"I still feel slightly guilty about leaving everyone behind," Tom said as we walked towards the lifts.
"You didn't have to come," I reminded him. "You could've stayed."
"Yeah, but that would have been boring. Can we at least phone them?"
"We left a note," Georgina said, patting him on the shoulder. "Everything will be fine."
And anyway, I added in my head. They were beginning to irritate me.
"Going up," I muttered as the lift doors closed. Staring at my reflection I realised that there was someone else staring back at me.
"What the-?" I cried, stepping backwards and crashing into Georgina. She wobbled and knocked into Tom who hit the doors just as they opened into the vast expanse of the thirtieth floor of the Stronghold.
"I'm never going to get over this," Tom sighed, gazing around in wonder. Georgina shrugged and went to the bar, pulling a bottle of Coke out of the fridge and putting a straw straight into the top of the one and a half litre bottle.
"How long has it been since I've had anything fizzy to drink?" she mumbled. "Forever, I think."
"You rely too much on sugar," I said, shaking my head. "Now, where did I put those old plans...?"
*
"Where's the black marker pen?" I called, holding out my hand. "And the white one? Green? Red? Any colours apart from blue?"
"Blue, blue, blue, blue," Tom said, rifling through one of the many drawers, "blue, blue, pencil, blue, biro, biro, blue, blue, pink..."
"Pink! That'll do."
"Oh wait, it was blue with a post-it stuck to it."
"Dammit!"
"Why do you need a colour that isn't blue?" Georgina asked. "Isn't that colourist?"
"That word does not exist," I grumbled. "And this paper is blue so I need a different colour."
"Why not just use a pencil?"
"It doesn't show up."
"Tippex?"
"Do you remember what happened the last time I used Tippex?"
*
I picked up the pen and it leaked all over my hand. I moaned and threw it away, searching for a tissue and a new pen.
Georgina passed me a tissue from the box that had magically appeared next to her and I accepted it gratefully. Wiping the ink from my hands and pulling a face of disgust as the tissue stuck to the ink and my hands.
"Here, use a Tippex pen," Shaade said, handing it to me. "I made it rainbow."
"Put it back," Josh said sternly. Shaade pouted and so Josh handed me a second Tippex pen.
I shook the object and smiled slightly as the liquid didn't spill out. Squeezing the sides of the tube I continued to write, scribbling my notes on the sheet of blue paper. The blueprints and the notes that I had written before were starting to fade so I Tippexed them to make them clearer.
The fumes started to get up my nose and I shook my head, clearing my mind. I continued writing but it all got too much. My head tipped forwards and my hair smudged all the tightly packed notes as I passed out.
*
Tom started laughing as we finished retelling the story. He paused to glance at me and then started his chuckles again.
"Tippex really affects you so bad?" he asked, wiping a tear of joy from his eye. I nodded sharply and searched for a new pen.
"Hey Pepper," Tom said. I looked up to find an entire tub of Tippex right in front of my face.
"Tippex!" Tom yelled, drawing patterns onto my skin using pens and brushes. I tried to wriggle away but he grabbed my shoulders, freezing me to the floor and keeping me in place.
"Piss off!" I growled.