Dr Demonico^

I checked myself a once-over in the bathroom before grabbing the keycard, my phone, my wallet and sunglasses. I walked to the elevator and rode down to the lobby, putting my sunglasses onto my head.

Christian smiled at me from the lounges and stood up. He was wearing normal sneakers, jeans and a button-up shirt. 

Dr Demonico stood next to him in a sundress and nodded, "Good. Buffet ready?"

"Of course," I groaned slightly as my stomach rumbled.

Christian asked, "Where are we going sightseeing?" Don't divert the subject from food! 

However, he was correct in asking. Canberra's really only got museums and parliamentary stuff. 

"Firstly, we're going to go to the Australian War Memorial, seeing as it is literally down the street," she began, "Next, we're headed to the Australian Navy Memorial. Then, the Old Parliament House. Finally, we're going on one of those stupid tours of the current parliament house."

"Why's it stupid?"

"Because we already get access to the private suites and get to meet the prime minister," she said in a 'duh' tone.

"Come on!" I said, probably sounding half-hysterical, "I'm hungry and there's a buffet! Don't keep me waiting!"

I bounced towards the large room marked DINING HALL and found a table right near the food labelled RESERVED: Demonico. Dr Demonico pulled out her own chair, "You guys go serve yourselves."

I put my stuff down on a chair and grabbed the tray on the table. Christian followed me to where I stopped at the cereal station. I filled half my bowl with coco pops and the other half with crunchy nut. 

Christian murmured, "Half-and-half?"

"It's to get the best of everything at a buffet," I shrugged, "Duh? Keep up, Christian."

Chris let out a short sigh, "Okay, Dove."

I put the bowl back down on the tray and grabbed the small plate, filling it with toast and a butter and vegemite sachet, scrambled eggs, bacon, and two hashbrowns. 

"For such a small girl, you eat so much," Christian mused quietly.

I laughed quietly, "I never used to. It was a habit forced into me at FSWC."

"Right," Christian chuckled.

I filled the large plate with a pancake and waffles which I drowned in maple syrup and ice-cream. 

Finally, I filled my glass with orange juice and walked carefully back to the table with the heavy plate. 

Dr Demonico stared at my tray as I quickly downed the juice before muttering, "Please tell me that's Christian's food as well."

"Nope," I grinned toothily. 

Dr Demonico sighed, "As a doctor, I can tell you that your food choices are horrible."

"You're a doctor, not a dietician," I narrowed my eyes, "And this will tie me over until lunch."

Christian sat next to me and wrinkled his nose at my tray, "Your tray would tie me over until tomorrow."

"Well, I'm not you," I said pointedly before digging into my half-and-half cereal.

***

"That's one of my relatives," I pointed to a name on a plaque. 

Christian raised his eyebrows, "He was a Lance Sergeant."

"Yeah," I grinned, "Cool, right?"

"Time of death..." he muttered to himself, "He died at Gallipoli?"

"Yeah," I nodded slowly, "You got any relatives here?"

"No," Christian suddenly smirked, "My great-grandparents on my dad's side were Swiss. Mr great-grandparents on my mum's side were English but they got lucky."

"You're Swiss?" I chuckled, "Cool."

"What's your background?" he asked, pulling a fake poppy from his pocket and placing it beside my relative's name. 

I smiled timidly at him and the poppy before answering, "Just plain Australian. My ancestors came with the convicts in the First Fleet, though. So that's something."

He rolled his eyes at me, "'So that's something'? Nat, your ancestors were part of the biggest discovery in the last few centuries!"

"They weren't part of the discovery, idiot. Do you know any history? And what about the moon landing!"

Someone laid a hand on my shoulder and I jumped, however, it was just Dr Weston, "We're going to go get some lunch. You two good?"

"Yeah," we chorused.

Bored, a little, but good.

***

"You like vinyls?"

"Yeah," I admitted, "I don't have any though."

"How do you not have any?"

"My CD collection keeps me busy," I smirked.

Park rolled his eyes as he sat in front of his own vinyl collection. He began calling them out, "The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Coldplay, Blink-182, Green Day..." 

I started tuning out when he got to Green Day. Instead, I went through his DVDs. I interrupted his listing and said, "You do have Cinderella!"

I collapsed into a fit of giggles, staring at it. 

"How did that get there?" Park mused, looking at the disc in my hands.

"Magic," I said in a thick tone of sarcasm. In interest, I opened the DVD and pulled it out, inserting it into the DVD player. 

"What are you doin'?"

"Pressing play," I said in a 'duh' tone. I made myself comfortable on his bed and watched as the movie began displaying the Disney castle.

Park let out a loud sigh but eventually put away the vinyls and came to lie down beside me, wrapping an arm around my waist. 

***

I woke up on the plane. How had I fallen asleep on a flight that takes an hour? But next to me, Christian seemed to just be waking up too. Which one of us was actually tired? 

Christian gave me a sleepy smile, "Cinderella? What's it about Disney movies?"

"Don't ask me," I smirked, "You're the one with the DVD in your bedroom."

Christian, evidently, rolled his eyes at the accusation, "Yeah, yeah, Dove."

I rested my head on his shoulder, "Park..."

"Yeah Dove?" he asked quietly.

I took a deep breath, a sudden sadness looming across me. I whimpered out, "When will I see you again?"

"I don't know, Dove," he whispered, "But at least we didn't have to wait another three months..."

"Yeah," I chuckled slightly, "Can... Will we be able to see each other in town?"

"I'll make sure of it," he kissed the top of my head, making me shiver from that spot down. 

"And the dance?"

"I'll see you there, too," he kissed my head again, making me blush.

***

The ache in my heart returned just as soon as the limo backed away, from Dunwich Academy for Girls, with Christian inside. I gripped my suitcase and painstakingly turned my back on the vehicle driving in the opposite direction. 

My time with Christian had been too short. Sweet and short - that's what they say - but I'd had so many bombshells in the last few months that I couldn't exactly call it sweet. My time with Christian had been alright but everything else was horrible. Daring Inc. had control of my body. 

That was what really scared me. 

I pushed open the grand wooden door to the school and pulled my suitcase in behind me. I looked up at the clock above the dining hall. It was eleven forty-five. Everyone would still be in class for another fifteen minutes. 

Dr Demonico had booked us a flight back on a Monday instead of a Sunday so we'd spent all day yesterday just walking around aimlessly and talking. It gets boring after a while. I pulled my suitcase to the stairs and struggled to pick it up and walk it to the top. I stopped to take a deep breath and then made my way down the hallway to Teresa common room. 

I walked in. Opal was sitting on the lounge studying but looked up when she saw me. She gave me a toothy grin, "How were your holidays?"

I rolled my eyes, "Confusing. Yours?"

"I spent all holiday here, studying," she sighed, "I've got my first HSC exam in a week. However, I wanna take a break. Sit and tell me all about your holidays."

So I sat. And I told her. 

Opal was kind of like an older sister to me. We weren't so close that we knew each other's favourite colours and each other's favourite foods but we knew where each other went for holidays, she gave me advice - all the time, mind you - and we bickered sometimes like an old married couple. 

Opal listened to my every word, occasionally giving me a smart remark or agreeing or disagreeing with something. 

When I finally finished she frowned, "Daring Inc. is literally taking over the world."

"That's what I thought," I said, "But it looks like all they did was make the drug Dreamscape. Everything else has been done by Dr Demonico, Dr Weston and the prime minister."

"You're right," Opal agreed, "So what does this mean for humanity?"

"What do you mean?"

"In the future, if it all succeeds, does it mean that our descendants will be born decided on a drug?"

"Apparently," I whispered with a slight nod.

Opal stood violently with a dark tone in her voice, "In the future, my grandchildren could possibly be giving me great-grandchildren due to being forced together."

"It's not really forced," I murmured.

"How isn't it?" she said, slightly hysterical, "You've been given, Natalie, who you're destined to be with. You don't get to fall in love with someone. You were pushed to Christian."

"And I love Christian," I said to Opal, quietly.

Opal's eyes widened, "What?"

I took a deep breath and repeated, "I love Christian."

Opal raised her eyebrows, "Oh. Okay. But, you know, you thought you loved James too."

"Let me rephrase," I said sternly, "I am in love with Christian."

"How do you know that?" Opal shouted, "Christian was forced to you. You weren't given a choice on who you dreamt of."

"Do you remember when I was at the FSWC Sydney for eight months?" I said scathingly, "Christian for the same time was at The Mental Health Institute Sydney. They found us and paired us because we suit each other. They just placed us together."

"Right," Opal sighed, "They did that for you..."

"Why are you so negative about this?"

Opal shrugged, "I just... I like the idea of finding your true love."

"Of course," I smirked, "Because, these days, everything relates back to love, doesn't it?"

"Duh," she grinned. 

At least we got this week's argument out of the way.

***

Song: Bad Reputation - Joan Jett. 

Only five more chapters :( 

xx Sharky