I woke the next day feeling a chill. I pull my blanket up around me, curling into myself and around the blanket. For the first time in a while, I lay there for a moment just pondering what I should do that day. For some reason I was dreading talking to Lunëne. I had finished My Sweet Halation last night so I couldn't lay in bed reading. And my legs were restless.

                I threw my blanket off dramatically and sat up. Pulling out my drawer, I grabbed some clean clothes and hopped up. Might as well get a new book, and go from there.

                I had woken up earlier than normal, and felt oddly energetic about it. The few people I passed in the hall were not who I usually passed. The morning lights had such an oddly optimistic glow to them that I had never noticed before.

                I walked into the library and walked over to the return counter. I lifted My Sweet Halation to scan it back in when I suddenly stopped and did a double take, my head turning to look at the table in the corner.

                Sitting there was Audrina, nose buried in a book. I hesitated, weighing my options. I had to scan the book to return it, and she would definitely hear that and look up. Of course I should probably just say something first, it would look weird if I just returned the book and picked out a new one without saying anything. After all, we weren't strangers. We were... friends? Well either way, I didn't want her to think I was ignoring-

                "Oh, wow Soelli, you're up pretty early." Her voice cut through my thoughts and I startled. "Hold on, I recognize that book."

                "Yeah, this is pretty early for me. Which- actually, you're the one who's up early! What are you doing reading at six in the morning?" I meandered over to the table and casually sat down.

                "I'm actually a bit of a night owl. For years I would stay awake until six or seven in the morning before falling asleep, so this trip has been... hard to get used to really. It's harder having a different schedule than everyone else cuz everything is planned for the day. It's fake day, but still…" As she spoke, she leaned forward and rested her head in the hands, with elbows now resting on the table. She looked at me intently, and we sat for a second in silence making eye contact.

                "Ah yeah, I can imagine. That must be hard to get used to." I felt the need to look away for a moment, before quickly glancing back and smiling. She half shrugged.

                "Anywayyy... you read my book! You like it?" She asked.

                "You're book?" I glanced down at My Sweet Halation, just now remembering I was still holding it, "And here I thought it was written by..." I turned the book to see the front cover better.

                "Kolten R. Carrillo, yeah." She rolled her eyes, then met my gaze expectantly. I took a second to gather my thoughts for a sincere answer.

                "It's not what I'm used to. But... I really like it. The whole story was so sappy and cheesy, but honestly the romance was seriously good. Really romantic and sweet. Like I really cared about the characters, I loved how it ended, and I'd read it again. So, five stars."

                "Perfect. Ok so now I have about half a dozen other recommendations, all just as cheesy and quite possibly even sappier and more romantic. No more moody, medieval fantasy, ten book-long series for you." She declared, setting her own book down on the table.

                "Well, what if the medieval fantasy book’s main character falls in love with a princess? That's pretty romantic. Or maybe a side character falls in love with a dragon. It's not all sweaty battles in grimy armor and slaying mystical, ancient evils." I joked. Audrina stood up and walked over to the nearest bookshelf, finger trailing along the multitude of books.

                "Right, sounds great and all. Anyways, here's the next book on your new list." She replied facetiously as she pulled a book from the shelf.

                "There better at least be dragons."

                "Better, centaurs. An adventurer named Lily, her best friend a fox, and a bunch of magic." She sat down again and slid the book over to me. I picked it up and examined the cover. To be fair it was a gorgeous cover, with the golden outline of a centaur and the title in an ornate font reading 'The L1ly'.

                I thumbed through the first few pages thoughtfully, acting as if I was thinking it over. I could understand why Audrina had called My Sweet Halation a guilty pleasure book, and I was loathe to admit how much I was looking forward to reading this one.

                "Well, if you insist. I'll miss the epic battle sagas, but I suppose a few more laid-back stories couldn't hurt..." I muttered reluctantly. Audrina just looked at me knowingly.

                "Couldn't hurt at all. Also, it gets a bit... saucy. I figured you'd like that." She seemed to stifle a laugh as I could feel my face flush.

                "Saucy? Sure, well you know me, I enjoy that. Well, I won't like it that much. That's- I'll..." I sputtered out and found myself at a loss for words. Before I could find them again, Audrina suddenly stood up.

                "Want to go to the Solarium? You can start that and I can finish mine." She picked up her book and waited for me to answer.

                "I'd like that." I stood up myself and waited for Audrina to take the lead.

                The Solarium was mercifully empty, although the view was livelier than usual.

                "Have you been here this week yet? We have front row seats to the meteor shower right out the window." Audrina inquired, walking over to the viewport and peering out. I followed as she shuffled to the left to give me a better view.

                Far in the distance, a tiny yellowish-orange ball was partially obscured by the numerous specs of debris flying past like a cloud. I could also make out another planet behind us, this one mostly a flat cyan, partially blocked by the ship's stern. Every few seconds, a pebble from nowhere bounced against the window silently and deflected back into the black nothingness of space.

                "It's sort of terrifying, but also overwhelmingly beautiful." She murmured, captivated. I gave her a side glance before looking back out the window. She was absolutely right. There wasn't a better way to express the feeling of looking out there.

                We stood there for a moment before I broke away and sat down on the nearby bench. She did the same a moment later. Despite our original intention, we both were sitting there in silence, books at our sides.

                "Why do you think we were picked?" She mused out loud. I was pulled abruptly out of my thoughts by the seemingly random question.

                "What do you mean?" I asked, now focused again on her.

                "I know what they said about being gifted, the future of our generation and the next, yada yada. But I think about it sometimes. I haven't done that much with my life. I just graduated like a year ago- no, a year before leaving. Nineteen years ago... anyways, they should have sent some of the engineers that built this ship. Or the president, someone important. I don't know, I just don't think I should have won that lottery over everyone else." She trailed off with a sort of dejected look.

                As she spoke, a memory bubbled to the surface. From a long time ago, eating lunch with my parents some weekend. As they talked about their job and working on the ship. About the program, saying things I didn't understand and so I can't remember. And a little me, asking silly questions that didn't make sense and making my dad laugh while my mom smiled kindly.

                "I think it's more about what they think you can do, your potential. The whole point is that we have our whole lives in front of us. They take stuff like our capability for being resilient and resourceful, and how many people voted for you. I know it's not about how smart you are. I mean, I think you're smart. I'm just saying, they also looked for people who have emotional maturity, mental strength..."

                I trailed off and looked over to see Audrina gazing at me. I knew that look— it was one that I was dreading, and yet my heartbeat excitedly sped up and there was a part of me that was hoping-

                Audrina abruptly leaned in and kissed me. I hesitated for a moment in surprise, before awkwardly attempting to reciprocate. We pulled away after what must have been only a second or two. We simultaneously broke eye contact and our gazes danced around the room.

                In the periphery of my vision, I could see her turn to look at me. I turned to again meet her eyes, as my face warmed and became several shades closer to scarlet. She held our eye contact without a word. I searched her face for a clue to tell me if she was waiting for me, or was trying to find the right words herself.

                "I didn't know-"

                "That was-" she giggled and rolled her eyes, "You go first."

                "Okay, right so," I laughed nervously, "That was nice. I don't... know what to say."

                Her slight smile subtly faded and she looked to the side thoughtfully for a belabored moment.

                "Yeah, nice..." She looked back at me intently, with a softly serious look. "Lunëne talked about you guys yesterday. How great you are and how much time you two spend together."

                "Oh...?" I interjected, intrigued.

                 "I just thought- well I wondered really if there was something between us. I don't know, it was stupid. I think when they were talking about you, I was actually a little jealous. It's dumb."

                I sat with my mouth open, dumbfounded. I tried to picture myself with Audrina, waking up in bed together just content and in lo- what was I thinking? Why would I picture that right now? I pushed away the visions and came back to myself, still sitting with mouth agape.

                "No, it's-" I started.

                "Don't even worry about it. I should finish my book; it's due back soon. I'll see you later." She stood up abruptly and started to walk to the door with her head turned away and hand up to her mouth, clutching her book to her chest with her other hand.

                "I'm so sorry, I..." I trailed off. She just shook her head as she walked out of the Solarium.

               I sat for a few minutes stunned. It wasn't as if I going to turn her down. Or was I? We connected so easily over our mutual love of reading. She was softhearted with a warmth that filled my heart.

                But then... Lunëne. Every cell in my body was euphoric when I was with them. I felt like they could show me the world while I stuck by their side. An adventure. I spent the rest of the day in a haze.

###             

                The next day was another hazy day. I can't remember waking up or breakfast or lunch, or anything in between. The only part of the day that vividly stands out is sitting with the group at dinner.

                "Hey Soelli. Are you feeling alright?" Lunëne asked hesitantly. I looked up from my mushy casserole and realized Elissa and Valentin were leaving and Garland and Silas had already disappeared.

                "Hm, yeah. Yeah, I'm good!" I perked up and flashed a smile, "I was just lost in thought."

                "Oh really? You know, I've actually been thinking a lot lately too." They leaned forward, resting their head in both of their hands. They looked into my eyes as if they could see into me, to my very core. I felt a jolt, a pang of guilt that I knew was unfounded. Their playful smile swiftly washed away any fears. And it wasn't like I had done anything wrong just because I had a crush on someone else t- wait, is this going where I think...?

                "Wanna be my boyfriend?"

###

                The next morning, the fifth day, I was finally called for cafe duty. The worst part was having to wake up earlier than I usually rolled out of bed. As annoying as it was, I had a twinge of relief. I had some guilt swimming around in the back of my mind for not being randomly selected to help out around our level. There were passengers that had been chosen three days in a row between cafe and cleaning duty.

                Walking through the side door of the cafeteria was a unique change of pace. Milton was there, waiting to address the six of us lucky chosen ones.

                "Do you all remember the training they gave you on this? ...Ok, good. It is really just assisting the machines; everything is well automated so you're here to grease the wheels. Stay safe, reach out if you need anything. I have to check in on the cleaning team."

                The work was mind-numbingly boring, but it did prove to be necessary. There were consistently little things I had to do to help speed the machines along, and a few mistakes I was able to catch early. Occasional cleaning that was too insignificant to be done by a dedicated cleaning bot. The monotony dragged on for hours.

                I was able to take breaks throughout the day, so I was still able to have a late breakfast, lunch, and dinner with everyone. The whole group even waited for me at breakfast when Valentin told them he had news. I walked through the now mostly empty cafeteria and tried to casually slide into my chair.

                "Okay Soelli is here, go ahead Val." Elissa gushed. Valentin rolled his eyes.

                "Stop, you're gonna make me nervous!" Valentine exclaimed, then drew a sharp breath and continued, "Elissa and I are dating."

                A wave of vocalizations, with a healthy mix of teasing and cheerful exclamations, overcame the table. I glanced over at Lunëne but they were focused on Elissa and fully engaged in two simultaneous conversations.

                "That was your big news? We knew that like a week ago!" Garland heckled with a grin.

                The rest of the day was somehow even more monotonous. Milton checked in at the end of the day as we wrapped up with cleaning and setting up the stands for the next day. Despite having done practically nothing all day, I still ended up back at my room weary. In fact, I don't even remember falling asleep, and I slept like a rock.