If this was early, then Sahara would change her name to Bill. She was up, yet Terrell lay fast asleep. It was as though he didn't have a worry in the world.  A digital clock, hanging up on one of the walls, said it was 10:05am.

Fidgeting with her hands, Sahara sat on the couch staring at the clock and wondering what she should do. She had already spent her morning looking around the warehouse and exploring it. Feeling hungry, she had opened the fridge only to find it was filled from top to bottom with cartons of strawberry milk. It was as though Terrell were stocking up in fear that he would run out

 Thirsty and seeing nothing else to drink, Sahara had taken one out and downed it. She then searched around some more until she found what looked like a box of granola bars. Not knowing if this was all there was to eat, and not wanting to wake Terrell, as she wasn't sure how he would react, she had simply eaten two. After this, she had tried to pass time by looking over Terrell's hover boards, which almost fell over again. However, even that incident, though it was filled with noise consisting of falling boards and Sahara letting out a yelp, did not wake Terrell at all.

In the end Sahara had moved to the couch where Mo joined her a while later and curled up beside her. Stroking him, Sahara watched the clock change to 10:09. As her mind wandered to the evening before, she felt her face heat up at the embarrassing memory.

She had gotten stuck in the shower stall with no way of getting out. After trying to shout numerous different commands, she had finally given up and sat down against a wall, wrapping her arms around herself. Every few moments she came up with another idea and would try it out only to fail. It had taken ages before she heard a creak and then Terrell's cautious voice.

"Uh, Sahara?" he had called.

Feeling relief flood through her, Sahara had jumped up at once to respond when she remembered her predicament; she was in the shower, naked.

"Are you alright?" Terrell had called. By the sound of his voice, he was still at the door and thankfully had not come in.

"I'm...I'm stuck!" Sahara had responded to him in a small voice.

As a result there was a moment of silence before Terrell asked, sounding completely confused, "Stuck?"

"In the shower," Sahara told him miserably. "I don't know how to get out."

Again there was a moment of silence, in which Sahara was sure Terrell had been wondering how stupid one could get. "Just give it the command," he had finally spoken up. He sounded more confused than before, as well as closer. Sahara guessed he had moved to the bathroom stalls so he could hear her better, and yet thankfully he had not come within sight of the showers.

"But...what is the command?" Sahara asked.

"It's..." Terrell paused. "It's another word for finished."

Sahara had felt confused that he wouldn't tell her the word.

"It begins with the letter 'c'." Terrell gave her the hint.

Just say it! Sahara thought in annoyance as she stood up. Yet her mind was already working. Another word for finished that begins with the letter 'c'?

Her eyes widened in realization. "Complete!" she yelled while Terrell yelped "Wait!" at the exact same time.

The walls around her responded by whooshing down faster than they had gone up and Sahara found herself standing in the open. It was then she realized why Terrell had not said the word. Horrified she whirled around while trying to cover herself with her hands, yet thankfully there was no sign of Terrell. Hearing a door close she realized he had made a dash and disappeared from the room.

Sitting on the couch, Sahara's face turned a shade redder and she buried her face in her hands. That had been a close one and could have ended in a lot more embarrassing way.

Hearing a 'meow', Sahara turned to see Mo had jumped to the ground and was looking up at her. Shooting a glance at the clock she saw it now said 10:25.

"I guess there is nothing to it then," she sighed as she got up. "If I don't wake Terrell then we won't get any of that practicing done today."

Mo let out another 'meow' as though to agree.

Making her way to the stairs, Sahara paused at the bottom. For a moment she stood there before she gathered her courage and began to make her way up. When she reached the top she looked around curiously.

It was surprisingly clean up here compared to down below. There was only a desk with a chair by it. On the desk was what looked like a flat screen on it, only that it was see through. Beside it stood a few other gadgets, none of which Sahara recognized.

Her attention was drawn the side where Terrell lay on what looked like a thin, uncomfortable mattress. A blanket was draped over him and one leg sprawled out from beneath. He was lying on his side, his head resting on a small pillow under which one arm was tucked.

For a moment Sahara simply stood staring. He looked so peaceful asleep that she almost didn't have the heart to wake him up. Mo, however, seemed to have a different idea. He had padded up behind Sahara and now gracefully walked past her, purring as he approached Terrell. Sahara watched as the cat jumped up on top of Terrell and then sat down, staring at Sahara as though telling her to get on with it.

Making a face, Sahara slowly walked forward. Back at Heirlen Home she had never dared try to wake anyone up. The result would have been disastrous. However, Terrell had told her last night that they would get up early and so she had a feeling that she needed to wake him up.

Reaching forward she proceeded to gently shake Terrell. There was no response. Pausing for a moment, Sahara scowled before she began to shake him harder. Mo, seeming uncomfortable, jumped off and disappeared down the stairs, tail held high.

Terrell, in the mean time, let out a groan and Sahara found herself jumping back as his hand shot out to try and grab the offending person. Heart racing, Sahara stood, waiting for Terrell to open his eyes. Yet upon finding nothing to grab on to, he simply turned around, pulling the blanket over his head. Biting her bottom lip, Sahara wondered what she could do to get him up.

Finally she opted for another method. Moving she reached out and grabbed a corner of the blanket. All the while she made sure she was out of reach from Terrell's hands. Giving a mighty tug, she pulled the blanket off. Terrell responded by curling up into a ball.

Sahara stood, blanket in her hands while she waited, holding her breath. She watched as Terrell reached around for the blanket. Upon realizing he couldn't find it he let out a frustrated groan.

"T-Terrell?" Sahara asked softly. There was no response. "Um...it's already nearly 10:30..." she trailed off as Terrell grabbed the pillow and buried his head under it. "We were supposed to get up early..." she trailed off as Terrell turned and cracked one eye open. "To practice," Sahara finished off.

"Who are you?" Terrell croaked as he stared at her. His voice sounded hoarse and Sahara blinked in surprise.

"S-Sahara," Sahara stuttered in response.

"Oh..." Terrell's other eye opened and he slowly sat up. He ran a hand through his hair, which was in a mess.

Sahara stood frozen where she was, not sure what to do. Terrell rubbed his eyes and then turned to look at her.

"Practice?" he asked, his voice still hoarse.

Sahara nodded.

"Right," Terrell's eyes wandered to the blanket Sahara was still holding. She felt her face heat up and yet Terrell said nothing. Standing up, he proceeded to stumble past her and down the stairs, all the while bleary eyed. Sahara stood where she was, still holding the blanket. Something told her Terrell wasn't a morning person.

Hearing a 'bang' and swearing, she looked down to see Terrell had stumbled over a box. He kicked it halfheartedly before making his way to the fridge. Sahara quickly folded the blanket in her hands, placed it on the bed, and began to go down the stairs.

Terrell, in the mean time, had opened the fridge. He reached out for a milk carton when he froze. Sahara, having reached the bottom of the stairs, held her breath. Surely he hadn't noticed that there was one carton less? For a moment longer Terrell stood frozen before he reached out, grabbed a carton, and shut the fridge with his foot. Sahara let out a sigh of relief.

Still looking half asleep, Terrell made his way over to the couch and plopped down on it. He sat for a moment, staring into space, before he poked the straw into the carton and took a sip. Suddenly he turned around to stare at Sahara.

"Practice?" he asked her again.

Sahara nodded.

Terrell nodded to himself. "I remember. I promised to help didn't I?" He didn't sound enthusiastic at all.

What's with his voice? Sahara thought as she wondered how hoarse it sounded. Then again, maybe it was just how it was in the morning.

Surprisingly, by the time Terrell finished the strawberry milk he seemed a lot more awake. It was as though it gave him some sort of energy boast.

"Right," he announced as he tossed the carton towards the trash can. He hit it, and it would have gone in had the trash not been so full. "Time to teach you how to board."

Sahara, who had sat down on a crate, jumped up at once. She felt that if she didn't, then Terrell would change his mind.

Terrell walked over to the boards and picked out the shortest and fattest once, the one which was red with orange swirls on it. He examined it for a moment before he nodded. Turning he motioned for Sahara to follow before he headed to the exit.

Sahara hurried after him, almost stepping on Mo, who had decided to curl up and fall asleep on the middle of the floor. Upon coming out of the warehouse, Sahara found herself standing in the concrete courtyard.

"Here," Terrell motioned for her to come to where he was.

Sahara did as she was told. No sooner did she reach him than Terrell reached out and grabbed her wrist. Sahara instinctively jerked back, yet he held her fast.

"Whoa, calm down," he told her.

Wide eyed Sahara watched as he pressed something on her newly acquired bracelet. A screen, with numerous words on it, came up. Before Sahara could make out what they said, Terrell scrolled down and the screen changed once again. This time, numbers appeared.

"What...?" Sahara began.

"We need to link your bracelet's frequency with that of the board," Terrell replied without looking away from what he was doing.

"Why?"

Terrell didn't respond as he pressed something else and the screen disappeared. Turning he picked up the board from where he had dropped it. Flipping it on its back his fingers ran across it before he seemed to find what he wanted. Removing a small flap he punched something on what looked like another small screen before he replaced it. Sahara saw his finger flip across something else. He then put it down on the ground and turned to Sahara. When he motioned for her hand, Sahara held it out to him.

Terrell made the screen appear once more and pressed something. Almost at once the board sprang about a foot into the air where it floated, humming softly.

Sahara blinked in surprise. She remembered Terrell flipping something at the bottom of his board to turn it on and off before. Apparently there was another way of doing so.

"Alright," Terrell made the screen disappear once again and dropped Sahara's hand.

Sahara watched numbly. She had no clue what had just happened.

"First things first," Terrell said as he turned to face her. "You need to learn to summon your board."

"Huh?"

Rolling his eyes Terrell lifted his hand and pointed at his bracelet. Slowly Sahara lifted her own and pointed at it in question. Nodding Terrell turned his hand and did a 'come here' motion with his fingers. Sahara copied him and to her surprise the board lurched forward it came right towards her. When it didn't stop, Sahara's eyes widened. She jumped out of the way just in time to avoid it crashing into her. Turning she saw it was flying right towards the warehouse wall and crash into it.

Wincing she turned to shoot Terrell a guilty look. He, however, didn't look surprised in the least. It was almost as though he had been expecting this. Calmly he walked towards the board and picked it up.

"It's a weight board. That makes it sturdy. Something this small won't damage it," he told Sahara. He carried it over towards her. "When your board is on and synced to your bracelet, you can summon it in the way you just did; that is, as long as it's in range." He placed the board down and let it hover, about two meters from Sahara, before he walked over to her. "If you simply summon it, it will come, but it won't stop unless you tell it to." Taking a hold of Sahara's hand, Terrell turned it so that her hand was facing with the palm up. "This, is how you summon," he told her as he moved her fingers for her. The board came towards Sahara almost at once. "And this," Terrell told her as he made her fingers move ever so slightly in the other direction, "Is how you make it stop."

Sahara watched in fascination as the board came to a stop before her. "It takes practice to figure out when the best time to get it to stop is," Terrell added. "But," he turned the board so that the front was facing away from Sahara, "That's not the most important aspect. You can find time to practice that." He turned his head away slightly as he muttered, "In your own time preferably."

Sahara gave him a questioning look and yet Terrell didn't show he had seen it.

"Get on," he told her as he nodded towards the hovering board.

Sahara hesitated. However, seeing that Terrell was waiting for her to get a move on, she made her way toward the board. How do I get on? She wondered as she surveyed it. From the back? The side? She shot a glance at Terrell and yet he stood there with his hands crossed, not offering any help on the matter.

Opting for the side, Sahara carefully lifted her left foot and placed it on the board. For the first time, she noticed how, not only the surface of the board looked almost glass like, but ripples seemed to spread across its surface as her foot touched it. She stared at it in fascination as more ripples moved each time her foot did.

"Why does it do that?" she asked Terrell.

He rolled his eyes, as though she was asking a stupid question. Yet seeing that she wasn't about to get on without getting an answer, he let out a long sigh. "All new boards on the market are colorless. Once you own it, you adjust the settings and change the color and design to whatever you want. There can only be one of a kind though. Once someone has one design, it logs in the system and you can't have the exact same one. It's to help identify one's board and prevent stealing," he paused, "Or should I say it used to prevent it. Personally," He looked at the board in distaste, "I don't like this one in particular. But hey, today you work with what you get." He turned to look at Sahara. "Now, please, it would be absolutely helpful if you stopped putting things off and actually get on...sometime today would be nice."

Nodding, Sahara took a breath before she stepped up with the other foot. No sooner did she do so than she felt herself wobble back and forth. She let out yell when, upon leaning forward to regain her balance, the board shot out from beneath her and she found herself tumbling towards the ground.

Terrell, who rushed to aid her, tried to stop her fall only to have her crash into him. They both fell to the ground, with Sahara on top.

"Owe," Terrell groaned.

Sahara's eyes widened in horror. "I'm sorry," she told Terrell as she scrambled off him and back to her feet.

"I swear you plan this," Terrell muttered as he sat up. "This," he began as he looked up at Sahara, "is becoming too familiar. How about when you fall you aim for something other than me?"

Sahara nodded her head rapidly in response.

Shaking his head, Terrell proceeded to get to his feet. He shot a look in the direction of where the board now hovered, humming softly as it rocked back and forth. "Jeeze, and that's a weight board too," he rubbed the back of his head.

"What does that mean?" Sahara asked curiously. Terrell kept mentioning that is was a weight board and yet to her, it said nothing.

"Most people learn to board with a weight board. It's less sensitive, harder to accelerate and harder to turn as you have to lean more into it. It's designed to hold weight, that means other aspects like speed, height, and maneuverability are lacking. These days it's used in races by the rammers as it's so sturdy. It can take quite a lot of damage before it dies, not to mention it can inflict more than the others."

"The rammers?"

Terrell waved off her question. "The whole point is, it's easier to learn the basics on as it's less sensitive than the other boards. However..." he shot a meaningful look at Sahara, "it looks like it won't make too much of a difference in our situation. Get the board back over here."

Sahara lifted her hand in response. She took a breath before motioning for the board to come towards her. It flew over at once and Sahara quickly moved her hands in the opposite direction. She watched in fascination as the board halted, still a good two meters from where she stood.

Terrell made no comment. He pushed hand through his hair and stood staring at the board for a moment, as though contemplating something. "Alright," he nodded his head as though coming to a decision. He turned to Sahara. "Let's turn it off."

Sahara looked at him blankly. In response Terrell walked over and took her arm with the bracelet on it. He made the screen appear in seconds and with a flip of his fingers made the humming board drop to the ground.

"I'll show you the details of that later," he told Sahara a he dropped her hand and walked over to the board. Picking it up he brought it over to where she stood and dropped it to the ground in front of her. "Are you left or right footed?" he asked.

Sahara opened her mouth to respond only to close it again.

"Which is your more dominant foot?" Terrell rephrased the question.

"My right...I think," Sahara replied.

Terrell nodded and motion for Sahara to get on the grounded board. She did so. Once she stood on it, Terrell knelt and shifted her feet, lifting her right one to be behind her left.

"Your dominant foot is usually at the back," he told her as he did so. "However, each rider chooses their own style by whatever they are more comfortable with over time. To start off with though, we'll have your dominant foot at the back." He stood back up to survey Sahara's stance. He shook his head. "Bend your knees more," he commanded.

Sahara did as he told her.

"Not that much," Terrell told her when she almost went into a squat. Sahara at once let up a bit and Terrell nodded in approval when she bent her knees to the degree that he thought correct.

"Okay, listen carefully, these are the basics," Terrell told her. "If you lean forward, the board moves forward. The more you lean, the faster you go." As he spoke he reached out and placed one hand on Sahara's back and the other on her stomach. She tensed at the contact and yet Terrell seemed not to notice as he moved her so that she leaned forward ever so slightly. "Got it?" he asked.

Sahara nodded.

"Whichever side you lean towards, that is the side you will go to," Terrell continued as he made Sahara tilt slightly towards him. "Lean back," he moved her backward, "and you slow down. If you want to go higher, you lean slightly forward and put more pressure on your back foot."

Sahara tried to keep up. Lena forward I go forward, but if I put weight on my back leg I go up. She paused. "How do I go backward?"

Terrell looked at her like she had grown another head. "There is no going backward."

"Oh."

"Now," Terrell leaned down and grabbed a firm hold of Sahara's left leg, right below her knee.

She froze.

"The most important aspect to remember at the start is that you need to keep an equal amount of weight on both feet." He looked up at Sahara to see if she got it.

She nodded.

"If you don't, the board will most likely slide from under you," Terrell told her, "And you'll fall like you did before." He got back to his feet. "Alright, let's give it a go."

Sahara nodded and was about to get off when Terrell stopped her. "Stay," he commanded as he took her arm and once again made the screen on the bracelet appear. He pressed the button and at once the board lifted off the ground.

Letting out a yell, as the board suddenly began to softly rock back and forth, Sahara felt herself falling. Yet her fall was stopped when Terrell reached out and grabbed a hold of her.

"Hold on to me," he told her as he offered Sahara his shoulder.

Shakily, Sahara placed a hand on it and leaned on him for support. Still, she wobbled unsteadily as the board rocked back and forth.

"Ok," Terrell told her, "Now try to lean forward ever so slightly to move..." he never got to finish as Sahara leaned forward.

In result the board shot forward. With a yelp she tipped to the side and crashed to the ground as the board rocketed off without her. Realizing that her fall had been surprisingly soft, Sahara wondered why it was so.

When she heard a groan her eyes shot open in horror. Sure enough, once again she found that she had fallen on top of Terrell. He coughed as his eyes opened and he stared at Sahara.

"This is going to become a regular occurrence, isn't it?" he asked.

"I'm sorry," Sahara squeaked as she once again scrambled to her feet. Her face was red in embarrassment.

"No worries," Terrell replied as he slowly sat up. "I may have only broken a rib or two."

Sahara's eyes widened in horror.

"It's a joke," Terrell told her as he got to his feet. He dusted his pants off before he turned to Sahara. "Again," he told her.

Sahara winced. It looked like this was going to be a lot harder than she initially thought.