"Check again," I whispered to Rav.

   He stared at me with an expression of despair that had become all too familiar in the past five minutes.

"Beth, I've checked our communication system seven times," Rav made it a point to emphasize those last two words. "There aren't any issues from our end."

"Check. Again," was the only stoic reply I gave.

   Despite the tired glance Rav shot me, he let out a sigh of defeat before tending to the laptop once more.

   My fingers that had retired for a while went into motion yet again, tapping away at the sides of my thighs. The heat that wouldn't stop convulsing in me triggered countless beads of sweat that overtook my forehead.

   Even though I had backed up from the laptop and was currently leaning against the walls of the van, my eyes never left Rav's device.

   Talise couldn't be caught. She just couldn't.

"Beth..." Camila decided to try this time.

   I shook my head, holding up a hand and interrupting her before she could continue, "How are we expected to hear Talise if you guys keep talking? We need to be quiet."

   As I said those words, my gaze remained fixed on Rav's device. Still, it didn't take a lot to imagine the hopeless expression Camila was probably wearing from my response when the sound of her shaky breath released reached my ears.

   The subsequent time that passed didn't breed any more attempts by the others to talk to me. Or talk at all. My sight turned blurrier and blurrier from the tears that I refused to release. I didn't realize how much energy I was using to withhold them until I lowered my eyes to notice that my hands at my sides were tight fists.

"Rav?" Dorian's low voice broke the stillness that had overtaken the van. "Why don't you check ag—?"

"Hello?! Beth?! Rav?! Can anyone hear me?"

   Ironically, the voice I'd longed to hear was the same one that kept me glued to where I was standing and tongue tied while everyone else surrounded the laptop, in reaction to Talise's call.

   Even as I moved to join Rav, Camila and Dorian, it still felt like a dream. The kind which came with a sort of bliss that made you want to never wake up.

"Talise," The tension in my throat made the mention of her name come out in a weird squeak. "Are you okay?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't I be?" Her tone was as chipper as ever while she asked. "I just finished putting the leg brace back on so I'll be heading to the cafeteria soon. Being disconnected from you guys was a bit scary though, I'm not sure what happened. I feel way better now that I can hear you all. The adrenaline from all the running is taking a while to go away, seriously. Especially after the unexpected energy that burst in me at the last minute. It was so weird. I made it into the bathroom with twelve whole seconds to spare. Can you believe it?"

"How d-do— h-how do you know that?" Rav couldn't mask his shock as he stuttered his question to Talise.

"You didn't think I was going to rely on you guys the whole time, did you?" Talise laughed. "I set a timer on my wrist watch right when you first announced the amount of time left."

   If Tali's watch wasn't wrong and she made it into the bathroom with twelve seconds remaining... The grinning faces all around me was an indication I didn't have to point out that Zavlon's cameras weren't able to detect her.

   After all, Dave, the intern, said he ceased the operation ten seconds earlier and Tali's watch revealed she'd reached the bathroom with twelve seconds left. This provided one or two seconds before Zavlon could get noticed their intruder message from their camera systems. The second/seconds anyone could have discarded as useless were the very ones that saved Talise from utter doom.

   My best friend was the luckiest person on the planet.

"Twelve seconds, you said? Very impressive." I grinned.

"I know." Tali didn't bother feigning humility in her response.

   With all the smugness coming from her right now, it was better to tell about her two second win when she came back.

"Don't forget," Camila said. "You still have the last camera to drop off on Zavlon's compound."

"That shouldn't be too difficult. The camera is in my back pocket now just in case," Talise replied, noises from the washing of her hands in the bathroom clouding her voice a bit. "Right now, though, I've earned myself a filling lunch don't you think? Let's see what the great Zavlon Academia has to offer me in their cafeteria."

   Great, now even my best friend, a non-Zavolonian, was getting the chance to eat something that wasn't kale or some other bougie salad before I did.

   But this wasn't the time to be all bitter. We'd just achieved the impossible!

   The metallic clinks from the leg brace were heard soon after Talise announced she was leaving the bathroom.

"I need to hurry though," she added. "My watch says lunch ends in less than—Eugene!"

   Every one and thing froze. Not a single person in the van seemed like they were going to snap out of the paralytic effect that the sudden mention of the Zavolonian tour guide's name by Talise had, any time soon.

   The only proof of the fact that this wasn't a dream I was trapped in was the restless racing of my heart. Although this organ and its deafening beats were in my chest, the choking feeling within my throat that my heart seemed to cause could have easily convinced me of otherwise.

"Hello, Destiny!" Camila's earpiece captured Eugene's cheery greeting.

   The tight knots in my shoulders loosened up a little. Maybe my overreaction was a little too impulsive. I mean, to Eugene, Talise was just coming out of the bathroom. There was nothing to worry about.

"I hope you don't mind that I left the group for a while," Talise remarked.

"Oh, not at all."

   A wave of silence passed after his response. I didn't have to be physically present to know how awkward it had become between them.

"Say something!" Camila leaned to hiss into the mic.

"Shall we join the others then?" Talise asked.

"Of course."

   The blended noises from their respective footsteps echoed within the hallway through which they walked.

"So have you been enjoying the tour so far?" Eugene spoke out after a while.

"Yeah..." She sounded as surprised as the rest of us were at the way he made the first move. "I have, actually. It's nice to finally get a glimpse of one of the most prestigious schools in the world. Everything, from the infrastructure to facilities is pretty crazy, cool, interesting, you name it."

"Is that all you find interesting?" He queried.

   As normal as this question appeared to be, it certainly didn't sound like it. Eugene's voice was several tones lower, sounding almost playful.

Was he flirting?

"Hmm, I don't know," The change in Talise's natural pitch took me off guard for the second time. "The day isn't over yet so I'm keeping an open mind. You never know, some thing or one could make the list."

   Was she flirting back?

   At this point, my fingers were practically itching to get to Rav's laptop and mute this abomination of a conversation.

   Flirting with a mind controlled senior had to be illegal in some part of the world. It just had to be.

"Get it, Talise!" A familiar sounding cheer erupted within the van.

"Shut up, Rav!" I bore holes into his neck with my deadliest glare before saying to Talise, "What the hell are you doing?"

"Well, this is our stop!" Eugene remarked.

   I sighed in relief when those words didn't sound like they were aiming to charm the pants (and leg brace) off someone.

"Let me get that for you," I heard him say right before the clicking noise I attributed to the cafeteria's door resounded.

"Thank y—"

   Frowns were exchanged amongst us at the abrupt halt of Tali's words. Even more confusing was the deep, concentrated breathing that we could suddenly hear from our speakers.

"The earpiece is probably acting up again. Feedback." Camila shook her head after giving an eye roll toward Rav's laptop.

"Why...why's the cafeteria empty?" We heard Talise question Eugene. "Where are the rest of the Visitors?"

   Hold on...what?

"The thing is," I held my breath as Eugene paused his answer to sigh. "We won't be needing them for what's about to happen next..."

   A never before chill invaded my blood almost immediately, causing every inch of my skin to sprout goosebumps. I folded my arms to comfort my body as it wracked from an unforeseen shiver from a sudden drop in the temperature of the van. A shiver that persisted despite the jacket I had on.

"...Talise."

   And all that was felt way before my mind fully registered that Eugene didn't call Talise Destiny. 

A/N: As cliche and outdated as what I'm about to say is... DUNDUNDUNNNN!!!

Who saw this coming lol?  Say so if you did or didn't in the comments 😌😌

QOTD: Have you ever witnessed or experienced a flirtatious moment like what happened between Eugene and Talise?

To nayers, you can join me by commenting here🥲.