Romance in Space

Chapter 1: A Fated Encounter

It was love at first sight. Samantha Hart had gazed across the large cafeteria as she looked for a table to sit at. That was when she saw her; a beautiful girl around her age enjoying lunch. This girl had vibrant blue hair and was wearing an orange spacesuit.

Sam nervously approached the cafeteria table, "Can... can I sit here? Please?"

The girl turned to face her and Sam was immediately lost in this girl's shimmering brown eyes.

"Sure." The girl spoke calmly, "You can sit beside me if you'd like."

Sam shakily sat down beside the girl and placed her food tray onto the shiny steel table.

"My name's Emily." The girl suddenly spoke.

Sam could barely speak, "I'm... Sam."

Emily smiled, "Nice to meet you, Sam. Would you like my pudding? I don't like sweets."

She held up the blue pudding container and placed it onto the table next to Sam's food tray. The fork in Sam's hand was shaking so much that the mashed potatoes fell off of it and onto her lap. Sam quickly put the fork down next to the tray.

"I... I kinda dropped some potatoes." Sam blurted out.

Emily grabbed Sam by the hands. Sam's face immediately turned beet red.

"You are shaking! Are you okay?" Emily asked with a worried look.

Sam couldn't speak. Suddenly, a girl with blonde hair and a sparkly pink spacesuit sat in front of them at the table. Her tray made a loud clang as she placed it down.

"I'm sitting here." The girl spoke with a stern look in her blue eyes.

Emily turned to face her with an angry look, "Fine, you can have the table. I'm bringing Sam to the medic."

Sam panicked, "No, no! I'm fine. I promise."

The new girl at the table swiped Sam's pudding, "I'm eating your pudding now."

"No! That's Sam's pudding! You give that back!" Emily shouted as she tried to grab the pudding from the girl.

Suddenly, a red-haired girl wearing a green spacesuit grabbed the pudding from the mean girl.

"This belongs to you." She said as she gave Sam back her pudding.

Sam smiled, "Thank you. Um..."

"Josse." The girl replied.

The mean girl frowned, "I really wanted that pudding! Anyway, my name is Kimmy."

"Did I ask you anything?" Josse said angrily.

Emily shook her head as she grabbed a spoonful of potatoes, "Let's all just eat together. No fighting."

"So, why were you two holding hands earlier?" Kimmy asked.

Sam blushed, "Um.. Emily was just making sure I was okay. Thanks for that."

Emily turned to her and smiled, "I'm just glad you aren't feeling sick."

Kimmy stabbed at the carrots on her plate with a fork, "What brings you to the space academy?"

Josse took a bite out of her sausage, "Well, my family said-"

Kimmy stared angrily into Josse's brown eyes, "I didn't ask you! I asked Sam."

Sam frowned, "My aunt told me to go here. She said I need to stop moping about the house and be more like my mom. What? Lost in space?"

Sam placed her head deep into her potatoes and moaned.

Emily rubbed Sam's back gently, "That sounds terrible."

Sam took her face out of her salty potatoes, "Everyone always tells me to be more like my mom. She flew into space on a rocketship and it crash landed somewhere after losing it's signal."

"Is your mom the famous Cleo Hart by any chance?" Josse asked.

Sam nodded, "Yup, that's her alright."

"Hmpth! Your family is not more famous than mine, peasant!" Kimmy shouted.

Josse shook her head, "This isn't a competition."

"Ha!" Kimmy continued, "Ever heard of Arduos Ko? My father created the first rocketship design here at the academy!"

Emily sighed, "My family hates me."

Sam was shocked, "What!? No, they don't and I don't either!"

Emily smiled, "You just wouldn't understand my situation. It's a personal one that I don't need to bother you with."

"You could never bother me!" Sam blushed.

Emily sighed, "Maybe I'll tell you someday? I'd rather not speak of it."

Josse finished up the food on her tray, "The bell is going to ring any minute now, so I'll be going."

"Well, I'm staying here!" Kimmy shouted back at her as Josse started to leave.

Josse turned to face her with a smile, "Would your father be late to class?"

Kimmy got up and went after Josse, "No fair!"

After Josse and Kimmy left, Emily turned to look at sam.

"I'm glad you are so interested in learning more about me. I hope we can be friends." She said with a smile.

"Y-yeah!" Sam blushed, "Thanks for standing up for me. I still have the pudding here."

Emily picked up her spoon, "Want to split it?"

Sam's face was beet red, "I thought you didn't like sweets?"

Emily frowned, "That's one of the many problems my family has. They put me on a diet for no reason."

Sam opened the pudding in a hurry, "Let's eat it together quickly!"

Emily took a spoonful of the chocolate pudding and moved it slowly towards Sam's mouth.

Sam blushed, "What? What are you doing?"

"Trying to feed you some pudding. Is that okay?" Emily replied.

It felt like all eyes in the cafeteria were on them. 

Sam shook her head, "I'm sorry but-"

Emily quickly fed the pudding to Sam, "Just eat the pudding already."

Sam's face was beet red again. The chocolate pudding was sweet and creamy. The smell was otherworldly.

"You didn't have to do that and I was going to tell you not to." Sam frowned.

Emily smiled, "Well? Feed me some pudding."

Sam cautiously took a spoonful of pudding and slowly fed it to Emily. Their faces were so close that it made Sam blush.

"Num!" Emily said as she quickly chomped down on the pudding, "That's good pudding!" She mumbled with a mouth full of pudding.

The two of them laughed. Suddenly, the bell rang! The two of them were the last ones out of the cafeteria. Sam got up from the table with her tray, walked over to the tray stand, and placed it onto the stack of the others. Emily did the same.

"What room are you in?" Sam asked nervously.

Emily smiled, "Room 8C. What is your room?"

Sam blushed, "Um... 8C. I... I guess we are in the same room?"

Emily laughed, "Well, let's go together then!"

The two of them made their way down the hall and into Room 8C.