Chell's Story: Part C
Chapter Fifteen
The big day had finally arrived. Aperture Science's first ever Bring Your Daughter to Work Day was about to start. The seven girls that would be taking part, myself included, waited in front of the school for the bus to arrive.
I was calm and collected, confident that I would win. The girls had taunted me continuously during the days that we spent putting our projects together. I had signed my project "by Chell" rather than "by Chelsea" as a subtle hint that I had a revenge plot in store for the girls for bullying me and throwing Pedro out of my life.
The bus arrived, and we all boarded, ready to show off at the science fair. I expected one of the girls to ruin my project during the bus ride, and some of them were tempted to do so, but Heather told them to leave it alone, saying that she wanted to watch me lose at the fair.
In my mind, that was a big mistake on her part.
The bus pulled through the gate and into the parking lot. The girls stuck their faces to the windows looking outside. The bus slowed to a stop, and the driver opened the door.
We all grabbed our projects and stepped out onto the surface of pebbles and tar that made up the parking lot. Having visited the place before, I was the only one that didn't look around in confusion.
Six men in lab coats came down a dirt road coming through a large grassy field. "Right this way, girls." Each of them approached their respective daughter and escorted them through the fields to the entrance to Aperture Science.
Heather's dad I recognized as the scientist with the robot that Dad had turned on. Having reason to believe that the robot in question was Andy's mother, that was the closest I got to showing emotion at the gates of Aperture.
When we arrived at the shed where the elevator was, one scientist stood in front of the door. "Now, I need everyone to listen to me as closely as possible. Is everyone listening?"
All seven of us gave the same answer. "Yes."
"Alright. While you are inside the building, you must stay with your chaperone at all times. Do not go wandering around by yourself; you will get lost. There is no horse playing at any time for any reason; that includes belittling your peers. There is no eating, drinking, or gum chewing outside of the cafeteria wing, where we will be going at 12:00 PM before the science fair. The time is now 8:47 AM, so your chaperones will have three hours to show you what they wish about what they do here. Failure to obey any of these rules will be grounds for removal from the Bring Your Daughter to Work Day event. Is that understood?"
Again, there was a unanimous answer. "Yes."
He knocked on the door and regrouped with the rest of us. The sound of the elevator rising to meet us rattled the shed for ten seconds, and then the door opened. The girls all had difficulty containing their excitement.
"One at a time, girls. One at a time."