Verita (10 page)

“I’m headed in that direction anyway, so yeah.” I shrug, keeping my hands in my pockets.

We’re both quiet on the way back, but it’s comfortable silence. We listen to the various night creatures calling to each other. One in particular reminds me of peep toads and my childhood summers.

As we approach the recreation halls, Ryan slows to a stop. He turns and stares at me.

“Well, goodnight,” he says, leaning in and placing a hand on my arm.

I’m alarmed as I realize he’s about to kiss me. Quickly, I turn and give him a friendly punch on the shoulder. “Goodnight. Don’t work out too hard,” I say jokingly.

I don’t look back, but continue on towards the library. I only hope my pretend miscommunication spares him any embarrassment. We do have to work together, after all. If he got a look at my face, he’d know I hadn’t misread his intentions at all. I’m beet red from blushing.

I can’t believe my luck. I’m so mad at myself. Without meaning to, I have sent all the wrong messages to Ryan.
Ugh
. It figures: when I have no intention of starting a relationship, I end up with two guys. I head hurriedly to the library to find
Andi
.

“Well, judging by the time, you must have had a good first date… Brett, what’s wrong?”
Andi
stands up, noticing the bewildered look on my face.

“I’ve made a mess of things with Ryan,” I grumble.

“Wait, Ryan?”
Andi
pauses and waits for me to correct my apparent mistake. When I don’t, she continues, “Weren’t you out with Brody? I’ve definitely missed something,” she says, shaking her head.
Andi
stops as the librarian gives us both a disapproving glare. “Follow me. There’s roof access from the east stairwell; we can get some privacy up there.”
Andi
gestures towards a door in the far corner, and leads the way for me.

I blurt the whole night out to
Andi
. She just sits there with a bemused expression on her face. “So your problem is you have two guys that like you. Now
this
is a catastrophe.” She tries her best not to laugh.

“It’s not funny.” I glare at her. She knows my history with Brad. I expect her to be more sympathetic.

“It’s a bit funny. How many girls do you think would love to be in your shoes right now? And that includes me.” She gives me a look that clearly says I’m being overly dramatic. “Look, you just need to get over your virtuous self. Just because things got a bit hot and heavy tonight doesn’t mean anything more than you got a little carried away. Not every guy you meet is going to be a
sleazeball
like Brad. So give Brody and Ryan a chance; they both might just surprise you.” Her voice takes on a mother-knows-best tone, and I can’t help but roll my eyes at her.

“Yeah, but you don’t have to work with the one you rejected every day.” I throw my hands up in frustration.

“So you’re definitely picking Brody?” She looks doubtful.

“Well yeah… No… I don’t know if I want to pick anyone.” I drop head into my hands, confused and frustrated.

“Well, from what you said, you have nothing in common with Brody except a hot, passionate attraction. But, on the other hand, Ryan and you are more alike”. She gives me her knowing look that I have become familiar with.

“So you think I’m making a mistake with Brody?” I ask defensively.

She shakes her head at my puzzled expression. “I’m not saying that. You just might want to keep your options open for a bit, that’s all.”

Realizing what she’s implying, I blurt back, “I can’t string one guy along just in case it doesn’t work out with the other.” I
fold
my arms tightly across my chest.

“That’s very noble of you, Brett, but girls and guys do it all the time. Just don’t completely squash Ryan’s hopes for now. Let him wonder if all you’re interested in really is friendship. If he really likes you, he’ll string along, waiting to see if you change your mind.”
Andi
leans back and crosses her arms, giving me a devilish grin. “That way you can give yourself the time you need to see if there’s anything more to this Brody thing.”

“I never knew you could be so devious,” I chide.

“I’d like to think of it as being practical.” She shrugs as if to say, ‘
What did you expect?
’

“Well, it’s probably a moot point; Ryan just may hate me after tonight.” I look down at the time and jump up. “We’ve got to go; there’s only ten minutes until curfew.”

“Okay, it’s off to bed we go,”
Andi
chirps as she skips towards the door. “If he’s really mad at you tomorrow, just continue to act clueless about the almost-kiss. If you keep it up, eventually he’ll blame his signals for the miscommunication and try again with you.”

“So devious,” I chide again.

“I still say just practical.” She gives a dramatic bow and gestures towards the door she’s holding open for me. I can’t help but laugh. In such a short time, I had become closer to
Andi
than I had ever been with Jenna. What would I do without
Andi’s
lighthearted love of life to keep me balanced?

Chapter 6

The next day in the lab, it’s clear that I’d been right. Ryan is polite towards me. There is no tension, but no joking either: he is strictly business. I figure it’s best if I follow
Andi’s
advice. I just play along, and I don’t question him about it. It’s not that I want him to try kissing me again, but I am the one who sent the mixed signals and hurt him. If I can do something to remove those hurt feelings, I should.

Both Molly and Jake have finished reading the handbook, so they join in, familiarizing themselves with the lab. As we go through the laboratory, I bring up the idea of touring the bio-domes tomorrow; they like it.

The lab exploration doesn’t take long, and when we’re finished I decide to test the DNA. I explain where I found the hairs before Molly or Jake has a chance to question me.

As it turns out, four people is overkill for testing a single sample. Finally, after having enough of Jake’s suggestions, I decide everyone else should run a DNA test on their own hair. I claim it’s so we have something to compare the sample to. I’m relieved to see Jake enthusiastically pulling out some of his hair.

“Do you mind if I just stay and work with you?” Ryan asks, still being exceedingly cordial.

“Sure, that’s fine with me.” I’m hopeful that
Andi
was right.

We have our sample ready in no time. Ryan seems to anticipate every step and has everything ready before I ask. I’m pleased to see that we work so well together. Now all that is left to do with the sample is wait.

“Do you want to go to lunch?” I ask, seeing both Molly and Jake are still busy with their samples.

“Sorry, not today, I have lunch plans.” It might be my imagination, but he seems to have a guilty look.

“Oh, alright. Well I’ll see you after lunch.” I wave and head out the door, not wanting him to think I’m disappointed. I’m determined not to send him any more mixed signals.

“Yeah, see
ya
,” he calls after me.

I head over to the dining halls and eat my first meal alone. It’s not as pathetic as I imagined it would be. Unlike high school, it’s not the social kiss of death. There’s no set time for lunch, so there are quite a few people sitting by themselves. Of course, now that I’m here I wish I had thought to bring a book with me. I quickly finish eating so that I’ll have plenty of time to get something from the library. At least I’ll have something to do after lunch.

I hardly noticed the library last night; I had been too preoccupied. It’s not very large. I notice it’s arranged more for comfort than study. Unlike the town or school library back home, this library lacks little cubicle-like desks and tables scattered about. Instead, there is a collection of various ergonomic chairs, recliners, ottomans, and even a few bean-bag seats. I head to the main desk to ask where the fiction is. The librarian informs me that it’s almost
all
fiction; the few exceptions are self-help books. Taking pity on my bewildered look, she continues by telling me that the recreation library is for entertainment only, and any non-fiction data is accessible through all the computers on the base.

She also offers me a reading pad, in case I prefer to download my selections. Seeing my hesitation, she adds that I can download any of the music I want right onto the pad as well. So I accept the pad, select
Much Ado About Nothing
and
Thinner
, and head back towards the lab.

That’s when I notice Ryan. He’s walking out of a dining hall, hand-in-hand with a tall girl with a supermodel figure. I stare for a moment, unable to believe what I’m seeing. The girl wraps her arm around Ryan’s waist, and he runs his fingers through her ebony hair. My face suddenly feels hot with fury.

“Well he certainly recovers quickly,” I mutter to myself. The hurt and embarrassment I feel churns my stomach. What did he do, leave me and ask out the very next girl he ran into? Or was I the one who totally misread his intentions last night?

I take the long way back to the lab. I need time to calm down and think rationally. I wasn’t dating him, I hadn’t even kissed him, and I had no plans to either. I will be the bigger person and say nothing. We are simply colleagues, nothing more.

I’ve managed to calm myself down by the time I re-enter the lab. Molly and Jake are still at lunch, so Ryan is the only one there.

“So what are your plans for the afternoon?” he asks me.

I resist snapping, ‘
None of your business
,’ and coolly reply, “Exploring the computer database. All the non-fiction is located there. I want to see how user-friendly it is.”

“Good to know. I think I’ll do the same.” He walks over to his computer and turns it on.

Copycat
. With my back towards him, I roll my eyes. Well, maybe I haven’t calmed down entirely just yet, but I can still be the bigger person and not outwardly show my anger.

The search engine is decent. I have no problem finding any information I search for. I’m sure it helps that the only information in the database is credible non-fiction and free of advertisements. Soon, Jake and Molly are back from lunch, and they join us exploring the database. It keeps us busy for the rest of the day.

After work, I meet
Andi
, but I refrain from telling her about Ryan and his new girlfriend. It’s just too embarrassing, and I don’t want to make a big deal about it. He doesn’t actually mean anything to me, anyway.

“Hey, guess what day today is?”
Andi
perkily asks, hardly able to contain herself.

“I don’t know. What is today?” I ask, playing along with her guessing game.

“Tuesday, April sixth,” she chirps excitedly.

“Okay.” My response is flat; I’m underwhelmed by her announcement.

Then she commands, “Now guess how many days are in April.” But she doesn’t wait for me to answer: “Thirty-five,” she proudly announces.

“What?” I snap back in a tone that says she’s lost her frigging marbles.

“We created a new calendar for this world. A bigger planet and larger orbit mean a longer year. There are 420 days in a year here. Our first assignment was to create a calendar that incorporated the extra days. We decided to keep the months and holidays the same as on Earth, and added extra days to the end of each month. We added the days on to keep the seasons relatively similar, too. We figured a bit of familiarity will help everyone adjust. We submitted it yesterday and just got word back this afternoon that it’s been approved.”
Andi
is beaming with satisfaction.

“Not a bad idea. Congratulations,” I comment as I pat her on the back. In a whim, I add, “Are there still seven days a week and twenty-four hours in a day?”

“Actually, no. There are seven days in a week still, but there are twenty-six hours in a day here; we’ve just been sleeping though them.” My face drops with her response. I had just been joking.

“So that’s why I feel so rested in the morning, I’ve been getting ten hours of sleep a night. It seems to get dark at the ‘normal’ hour here – or, the same hour as Earth, as least. But it’s bright and sunny when we wake up. Does that mean we’re sleeping through two hours of usable light in the morning?” I’m still trying to grasp the idea of missing two hours a day without knowing it.

“Yeah. But I’m pretty sure that they’re going to gradually adjust us to the twenty-six hours,”
Andi
adds, seeing the look on my face, but I can’t help but feel a bit duped. After all, the clocks and watches don’t show the extra hours, but the time is accurate each morning – which meant they must be programmed for them.

The next morning we start studying the DNA we extracted. I’m surprised when Dr. Brant drops in to visit us. I quickly explain what we’re doing, and I make it clear I should be the one who takes the blame and no one else. I also add that we’ve already finished everything that was asked of us.

“Good initiative,” she nods as my mouth drops open. It takes me a moment to recover. She’s not mad. “It may take all of you some time to get used to being treated like adults. But you are, and you don’t need to ask permission for every step you take. I simply ask that you follow the rules in the handbook and practice good judgment. Now don’t get me wrong: you are not being given free rein to do whatever you wish; I expect regular reports on your work. If I have an issue with anything I read I will bring it to your team leader to address it accordingly.”