Starcraft Fan Fiction ❯ Interstellar Explorers ❯ Gαmβiτ σf τhε Θρρσrτυηisτ ( Chapter 10 )

Finally the tenth chapter! Wow, I sure have been uploading these fast! It's been over twenty thousand words and we're still on the same day bahaha, that'll be changing soon!

~ Gαmβiτ σf τhε Θρρσrτυηisτ ~

Gadgetry was held in the Science Block labs with Ms McDowell. The older lady taught a wide range of subjects related to inventing as well as Planetary Environmental studies and the compulsory psychic classes for the gifted students (mostly psionics was taught by her, but Mr Alston was known to teach too). She had short dyed hair and red-rimmed glasses that were attached to a delicate chain. Milo didn't know what to think about the head teacher's decision to put Nolan in their team, and he didn't know what Paige's temperament would be like in her class. Despite her wide range of subjects Milo only had Ms McDowell for Gadgetry. She was setting up gear for the lesson when Milo walked in, tugging on the straps of his bag. Paige sat in the second row hunched over her desk looking bored. Milo made his way over, trying to be careful about deducing her mood.

"Hi Paige," he pulled out the chair next to her and dropped his bag.

"Hey Milo," she spoke with a sigh and sat up. It didn't seem like she was annoyed, just disappointed.

"Turn that frown upside down, you've got class with me now." he teased.

"So charming," she laughed and Milo was glad to see a smile form.

"I'm guessing you did your homework?"

"Of course," she fiddled with her circular glasses. "It was easy. You're not asking to copy are you? How would you ever learn?" she joked.

"No, not this time. I've got it right here." Milo flicked through his textbook "I'm not a total hardcore flunky rebel all the time."

"Doofus," she smiled before turning to Ms McDowell as she stepped around her desk to face the class.

"Alright. Switch on your holo-pads, chapter 17. We're going to continue working on our battery powered neon lasers after we go through the chapter together."

Working with lasers was a finite and delicate procedure, but building one was a whole other story. Milo and various other members of the class were having difficulty getting theirs to work. It was a good thing he had such a helpful lab partner however.

Ms McDowell read through the chapter while Paige dutifully typed notes on her holographic keyboard, Milo struggled to get down as much as she was. There was a few minutes of silence while the class finished their note-taking.

"Did you catch up with Sayuri?" Paige whispered.

"Yeah, she's a bit upset. Her protest failed, predictably, but she hasn't gotten suspended to my knowledge. How was Willow?"

"It's a bit harder to tell with her... but she seems pretty upset as well."

"She got so much spookier after her accident. I guess it is hard to tell."

"That's not a nice thing to say about your friend. Does she creep you out?"

"No, I'm just saying she got a lot more reclusive. I guess she was always sorta like that though..."

"Yeah, and you can't blame her for being a bit more anti-social after everything that happened..."

"True." Milo whispered back as their teacher switched off the screen. "But she's always been a bit spooky as well."

"Well, I can't argue with that."

"Alright!" Ms McDowell clapped her hands together. "Time to set up equipment." briefly her eyes flashed yellow. Ever since the last class didn't pack away their things properly and a boy got buried under a bunch of scopes Ms McDowell made a habit of scanning the future before practicals. She walked over to a boy in the first row "I'll be working closely with you today, to make sure you don't put the fuel cells in backwards and lose an eyebrow."

Gadgetry was a pretty harmless class, unless you got your fingers stuck in gears or were working with lasers. The students made their way to the back of the room and started unpacking their projects. Paige set up her stand and other gear, she slipped the safety goggles over her glasses as a precautionary measure. Milo put his own on and looked down at the simple model he'd constructed. He was very careful to get the circuitry right, but the wires were a bit of a mess. He didn't want to jam them when he slid the batteries in. With a small metal implement he prodded around inside the device looking around to make sure everything was in order. Paige was fixing up her other stand and slipped into place the resistant ceramic tile after flicking her laser down to its lowest setting.

Milo lightly tossed around his neon batteries before fitting them into the slot.

"Ouch!" There was a zap and a spark, he brought his finger to his mouth. Paige smiled and tugged at the safety gloves she was wearing. Milo rolled his eyes at the shorter girl and then fished the equipment from beneath his desk. Now fully protected he proceeded to put the batteries in the right way. There was a click and a hum from beside him. Milo turned and his mouth dropped.

"Woah, your laser's green! How did you do that?"

"I switched up one of the Neon batteries with a Silicon one, and then I tinkered with the electronics and composition to make it work."

"You're such a nerd," he stuck his tongue out.

"Nerds are cool. What have you built, Mr not-a-flunky-all-the-time?"

"It is what we professionals in the inventing field call, a piece of shit." Milo tried clipping on the lid and it zapped again. He looked at it worriedly and Paige pushed him aside.

"Let me take a look," she sighed.

Milo glanced at Ms McDowell who was closely supervising a struggling boy. So either she hadn't seen Paige fixing another student's experiment in the future or she forgot to tell them off for it at the right time. Paige leaned over, inspecting the device while Milo kept a nervous eye on their teacher.

"This is awful," she whined "Milo it's like a dog's breakfast. I think a child put this together."

"Yeah, well it works."

"It keeps sparking cause you haven't weaved the wires properly. You might need to start again."

"It is unlikely I'll be bothered to do that." he admitted.

"Well, I can make it neater." she fiddled for a few moments and Milo took the opportunity to admire the intricacies of Paige's model. He looked up to see Ms McDowell moving away, the two quickly swapped places again. Milo clicked the batteries in easily and began messing with the switches. There was a loud shatter and a pale blue line fizzed through the air into the wall.

"Switch the power to the lowest setting!" Ms McDowell reminded a girl crossly, peering through her red glasses. The student frantically switched off her device. "Really, perhaps I should have looked at the results after my counter-actions impacted on the future. All of you need to be careful with this equipment!" she reminded.

Paige tried disguising her snort of laughter at the incident and Milo shot her a coy smirk. She made a grab for one of Milo's stands when he did, mistaking it as one of her own. Their hands touched and Paige pulled back quickly, a blush forming on her face. Milo's heart started beating in his eardrums. He lowered his arm and clenched his fist, Paige coughed and went back to work on her project. Milo still hadn't forgotten about the kiss they almost shared last night; he was determined. He was going to make this happen.

The rest of the lesson went by without a hitch. They chatted a bit, only a few passing comments about the gadgets on the table before them. By the end of the lesson Milo's laser was firing, the blue light sizzled against the square tile. He mentally fist-pumped and decided next lesson he'd fix up all the inner components. Before the lesson ended they packed up all their stuff and waited for the bell.

"I've got a free next. I can finally catch up on my sleeping." Milo yawned.

"Don't you have Astronomy next?"

"Har har, Paige! Very funny!" he dared her with his look to go along with it. She poked out her tongue and he turned away in relief.

"It must be hard to be unable to sleep when you want to. Insomnia must be the greatest torment of the young, forget the pimples and awkward growth spurts."

"Maybe, but if memory serves you don't sleep all that well either."

"I only need a few hours sleep."

"Yeah, right. You stay up all night building your robots in the study labs. How do you function without sleeping as much as the rest of us?"

"There are so much better things to do with my time than lying down in a comatose state for a third of my day."

"Well, I didn't sleep a wink last night. I'll be lucky if I don't collapse on my way back to the dorms."

"Aww, that's too bad. Did I keep you up all night?" Suddenly Milo remembered the obvious reason as to why he didn't get any sleep and stammered.

"D-don't be so full of yourself, Paige."

She looked away with a grin and the bell rang. Everyone got up to leave and Ms McDowell returned to her desk and papers. Milo's palms were sweating, he got up after Paige and followed her out of the room.

"I have Astronomy 2 with Mr Whitley so I won't be going very far," she smiled. "Enjoy your sleep, Milo."

"Yeah." he watched Paige turn away again with a spasm of regret. He stood there and saw her go about three metres before heading after her.

"Paige! I forgot something!"

"Huh?" she turned around.

Milo spontaneously leaned forward and pressed his lips into hers. They were soft and warm, kissing them was exactly how he imagined it to be. She leaned back, too stunned to react for a few seconds before pushing him away.

"Milo! What the fuck?!"

"Ah... yeah. I like you." he stated awkwardly.

"Then why didn't you ask me on a date?" she yelled, tomato-red. "I'm not that kind of girl!"

"Um? What kind of girl?"

"I a- bluh, d-don't get so physical right away!"

"You don't like kissing?"

"No, I do... I uh. What are you actually looking for, Milo?"

"I just told you I liked you." people were staring but he ignored them.

"Y-yes, you did." she tried calming down. "How about we talk about this like tomorrow?"

"Okay... does that mean you like me too?"

"...yes, Milo." she turned away "I'm going to Astronomy, good grief..."

Milo watched her leave in a bit of a daze. He didn't know why she was being so weird, he guessed it was just nerves. Milo couldn't help almost skipping with glee as he made his way to the opposite stairs. Paige was nervous, that had to mean she liked him. There'd been a bit of flirting going on between them for a while anyway, or so Milo had thought. If he wasn't 95% sure she had feelings for him he wouldn't have gone for such a reckless tactic, it had been more of an impulse than anything. A stupid grin formed on his face as he hopped down the stairs. The last time he dated it'd been with Juno for two years, and that ended a year ago. She'd been his last girlfriend; maybe now he could finally start something new. Something easy; Paige was a really cool girl. She was very cute too, he thought about all this as the two trolley rides whipped him back towards the dormitory. With a spring in his step he turned to the male dorms and pushed the doors open wide. Wait until he gave Elliot the news! He went upstairs and down the corridor, scanned the lock with his card and opened the door. The room was predictably empty. Milo collapsed onto the bed with thoughts of Paige. Reaching down he felt himself through his trousers. The comfort of his bed was like a switch and his lids immediately became heavy. Getting himself comfortable Milo didn't bother pulling the sheet over him. He blissfully fell into slumber, and knew that most likely he wouldn't rise again for a very long time.

Yes, this is the cue meaning Milo's taking a break so we can see the perspectives of some other characters. We're going to start exploring both Willow and Nolan's stories, you don't have to keep shaking your fists at me anymore! Some more reviews would be nice though! *fingers crossed*