Chapter Eleven
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Day Eleven: Asteroid
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It’s now Friday, almost one week since we were hired under the guise of professional burger producers. As we teleport, Meteor asks if I think we will be fired or hired.
“I dunno. We’ve made some pretty good burgers, you know. If we do get fired, we won't get the recipe and our mission will fail.”
“Yikes. You're right. I seriously hope we don't get fired. That would be really bad.” We walk into Burger Bill’s and see Bill glowering over us. He looks extremely unhappy.
“You two are fired,” he snarls. “I have been getting nothing but complaints from my customers. Get out of my restaurant! And if you come back, you will never see the light of day again!” We hightail it out of there, teleport home, and race into the leisure room, all while I’m practically in tears.
“We’re fired!” I wail. “We failed! My mom will kill me! Comet will kill me. I will kill me!”
“Aster! Calm down, sweetheart! It'll be okay.” I shut up and spend the rest of the day in Meteor’s room playing holochess. At eleven, I crash.
Sometime around midnight, I wake up in a state of half asleep-half awake. My door creaks open and Meteor silently creeps in. I feel paralyzed, unable to move or speak. He leans over me and kisses me, desperately, unlike the many times before. It scares me. When I think he’s about to leave, he pulls back. Yet, he lingers, our lips barely touching. I’m still unable to speak, but if I could, I would.
He straightens, and, running his hand through his hair, whispers, “Goodbye, Aster. I love you, more than you will ever know.” I open my mouth to say something, but no sound comes out. I see him wipe away a tear, and my own tears feel hot against my eyelids. I want to soothe him, console him, comfort him, ask him what he’s talking about. Unfortunately, I can't. He’s gone before I can blink. My tears start flowing uncontrollably, and I don't bother to wipe them away. It feels like my whole world has come crashing down around me, taking Meteor with it.
I cry the night and next day away. Everyone stays away from my room, undoubtably because of the sobs and shrieks leaking around the closed door. I don’t eat or sleep. I know Meteor wouldn’t leave me unless he had to, but I can't help feeling like it's my fault.
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Day Eleven: Meteor
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I feel horrible about leaving her like I did, but I had no choice. I knew Bill would fire us. Poor Asteroid is probably dying of heartbreak, though I'm sure she thinks I left for a perfectly good reason. I program the teleportation station to drop me exactly three miles north of Bill’s restaurant.
As I walk through the driving rain, I wonder how I'm going to break in. A simple Break and Take? No, too predictable, although I really don’t have any other options. I finally reach the door of Burger Bill’s, exhausted but determined. I pick the lock, a simple fastener, hardly worth using at all. I slip in and walk to the framed recipe. I lift it off the wall and a voice booms behind me.
“Hello, Meteor.” The light flickers on. “Have you read the recipe? No? A shame really. What a good recipe it is. Anyway, back to the real question: What is a Scallonian doing in my restaurant?” I suck in my breath.
“Wha… what are you talk… talking about?” He steps menacingly toward me and a handle glints in the light. I gasp as I realize it’s a sword in a sheath at his hip. He draws his sword and takes another step. I take a backwards step towards the door.
“What are you doing here?” I turn and run. He comes after me and slashes my leg. I black out as I scream Asteroid’s name.96Please respect copyright.PENANALzUX0IHfjf