CHAPTER FIVE

Josie and Lucas had finally settled down in a room which oddly resembled Josie's bedroom. The two sat on the bed, Josie thoughtfully chewing on her piece of gum, Lucas with a lollipop he'd snagged out of another room. By their watches they had been there for at least three hours, and still there had been no help from their friends. Neither wanted to admit it, but they were both getting a little nervous. The strange house was fun for now, but home was beginning to sound better and better.

At last, Josie jumped up, startling Lucas. "We need to think of a way out of here," She told him. "Firstly, do you have any guesses as to where we are?"

"No," Lucas said slowly, standing up with Josie.

"Well I do. Hear me out. I'm beginning to suspect we're in that book," Josie told him. "How far did you get in it?"

"Not too far," Lucas said slowly. "I guess about fifty pages. Why?"

"Because right after it got to the middle of the book Izzy and Trina arrived in a strange house that seemed an awful lot like this house, here."

"How so?"

"The strange rooms? This dorm room – Trina's bedroom was there. My theory is that we are in the book, and we're Izzy and Trina."

"That's one interesting theory," Lucas said slowly. "But if we're in the book, wouldn't that imply that -."

"That those new kids were behind this. I'll bet you anything they knew exactly what they were doing when they gave us those books. And I'm sure they know how to get us out," Josie concluded.

"What if the others realized that too?" Lucas asked. "Wouldn't they have pumped them for information by now?"

"Probably," Josie admitted reluctantly, falling back on the bed.

"Well how did Trina and Izzy get out of the Shadow Plane?"

"Hee," Josie said, looking nervously up at Lucas. "I didn't get that far."

Lucas blinked. "Well how far did you get?"

"Umm," Josie looked thoughtful. "Okay, after they arrived in the shadow plane, they wandered around – like we did. Then they stopped in Trina's bedroom. They tried to figure out how they got there, yadda, yadda. She and Izzy got in a big argument, and then they separated. That's the last thing I remember."

"What if, in order to get out of here, we need to finish the book?" Lucas suggested. "Do you know what the reason they were sent into the world in the first place?"

"Emma – Trina's friend, got in a fight with both of them, and told them that they needed to learn a lesson from each other. She left the room, and Izzy and Trina were pulled into the world. I'm not really sure what that lesson was, though." Josie frowned. "How can we finish the story if we don't know what happened?"

"Eh …" Lucas turned to think, and then turned back. "So far it's come naturally. Let's follow with that. Now you said the two got in an argument. What was it about?"

"Myles," Josie replied.

"Who?"

Josie's face seemed to light up with an idea. "Lucas, what do you think of Vaughn?"

"Vaughn?" Lucas asked with surprise. "He's okay. You know we get along alright."

"But do you trust him?"

"Not entirely," Lucas said slowly.

"Why not?"

"Because his Dad's Victor Pearson. We can't trust Victor Pearson."

Josie rolled her eyes, now getting interested in this conversation. "He's not his Father, Lucas."

"Isn't he? Why would Vaughn join the Science Club in the first place? It was his Dad's idea, remember? You can't seriously believe that 'Perfect Vaughn Pearson' would actually be interested in science. He's not even that smart."

"Vaughn is smart, Lucas."

"I don't see why you're getting so defensive of him. You said you didn't like him," Lucas said.

"He's still my friend!" Josie exclaimed.

"He's my friend, too. But I still don't trust him," Lucas countered.

"Hasn't he proven himself yet? He's always trying to do the best," Josie told him.

"But he's always trying to impress his Dad. We both know that if his Dad asked him to help him out, he would."

"Once!" Josie exclaimed. "He helped his Dad eavesdrop on our conversation once! And even then he was conflicted about loyalty. And if you didn't trust him so much, why did you get him information on black holes?"

"That's …" At this point Lucas' voice dropped some of its anger. He sighed. "I can't explain that."

Josie snorted. "You know, my Mom was working with Victor. They even knew each other. Does that mean I'm not to be trusted?"

"Of course not, Josie."

"Whatever, Lucas," Josie snapped. She quickly stomped out of the room, disappearing. Lucas sighed again, not bothering to go after her. Vaughn was their friend, but there was still the issue of trusting him, which for some reason Lucas felt he needed to defend himself for.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Okay, Marshall knew he had overreacted when Corrine had gotten frustrated with him, but being so close to Corrine was really beginning to bug him. In some ways he really liked her, but then in other ways … the whole situation was driving her crazy, and if it was driving her crazy, then it was driving Marshall crazy, also. Marshall wanted to spend time with Corrine, but not when they could read each other's thoughts like that - not when they could risk hurting each other.

He moved down the halls quickly. Maybe if he found Z, he could find some way to take his mind off of things. He found Z sitting at his desk looking at the book Josie had. He looked up, a little surprised to see Marshall there.

"Find anything?" Marshall asked.

"Nothing," Z replied, shaking his head. "Well, some stuff, but nothing that will help us find Lucas and Josie. Any luck with you and Corrine?"

Marshall shook his head. "There really isn't anything we can do."

"Is everything alright?" Z asked with concern.

"Yeah," Marshall said quickly. "Anything I can help you with?"

"No, there doesn't seem to be anything. Can you and Corrine still …?"

"On and off," Marshall replied.

Z nodded his head. "Fascinating."

"Well … if you don't need any help here, I think I'll go to my room," Marshall said.

"Are you sure?" Z asked. "Shouldn't you be trying to help find Josie and Lucas? Or working with Corrine?"

"No," Marshall said. "I mean, I should be working with Corrine, but … I just can't. As for Lucas and Josie – I have a feeling they'll get themselves out."

"Alright. I'm gonna keep researching things on other worlds, though," Z told him.

"Let me know if you find anything," Marshall called over his shoulder.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Josie frowned, staring at the wall in front of her. Every time she tried to turn another corner, she got a dead end. At this moment, when she just wanted to get away from Lucas, all she could get was a dead end. Her temper was beginning to flare. She managed to take in a few deep breaths before turning around, glancing around the corner to see Lucas wandering around the hall up ahead. Well that was just fine for Josie – so long as he stayed away from her.

She waited until Lucas was out of her sight to turn down the hall and try and find another exit. As she did so, she ran through the fight she'd had with Lucas earlier. Perhaps she'd been wrong to get so mad at Lucas. In fact, she'd been completely wrong to get mad at Lucas. Now she was avoiding him for slightly different reasons. Spending so much time with Lucas was beginning to change her mind about everything, and she wasn't sure if she liked it.

Josie jiggled the knob for another door, and managed to slip inside, closing the door softly before her. Finally, a door that was not rebellious. She turned cautiously, unsure of what to expect. Surprisingly, the room seemed almost normal. It appeared, to Josie, like a Library without any books, just empty bookshelves filled with Spiderwebs. The room stretched up real high, ending with a giant glass dome with tinted windows. In the corner of the room, Josie's eyes were drawn to the bright red sign reading, "EXIT". Josie felt a glimmer of excitement. Then she frowned. What if it really was the exit? It wouldn't be fair to leave Lucas there on his own. She glanced back at the door.

"Don't move," She muttered to the room, before quickly stepping out of the room, checking down the hall for any hint of Lucas.

"Lucas?" She called. A few moments later the boy's head appeared from a corner. He looked at her with slight confusion.

"I think I've found a way out of here," Josie said.

Now for Lucas, this could be taken as a good thing, or a bad thing. Even if Josie was mad at him … he'd been alone with her. But he also wanted to go home. But … not before he sorted everything out with Josie. He moved quickly down the hall, appearing beside Josie.

"We need to talk," he told her.

"After we get back," Josie said, quickly pulling him inside.

"No," Lucas said quickly, grabbing Josie's elbow. "We need to talk now."

"About what?" Josie asked, looking at him expectantly.

"I'm sorry about what I said about Vaughn. I know you and I both think differently about him -."

"Lucas, we really don't need to talk about this right now," Josie told him.

"And then when are we going to talk about it, Josie?" Lucas inquired. "Nobody's here. It's the best time."

"I get it, Lucas, okay? You don't trust Vaughn. It isn't exactly a secret. And in all fairness, maybe I over-reacted."

"It's not just that," Lucas said. He took in a deep breath. "I like you, Josie. I really like you."

Josie took a step back, not really sure how to respond. Finally, she managed an, "Oh."

"That's it?" Lucas asked.

"Well what am I supposed to say?" Josie demanded.

"Anything's better than 'oh'," Lucas replied.

"How about I don't know what to say!" Josie exclaimed. She turned on her heel, and looked around the room. Despite the situation, an old book tucked away in the corner of the empty bookshelf caught her eye. She slowly moved over to it, intrigued, and then changed her mind, looking back at Lucas. "I'm not sure if I like you like that, Lucas. You're my friend."

"And that's all you see me as," Lucas finished.

Josie didn't reply. Instead, she went back to the book, pulling it out, dusting it off, and reading the cover. Strange Days at Blake Holsey High. She frowned. "What's this?"

Lucas rolled his eyes in frustration, but approached her, reading over her shoulder. "That's creepy," He said.

Josie turned to the first page, only to read a quick paragraph of how Lucas Randall, conspiracy freak, had rushed down the halls in a desperate attempt to get to Professor Middleton's Office to drop off his paper.

"That's what happened the night Professor Middleton disappeared!" Lucas exclaimed.

Josie looked thoughtful for a minute, and then turned to the last page of the book. The only thing she managed to see, however, was a quickly flash of "the science club" before Lucas pulled the book away.

"What are you doing!" Josie exclaimed.

Lucas licked his lips with a sigh. "Knowing too much about our future could be dangerous. I say we just let it go," He said quickly.

"But it might have the answers!" Josie exclaimed, reaching for the book. Lucas quickly pulled it away again.

"If we're going to find out the answers we'll find them out ourselves. Not through some book." He looked hesitantly at the book, wanting to read it and see how much it actually knew, but decided against it. He took the book and threw it across the room where it disappeared through a small ripple in the wall.

"Lucas!" Josie exclaimed, darting after it. She felt at the wall where moments before the book had passed through, only to find everything solid. She turned quickly back to Lucas, glaring angrily at him. "You want to know about Pearadyne, Lucas? That could have told us! It would have told us everything we've wanted to know!"

"I know," Lucas said softly. "I just couldn't let you do it, though."

Josie's face turned a bright red with frustration, before she flung herself into an old chair. "It could have told us how to get out of here," She said quietly.

"Why not just try going through the exit, then? If you want to go home so badly, go! You could have just left me here, you know."

"I'm not going to just leave you here," Josie mumbled. "You're my friend, Lucas. Although once we get out of here that will be seriously reconsidered."

"Josie, you know reading that book could jeopardize anything that will happen," Lucas told her.

She pursed her lips, not wanting to admit he was right. She decided to change the subject. "Why was a book like that even in here?"

Lucas shrugged. "Maybe someone was here before us," He said. "Or maybe someone just knows a lot about us. When we get back I'll have to look up the theories on Shadow Planes."

Josie laughed despite herself. "Is all you ever think about research?" She asked, looking at him.

"No," Lucas said. It didn't take Josie long to catch the hidden message as he looked at her.

She sighed. "You know this is going to make things difficult," She said slowly.

"If you can tell me you honestly don't like me, we'll forget this whole thing happened," Lucas told her.

"Well what if I'm not sure?" Josie inquired.

"We could … try something," Lucas said slowly. He licked his lips again nervously.

"Like a test?" Josie asked. She seemed uncertain. "What kind of a test?"

"A kiss?" Lucas suggested.

Josie thought it over. She'd kissed Lucas once before, even though it had actually been Vaughn in Lucas' body. Besides, no one would have to know about this if it didn't work out. Plus it would be the answer to their question.

"Alright," She said. She stood up, facing Lucas. The two seemed a little uncertain.

"Just … kiss?" Lucas asked her.

"Just a trial kiss," Josie said quickly.

Lucas nodded, and then slowly bent over, meeting her lips. After a few moments, the two broke apart.

Lucas swallowed nervously, waiting for Josie's reply. She slowly met his eyes.

"Well, he asked, moving his glasses up uncertainly. Josie bent forward, and kissed Lucas again. They broke apart again.

"Wow," Lucas said.

"Wow is right," Josie said.

"So … what does this mean?" Lucas asked.

"I don't know," Josie replied. "I think I like you. Really like you. There's just … this feeling."

"A connection," Lucas said quickly.

"Exactly," Josie said with a nod.

The two seemed thoughtful, and then Lucas bent down again, capturing Josie's lips. She leaned into his' kiss, surprised at how warm his lips were. She couldn't help but feel like she could stay there forever; and Lucas himself was in heaven. The only thing that tore the couple apart was the soft cough from two feet away.