The week passed relatively quickly. Our final internship had come to an end and in less than a week, Ken and I would be off to take the test. The test that would determine our jobs for the rest of our lives. School however, was the last thing on my mind. My thoughts were occupied with one thing and one thing only; my apology to Taron.
I hadn't heard anything from Taron, let alone seen him for the entire week, not that we bump into each other very often. What little information I got regarding the elite was conveyed from Alena, who hadn't been all too subtle with her attempts at getting me to talk about what happened. It became a daily thing where she would ask me when I was going to speak to Taron, and I always gave the same reply, "When I'm ready."
From what I could gather from Alena, it seemed that Taron has slowly been returning to his usual self. According to her, he was no longer in his silent bouts and seemed to be going about life as per normal. She did mention however, that he seemed a little irritable as of late, something I was sure was no coincidence. I mean, I expected him to be angry first before anything else. The news at least put my mind somewhat at ease. Angry Taron, I could somehow endure. Broken Taron? Not so much.
It was Friday, one whole week after 'The Event' as I like to call it now. Even with the amount of pacing I had done, the amount of brain cells I had committed to my planned speech I was going to give to Taron, I was still no where near ready to confront him. I was being a douche I know, seeing that if anyone should have had an issue talking to the other it should have been him and not me, but still.
Because of that fact however, I found myself sitting in a hovercar on our way to the Lunaris Research Centre, the place where Ken usually spends his Friday evenings. My usual trip to the gym is, as you'd have probably guess, been put on hold seeing that I was avoiding Taron. It wasn't that we'd always bump into one another at the gym, but the probability was definitely higher. Better to play safe. So, there we were, Ken, Alena and I, heading to one of the most boring places on Lunaris, to me at least.
"What are you going to do there though? It's not like you like that kind of stuff?" Ken asked. He knew why I wasn't heading to the gym, but he couldn't understand why I was tagging along. To him, it seemed only logical that I would have rather spent my time at home rather than wandering the halls of the Research Centre, especially on a Friday night.
"Thought I'd just walk around. A change of scenery is nice," I said.
"We can always drop Ken off and you and I can hang," Alena suggested. Yeah that was what she would have loved, more time to question and berate me. At her suggestion however, Ken shot her a betrayed look.
"But...but...you said you were gonna help me tonight?" He stuttered, not believing that Alena had simply brushed aside their plans in lieu of something else.
"I was just—"
"No, it's fine," I interjected. "You guys can go do whatever sciencey thing. I'll be fine. Like as if you both don't know, it doesn't take a lot to keep me occupied."
"That's an understatement," Ken quipped.
"Watch it lil' bro."
"Six minutes man. You're only older by six minutes," he cried out, making both me and Alena laugh.
So that's how I found myself strolling down the corridors of the research centre on a Friday evening. Ken had dragged Alena off to do whatever it is that he had planned to do and I was once again left alone. As I walked through the sterile halls, I would stop ever so often, staring into one of the many labs that were housed in the complex.
I wasn't a science guy, but I could definitely appreciate the work that went into it. I could also see why Ken was so fascinated by the place. As I walked from window to window, looking into the white washed labs I passed, so many of them looked familiar and yet different at the same time.
There were plant cell tech labs filled with plant life, a genetics lab with rows upon rows of small plastic containers, a cell culture lab with its big flow hoods and culture flasks. Almost every kind of lab known to man could be found here and I could understand why Ken could spend hours here, jumping from one lab to the next, helping any elite scientist who wanted an extra pair of hands.
I think I spent close to an hour roaming the place, watching scientist work through the glass. Most of them were elites, but I could spot a few natals among them. I smiled, knowing that Ken would probably be one of those guys in a week or so. This was one of the jobs on Lunaris where the number of elites outnumbered the natals. It was so common for a workplace to have more natals, it might be a little disconcerting to someone who was new to it all. Ken would fit right in though; he'd been here for close to two years.
I carried on, turning into a hallway with doors lining each side. I stopped at the first and read the tag on the door. "Peter Rizen, Head biologist." I turned to the next. "Eva Fischer, Physics Lab Supervisor." Figuring that the rooms were the offices of the elite researchers, I carried on without reading the rest. It's not like I needed to know whose offices these belonged to.
I was halfway down the hall when I felt a hand descend onto my mouth, muffling the surprised gasp I had let out. Before I could even process whatever was happening, an arm was around my chest, pulling me backwards. Self preservation kicked in and I struggled to get free, but the arms that held me were strong and resisted my every move. I kicked and thrashed, all in a lame attempt to regain control of my body.
"Stop struggling," the voice whispered into my ear, his tone threatening. I froze immediately, not because of the command in the voice, but who that voice belonged to.
Taron.
He continued to pull me back, making a sharp right. I was pulled into a dark room, the door closing behind me. Next thing I knew, Taron's hand left my mouth, his arm uncoiled from my chest, and I was roughly spun around. I only caught a glimpse of his furious expression before his fist clenched the front of my shirt and forcefully pushed me against the door.
I felt the air leave my lungs from the impact, but my eyes were glued to Taron's angry face. His eyebrows were furrowed, green eyes stared back at me with death in them, jaws clenched tight as he battled with his rage. I knew this was the time to talk things out, whether I was ready or not, this had to happen.
"Taron I—" I started but was abruptly cut off.
"Shut up. You don't get to talk," he growled, adding a shove for added effect. I visibly gulped. Not going to lie, I was slightly terrified at that moment. Taron looked positively murderous and all of his rage was directed at me. "You," he punctuated, bringing me forward and slamming me back against the door. "Are." Slam. "Such." Slam. "An asshole," he finished, slamming me one last time against the door.
Whatever speech I had rehearsed in my head left me, completely going blank. I had no explanation, no reason for why I had done what I had. Only one thing rang continuously in my head. "I'm sorry," I choked out.
