Jax (Male P.O.V)

Date: October 1, 2238

"Hello? Anyone in here?" I called out, pulling open the heavy metal door that led into the garage at the back of campus. No one answered as I stepped inside onto the oil-stained concrete floor. I slowly eased the door shut so it wouldn't smack against the rock, cracking it open.

"Everyone's probably at lunch," I mumbled, glancing at the closed bay doors with sunlight pouring through the embedded windows. The sun's rays merged with the beams of the fluorescent lights helping illuminate the space.

I walked towards the back, passing by metal shelves bolted to the wall with greasy tools covering every inch of its surface.

My nose wrinkled at the hefty scent of gas and oil permeating the air the further I went into the garage. I quickly covered my nose with my hand, breathing through my mouth as I jogged down the wooden stairs leading to the lower floor.

A lone door stood at the base of the stairs between two racks holding a mix of worn and new tires. It was at least four inches thick and wider than average, with an electronic key lock over the door handle.

I raised my hand to key in the code, but my mind went blank. Shit!

My head fell back on my shoulders, and an audible sigh escaped my lips as I looked up at the motion-activated camera attached to the ceiling. The glowing red light in the dark half-sphere stared back at me, taunting me.

A few seconds later, the door buzzed, and the red indicator embedded in the lock turned green.

Flashing a smile at the camera, I pulled open the door and stepped inside the dimly lit basement.

My eyes widened, straining as I moved through the five rows of racks that nearly touched the ceiling. Old computers, iPhones, fax machines, game consoles, and stereos fill every shelf. An electronic graveyard that's what I called it because they're all missing parts or ripped apart with their insides exposed.

The rapid clicks of a keyboard hit my ears as I reached the end bringing a smile to my lips.

"Hey, Jax!" Amber greeted me from behind the largest of the three L-shaped desks, positioned in a triangle formation in the center of the room. Her eyes never left the three monitors as she popped a grape into her mouth and continued to type. "Did you forget the code again?"

"Yeah." I sheepishly admitted, dragging my eyes from her lips to the black square-rimmed glasses resting on her pert nose.

As I moved closer to her, I caught glimpses of the coding she was working on being reflected in the lens of her glasses.

"What's up, Amber?"

"I think I should be the one asking you that." She stopped typing and looked at me over the rim of her glasses. The computer screen went black when she removed her hands from the keyboard.

I chuckled softly, sat on the edge of her desk, and folded my arms. "You heard, huh?"

"A little." She grabbed the small bowl of grapes off her desk, set it in her lap, and rolled backward in her chair. "You want to tell me the rest?"

"All day, people have been asking me about what happened." I sighed, my eyes drifting to the cot tucked in the far left corner of the room.

The white sheets lay haphazardly over the edge skimming the concrete floor with a crumpled pillow laying askew at the head of the cot. Someone must have recently slept there. It could have been Amber or one of the guys she worked with. Shrugging, I looked back at Amber.

"And what did you tell them?" She asked, munching on a grape.

I shrugged again. "The truth. That I was in the basement the whole time with Stacy and her siblings, and I didn't see shit. They kept us down there for hours. Then when they finally decided we could leave, the guards escorted us back to the dorm building and the guest back to the bus, but they didn't tell us anything."

"Dang! Are Troy and Nova okay?"

"I hope so. I mean, people left me alone after I told them that. But Troy... I don't know."

"Well, tell them if they need to escape. They can come down here anytime. No one will bother them here."

I nodded, noticing the light spilling under one of the doorways at the back of the room. I knew behind the door was a modest kitchen with another door that led to a fully equipped bathroom. I had eaten in the kitchen plenty of times while keeping Amber company when she decided to work late. A smile spread across my face at the fond memories.

"Anyway, I came to find out what you were working on."

"Wait a minute. You haven't even told me about the glasses."

"Oh... yeah. The glasses worked great, but I..." I scratched the back of my neck. "Kind of lost them."

Her expression turned cold as she slowly leaned forward and set the bowl on the desk beside my hip. I gulped, my eyes following her every move until she leaned back in her chair.

"Seriously, Jax, where are the glasses?" She asked, standing to her full height with one hand on her hip.

At five foot ten, she was two inches shorter than me, and there wasn't a hint of a smile on her face as she glared daggers at me behind her square frames.

"I let Troy borrow them." I lied, looking around the room for a life raft or anything to save me from this conversation. The last time I saw the glasses was yesterday at Family Day. And I guess someone must have picked them up. But I wouldn't tell her that.

Catching a glimpse out of the corner of my eye of the other two desks, I attempted to change the subject. "Say, where's Alan's and Peter's?" I asked.

"Uh, uh. Don't change the subject." Amber slowly advanced on me like I was her prey, gradually backing me up against her desk until the cold metal dug into the back of my thighs.

I winced, lowering myself to sit on the desk edge with Amber standing between my spread legs. She leaned close to me, her warm breath fanning across my lips with every exhale.

Fuck!

In all my life, I'd never craved to kiss someone as much as I did right now. I struggled to keep my gaze from straying to her lips and revealing my thoughts. I knew my crush was probably one-sided. Amber probably only saw me as a little brother or as a geeky kid only interested in technology.

Crush? Ha, who was I kidding? I was definitely past the crushing stage. No one would volunteer to stay in a dark basement until the late hours of the night just for a crush.

Her warm vanilla scent wafting from her skin only further tempted me and distracted me from my thoughts.

Her hands gripped my thighs, and my muscles flexed beneath her touch.

Fuck it! It was now or never. She was a senior and would work at First Foundation next year, so I wouldn't be able to see her as often as I wanted to.

I leaned closer to her neck, where her overly large hoodie gaped, exposing her pulse point, inhaled deeply, and committed her scent to memory. The urge to drag my tongue across that bit of exposed skin burned my insides until they physically ached, but I held back.

Amber was probably trying to threaten me, but all this was doing was turning me on. My hands clenched the desk edge tighter to keep myself from grasping her hips and pulling her close enough to feel my rapidly thickening length.

I wondered if she was just as affected by this as I was, but I could only see a side of her face as she leaned into my ear. Her warm breath tickled my ear, and I restrained the growl threatening to leave my lips.

"Baby, you better find those glasses." She whispered before she stepped out from in between my legs.

How could the temperature go from scorching hot to arctic cold in seconds? I bowed my head and slowly breathed in and out to try and compose myself while our conversation replayed in my head.

I suddenly hated the word "Baby" because I didn't want Amber to call anyone else that word. Hell, I wanted the next time that word left her lips to be when she was moaning it in my ear and not some casual term of endearment.

Amber strolled towards the water cooler filling one of the paper cups while I sat there sulking. I glanced at her long legs and had to immediately close my eyes at the onslaught of graphic images that appeared in my head. Like those long, brown legs wrapped around my waist or spread wide as I...

Fuck. Don't go there, Jax.

I needed to stop before she noticed my erection through my jogging pants. I'd never be able to live down the moment if she did.

Slowly unclenching my fist, one finger at a time, from the desk, I focused on that task as if my life depended on it because I couldn't handle anything else.

Amber turned back to me and calmly sipped her water. "Everything okay?" She asked, looking at me over the rim.

No! This fucking day was an emotional rollercoaster. Constantly flipping me upside down and every which way so fast that I didn't know whether I was coming or going.

"Yeah." I finally responded through gritted teeth trying to hold in the verbal vomit that was aching to come out. "So, what else are you working on?"

I needed to get us back onto the original topic before I lost my mind. It was best to keep everything business only until I left this basement. Only once I returned to the safety of my dorm would I sit down and try to figure this shit all out.

Her eyes twinkled behind those sexy specs...

Stop it, Jax! I forced myself to look at my shoes and away from her tempting form.

"Follow me." The command immediately broke me out of my thoughts.

I jumped up from the desk edge and quickly went after her.

I would happily follow her commands for now. I shook my head to clear away my thoughts as she pushed open a door with a black sign that read 'Women' and had a carving of a female beside a wheelchair.

"Umm... Amber. I trust you, but there is no way..." I didn't know what kind of invention lay on the other side of the door, but it couldn't be anything good.

Amber didn't respond as she grabbed my hand and pulled me along behind her through the incorrectly labeled door. We walked down the long hallway with only a single light suspended from the ceiling, lighting the drafty hallway.

At the end was a large double metal door barricaded by a metal bar.

"Help me with this." She said, gesturing to the security bar.

I hesitated for a second before grabbing the end of the bar as she slid it out of the brackets towards me. Together we leaned the slab against the wall beside the door.

I clapped my hands together, removing the dust while Amber flicked the switch on the left side of the door. Nothing happened in the hallway, so I assumed it had something to do with whatever was behind the doors.

After pushing them open, we stepped out onto a platform.

"Wait, where are we?" My footsteps slowed before coming to a stop while gawking at the six-car train sitting on the track in front of the platform.

The all-white train glowed brighter than the lamps hung along the walls. It looked out of place in the dingy tunnel.

"In the tunnel under the mountain behind the school."

"Can we go inside?" My voice echoed off the dusty brick walls.

"It's locked." She pointed at the keypad by the door. "And no. I don't know the code."

"Like that's ever stopped you before," I smirked.

She smiled back but stayed quiet.

"How far do the tracks go?" I cupped my hands over my eyes and pressed close to the window, trying to peer through the dark glass.

"Baby, I haven't figured that out yet."

Did she know she was torturing me every time she said that word? I shook my head, clearing my thoughts, and turned to face her. That one word, slipping effortlessly past her lips, instantly drew my attention back to her.

"What are you going to do with it?" I stuffed my hands in my pockets to stop myself from reaching for her as she leaned against the train facing me.

"Me? Nothing. The school is planning to reveal it in the next few months. Use it to transport food and stuff."

"Dang, are you helping fix it up?"

She shook her head. "Nope. First Foundation sent over a team to fix it. I'm working on my own little project."

"Oh yeah, what's that?"

"I'll tell you when it's finished." She sighed and flipped onto her back. "I kind of put it on hold for a while until I figure out a solution to the problem I'm having with it. That's why I've been restoring stuff lately."

"Will it be your last project before you graduate and leave for First Foundation?" I hold my breath while awaiting her answer.

"Maybe." She looked down before looking back at me from underneath her eyelashes. "Honestly, I haven't decided if I will go work there. The idea of someone constantly looking over my shoulder just doesn't appeal to me."

"So... are you considering staying and working here?"

She smiled, and my heart gave a little leap. "Yeah."

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