But did not yet seem real. Smooth burnished walls void of control buttons. No numbered floors. No ?open?. No ?close.? Certainly no emergency int...rcom. The overhead was nine feet high, far beyond her reach. She assumed she was under observation, and stood waiting for another?s whim, as henceforth she knew she always would. Finally, with a low hum of distant machinery, the elevator moved and, involuntary, her hands clenched, nails digging into palms, until she deliberately made them. "The office proved to be small, what had been a none-too-large living room of a small house; the rest of the building was obviously gear storage of one sort or another, except for a small private office. "Usually, it's just Al and I who run the office," Louise explained. "We're short on trip leaders right now, so we're going to change off leading trips this year, and it won't be the first time. Al is leading this trip, and I'm staying back. Did Crystal explain to you how green this crew is. When everyone went to their next lesson, Ms Giles was sat at her desk, l went over and before she could asked what l wanted, l just blurted out “don’t you ever do that to me again”, her jaw dropped open then before turning to walk out the classroom l told her she had a nice smile and should try showing it more often. When l got to English Mrs Renauld’s (Julia) was waiting in the corridor and before going in she asked about Ms Giles slapping me across the face, it seemed one of my classmates had. The sensation of his warm, soft lips against my skin mesmerized me for an instant, but I knew his next move would be to go in for a second on the lips, so I pulled back. I had a knowing grin on my lips and a small amused shake of the head. Sharing another look which explained I knew exactly what he was up to, I gave him a small peek on the cheek. With the feel of his soft bristles against my lips, I hesitated before pulling away. I’m so close. I could just kiss him and… No! “Thank you for the.