“Congratulations, young lady. Come on up to get your prize,” the teacher said. Emily smiled and walked to the front.
The teacher put up something in the air and said, “This is a ticket that contains 1000 points. You can use it to—”
“Ahem” another teacher coughed from the side.
“Oh, right. Haha, it’s a secret for now. Nearly forgot about that. What it is used for, we will let you know tomorrow. For now, you guys can go do whatever you want. Just return here by 8 pm.”
“Anyone who doesn’t return by 8 will have credits deducted from their finals,” the teacher threatened.
Emily walked back while curiously looking at the ticket she had in her hand. “Do you know what this is?” she asked as she handed him the ticket.
Alex looked at the ticket and his eyes shined a little. A smile appeared on his face that even turned a little mischievous. “They have it here too? It seems tomorrow will be a lot of fun,” Alex said mysteriously.
“What? Do you know what this is?” she asked expectantly.
“Yes, but as the teacher said, I think it’s better to not tell you until it’s time. You might like the surprise more,” Alex said.
“Hmm… so this is good?” she asked.
“Yeah. If the price isn’t different here, then it should cost like 50 dollars,” Alex said.
“Oh, then it’s not that bad. But I don’t think I will enjoy whatever this is alone. Do you want to come with me?” she asked.
Alex decided to tease her and said, “Miss Emily, that sounds like an awful lot like you are asking me out on a date for tomorrow.”
Emily blushed a little when she heard that. “Andwhatifiam?”
“Sorry, what was that?” Alex asked.
“And what if I am?” she said.
It was Alex’s turn to blush. He gathered all the confidence he could and said, “then I am very much obliged. In return, since we have 3 hours to ourselves, will you allow me to take you out on a date as well?”
Emily smiled. “Yes, I will.”
The two went out and looked around the city. It was starting to get dark, and the city was starting to light up. Alex and Emily went around the city looking at the different things.
They tried out some small snacks, went around malls to go shopping, and even stood around a street performance and enjoyed it. Alex dropped a 20$ bill before leaving.
“We should return now, or we will be late,” Alex said.
“Yes, let’s go back,” Emily complied.
“Open your eyes!” A man suddenly started shouting a bit far away from both of them. “Look. Look and you will see the truth. They lied to us. People, Just look.”
The man screamed at every passerby. “Just look for once. I promise you, I am not going mad. Just look,” the man shouted as he kept pointing towards Alex’s location.
However, Alex could tell that he wasn’t pointed at him, but rather behind him. While the buildings were blocking his views, he could tell just what was a few hundred meters behind these buildings.
If he walked in the direction the man was pointing at, within 10 minutes, he would reach a forest. This was the barrier that stopped him from falling into the void.
“Let’s leave Alex.” Emily grabbed his arm and started pulling him away. She seemed to be freaked out by the man.
“Alright,” Alex said and decided to leave.
“They are trying to hide something. Don’t believe them ever. Just look when the sun shines the brightest and you will see,” the man kept on shouting even as Alex and Emily walked far away.
Emily walked away quickly, but Alex was left thinking about what the man was saying for a little while. In the end, his words sounded like the speakings of a conspiracy theorist, so he stopped thinking about it.
Emily didn’t leave his arm even after she was far away. Instead, she slowly brought it down and grasped his hand in her hand.
Alex also clasped his hand tightly. They walked around for a few more minutes before returning back to the hotel. Alex took the luggage that contained everything they bought today and went to keep it in his room.
After that, he returned back to Emily to have their dinner at the hotel’s dining room.
The meal this time was a little better than the afternoon. Alex and Emily ate side by side and went to the hotel’s lounge area to rest for a while.
“Are you not bored?” Emily asked.
“Why would I be bored?” Alex asked.
“Don’t you miss your game? I heard a few people saying that they should have rather stayed back at home. Apparently, this hotel doesn’t have places for the helmet connections, so they are quite mad about it,” Emily said.
“Oh, are they? Well, I’m not bored,” Alex said.
“Really?” Emily asked.
Alex looked at her and smiled as he said, “How could I be bored when I’m with you?”
Emily blushed a little and punched him lightly on his shoulders. “Why are you so confident today? You even asked me out on a date on your own,” she said.
“Wait, no. You asked me out first. You can’t blame me for returning the favor,” Alex said.
Emily chucked a little and said, “Stop speaking nonsense and just tell the truth.”
“Well, I would be lying if I said I didn’t want to do it earlier. It’s just that… the opportunity never seemed to come up. Now that I finally had the time, I decided… why the hell not?” Alex said.
Emily was about to say something when the teacher came to the lounge and asked everyone to go to their room in 15 minutes. They all had to be ready by 8 am as the museum would open at 9.
“You were about to say something?” Alex asked Emily.
Emily shook her head. “It’s nothing. I’ll see you tomorrow morning. Good night,” she said and hurriedly left.
