Junebug

Chapter 9

When you woke up the next morning to an empty dorm, you rolled out of bed silently with the knowledge that Annette had probably claimed Robin for the day yet again.

She was starting to get on your nerves.

You got dressed and kept in mind the dough in your wallet. You figured you'd pull aside most of it for groceries and other school fees, dividing the remaining amount in two; one for spending on yourself and one for savings.

Despite having gone all around town yesterday, both you and Robin neglected purchasing any groceries for the fridge and cupboards in the small barely-even-a-kitchen of the shared unit.

You took note of what needed to be replenished, sighing softly as you pulled your shoes on and walked out the door.

You and Robin usually did the shopping together, so now it felt more like a chore than anything with the absence of your friend trailing behind you like a looming cloud over your head as you strolled down the sidewalk.

You'd picked up a trolley at the front doors, begrudgingly grabbing your groceries before scanning up and down the aisles for anything you wanted to grab as a last-minute item.

Suddenly hearing your name from behind you, you spun around on your heel and saw three familiar faces– well, one familiar face and two vaguely familiar faces.

It was Ben and those two students that had tried out for testing just like you had. Their names escaped you for the moment, but you greeted the trio nonetheless.

Unlike you, who had a trolley full of groceries like a full grown adult, they carried various odds and ends like what looked like a pair of Minecraft headphones for Ben, some frozen breakfast confections for that brunette boy, and what looked like an almost alarming amount of pocky in the hands of the girl with the raccoon stripes.

"What're you up to?" The blonde boy questioned and for a beat there was silence as you stared between him and your groceries.

"...OH!" He took a little too long to connect the dots, making you laugh quietly as you leaned against the metal cart.

"Me and my roommate usually shop together but they seem to have ditched me for a girl," You rolled your eyes, though a playful tone underlined your words. "Since obviously bros before hoes means nothing to them." You added, earning some laughs from all of them.

"Ben's been telling us about the machine, is it as cool as he makes it sound?" The girl, who you now remembered to be named Nina, questioned.

You locked eyes with Ben for a moment, who averted his gaze just as quickly as you'd met it.

"No one's supposed to know, hm?" You raised an eyebrow, teasing the student who stammered out a fast excuse before you held your hand up, silencing him. "I won't snitch, don't worry." You assured with a slight snicker, though he kept his gaze aimed at the ground as you turned your attention back to the eager girl.

"It's pretty cool, the side effects are kinda weird." You responded simply, watching her turn to Ben and pull a pout.
"Why couldn't you let all of us test it?" She whined, poking at the shorter boy who seemed to perk up at her words.

"Actually," He started, drawing your attention back instantly as you waited for him to continue. "Professor Jones was looking at making this an independent study with funding from the college so we can actually get testers and more developers." He explained, occasionally moving his gaze from you to Nina, landing on the brunette boy– TOBY! – landing on Toby on occasion as he spoke.

This definitely caught your interest.

"When we pitched the idea to the dean, he said he'd grant us a few weeks to impress him or he'd shut the program down," Ben continued, beaming slightly as he dropped the news. "But since it's having such good results he's letting us expand it!"
You looked at him, puzzled slightly.
"What does this mean for me...?" You questioned, shifting your weight to one foot from standing in one place for an extended amount of time.
"Professor Jones wants you as our test lead – when we start getting more people in we'll start putting objectives for users to look for bugs or otherwise broken mechanics." Ben revealed and now it was your turn to beam. Silently, of course, but regardless you found yourself ecstatic at the idea of being able to help develop something as insane as this.