I'm so sorry about the delay in this story. I know you guys want to know what happens and I am working towards that. I kinda lost interest in this story over the summer but I will try to finish it with the will and passion I have for Parker and Val.
If you haven't noticed already, a lot of the scientists I wrote in this story have the same name as the actors on L&M. That was done on purpose so I wouldn't spend too much time making up names for fictional characters. I already spent so much time making up the name of Val's sister and brothers.
Like always, I don't own the show, characters, any of the actors, or even the dialogue from "Sorta-Sisters-A-Rooney."
Chapter 8: It's actually a funny story
By the time I got to the lobby, I had a few minutes to spare so I decided to people watch for a bit. It was later in the work day so I thought everyone was at dinner or went home for the day so it was rather quiet. The sun was still out but it was going to set soon. I soon spotted Parker and walked towards him but stopped when I saw that he did a double take and his eyes went big. I giggled a little bit. I rarely get dressed up so it isn't every day you see your boyfriend/girlfriend dressed up. This would count as the third time I was dressed up with Parker. The first time was when we went to the ShaBoom Dance. The second time was for the Spring Fling where we decided to go as "just friends" to convince myself that we were just that. This was the third time. He approached me timidly and rubbed his hands against his button down shirt.
"Wow, Val." He exhaled and held out his hand, I gladly took it. "You look beautiful, but I already knew that," and he kissed my knuckles. I gave him a shy smile.
"Thanks Parker." I looked him up and down from his neat dress pants to the crisp blue button down shirt he was wearing. "You cleaned up good." He bowed elaborately.
"Thank you mi'lady." I giggled. I loved spending time with him. We could be children or be adults. Sometimes we act funny, sometimes we act serious. We are just that kind of couple. Before long, Dr Hosterman came and she, too, had changed out of her blouse and pencil skirt and into a red sheath dress. The dress had little ruffles on the bottom and a white belt went around the waist. She wore a black sweater over the dress.
"Great, you're both here. Are you two ready for the welcome dinner?" We both nodded eagerly. "Alright. Let's go then!" We followed Dr Hosterman into a large banquet room, my hand in Parker's. We saw a long table in front of the room and no other than Dr Trainer was at the table with a large binder and a sign that read Sign In Here! He stood and greeted us warmly.
"Valerie and Parker! It's great to see you again. How has your day been so far?" We shook his hand.
Parker was the first to speak. "It's been great. We met some great scientists, got a tour of your awesome labs, and got our room for the next few weeks. It's been great but tiring. We've had a long day." He pointed towards me.
"I bet. You two had an early morning flight, am I correct?" We both nodded. Our flight was at 8am so we had to be at the airport at around 6:30, which meant that we had to get up at around 5. We got in pretty early the next day at around 6am California time, 10am Bolivia time. Despite all the hours I spent sleeping on the plane, I was exhausted. I basically spent an entire day on an airplane, therefore losing the day to spending it in the air. My body was also getting used to the time difference. By the time we arrived in Bolivia, my body was still on LA time so it was still sleeping.
"Well, I'm glad you two are finally here. We've been anticipating your arrival for about a month so it's great that you two are here. Aren't we, Dr Hosterman?" The woman nodded before signing her name in the large binder and creating a name tag before sticking the name tag on her chest. "If you two would just sign in in this binder below Dr Hosterman's name, writing your name on one of these," he handed us one of the sticky name tags, "and follow Dr Hosterman inside. You two will be seated at table 2, along with Dr Hosterman, myself, and a few other scientists that you may not have met today." Dr Trainer gave us a gentle smile. We both signed our names, made a name tag, and walked behind Dr Hosterman, as she lead us into the banquet room.
I was amazed at the set up. The lights were on a medium setting, not too bright and not too dark. There were large round tables that seated around 8 people. Each table was decorated with a white table cloth; a set of glasses, napkins, utensils, plates, and a name card at each chair; and a small vase in the center with flowers and a card with a number on it. In the front, there was a stage with a podium and a microphone, with a dark green curtain behind them. On either side of the stage were two flags, the flag of South America and the flag of Bolivia, respectively. It looked really formal. It was almost full by the time we got there so when we made it to our table, 3 of the 8 seats were being taken up by what I assumed were scientists we haven't met yet. The three scientists stood up at our presence as Dr Hosterman introduced us to them. "Valerie, Parker. This is Dr Cameron." We shook hands with a woman with pale skin and bleached blonde hair. "This is Dr Bragg." We shook hands with a tall man with dark hair and glasses. "And this is Dr Rocha." The last woman had wavy brunette hair and a friendly smile. "Doctors, these two are Valerie Wishart and Parker Rooney, the two high school students who won Mars Madness in California and are staying in the Mars BioDome this year."
Dr Rocha was the first to speak to us. "We are glad that you two are here, especially you Valerie. We need more women in the field."
"Yeah, because there are so few of them right here," Dr Bragg said sarcastically, making the rest of the table laugh. I looked around and saw that a good number of the scientists in the room were women, at least 4 of them sitting at my table.
"Well, I'm excited to start, especially since Parker is with me. He's my boyfriend." I gestured to him.
Dr Cameron put a hand to her heart and let out an 'awww' at that. "That is so cute. I love it when couples are in the same field."
Dr Hosterman nodded her head. "I agree. In fact, my husband works here along with me. He will be here tonight so you two can meet him." She gestured to the empty seat next to Dr Cameron. She had this far away look in her eyes that I could recognize every time I think of Parker. "He's the sweetest guy I know and he's Scottish!"
Parker's eyebrows shot up. "Scottish?! That's cool."
"I know! He's amazing." She sighed dreamily. After a while she got out of her daze and brought back to reality. "Enough about me. Tonight, it's about Valerie and Parker. Why don't you two sit down here," she gestured to two empty chairs next to Dr Rocha, "and I'll give you two something to drink. Is water okay?" We both nodded. "Perfect. I'll be right back and you guys can talk amongst yourselves. Okay? Okay." Then she left towards the back of the room.
The five of us all sat around the table with an awkward silence. Dr Bragg seemed to be cleaning his glasses with a cloth, Dr Cameron was checking her nails, Dr Rocha was writing something in a notebook, and Parker was fixing the collar of his shirt. I was smoothing out the creases of my dress. It felt weird being in a room for of successful adult scientists, while Parker and I were still in high school. I guess I felt a bit out of place being so young and so far away from home.
"So Val," I looked up to see Dr Cameron looking at me. "How did you and Parker meet?" Parker looked up too and we exchanged glances.
"It's actually a funny story, actually…."
Flashback
Finch and I were going over last minute changes on our laser that we had to turn in for the Laser Fair. We look up to see someone speaking. "Whoa. Sweet laser. What's it for?"
I chuckled in response. This guy must be new to BOOMS, as I've never seen him before. He actually looked kinda cute. "You must be new. It's for the Laser Fair."
Finch added on "Not to be confused with the Laser Circus, which is next week, and the Laser Pride Festival, which is at the end of February." I only nodded in response, smiling at my friend. He always knew how to back me up. The new kid gave a face that looked like a grumpy, old man.
"Looks like it's about, what, 1200 nanometers?" he asked. I scoffed. This guy obviously didn't know his lasers so I corrected him.
"It's 1400 nanometers, new kid." I glanced at Finch, rolling my eyes at the new kid. "What would I do with 1200, toast bagels?"
Finch obviously thought it was funny, for some reason. "Bagels. Good one, Val." He held up his hand. "Up top." He's always been pretty weird but he's one of my only friends at BOOMS so I live with it.
"Stop being weird, Finch." I tried whispering to him, averting my eyes from him. I took a breath before turning to him. "High fives are for jocks, cartoon dogs, and people who want the flu." I then turned to the new kid. "I won the Laser Fair last year and I'm gonna win this year."
"Challenge accepted!" Both Finch and I looked at the new kid weirdly. That was definitely not what I was expecting. He lowered his finger. "That...that...that...that was something that I...that I used to say at my old school." Finch and I exchanged glances. This was turning out to be a weird day. "You know what? Never mind." Then the bell rang. Talk about saved by the bell.
End Flashback
Our table was laughing so much that Dr Bragg had to take his glasses off and wiped a few tears from his eyes. Dr Rocha nearly choked on the drink she had just taken a sip out of. Dr Cameron was trying to conceal her laugh by covering her mouth with her hand. Dr Hosterman had just come back from getting our waters and looked at us funny, as she saw a table of laughing scientists, a scene that's not too common in the science world. She placed our waters in front of us, Parker and I thanked her, in between chuckles.
She sat down and asked, "What did I miss?"
Dr Rocha was the first to pause laughing, wiping her eyes in the process. "Oh, Val was just telling us how she and Parker met." Dr Hosterman lifted an eyebrow.
"Oh? Would you two mind telling me, since you got Dr Cameron, Dr Bragg, and Dr Rocha laughing?" Parker and I nodded our heads, still giggling.
"Certainly. You see…"
By the time Parker finished the story, Dr Hosterman was laughing as well. We were a table of laughing scientists that we were oblivious to the weird looks we got from nearby tables. This was going to end up being a great year!
To keep this story alive and going, I need to know what happens next! Give me your ideas! I might include it in the story!
