The Facility | ✔️

Chapter Sixteen

Song above is explicit and lyrics could frighten younger readers... I think? hehe... 

I sat in an uncomfortable chair between Phil and Shawn in a long, elevated room that none of us had seen before. The walls were plain white, the ceiling was a pretty light grey and the floor was marble. It was extremely clean and the only things in the room were us 48 students, the two doctors, 48 chairs and a tray with a scanner. 

Dr Weston pushed the tray outside of the room and the door closed. 

Dr Demonico gave us a smile, probably meant to be reassuring, but it chilled me to the bones. Shawn rubbed my lower back, to soothe me. 

I smiled gratefully up at him and then turned my attention back to Dr Demonico. 

"First things first," she said, chuckling, "Any volunteers?"

No one had a hand up straight away. But, Rose's hand slowly lifted, "I-I'll go..." 

I heard her mutter as she went to walk out, "Seeing as no one else will..."

She came back in a minute later, and an odd sensation tingled my nose. Sniffing, like everyone else, I caught a hint of freesia and... orange? It was quite a pretty smell, actually. I heard two loud beeps from opposite corners of the room, and two guys flushed in the face. 

Dr Demonico stifled a smile and, presumably, wrote their names down on a clipboard. 

Rose moved and sat in her old chair - the smell quickly fading away. Rose looked quite pleased with herself, a small smile settling on her lips. 

"Any more volunteers?" Dr Demonico asked.

"I'll go?" Emily smirked and stood up, exiting the room. 

I steadily prepared myself for the onslaught of guys that I was sure would beep for Em. Once, we went to the movies - first and last time we did so - and four different guys came up and asked her out. 

She came back in and she gave out a smell of passionfruit. 

I held in a laugh as five beeps came through the room. I glanced to my brother next to me, with slight disappointment that he didn't feel anything for my friend. If anyone was going to date Shawn, I'd want it to be-

Beep.

I jumped at the alertness of Shawn's microchip. 

Shawn glared silently at the ground in front of him, running a hand through his hair, flushed in his cheeks. Emily gave out a small, smug smile to me as she sat down in her chair at the end of the room. 

A few girls in the room began grumbling at this. 

Phil Quan, next to me, was the next one to get up and come back in. Olivia let out a beep almost immediately and most of us burst into laughter at her chilled out reaction to it. 

"Next?" 

No one volunteered. At all.

"If no one volunteers, I'll have to pick someone," she quietly threatened. 

Next thing I know... Christian is walking out of the room. 

I stiffened in my chair. Please, don't beep. Please, don't beep. Please, don't beep...

Christian walked back in and my nose filled with the most delicious scent of a campfire and the woods. I glanced up at him and suddenly, I forgot how to breathe. He looked... he looked better than I'd ever seen him. Crap. I'd forgotten to-

Beep.

I froze in my seat. That came from me... That was my microchip. I felt my cheeks warm. I'd just... I'd just... I'd just beeped for Christian? No. That wasn't the plan. No. No. No. No.