Masters led us to a long hallway where there were rooms and other hallways. She gave us maps and told us where we would be working. Throughout the tour, I just took all of it in, and told myself that if 8-year-old me knew where I was, she would be proud.
Finally she led us to a lab where she said we would be checking over, well, obvious space related things. Internships are so much fun, I thought sarcastically. When the other scientists in that lab told us about the RASC, my mind wandered onto 2 separate yet obvious thoughts.
The first point was that I could be working here for a few years of my life, as that is how I heard university internships worked. The second point was that I didn't know whether I expected to be the only one there, or whether I expected 10 more interns. Space was either a more popular field than I thought, or the rest of them went to NASA! I joked to myself.
We had our first break, and I got out my phone and logged onto a chess app. Suddenly a group of adults nearby burst into laughter. The thought that adults sat around, joking like that, like we used to in grade school made me smile.
I got distracted when I felt someone sit next to me. "I guess we're the only ones here that aren't half of anyone's age, huh?" Alonzo said nervously. "Can I sit here? It's weird not knowing anyone."
I find that there's a special joy in being nice to strangers. "Sure sit down! And what if you're 80 and you're co-worker is 40?" I joked.
He smiled slightly. "If you're 80, you're retired. But what I meant was..." His voice faltered. God, he was so nervous. It was adorable. He wouldn't even look at me!
"I know what you meant. What do you think they think about us?" I asked.
"Hmmm, maybe they just want us for the publicity. Or maybe they want us because they think we can be valuable and helpful interns," he replied. I sensed the sarcasm in his voice. He finally looked at me.
"Yes, we can definitely add some value to the company. After all, youths like us have infinite potential," I said in my mock voice. "So...did you always want to work here?"
"If everyone here is closed and hateful, then it doesn't matter," he said.
"We're being so mean! For all we know they could be so friendly that rainbows shoot out of their butts at night," I said. He laughed at my comment...I liked the low, sustained sound. He didn't even have an exceptionally low voice. Interesting, I thought.
Later, we went inside, but Masters stopped us. "My colleagues are going to have a meeting in that room, so you can work over there. Please, just try not to disturb us, ok?" she said tiredly.
I nodded obediently and whispered to Alonzo, "Publicity for the win." I heard airy, quiet laughter.
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It had been a few weeks since we first started, and we became good friends. After all, if you're at a boring place with an interesting person, you kind of become their friend after a long period of time. As I started my computer for the day, I realized that maybe that's all I was to him. A distraction. I quickly brushed the thought away as he entered the room.
"Hey, Niki. I just saw someone get fired! He was holding a box with all of his stuff in it. He looked pretty pissed," he said. "I'm a little scared of working here now," he joked.
"Well, Mr. Lucifer, if we do end up working here, I'm covered. I already have some impossible work that they might buy as real," I said.
"'Impossible work'? What?" he asked. I showed him my phone which was full of equations about basically nothing. As he scrolled through it, his eyes got wide, he looked up at me and laughed. "Niki, is this supposed to enable us to travel through time? Are you insane?"
"I'm just doing it to see where the physics goes wrong. Like a toddler being bored, and jumping off a chair to see if they can fly," I said.
"That would be fun," he said.
"Jumping off chairs?" I asked.
"No, seeing just how wrong you are. Can I help sometime? We can use my apartment!" he suggested excitedly.
"Sure," I said while laughing a bit. The thought of it all was funny. What did he say after that? "Wait, how do you have your own apartment?"
"I had a job before university. I needed to do something with the money," he explained.
"Ah. Well then, maybe we can try to jump off of metaphorical chairs sometime!" I joked.
"What?" he asked.
"Nothing," I replied.
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Authors Note: Sorry for the distracting authors note. It's not like my story was that gripping anyway! I just wanted to say that I changed Chapter Two, slightly, if you haven't noticed. :P Also I have 35 reads and counting. I don't know who reads this (cause i have like 7 fans) but if you do, you are one of the most awesome people alive! Thanks for staying with the book! Also, if you don't know her already, check out @WenWenNeo cause shes awesome. She gave me most of the inspiration for this book, so shout out to you Amelison! Check out her singing channel on YouTube too. But enough of this sucky authors note. Chapter Three coming soon (maybe)! :D
