The teens cautiously followed Corben in, the stopped in their tracks, staring at the room.

The dining table was covered with plates of food, plates of eggs and pancakes, a pot filled with oatmeal, a platter with bacon and sausages, and Avery was fairly certain that there was a cart holding just cereal and milk.

Then his attention clicked to the lady hovering around the table. She was wearing a yellow dress with little flowers, and a white apron. She vaguely reminded Avery of a grandmother, but not any specific one.

She looked up and saw them, her hands fluttering to her hair, tucking it behind her ears. "Oh, hello dears! I'm Missus Grey. Why don't all of you take a seat and eat, and I'll explain who I am?"

Avery didn't have to be told twice, and slid right into the chair he had used the night before. So did most everyone else, except Carmen, who stared at the plates of food, starting to tremble.

Corben walked by her, and grabbed her elbow, half dragging, half leading her over to where he had sat last time. He pulled out the chair next to his and motioned at it, face monotone.

Carmen blinked at him, then sat down, not really sure what he was doing.

Corben nodded at her, then sat down himself, promptly getting food and piling it on his plate. He looked at Carmen. "What do you want to eat?" He asked, reaching for her plate.

Carmen stared at all of the food, and her trembling got worse. Kai, on the other side of her, placed her hand on Carmen's shoulder. Carmen gulped. "Pancakes, please."

"Ok." Corben placed two pancakes on her plate, then cut a small square from them and placed it on his plate. "Here." He set it down back in front of Carmen.

She looked at him quizzically. "I don't-"

Corben scoffed lightly, tapping the pancake square with his fork. "You're worried they're poisoned again. If they are, I'm going down too." He stabbed the pancakes and ate them. "Go ahead."

Carmen nodded slowly, then started to eat.

Corben smiled, then turned to Juno on his right. "Hey."

Juno looked up, a startled look on his face. "Hey," he replied back, setting down a piece of bacon. "Is there any particular reason you're talking to me, or are you just going to be rude again?"

Corben winced, rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry. I was stressed yesterday and I hadn't eaten since breakfast and I was annoying because someone had just kidnapped me." He cleared his throat. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry for the way I acted yesterday."

Juno chuckled and patted Corben on the shoulder. "No problem. Anyways, how was your night?"

Corben cast a sidelong glance at Carmen. "I barely slept. And when I did finally get some shut eye, I woke up to her plastered to me." His ears turned pink. "That wasn't the most fun situation in the world."

Juno quirked one eyebrow. "You mean you guys actually shared your bed?" He took a bite of eggs, then continued. "Maylea and I ended up splitting the mattresses."

Juno watched Corben stiffen. "Oh. So... you were roomed with Maylea."

Juno made a noncommittal noise, eating more eggs, studying Corben. "Seriously, what's up with you and her? When you're around her you act like you don't even know her." He made a face. "Scratch that, you act like she doesn't even exist. That's even worse. But then you're here, and I can tell you're staring at her right now, so stop. It's creepy."

Corben glared. "You don't know anything, Juno. Just leave me alone." He turned away from Juno and started talking with Carmen.

There was a light ringing, and there was the Missus, holding a silver bell. "Wonderful! Now that I have your attention, please listen up. This shouldn't take but a few minutes, and then you may go back to eating. Charlie dear, don't slouch like that." She smoothed her apron and smiled kindly at all of them.

"As I said before, I am Missus Grey, and I am here to take care of all of you and keep you as comfortable as possible. It is my sincerest hope that all of you will eventually begin to look at this as your home for the time being."

Avery gave her a thumbs up. "It's already better than home, Missus!"

Her eyes softened, and she continued. "Now then, if I could just have all of you come see me after breakfast, I need to do some quick fittings. We can't have you stuck in the same outfits during your entire stay!

"Please remain in the dining room until all fittings are over, and then you will be released to explore. The Master has deemed the next two days as days for you to get to know your new home." She tucked a stand of hair behind one ear. "If your identification band does give you any instructions, please follow them. As Mr. James has stated before, you are not in any danger in this place."

Blair raised his hand. "Uh, Missus Grey? Yeah, I just wanted to ask if there was the possibility of getting like, two beds in our rooms instead of sharing?"

Missus Grey laughed delicately, pressing a hand to her chest. "Oh of course, dearie. Yes, please let me know during your fitting if you would like to have your room altered in any way. Now, please continue to enjoy your meal!"

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May tried to hold as still as possible as Missus Grey measured her, not quite sure if she was supposed to talk with the Missus or not.

The Missus stepped back and patted her hands on her apron. "Alright, dearie. You're the last one, so all of you younglings can go explore and have fun now. Buh-bye!" Missus Grey waved, and Maylea moved away from her, and over to where the rest of the group were gathered by the bookshelf.

Corben unfolded his arms. "Took you long enough," he remarked, pressing his band to the shelf. There was a soft swish as the bookshelf moved, opening up to the hallway once more. Corben motioned everyone forward and out of the room, but they stayed huddled around each other once in the hallway.

"Right." He followed them into the hall, the panel closing behind him. "Stick together. I don't want to see anyone wandering alone. Groups of two or more, but I don't want to see a single one of you without a buddy. Flowers-" he pointed at Maylea, and she pointed to herself as if confused. "You're with me." He waved his hand. "Have fun."

The teens grouped up, Azalea running up to Kai and threading her arm through hers, and Kai motioned for Avery to join them. Veronica pointed to Carmen and motioned her over. Blair and Charlie elbowed each other and went racing down the hall.

Juno stuck his thumbs in his pockets and meandered over. "Looks like I'm with you, Frost." He waved at Maylea. "Hey Flowers."

Maylea turned pink at his greeting, but Juno couldn't miss the storm clouds that darkened Corben's gaze. "Well, onwards to adventure!" Juno said, throwing his arm around Maylea.

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"And that's why I'll never sleep over at my friend Justin's house again"

Azalea burst out laughing as Avery finished their story, and he grinned back at her. "Was it really that funny?"

Azalea nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! Can you tell another one?" She grabbed his forearm, eyes shining.

Avery stared at her hand, then at her face, then at her hand again. "S-sure." He blinked rapidly, then pulled away, his ears hot and red.

He snuck a glance at Azalea, and saw her own face was flushed pink, tucking her hair behind her ears.

Kai patted them both on their backs. "Ok kiddos. Big question now, should we go down hallway number one, hallway number two, or hallway number three?"

Avery looked up, not even realizing they had reached a crossroads. "Uh..." he leaned on the balls of his feet to peer down the halls to his left and right. He clicked his tongue and rocked back to stare down the option in front of him.

Azalea bounced a step forward. "Let's go this way!" She chirped, pulling on Avery's sleeve.

"Oh-ok." He followed after Azalea as she pulled him along, and her hand traveled from his hoodie sleeve, to his hand, and the warmth of her skin pressed against his own.

Kai followed after them, trying to convince Azalea to just slow down. Avery, finally realizing this, dug his heels in, making it so Azalea was now dragging him, instead of running with him.

She stopped, lurching forward with all of her momentum, before turning to stare at Avery. "What's up?"

Avery panted and gestured in the general direction of Kai. "Slow down." He bent over and placed his hands on his knees, trying to slow his breathing.

Azalea chucked nervously. "Sorry about that. I just wanted to get somewhere, y'know?"

Kai finally caught up to the two of them, and placed her hands on her hips. "Don't ever make me run like that again," she warned. "Running is not my thing." She exhaled heavily. "And if you're really that eager to explore, just start knocking on panels. Any of these could be hiding rooms."

Azalea's face lit up. "Oh yeah!" She darted over to the nearest wall and knocked twice. Nothing. She shuffled over one panel and knocked again. This one swung open, and Azalea felt around, then came out, disappointed. "It's just a dumb storage closet."

Kai patted her on the shoulder. "Just keep looking, hon. I'm sure we'll find something."

The three of them broke apart, rapping in panels and moving, slowly, down the hall.

After about five minutes of this, Avery tapped on a door, and it did not open into a storage closet. Instead, stark white room was revealed, made of the same material as the hall. "Hey!" He gestured the girls over. "Come look at this!"

The crowded in the doorway, staring into the room. A solitary desk sat in the center of the room, and on it, what seemed to be a silver laptop. Azalea pushed Avery forward. "You first."

"What?" Avery leaned away from the doorway. "No no, you first. You were so excited to go exploring." He shoved her shoulder. "You go."

Kai sighed, face palming. "I'll go." She pushed past both of them, into the room. Seeing that she didn't spontaneously combust or anything like that, Avery and Azalea followed.

Kai pulled open the laptop, and they positioned themselves on each side of the older teen.

The screen flashed blue, then displayed a white screen with words on it.

Experiment 23.B
Continue?

"Experiment twenty-three?" Avery turned to look at Azalea. "Does that mean we're not the first?"

She shrugged. "Maybe?" She nudged Kai. "Click it!"

Avery shook his head. "We don't even know if this is for us! What if we get in trouble?"

Azalea made a face. "This could help us figure out why we're here!"

The two of them looked to Kai, expecting her to take their own side.

What should they do? Continue into the file, or leave the room?

Answer here 》

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Blair and Charlie ran through the halls, elbowing each other, until finally they stopped, out of breath and too tired to run any more.

Charlie leaned against the wall, and slid down to sit on the floor. "You wanna know what's the best about all of this?"

Blair sat down next to him, one knee lifted up, the other leg stretched out. "What's that?"

Charlie grinned. "No school!"

Blair snorted, and they both burst out laughing. Blair wheezed out words between each stomach aching laugh. "Won't our words drop though?"

Charlie bumped his shoulder against blairs. "Can't get any lower than f's, my man!" He leaned back again, the humor of the moment leeching away. "But seriously. I won't have to deal with school, or with teachers, or fake friends, or anything like that."

Blair let his head fall against the wall with a thud. "You don't have to worry about college yet. Or just adult life in general. What are you, like fifteen or something?"

"Sixteen!" Charlie cried indignantly. "Though I am just a sophomore."

Blair nodded. "See, that's what I'm talking about." He ruffled Charlie's hair. "I feel so old now."

Charlie rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right." He turned to face Blair. "By the way, who did you get stuck with last night? I had Azalea."

Blair made a face. "I had Veronica."

Charlie winced. "Dang. She scares me." He chuckled. "Glad it's you and not me. How did the night go?"

Blair sighed, hiding his face behind one hand. "She kicked me off the bed because I stole the blankets during the night." He threw his hands up in exasperation. "I was asleep! How was it my fault I got cold in the night?"

Charlie snickered. "Dude, you should be lucky you aren't like, seriously injured right now. I think I heard her threatening to rearrange Avery's facial features with a brick." He shuddered. "Like I said, she scares me."

Blair blanched. "I'm going to be stuck with a psychopath." He ran his fingers through his hair, groaning. "I'm so dead."

Charlie pressed his lips together. "I mean, I wouldn't call her a psychopath, but calling you dead? Yeah that fits."

Blair grumbled something and shoved Charlie over. "You suck, you know that, right?"

Charlie stuck out his tongue. "Can't get rid of me now! You're stuck, same as me."

Blair was about to respond when he heard voices down the hall, undoubtably ones from another group who was also exploring. He got up, and ran to greet them. "Hey!"

Which group has met up with him and Charlie?

Comment here 》

Which character dynamics do you like the best so far? My personal fave is Maylea and Juno. They are just so light and easy to write!