"As you can see," Talise stated as Rav, Camila, Dorian and I walked up to her. "I needed help in bringing the tools here. You guys have met Landon. He's the friend of the mechanic I told you about."

   We still exchanged silent hand waves.

   Landon's eyes sailed across our frames as he greeted us. I caught myself just in time from frowning in confusion when his stare returned to mine, remaining unmoving this time.

"So Beth, are you going to be the one who tells me what exactly you need all this for?" he quirked his brows with a smile. "I owe the mechanic one for getting this welder for you, yet Talise won't say a word. Don't you think I've earned something at least?"

"How do you know it's mine?" I fired back with a question of my own.

"You're our big shot inventor. Always been." He shrugged like it was a known fact. "And we all know Ridgeton High lost a gem."

   Oh.

   Although those words were said without a single hint of flattery, their effect was anything but. Landon was the only Ridgeton student—aside Talise of course—to say something positive in relation to what I was good at and me leaving my former high school.

   Many of my schoolmates and even teachers never took a liking to the fact that I'd leave some of my recreations in my locker, bring them into the lunchroom or drag them through the halls on certain days. I bet they were secretly glad that that weird girl with her even weirder machines (their backbiting words, not mine) was not a part of them anymore.

   But Landon, who had never even gotten to meet me in Ridgeton High since he moved away in Year Seven, not only remembered what I did, but acknowledged it. In a good way.

   I wondered what else about me he remembered. About us, for that matter.

   Especially those years ago when we— wait...what was I doing?

"It's a school thing," I said, trying not to squirm under his baby blue eyes that were way more intent on me than before.

   Oddly enough, I couldn't seem to look away.

"Did I introduce myself?" Rav eventually snapped me out of my daze as he stepped between us with his hand held out. "I'm Rav. I don't think we were able to properly meet at the party since I was... indisposed."

   I guess 'high as hell' was taken.

   Landon appeared bewildered by the out of the blue intrusion, but recovered almost instantly. He put on a cordial smile as he took Rav's outstretched hand in his. I was on the verge of sighing in relief at their awkward handshake coming to an end, when my nerves were suddenly startled at the feeling of something being thrown over my shoulder.

"What are you doing?" I hissed at Rav, who stood beside me, his deadlock grip of an arm now over my shoulders. "Take your arm off right now!"

   Landon glanced toward the position we were in, centering his stare around Rav's arm. The sharpness of his jawline became more refined as he swallowed.

"Okay, then." He turned to Talise. "See you in school, tomorrow."

"We have a meeting during lunchtime the day after tomorrow, don't forget." She told him.

"Wouldn't dream of it." He grinned, shifting his stance to me and the other three once more. "Bye, Beth and Talise's friends. See you around, Beth."

   He didn't wait for a response before walking away. I nevertheless whispered a silent goodbye of my own, my eyes lingering on his back for a little while.

   Where did this warmth I was feeling coming from? It seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, engulfing my sen— of course. How didn't I realise what was causing this sooner?

   It was from the body heat radiating from Rav. Whose arm was still around me!

   I rammed my most immediate elbow into his side, using his impulsive flinch away with a pained groan as an opportunity to escape his hands.

   Moving over to where Talise was standing, I noticed her focus was on her laptop screen she'd brought out of her bag, oblivious to everything that had just occurred. Now that she'd acquired the tools we needed and Landon was out of sight, I suppose it was back to obsessing over Zavlon Academia's system.

"What is wrong with you?" I snapped, nursing the neck cramp Rav's demonic hold caused.

"I thought he'd never leave!" He merely wheezed in response, clutching onto his elbowed torso.

"I know there's still no activity with Zavlon's system yet," Camila said, "but do you think we should start with the leg brace anyway?"

   I wasn't sure what to tell her. I looked over to Talise, giving a silent sigh. She'd only had one all-nighter but the bags under her eyes could've fooled anyone into believing she was sleep-deprived for at least a week.

   Eventually her body was going to fight the insane amounts of caffeine she consumed in the past twelve hours and succumb to a deep, uninterruptible sleep.

   For all we knew, that could be the very moment this sneaky algorithm would choose to function and we'd have to wait for another whole week before we try again. Judging by how sudden this mind control thing with Zavlon occurred, it wasn't safe to believe the Yunies couldn't carry out their psychotic plan in a span of the week we'd be waiting for another Visitation Day.

   I guess it was better to build the leg brace though since we were going to use it whether we got into Zavlon this week or the next. Besides, doing so was a sign that we still believed we—well, Tali was going to be the next visitor of Zavlon.

"I think we should," Dorian spoke out. "For all we know, the system could out of nowhere—"

"Whoever's talking...SHUT UP!" Talise interrupted with a yell as her legs buckled to assume a seating position on the ground beneath her.

   Tali's attention remained fixed on the computer screen propped up on her lap as she typed away with unnatural energy. The silence that reigned after her outburst was replaced by the irregular rhythmic noises created by the clicked keys on her laptop.

"Excuse me?" Dorian narrowed his furious eyes at Talise.

   It took everything in me to not laugh like a maniac at Dorian's fury. It's not like he had asked for it or anything.

   And that made it all the more hilarious.

   Talise, however, didn't acknowledge him. Or any of us, for the matter. Her stare only got wilder with each click of her keyboard by her rapid moving fingers.

   Alarmed by Tali's state and already beside her, I only had to lower my gaze to the ground to catch a glimpse of the source of her erratic behaviour.

   The laptop's screen was filled with countless numbers and letters that didn't stay stable. They appeared to be scrolled through as they went through constant switches. Talise was more attentive than I'd ever seen her in my life, never breaking eye contact as she never relented in her typing on the laptop's keyboard.

   And that's when I knew.

"Guys," Not even my whisper toward Rav, Dorian and Camila could mask my excited tone. "The selection. The algorithm has begun the selection."

   I stifled a chuckle as jaws dropped and eyes popped in understanding. Soon enough, they were by my side, sharing my look of awe toward Tali and her screen as she did her thing.

   The minutes that flew by had no effect on our fixed gazes. Our disharmonised breaths were one of the very limited noises that made their way to my ears. My heart wouldn't give itself a rest, pumping with anxious intensity.

   Then the clicking keyboard sounds stopped.

A/N: So much anxiety while writing this lol. Tell me I'm not the only one.

What the deal with Landon and Beth though? Any theories? Do you think Talise will succeed?

This chapter is dedicated to AStridGSmile12 for her wonderful comments! Thank you!❤️✨

Want a dedication? Vote and comment your thoughts as you read!
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You can still do that even if you don't want a dedication though🤭😂