Beyond Control

11

"Well, what are we waiting for?" I asked the group. "Let's go on a tour!" 

"Yeah!" Xavian exclaimed loudly, pumping his fist in the air. After seeing that we didn't react as he did, he hesitantly lowered it. "Oh, too much? My bad." 

Rolling my eyes, I threw my fist in the air and shouted, earning confused looks from a few strangers. "YEAH!" 

Emily and Xavian joined me, giving my mind some reassurance that everything would be okay. We laughed momentarily before Xavian cleared his throat and motioned across the street to the building.

"Shall we?" 

I bowed my head and spoke in a foreign accent. "I believe we shall." 

We walked across the street and made our way to the front entrance. Stopping short of the doors, I sighed and eyed them. "It's not too late to turn around." 

"I know, but we need to do this," Emily stated with a twitch of her lip. "We can leave if we get a bad feeling." 

I slowly nodded and put my hand on the handle. "Here goes nothing." 

After walking through two sets of doors, a large lobby with a receptionist desk was what we were greeted to. The walls were golden with multiple sofas and leather chairs sitting against them on the left side of the room. There was also an ample-sized TV that was currently displaying the news. Under it was a coffee maker sitting on a table that had a quarter-full pot sitting in it.

"Wow," I mumbled. "This isn't what I was expecting." 

"Yeah," Emily muttered beside me. "I didn't know a government establishment could be so...pretty." 

Meanwhile, the receptionist looked up from her desk and noticed us. She frowned. "Are you here for the tour, or do you have an appointment with someone?" 

"Oh, uh, we're here for the tour," I answered nervously as we stepped closer to the desk. 

The lady shuffled through a few papers until she found the desired folder. She looked up at us after glancing through it, and there was a noticeable glint in her eyes. What was she thinking about? 

"Right this way." 

Standing up, she motioned us toward the area of the room with the sofas and chairs. We followed her and sat down. 

"I just need a little information from the three of you if that's okay." 

We glanced at each other before I subtly nodded. "Sure." 

"My name is Nicole, by the way," she said with a hand on her chest. "I'm the receptionist and one of the secretaries here. I'll also be your tour guide. I need your name and birthday for right now."

"Elijah Bell," I started, and Nicole started writing in her folder. Her dark brown hair slipped over her shoulder. "February twenty-sixth." 

She looked up, ready for the next person. Emily cleared her throat. "Emily Jackson. March fourth." 

"Xavian Murdock. June twelfth." 

Nicole noticeably furrowed her eyebrows but kept her composure. After a few seconds, she swiftly stood up and put on a smile. "Alright! Let me run these through the system and we'll get started as soon as I'm finished." 

 "Sounds good," Emily said with a kind smile.

Just before Nicole left the room, the front doors opened and revealed what looked to be a mother that looked to be in her late twenties and a son who was no more than eight years old. The boy looked very excited as he looked around in awe.