking away.

  Every time she looked my way my heart skipped! I was getting more and more anxious as dinner went on and Jack, Steven, and Chris’s conversation was getting harder and harder to focus on.

  “William, hello? Anyone home?” Chris said as he waved a hand in front of my face.

  “Sorry, sorry something caught my eye.” I replied.

  “What was it?” Chris said with a smile as he, Jack and Steven followed my eyes towards the girl that looked away shyly as the boys’ heads around me began to turn. ¶“Ooooooh, not a what, a who! It’s a girl! It’s the first day and William’s already looking for what’s important!” Chris laughed trying to hold all of the food in his mouth as he continued to shake with laughter along with Jack and Steven.

  I felt a hot flush steam my face. All I could do was shake my head and rest it in my hands hoping that the testers around us would look away.

  It never got old. You’d think 16 year old boys would be less likely to embarrass another guy for liking a girl, but some things never changed.

  When I finally gained the courage to look up again, the group of girls had left and my new friends were still laughing their heads off at my expense. By now, the entire group of testers around us were looking at our group.

  “You guys are idiots.” I only half joked.

  “She was really pretty, too bad she left.” Chris said trying to suppress his laughing, but only managing to laugh even harder.

  “You guys are acting like 12 year olds!” I said trying to change the subject of embarrassment.

  Luckily, a woman walked to the front of the dining room and began speaking. She flipped on her amplifier to be better heard, and her voice instantly filled the room. “Good evening testers. I know today has been hectic and crazy; and out of respect for the overwhelming events that have occurred today, we are giving you the rest of the night off. Please feel free to socialize or go straight to bed. However, we would appreciate it if you would stay on the 2nd floor this evening where the rooms you will be staying in are located. Every door has two names on it. Your luggage has already been dropped off for you. The boys’ rooms are on the east end of the hallway and the girls are on the west. At 10 o’clock you must be back on your designated side. There is no cohabitation after this period of time, if any testers aren’t on their designated sides after 10 there will be consequences. Please, meet back here at 8 in the morning. And from me and all of the other ASTA agents we wish you happy dreams. Goodnight.” She said turning, shutting off her ear amplifier and walking from the room.

  Jack snorted and them mimicked her, “there will be consequences,” To which we all laughed knowing what he meant.

  “Maybe she got us mixed up with the preschoolers they teach down the hall.” Chris said jumping in.

  I spoke up, “What do you guys say, we go find our rooms and then hang out? We can try and meet some new people.”

  “What William really means is let's find our rooms and then try and find that girl that he was staring at earlier.” Chris said nudging me playfully.

  “Maybe I do.” I fired back.

  “Alright then, let's go get William his girl!” Jack said slapping me on the shoulder and standing with the rest of us.

  “Sounds like a plan.” Steven said quietly. “Sounds like a plan.”

  The four of us headed upstairs in search of our new bedrooms for the next couple of weeks. The staircase was old and steep, but we climbed it quickly nonetheless, and found the second floor.

  The hallway where our rooms were located curved around, making a complete circle. Each direction had a small makeshift sign. One said boys and one said girls with arrows pointing down the left and the right. We turned left as directed. Jack and Steven’s rooms were located at the very beginning of the boys’ hallway.

  “How about we get settled in our rooms and meet back out here in half an hour.”

  “Sounds good,” Was the general consensus and the four of us split up to find our own rooms.

  I walked alone down the carpeted hallway. The other three seemed to have found their rooms rather quickly, but I was having trouble finding my own. I almost turned back thinking that somehow I had missed my room when I came to the last door, only to find my name scribbled on a small paper sign.

  I opened the door to a small but clean looking room. It couldn’t have been more than 12ft, by 12 ft. with two beds situated on each side. The ceiling was no taller than 8 ft. and was easily reachable for a 6ft tall boy like myself. The room was quite short compared to the hallways downstairs. On one bed lay my luggage. Directly opposing it was another bed with a pile of luggage on top. Most likely my roommates, but, where is he? I turned only to be greeted by an opening door.

  Out of what looked like a small bathroom walked a small boy with red hair and a scraggly smile. “Hey man, what’s up?” He said puffing out his chest trying to act a little bigger than the tiny frame that stood before me.

  “Nothing much man, how about you?” I returned.

  “Well, I just got here and had to use the facilities. Were you waiting?”

  “No, but thanks for that information. My name’s William, how about you?” I asked politely.

  “The name’s Rasben, and I’m from Clovenheights, I like water hovering, tennis extraordinaire, and meeting new people.”

  I interrupted what sounded like the start of a full history on himself. “That’s cool dude. Sounds interesting. I just forgot I have to meet with some people right now, so maybe we can continue this conversation later.”

  “Oh, yeah, sure, later sounds good.” He said looking down shyly as he realized what I was really saying.

  “Alright man, see you later.” I briefly replied before turning and rushing from the room.

  I feel bad not listening to him, but that would have sucked! Don’t get me wrong, I like meeting new people and I’m not normally a mean person, but I did not want to learn about that kid's entire life. Why is it that everytime I go somewhere I get stuck with the nerds? I hope that kid, Rasben, doesn’t turn out to be an annoyance.

  These thoughts continued to run through my head until I saw Chris ahead waiting outside his door. “William, hurry up! The girls are hanging out in the commons. Jack and Steven are already there, let's go!”

  I didn’t have to be told twice. I practically sprinted alongside Chris to reach what he had called the common room. The room was quite expansive. It was located in the center of the hallway’s circular loop. The room itself was circular; following the curvature of the hallway. It had at least four transparency screens with magnetic hover chairs in front of them. I know where I’ll be hanging out in my free time!

  However, what really caught my eye was the group of girls sitting in a circle giggling and talking over one another. Chris led the way as we wandered over to them.

  Jack and Steven were seated amongst the girls and seemed to be blending in.

  “Mind if we play ladies?” Chris asked trying to sound confident.

  Heads turned our way. “Ooh, more boys!” A girl cried sarcastically.

  “Sure you can, but only if you tell u
s your names first.” The girl, a brunette instructed.

  I was freaking out! I felt like I was gonna have a heart attack, my heart was beating so fast! Did I mention I’m not exactly the best around girls and the fact that they were all extremely pretty didn’t help things. I began speaking with a slight tremor in my voice that I tried to cover up. “I’m William and this is Chris, do you girls have names?” I asked jokingly.

  They all laughed sensing my uneasiness, trying to play along with my small joke. “I’m Shelby, and this is…” she said gesturing to the next girl in line, and just like that they all began repeating their names. “Hannah, Olivia, Annabelle, Isabella, Mia, Megan, Amelia, Zoe, Lily.” and then the last girl in line, the girl I had seen at dinner spoke, “and my name’s Jessica.”

  What a beautiful name, to match such a beautiful girl.

  She continued to talk seeming to take control of the conversation away from the other girl whose name was Shelby.

  “If you guys wanna start sometime today, you can go ahead and sit down.” Her smile helped thaw some of my fears.

  I looked over at Chris and could tell that he was just as nervous as I was, but we were in too deep, we couldn’t escape now! I walked over and Jessica and Hannah scuttled apart so that I sat right next to Jessica!

  Sitting down, my heart was beating a million miles a minute! I tried to control myself, but as soon as my eyes met Jessica’s I could tell that she could see right through me. She knew! She knew I was scared out of my mind!

  The girl on my left, Hannah, began giving the game’s instructions. “The game Guess Who, is a getting to know people game. Everyone says three things about themselves, and then everyone else tries to guess which fact is false. Ready? Good, William, would you like to start?” She said glancing over at me.

  I felt everyone's eyes turn towards me waiting for my answer. I had only played this game once, and was still pretty confused but I had to go or I’d look like an idiot.

  “I play basketball, I like cats, and I’m a ladies man.” I smirked.

  “Oooh.” The girls turned towards the three boys as if expecting them to know the answer even though we had barely just met over an hour ago.

  Chris spoke first, completely guessing and hoping for the best. “Is it the cat one?”

  I love cats, but the pressure had become too much. I couldn’t turn back now and say that I liked cats, that wouldn’t be good for my image. “Correct.” I responded. “I don’t like cats.”

  “Ahhh, you stink,” Jessica whispered to me. “I love cats. They’re the best!”

  Are you kidding me! That’s just my luck. Say something perfect and then wimp out and get screwed! I wished so badly I could change my answer to my real one, but it was too late now, I was stuck with making the wrong decision and missing a great opportunity with Jessica.

  Next up in the game was Jessica. “My three facts are: I come from a rich family, I did very well in school, and my brother made it into higher learning.”

  Shelby was first to attempt guessing the falsity. “Your brother didn’t make it into higher learning?” She guessed.

  “No, he did, that’s not the right answer. Anyone else want to take a shot?”

  I don’t know what I was thinking, but I blurted out the first thing that came to my head. “I’m guessing you didn’t do very well in school?” I finished and instantly regretted it.

  The entire room fell silent. I heard an audible gasp from someone. I felt a hot blush burn my cheeks as all eyes focused on me! “I mean…I mean…What I meant to say was…I didn’t mean that the way it sounded…” I blubbered, trying to make some attempt at recovering from the hole I had just dug myself. “What I meant to say was that you’re very pretty, and I thought you might not be...” I trailed off again, realizing my horrible mistake!

  “What? You thought that just because I’m pretty, I must be a stupid blonde? You thought that just because I look the way I do, I had to have come from a rich family?” Her voice rose with sudden anger.

  I think I hit a nerve!

  Her face blushed a deep red with a combination of embarrassment and anger. “Let me tell you something, Mr…Whoever you are! I haven’t lived a groomed life, as you seem to believe! I’ve worked for everything I have, how dare you insult my intelligence!” Her voice raised to a volume that attracted every eye in the room. “How dare you!” She yelled, and with that, she was gone.

  She turned on her heels and fled from the room!

  Once she left, all eyes remained on me. Every girl seemed to be daring me to say something, so they could shove it back down my throat.

  “What was that all about? Looks like somebody didn’t get enough sleep.” Chris tried joking.

  “You boys better leave,” Shelby instructed coldly.

  “Sorry,” I whispered, barely loud enough for anyone to hear.

  I slowly stood, finding my legs of rubber and walked shakily from the room. I hadn’t gotten more than 15 ft. when Chris called out to me. “Hey, hold up, Will!”

  Turning, I saw that following him with heads hung were Steven and Jack. “What are you guys doing, you can keep playing with the girls, it won’t offend me,” I said, still trying to find my voice.

  “Not like that, they were all super pissed!” Chris said, throwing a tiny chuckle into his voice. “Man, you sure screwed that up. I don’t think you could have done a better job if you’d tried.”

  “I’m sorry, guys. I know I ruined the night for you. I didn’t mean to offend her like that, I was so nervous I didn’t really think about what I was saying.” I stumbled with a slight hitch in my voice.

  “Your good, man, it happens to everybody. Girls are like that. Granted you did manage to say every wrong thing possible, but you’ll get over it.” Jack offered.

  “Maybe I should try going and apologizing to her.”

  “No, do not do that, whatever you do. That would be the very worst thing possible. She was super worked up. If you tried to talk to her right now, we might not ever see you again breathing.” Steven joked.

  “I can’t believe I managed to make that big of a fool out of myself. I screwed myself over pretty good.”

  “That you did, that you did. But you’ll get over it. Plus, now you know that Jessica has a crazy streak and you got out before things ever got started.” Chris once again tried to reassure me, but his words, unbeknownst to him, only managed to cut deeper.

  She had acted kind of crazy, but she was so beautiful, and the way she defended herself was astonishing. Now that I couldn’t have the forbidden fruit, I only wanted it that much more. I really wish I wasn’t such a screw-up!

  Chapter 2: Simulator

  I got to breakfast the next morning trying to keep my head down and hoping I wouldn’t run into Jessica. I headed towards where Chris was sitting and arrived at the same time as Jack and Steven.

  “Hey guys, what’s up?” I asked, hoping no one would broach the subject of last night.

  “Your good man, we’ve all been in that situation. Just calm down.” Chris said, seemingly reading my thoughts.

  “I’d rather not talk about it.”

  “You choice, man, just saying it’s really not that big of a deal. Just try not to think about it.”

  I felt even worse about last night's events which I had run through in my head over and over again. No matter how I thought about it, the same thoughts of me being a total idiot always surfaced.

  These thoughts continued to run through breakfast. I don’t think I tasted one thing I ate. Jack, Chris, and Steven all talked, however, I remained silent. Finally, Jack turned to me. “You alright, William?”

  “I don’t know what I should—”

  “Please follow me!” Yelled the woman from last night.

  Without waiting around, she took off. Everyone stood, completely confused, and began to follow. Breakfast had officially ended.

  The woman led us down the large hallway just outside the dini
ng room, down a small branching one and into a large room with many seats in upward rows.

  “Please, take a seat.” She instructed politely.

  Leaving the vast dining room and entering the tiny lecture room we had been directed to was a quite a contrast. Whereas the dining room had been large and completely open, this room was small, compact, and smelled of teens.

  I followed Jack, Steven, and Chris towards the front row. And there she was!

  She was sitting right in front of me, and I felt our eyes meet. I tried to pull my gaze but seemed caught.

  Then I realized that her eyes had a cold tint to them.

  “Guys, do you think we could sit somewhere else?” I asked.

  “What? Why…” And then Chris saw who I was looking at and got what I was saying. “Yeah, sure no problem, let's go sit near the back.” But just as he said it, a tall, distinguished looking man walked briskly in through a side door, “Will everyone please take your seats so we may begin!” He commanded to the few of us testers who were left standing.

  Chris gave me a look of apology, as the three of them sat, and I was forced to follow. I sat slowly, taking my agonizing time.

  The man flipped on his amplifier and began waving his hands for silence. “I would like to thank you all for choosing to come to ASTA. My name is Mr. Blackwood, and I am the head of this project. You may call me headmaster as I will be directing you and leading you throughout your time here. We are very excited to have you! This morning I will be talking to you about what exactly will be happening over the next few of weeks. I’m sure you are all extremely curious as to what happened yesterday and what is to come. I am happy to answer any and all questions after I am done speaking.” He paused briefly waiting as a few hands in the audience lowered. “What happened yesterday was not a trick. It was, in fact, real. You were all operated on and now have nano apparatuses. These mechanisms now locate below you skulls are vital to what is coming next.”

  The man’s words trailed off, because no one was listening anymore. “Wait, what!” “What did he say?” “In our necks!” “This is outrageous!” voices from the crowd emerged.