Inspirational quote: If someone says that they love you, and you don't feel the same way, just say I love YouTube really fast.

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

Agent Astera had said something to Lauriel before Lauriel had had the chance to text something back to Dr Kozak.

"Okay. That's it. You need to start this test ASAP, Lauriel. Look. It's five o'clock now, you were supposed to start the perilous obstacle course test at four." She commanded, almost deliberately spitting on her as well.

But what was the point though? The girls in there only had one minute left, and majority of them couldn't even make it past section seven.

"Wouldn't it be more convenient for both of us if I had just started the test with the next fifty set of girls?" Lauriel realised.

"Except you can't!" Astera shouted at her. "All the tests finish at five. You and Anastasia are the only girls left that still need to take the test."

Lauriel didn't reply. She was just looking blankly at the perilous obstacle course that lay ahead of her, wondering whether Dr Kozak was just trying to bring her down by saying that there was no way she was going to survive if she took the test while sick.

It then came back to her that Agent Astera had said something about all tests finishing at five, so Lauriel thought it would be stupid of her to not comment on that.

"Hang on a second? Exactly how many tests are there?" Lauriel wanted to know, as Agent Astera was casually taking her down to the first section.

"Oh. Seventy one." Astera replied, leaving a dramatic pause at the end of her sentence.

Silence.

"...Thousand two hundred and sixty three."

What?!

"There are more tests than there are rooms," Lauriel noticed. "How is that even possible please?"

"Occasionally we fit two tests into one room. Although no more than that. The rooms aren't big enough to fit more than two tests. For example, this room has two tests. And if you look opposite you," Astera turned Lauriel's body around so that she was facing the room opposite her, on her right.

"You will see a test taking place."

Lauriel remained silent as she was watching the test. And unlike her one, this test was only for boys.

They had split the test up into ages and genders, Lauriel still didn't know why, and in the test she was looking at, there was a short and presumably eleven year old kid dangling from a rope.

How effortless? Lauriel wanted to complain. That's not fair. Why do they get such a simple test whilst the girls here practically have to suffer?

Lauriel had overused the word effortless.
By far.

She then came to notice that the test was known as the Leap Of Faith, and what the boys had to do was basically leap from a rope upside down and land safely on the ground.

The worst was yet to come.

Soon after, the rope caught on fire, as well as the water underneath it too.

How anyone had excepted those boys to survive in there, Lauriel didn't really know.

The boy was screaming for help, frantically. His clothes were caught on fire. Unfortunately, he accidentally on purpose let go of the rope, making him fall into more fire.

It was probably accidentally on purpose because the kid knew he was going to die anyway so he just sort of saved himself from his inevitable shame and death and maybe hopelessly being a laughing stock.

The words 'DAD' came up on the screen, making Lauriel baffled, so as a result of that, she frantically tapped agent Astera asking her what DAD meant or stood for.

"Disqualified And Dead," she explained. "And if you survive then it's AAS, which stands for 'Alive and Survived'. And before you ask, yes. Loads of people survived. About 70% of them."

How evil? The boys had a much easier chance of surviving than the girls, plus their time limit was longer.

This was absolutely not fair at all.

"How comes they sort of get an easier test?" Lauriel enquired, when Astera took her away into the first section, resetting the ten minute time limit.

"Because they're eleven. And you're fourteen. And you're going to pay the consequences for being fourteen, by doing a trickier test than them."

Lauriel didn't reply.

"But wait!" She ululated, making Astera flash an evil glare at her because Lauriel was wasting her time. "I don't want to do this test alone."

"And you don't have to either," Astera told her, although she said nothing else because by that time Anastasia came into the scene and interrupted their conversation.

"Oh my gosh Lauriel!" She said to her. "It's so good to see you here again."

Lauriel rolled her eyes in disbelief. Astera went away, telling her that she'd leave Lauriel and Anastasia to talk, then slowly walked off.

"Listen, Anastasia. I don't have time for your sarcasm. Admit that you're a stuck up obnoxious person. Admit it!" She yelled, pointing her finger at Anastasia, who frowned.

"No I was being genuinely serious. It's so lovely to see you again!" She threw Lauriel into a hug and still hugged her even though Lauriel wasn't hugging Anastasia back.

"Bubblegum?" She offered, leaving a Hubba Bubba packet on her right hand for Lauriel to take.

Lauriel stared at it blankly, then at Anastasia, who winked at her.

So she took one, and ate it very slowly...

Just accept the fact that she's nice, Lauriel thought to herself. She's just too sweet, you can't hate her and she's not out to kill me like I thought she was.

"So what brings you here?" Lauriel questioned, completely forgetting the fact that Dr Kozak had mistakingly taken her to the wrong test room as well.

"Oh Dr Kozak took me to the wrong room," she explained. "I just arrived."

Lauriel was confused.

"If you just arrived..." She trailed off in suspense. "Then where's Dr Kozak?"

"Look over your shoulder," was all Anastasia really said back to her.

Lauriel was perplexed.

Absolutely perplexed.

Why?

Because when she looked back, no one was there, so she stared longingly back at Anastasia again.

Anastasia then told Lauriel to look back again, and so she did, where she across a tall, towering figure.

Except she was staring mainly at the person's chest. Lauriel looked up, and right there, right opposite her was Dr Kozak.

"Jeez! You scared the living daylight out of me. What are you doing here?"

Dr Kozak flashed an enigmatic grin at her in return.

"Question is, what aren't I doing here? I came here to wish you and Anastasia good luck of course."

Lauriel was even more baffled than last time.

"I thought you said that you weren't supporting me, and that I shouldn't say that you didn't warn me."

"Yeah, well. I changed my mind." He replied, deeply examining his fingernails. "Plus, everyone is mad at me at the moment. See this is what happens when you know too many people."

No one replied, Anastasia didn't know what to say, Laurie was just silently comparing herself to Anastasia, wondering what she had that Laurier didn't and Dr Kozak was texting someone on his phone very very rapidly.

"Okay. You girls better start the test. Best of luck. I'll be at Section eight if you need me." Then he was off for good, leaving the room entirely.

"His presence frightened me, I didn't even know or realise he was there," Lauriel murmured to Anastasia, immediately once Dr Kozak had left.

"That's true," she agreed, although Lauriel didn't reply. There was no reply. "And wait. So is Dr Kozak like, your father or something? I'm really confused."

"He's supposed to be. But he's not."

Anastasia looked at Lauriel blankly and Lauriel looked right back at Anastasia until Anastasia remembered that it was her cue to respond.

"What do you mean?"

"Long story." Lauriel genuinely wanted to talk to her about anything that wasn't Dr Kozak.

There was a monotonous silence between them for a while until Agent Astera both led them off into section one, and to actually take the test this time, not just to hang around there like earlier.

"Okay. So you two are working together. The test is about to start. You have twelve seconds."

No one said anything after that. There was really no reason to anyway because by then the timer had already inevitably started counting down.

Twelve...

And it had stayed like that for about twenty seconds until it had reached the next number.

Eleven...

And it did it again, making Lauriel internally ticked off.

"Wow, at this rate, we'll be about eighty years old before we have to properly start the test." She muttered to Anastasia sarcastically, making her nod her head in agreement albeit frustration as well.

"Ten. Nine eight seven six five four three two one. You may start the test now...Off you go!"

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

Moral of chapter: Patience is a virtue.