It did not take long for me to get lost. I already wasn’t a great navigator to begin with. When I’d made the third turn down a hallway that looked exactly the same as the others, I knew I was lost. I didn’t expect every hallway to look exactly the same. The same evenly spaced doors, the same paint, and the same lighting. Only the lengths of some halls were different, and if I got lucky, there was a door with some kind of decoration on it. The repetition in the scenery and my own lack of direction made me get frustrated fast.
After a bit more walking, I came up to an intersection that led to three other hallways. Right as I was about to give up in frustration, I noticed a little blue sign showing a person swimming. On that same sign was an arrow pointing forward. Excited, I started to run down the hallway, following the arrow.
After a couple more turns pointed out by the friendly swimming signs, I nearly slammed into a pair of clear doors that lead to a massive pool area. The signs didn’t lie about the swimming, but they didn’t tell me that the place was practically a waterpark! There were slides, a lazy river, and a massive funnel looking ride that I could hear joyful screams from. I was so taken aback by everything the facility had that I didn’t hear the two sets of footsteps behind me.
“Howdy there!” It was a female Southern accent, much better than the one I attempted with Shelly, that greeted me. “Those doors there are automatic, so you can just walk right up to ‘em and they’ll open. No dirtyin’ your hands or nothin’!”
I was startled by the voices more than the implication I didn’t know how automatic doors worked, but I contained my reaction to my face, not letting my body jump or jerk. I felt my eyes widen in surprise, but I wasn’t facing the source of the voice, so I hoped she couldn’t see me. I slowly turned around and saw two girls in swimsuits, one eagerly waving at me, and the other smiling brightly at me. Both had towels slung over one shoulder and bags over the other.
The one who was waving excitedly was on the shorter side, being only a little taller than Lori with darker, black skin. Her frizzy hair was pulled back into a ponytail, something it obviously wanted to be free of as strands came free and framed the sides of her pretty face. Her dark brown eyes matched her skin color and were full of joy and excitement. I couldn’t recall a time I’d ever met someone whose eyes could convey such positive feelings on their own.
“Oh!” she exclaimed, surprise temporarily taking over her happiness. “I’ve never seen you ‘round here before. Are you new? No one told me we were getting someone new.”
“Uh, sorry about that, I think,” I said, sticking my hand out. I forced myself to stand upright and not slump my shoulders. “I’m Ethan, nice to meet you. I moved here with my sister just today.”
The Southern girl wrapped her rough, callused hands around mine and gave an enthusiastic handshake, one that bounced my arm up and down. “That’s great! Y’all just go there today, huh? You look a bit lost. This place is a whole mess, ain’t it?
If it was that obvious I was lost, maybe she’d be able to help me get back to my apartment. Hardly the coolest way to meet a pretty girl. Then again, I wasn’t going to be the coolest guy in any room.
“Oh, where are my manners? I’m so sorry, I’m Rosie. It’s an absolute pleasure to meet you, Ethan. This here is…actually, she’s a big girl, I’d better let her do her own introductions.”
I directed my full attention to the other girl standing next to Rosie, and I quickly found it hard to focus. She was exceptionally beautiful. Like, the most beautiful lady I’d ever seen on my short eighteen years on Earth. Her long, black hair was tied up to her head in a bun, and it contrasted well against her light skin that was gently kissed by a tan. She was tall, fit, and had perfectly done makeup. I’m not ashamed to admit that her bikini swimsuit made me look for something interesting on the ceiling.
Just from the glance I got at her, I guessed she had to be a model or something. The only real “blemish” that stuck out was a long scar that ran across the bridge of her nose and tapered off on her cheeks. That wasn’t even something that I found unattractive, though it wasn’t something I’d seen on many girls who looked pretty enough to pose for a magazine cover.
Struggling to meet her deep, blue eyes, I stuck a shaky hand out, sort of hoping she wouldn’t take it. That hope was dashed when I felt a hand, much softer than Rosie’s, slip into the grip of my palm that I just knew was covered in gross sweat. I cringed and tried to look away, but her free hand stopped me. She slipped her other one free from my grip and placed it on my cheek to turn my face toward her.
“You have such nice hair!” She ran her hands through it, carefully feeling it between her fingers. She took my chin between two fingers and turned my head side-to-side, scanning my features. “Wow, it’s been a long time I’ve met a boy with such beautiful blond hair. Some better products and it would be perfect. Would you let me do your hair, Ethan? Oh, you have a pretty face, too.”
I didn’t respond. I couldn’t make myself respond. I was so uncomfortable with her touching my face and hair that I completely froze up, not even able to protest. I felt my cheeks flush, but the girl paid no mind to my sudden and furious blushing. She was focused entirely on playing with my hair and looking at the skin on my face.
“Lizzy, you gotta stop touching all the new boys you meet, even if they’re cute, okay? Look at how uncomfortable he is!” Rosie, my new guardian angel, had come to my defense. This seemed to snap the stunning girl—Lizzy—out of her weird fixation with my hair.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” She stumbled backward, spilling the contents of her beach bag everywhere. “I’ve been told I’m very touchy with people, and not everyone appreciates that. I’m trying to get a handle on it. Oh gosh, I feel so bad. I’d been doing so well, too. I just get so excited when I see such nice hair.”
Still a bit stunned, I just stood there and watched Lizzy put the contents of her bag back in place. With the benefit of hindsight, it was rude to not lend a hand. With even more hindsight, it was rude to stare at her, especially since it had to have looked like I was staring right at her chest. That had to have looked especially bad since calling her “well-endowed” would have been a huge understatement. That was what being surprised and uncomfortable did to me. I just froze up like an idiot deer in the headlights.
“If it makes you feel better, she gets touchy-feely with the girls a lot too. I just like to yank her leg a little. You know how these one-track mind people can get.” Rosie giggled and Lizzy huffed in frustration.
“Yes, I do like contact. I don’t have a ‘love language’, but touch would be the closest thing to it. I don’t mean to make people feel uncomfortable.” Lizzy double-checked her bag to make sure nothing else had fallen out. She did a little spin to make sure nothing was left on the floor. “It’s just a bad habit I picked up from home since everyone there is a hugger.”
“Aw, my little Lizzy is a hugger! Ain’t that just precious?” Rosie embraced Lizzy, their height difference nearly causing both of them to fall over. They managed to regain their footing without any more bag spillages or anyone busting their ass. “And she might be in the hospital if I’m not careful with her.”
“Yeah, take care to not add any extra scars to my face,” Lizzy said as she idly ran her fingers over her scar. “I already have to lie about where I got this one. ‘Turning face-first into an opening door’ really isn’t as cool as a fight against a bunch of bullies at school, so let’s not make ‘falling at the pool’ another awkward conversation.”
“Come on, you don’t have to do all that now,” Rosie chastised, shaking her head. “Just tell people what happened honestly, honey.”
“Calling me sweet names won’t help you,” Lizzy said as she wagged her finger back and forth. “The flattery is appreciated, however. But anyway, who doesn’t want a little embellishment to make a story better?”
“Oh, you’re terrible. Absolutely terrible, Lizzy Quick.” Rosie’s tone was nothing but pleasant and playful. “Well, Ethan, it was such a pleasure to meet you, but Lizzy and I have a weekly girls’ get together at the pool. One of the only things that’s kept us sane lately.”
Still unsure of how to tackle that subject around here, I tried to focus on something different and more immediate to my needs. “Before you two head to the pool, do you have any idea of how to get…well, anywhere really? My sister and I were teleported here, and I’m not sure how to find my around just yet.”
“They didn’t have anyone show you around?” Lizzy asked. When I shook my head, a puzzled look crossed her face. “And you just decided to wander about? These halls can be like a maze, you know.”
“Yeah, I do know now, trust me. I got turned around, and I’m not sure where the only other person I know is.”
“Who do you know?” Rosie asked. “Maybe we can give ‘em a call and get y’all together here.”
“Loriana Davis,” I replied. “She was staying in my old town to make sure everything was okay after…everything that happened recently, but we haven’t really talked since then.”
“Oh, you’re her assignment! That’s wonderful; we were all waiting for her to finally get something to do.” Rosie lit up as she fished her phone out of her bag, before switching to a more somber tone. “I hope she’s doing okay. We were all heartbroken by Rory’s passing, but I know they could be joined at the hip. He wasn’t here to say goodbye to Lori before she left to meet you.”
“She wasn’t in a great place for the past week,” I said, debating what was safe to share. I decided that being honest about my side would be good, but I didn’t want to paint Lori in a bad light. “We talked for a bit before she got upset about what happened. I decided to head out so she could be alone after that. I made some meals for her throughout the week, and some were eaten, so I doubt she hates me or anything like that.
“Oh dear, that poor thing. If she got sour with you, she probably feels horrible about that too.” Rosie’s smile was warm and sympathetic. “She’s a quiet girl, but she’s usually sweet as sugar when she does talk. Her Anomaly makes it hard for her, I think. It can’t be fun to see how everyone around her feels all the time.”
“Yeah, I was upset with her at the time, but I knew where she was coming from. With the move to Luna on the horizon, I just didn’t have the energy to stay angry with her even if I wanted to.” I paused. “Which I didn’t, by the way.”
“Hey, Lori, can you come to the swimming pool? There’s a lost boy here looking for a guide, and Rosie and I are going to be busy.” Rosie and I turned to see Lizzy with her phone to her ear. She shifted it slightly to face us, placing her hand over the bottom. “You guys were chatting, and I want to get my pool day in. You look like a nice guy, Ethan, but not that nice.”
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Before either one of us could say anything, Lizzy returned to her phone call. “Great! I still owe you that free haircut, you know. We’ll make our own girls’ day of it. Sound good?” Judging by the smile and satisfied look on Lizzy’s face, Lori likely agreed to her plan. Lizzy said a quick goodbye and put her phone back into her bag.
“Well, I guess that handles that, doesn’t it? When you get your bearings better, we’ll set up a proper lunch to get to know each other.” Rosie shook my hand one more time. “Good luck with Lori. She’s a good gal, she just needed some time to grieve properly.”
I understood that, and I figured it was better to not say anything more about it, so I just waved goodbye to them and watched them walk into the pool area. They didn’t know about my parents’ passing and telling them about it would only delay them and maybe put a damper on their mood. Although those girls seemed pretty chipper. It was hard for me to imagine them being anything close to upset, especially Rosie.
Once they were out of sight, I leaned my head and body against the wall and let out a sigh. That hadn’t been nearly as bad as I thought. I had managed to forget that those girls might’ve had some powers that could cause millions in damage. They just seemed like normal girls around my age. Well, outside of Rosie’s heavily calloused hands and Lizzy looking like a model. Those weren’t features I encountered in my day-to-day life back in Oregon.
Unsure of how long it would take Lori to reach me, I poked my head inside the pool area. Rosie and Lizzy were resting and laughing on some lounge chairs that were laid out a few feet away from the massive pool’s edge. People of all different ages were relaxing and playing in the water, and luckily, none of them were using an Anomaly as far as I could tell. It was just a fun place for people to come and relax. A place I was determined to visit so I could enjoy myself. After all, if I was a resident there, I would be allowed to, right?
Without warning, I felt a hand on my shoulder, causing me to stand straight and jump high enough to hit my head on the top of the automatic door’s frame, which wasn’t built for the tallest people in the world. The first thing I did was check to make sure I wasn’t bleeding. It wasn’t a particularly hard hit, so I wasn’t, but I could feel the beginning of a migraine coming on. I groaned and turned around to see Lori looking guilty.
“I…Ethan, I’m sorry,” she stammered out. “I thought it’d be funny to surprise you, I didn’t mean to get you hurt. Are you okay?”
“Great to see you too,” I said, trying to rub the pain out of my head. “What’s going to happen the next time we see each other? Are you just going to stab me?”
“It was an accident!”
“You just said you did it to surprise me,” I responded, switching to rubbing my temples to try and keep the headache at bay. “You wanted a reaction, Lori. You just didn’t get the reaction you expected. Maybe don’t deliberately do something you know bothers me, okay?”
For a second, she looked like she wanted to protest, but then her face tightened up and she looked down. I could tell she was carrying a heavy sadness, something beyond just a simple prank. “You’re…right, I shouldn’t have done that. I was still a little upset about how things happened in Oregon, and I don’t know, I just wasn’t really thinking things through properly.”
I wasn’t really that upset to begin with. She looked genuinely remorseful about it, so I couldn’t get too worked up. Once my vision cleared a bit, I noticed that she was wearing a black hoodie and dark pants, perhaps adding to feeling of sadness I got from her. “Apology accepted. Look, I know this is going to be uncomfortable for you, but we need to talk about what happened if you’re still hung up on it.”
“I don’t know,” she said running her hands through her short bob. It didn’t look greasy anymore. It was good to know she’d managed to hop in the shower. “I’m not sure what I am right now. I feel a little better about Rory, I feel awful about you, and I feel creeped out by how everyone here is just going on with their lives.
“My parents were there to welcome me, but they don’t really know how to handle what happened, and I don’t either. I don’t even know if there’s any sort of memorial for Rory here. Everyone who’s got some power here is too scrambled trying to figure out the Pittsburgh thing to worry about me, and everyone else is just…carrying on with life. It’s weird and I don’t like it.”
I thought back to just a few minutes before when Rosie made the comment about staying sane. “I don’t know, everyone has different ways of handling grief and fear. Mine was a lot like how you were in Oregon. I just sort of…existed for a while. Angry and sad, but I didn’t do anything about it. Maybe the people here are just trying to regain some sense of normalcy.”
“I didn’t really look at it that way,” Lori admitted before looking behind me at all the people enjoying the pool. “Honestly, I could see myself doing the same thing if I hadn’t been so attached to Rory.” Her body seemed to relax as she considered that idea. “You know what? I’m hungry. Let me take you to our food court. Remind me to get something for your sister since she made me all that food. I need to get her something as thanks.”
“What?” I asked before I remembered that I never told Lori I was the one who made her all the food. “Oh, right. Sure, we’ll get something for her. Shelly will appreciate that.”
Lori gave me a funny look. I was worried she would pursue my slip up when she shook her head. "Well, the food court is on this floor, so why don’t-“
“Wait, how many floors does this place have?” I asked, wanting to create a visual in my mind. Since there weren’t any windows in our place, I was assuming we were underground in some capacity.
Lori scrunched her face a bit and counted the tips of her fingers. “Six, I think. Two floors above ground for office-related things, two residential floors below ground, the car garage below those, and two floors built for Anomaly usage. Oh, hold on, that’s seven. I always forget about the garage unless I’m imagining the building. There are always talks of adding on more, though.”
“Just how big is this place?” I asked, mostly to myself, not expecting to get an answer.
“Pretty big,” Lori replied. “I’m not sure if it’s bigger than skyscrapers in total size, but there is enough room here to do what you want, do what you need, and then some left over. I’ll tell you more over lunch. I’m starving.”
She waved for me to follow, and we made our way back through the maze of halls. Unlike me, Lori had no issues navigating the place. She occasionally looked at the end of a hall at a sign that a letter and number on it, though she never dwelled for too long. Everything still looked the same except for some minor, personal decorations on a few doors, most used to identify the families that lived there. Each door also had a number, a detail that I didn’t really pay much attention to on my first walk through. I couldn’t imagine how people could adjust to walking down all those hallways.
We didn’t run into any people during our walk, which made it less crowded, but also lent the entire place a sense of eeriness.
“Hey, why isn’t anyone out here right now?” I asked, speeding up to walk next to Lori.
“Lunch time and people are working,” Lori said. “There are jobs that people do here or they can commute to the surrounding area. They can be a bit of a drive, but people do live here, and we get a good number of tourists up here. Some also work from home. There are usually more people out and about during the weekends.”
I was about to ask how it was already lunch time so early in the morning. Then I remembered the time zone change. It might still be the morning in Oregon, but it was lunchtime in New York. I grimaced at the realization that I would have to adjust to the new times, meaning that I’d likely have plenty of late nights in the coming weeks. I would have been thrilled had it been the other way around. Early nights in bed and more time to sleep in.
“Worried about something?” Lori asked as she guided us down another turn. The letters and numbers were getting higher, so I hoped that meant we were getting closer to the beginning of this nightmarish maze.
“Just adjusting. Nothing too bad, but I am worried about how long it’ll take me to get used to all of this.”
“Ah, well, you had girls in swimsuits clinging to you,” Lori teased with a chuckle and wink. It may have been at my expense, but it was good to hear her laugh again. “Who knows? You may end up being Mr. Popularity in a couple of weeks.”
“Haha, you’re hilarious. I get the feeling they’re like that with everyone.”
“Yeah, pretty much. Let me guess, Rosie was almost overwhelmingly sweet, and Lizzy was trying to grab every part of you that wouldn’t get her arrested.”
“Lizzy touched my hair and face, but backed off pretty quickly,” I corrected. “You’re spot on with Rosie though. I’ve never met someone that I could call ‘aggressively nice’ before.”
We walked in silence for a couple more seconds before coming into a large, beautiful lobby, and my mouth hit the floor. A massive and ornate chandelier hung down, washing the room in a warm light. There was a front counter with a bunch of keys hung on the wall behind it, but no one there to man it. There were soft, red chairs and loveseats scattered about the lobby, most of them accompanied by fake plants. I let out an impressed whistle and continued to look around at the scenery. It was such a massive departure from the drab hallways that formed a maze.
“Yeah, this is a favorite spot among residents,” Lori commented. “The plants used to be real, but too many people had allergy attacks. One girl who lives here has a weak control over flowers, but it was enough to send everyone with allergies to an unpleasant few hours filled with plenty of sneezing and watery eyes. Needless to say, Mrs. Carmichael just decided to remove the plants we kept inside the building for safe measure.”
She guided me out of the lobby and into a, thankfully, much shorter hallway. We came to a set of four doors, two of them needed to be pushed and the other two with handicap buttons. Beyond those doors was the lively food court. Like the pool, all sorts of different people were here. Some had earbuds in and were reading, others brought some laptops and were playing games, but most of the people were eating and conversing.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Lori asked, noticing the anxiety that began to fill me. “We don’t have to go in, you know.”
“I know, it’s just all these new faces together in such a small place. Being around groups of people stresses me out sometimes. They make me squirm a little bit.”
My growling stomach won out against any apprehension I was feeling, however. There may have been more people than I was comfortable with, but there was also food in there. I could see racks of pre-made food waiting for easy pickup, but there were also people scrambling in the back to cook things up fresh. It reminded me of a cross between a normal restaurant and a school cafeteria.
With a bit of courage, I opened the door and walked inside with Lori following close behind me. The space seemed bigger now that I was inside, resembling a restaurant more than a disorganized eating space. To my surprise, waiters and waitresses carefully maneuvered around each other and between tables. Most of the waiters looked to be about my age, which was good to know if I needed to apply for a job.
I turned to ask Lori a question about the restaurant before I was greeted with a bump by hostess who was also turning around, albeit because she was walking backwards. When we collided, she spilled her glass of water all over the front of my shirt. Since it was just water, I wasn’t at all upset, but this poor girl seemed distraught about it.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry, sir,” she said, barely managing her words through a minefield of stammering and stuttering. “Here let me get that right out for you,”
“It’s not a problem,” I replied, noticing some heads turning my way. “Do you have a towel I can use? It’ll dry right up after.”
“Nonsense! This will be much faster.” Before I could ask what she meant, she closed her eyes and placed the palms of her hands a couple inches away from the spill on my shirt. She took in a long breath and exhaled slowly, and the water started to get pulled from my shirt. It took about ten seconds before all of it was out and floating in the air in front of me in a little ball. “Your shirt should be completely dry now, sir. Let me dump this water and I’ll be right back to seat you.”
She walked quickly back into the kitchen and left me dumbfounded. I patted the spot on my shirt where the water was, and the hostess was right, it was all gone. My shirt was completely dry again. I looked at Lori and was met with a shrug.
“I don’t know her or what she can do,” she told me. “I’d wager it has something to do with water though.”
“Gee, thanks. Not sure how I would have figured that one out.”
“Glad to help!” Lori exclaimed in a disgustingly chipper tone, playing along with my sarcasm. In a stroke of remarkably good fortune, our hostess was walking back toward us, saving us from an exchange that probably would have made us both look stupid.
“Hey, guys!” She seemed very peppy and excited about greeting us, but I couldn’t tell if that was just because it was part of her job. “Sorry about that little mishap. I’m positive your shirt is just as good as it was when you came in. Without wishing to sound arrogant, I am very confident in my ability to control water. Anyway, just a party of two?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Lori answered. “A booth if possible, please.”
“Of course! Right this way, please.”
She guided us through and around tables before finally bringing us to a booth that was in a quieter part of the restaurant. Lori and I sat across from each other and took the menus that the hostess handed to us. Before departing, she gave us some silverware wrapped in cloth and a couple of straws.
“I know you’re probably talked out, Ethan,” Lori began, “but I need to apologize to you and I would like to tell you about this place. So, look over the menu, order up, and let’s try to really get you situated here.”