Priory // h.s.

chapter eleven

Mondays are never my favorite day, and this one was no exception. As Reyna and I get to work at our shared lab table, I'm all blurry-eyed and messy-haired. I know I look like something that crawled out of the nearest trash compound, but Reyna's polite enough not to mention it. Instead, she hands me our assignment for the day and starts preparing the test tubes and beakers we're going to need.

Yawning, I pop a mint into my mouth and shift it between my teeth as I join her.

We're halfway through our first test of the day when Maura arrives at our table. Both Reyna and I look up at our supervisor in surprise, wiping gloved hands on the white of our labcoats. "Can we help you?" Reyna asks politely.

Maura swings her head towards me, her steely gaze spearing me like the tip of a knife. "Just wondering if one of you could dash up to Lab 2 really quickly and deliver this message," she says, holding out an envelope.

"Amber, you can do it if you want," Reyna tells me. "I'll finish this experiment up and fill in the data charts."

Nodding at her, I take the envelope Maura's holding. "Give it to the Lab 2 supervisor, I'm guessing?" I clarify.

Giving me a brisk jerk of her head, Maura says, "That's correct. Make sure he gets it."

Slapping my hand to my head in a snappy salute, I turn tail and dash off, eager to escape the gruel of Maura's scrutiny. I dash into the elevator and get off at the floor just above us, where Lab 2 is located. Every intern looks up as I walk into the labratory, eyebrows going up. I'm sure they're wondering what a puny Lab One like me is doing up here.

Holding my head high with a confidence I don't feel in the least, I stride through the room and over to the big desk nestled at the back. A quick scan around myself reveals no sign of Jillian; she must be off somewhere else, maybe getting supplies--or making out with Kenneth in a closet, as I don't see him either. 

"Um, excuse me? Are you the Lab 2 supervisor?" I inquire of the podgy man seated behind the desk.

Pushing his stringy white hair out of his face, he vigorously nods. "That'd be me: Adam Billings. How may I help you?"

"Maura--that is, the Lab 1 supervisor--wanted me to give you this." I proffer the envelope and watch as he takes it in his plump pink fingers.

"All right," he says, scanning the cover of the envelope quickly. I crane my neck to make out the spidery writing inked across it, and read the word Private. That only stirs my curiosity further, but I'm glad I didn't have the gall to tear it open and try to figure out what it said. I can only imagine the kind of trouble I would get in. "Thank you," Mr. Billings says, a clear dismissal.

Turning, I reach the door of Lab 2; just as I step out, another intern tries to get in. We slam into each other with a collective oof! Looking up to tell the person to watch where they're going, I falter slightly as I find my gaze hooking onto a pair of brilliant green eyes. 

He speaks first, demanding, "What are you doing here?"

"So polite."

Harry blows out a gusty sigh. "Seriously; you're a Lab One."

I decide it's no point playing word games--I'm not in the mood anyway. "I just came here to deliver a message to Mr. Adam Billings from the Lab 1 supervisor."

"Ah," he says quietly, a speculative look on his face. I can practically read his thoughts: he's wondering what the message is. 

"Well, I should get back downstairs. 'Scuse me," I say, moving to walk past him.

Harry blocks my path quickly. "Wait! Did you, um, did you consider what we talked about?"

I blink slowly at him. "What did we talk about?"