A/N: I guess there's not a lot of suspense in this story, like there was in Brainwave. I think Brainwave was way better...but I don't know. I may write one last story following this one, but I'm not sure. I guess it'll be up to you guys. You can tell me after I get the last two chapters up, which'll probably be tomorrow.

Anyways, ENJOY!

Chapter 8:

Lucas and Vaughn entered the Pearson estate in relative silence. Lucas was trying to discern Vaughn's mood. The other boy seemed remote and solemn. He led the way up the stairs to his father's library without a word or glance to his companion. But the tension in his neck muscle was more than evident that he was well aware of Lucas's presence and not exactly pleased with it. Once amongst the bookshelves however, he took off to scan the titles, keeping a close watch on Lucas from the corner of his eye. Lucas himself gaped in the doorway, obviously amazed at exactly how large the Pearson library actually was.

"Uh…I guess I'll start at the other end," he told Vaughn uncertainly. It didn't appear as though Vaughn was listening or cared anyways.

Lucas ran his fingertips over the delicate book bindings, though he didn't bother reading the titles. He was more interested in figuring out a plan for getting away from Vaughn and starting a search for those files. If he remembered correctly, Victor's office was right across the hall from the library. There was one room left unlabeled on the blueprints in the office, and another few directly down the hall. Any one of them could be the storage for Victor's files. Or they could all just be glorified hallway closets.

"Most of these books seem to be about wormholes and time travel," Vaughn announced from across the room, straightening and placing his hands on his hips, glaring across the room at Lucas, who stood up as well, "What are we looking for?"

"Uh…anything that could prove helpful," Lucas suggested, "Books on chemistry, on natural substances, anything that looks as though it may mention phosphors…"

Vaughn sighed, turning back to the books but not continuing in his search.

"What are we doing here, Lucas?" he demanded after a moment's deliberation. Lucas furrowed his brow, heart thudding against his chest enthusiastically. Vaughn couldn't have figured anything out yet could he have?

"We're here researching phosphors, remember?"

Vaughn spun, boring his eyes into the other boy.

"Do you know how unlikely it is that my father would have interest in anything glow-in-the-dark?"

"There are a lot of practical applications for phosphors beyond that of toys. Remember? Z mentioned several of them…"

"None of which my father would bother with," Vaughn insisted, "Why don't you admit what we both know you're really up to, Lucas?"

"I…uh…"

Vaughn had figured everything out. How could he have pieced together that plan so fast? No matter how lame and underdeveloped it was, it should have at least kept Vaughn fooled for another half-hour.

"You want to keep me away from Josie," Vaughn cried in blazing accusation, and Lucas raised an eyebrow, nearly breaking into relieved laughter. So he hadn't figured it out.

"What are you talking about?" Lucas retorted.

"You don't want me to find a way of fixing Josie back to normal, because it will bring me and her closer together. Admit it, Lucas," Vaughn growled, "This is all a ploy to keep me away from Josie."

"You got me, Vaughn," Lucas muttered sarcastically, "That's been my plan all along."

"You know, I'm sick of dealing with you, Lucas," Vaughn roared, "You don't think about anything else when it comes to me. You don't even bother thinking about my feelings and thoughts. It's always about keeping me from her, not trusting me, ensuring the others in the club don't trust me, and now, dating her behind my back."

"Oh, please," Lucas sputtered, unable to contain himself after that remark, "We never did anything behind your back. We were right in front of you and you were just too blind to see it. Either that, or in denial."

"Denial about what?"

"My relationship with Josie."

"Your relationship…" Vaughn broke into harsh laughter, "Come off it, Lucas. It was only one date. What did you guys talk about, by the way? How aliens are sending you little subliminal messages in your sleep about wooly mammoths taking swims in the school pool? Or did you just talk about…me?"

"Neither," Lucas hissed through clenched teeth, "It's none of your business what Josie and me talked about on our date anyways. But then we didn't do much talking between watching the movie, eating pizza, and kissing." Vaughn narrowed his eyes dangerously.

"You did not," he stated bluntly. Lucas smirked, crossing his arms.

"What's the matter, Vaughn? Jealous?"

Vaughn returned the smirk.

"Maybe I am. But wasn't that Josie's intention dating you? To make me jealous?"

Lucas faltered somewhat, turning his face from Vaughn to hide how much that inflection really hurt him. He had to keep his head in his current situation. The files. He had to get those files. He didn't have time to sit and fight with Vaughn about Josie. He was behind enemy lines and strapped for time. But none of those priorities changed how his doubts played on him. Did Josie really use him to make Vaughn jealous? Lucas shook his head slowly and certainly. In his heart, he knew better.

"If you believe Josie would do that," Lucas sneered, fixing a glare on Vaughn, "Then you don't know her at all. And you don't deserve her." Needless to say, Vaughn was a bit taken aback by that proclamation. But Lucas had already found a way to use this fight to his advantage, "And what's more, Vaughn, I don't think anything having to do with Victor Pearson will help Josie in any way. So I may as well be wasting my time. I am out of here." He spun on his heel, storming out the door, hearing Vaughn angrily call behind his back, "fine then".

Lucas looked nervously down both hallways, then directly at Victor's office door. He took a few steps towards it and drew in his breath. Hand resting on the doorknob, heart pounding erratically in his chest, he mustered the courage to enter that room. He flung the door open, half expecting Victor to be standing before him. But the room was empty. He stepped in, the ominous of that great office weighing down upon him. He took the room in briefly. Victor's computer, paintings, shelves, a gigantic safe, various abstract pieces of art, a desk, and an inconspicuous looking door.

After a moment of hesitation, Lucas strode with a façade of confidence to that door. He swung it open and looked in the closet with dismay. Coats. He sighed. Running his eyes over the office. There wouldn't be anything in there just lying about for Vaughn or even the domestic servants to find. He started out into the hallway again, heading down quietly to where those other doors were. He carefully opened the first one. Cleaning supplies. The second one. Lenin. Lucas came to the last door beginning to think that it was useless. He was not looking forward to going down into Pearadyne labs, but that was undoubtedly where the hard copies and files were being kept. He opened the door and his jaw dropped.

What appeared on the outside to be no more than a small hallway closet, was an elongated room filled wall to wall with file cabinets. At the far back was a small computer set up, undoubtedly the backup drive of Pearadyne. Lucas stepped cautiously into the room, looking around. He wondered where to start. He placed a hand on the handle of the first file cabinet, butterflies floating in his stomach.

"What are you doing?"

Lucas nearly jumped three feet in the air, spinning around, eyes wide. Vaughn stood in the doorway, mouth contorted into an angry scowl.

"I thought you were leaving," he continued, "What are you doing snooping around?" He took a step in and Lucas sighed, starting to lower his head and readying to spill everything about his true intentions for going to the Pearson Estate.

But not before catching sight of a small blinking red light just to the side of Vaughn's head. Lucas's eyes shot up. A panel, electric wiring, a number pad by the door…wasn't there one outside of the door as well?

"…is another story, but this is my father's house! How could you just…?"

"Uh…Vaughn…" Lucas started. Vaughn was fully in the room now and ranting up a storm. The blinking light stopped suddenly and a low-key, yet annoyingly high-pitched buzzing began. Both boys slammed hands over their ears, instinctively ducking their heads and the door swung shut, the click of a deadbolt locking in place echoing off the walls as Lucas's stomach dropped.

Even though Vaughn was closer, Lucas was first to reach the door. He jiggled the handle to no avail, slamming his fists against the heavy obstruction. It wasn't going to budge.

"Lucas…um…what just happened?" Vaughn questioned, his anger for the other boy subsiding in lieu of their current predicament.

"This room has a security device that was triggered when we entered the room. If you don't punch in the code before entering within a certain amount of time, the security system kicks in," Lucas explained unhappily, having himself just figured it out, "Locking the door, sounding an alarm," the room darkened, "Shutting the lights off!"

"Oh," Vaughn murmured. He was silent a moment, "What do we do?"

"What do we do? What do we do? I'll tell you what we do," Lucas raged, "We wait. We wait until someone comes along and let's us out. And trust me when I say, that the door will be opened by none other than either security guards, your dad, or both. None of which seem very appealing to me at the moment."

"Why are you yelling at me, Lucas?" Vaughn demanded, "This is your fault!"

"Why am I yelling at you, Vaughn? I'll tell you why I'm yelling at you! Because I don't know what else to do!"

"What were you doing sneaking around my house anyways?"

"I…was…looking for something…"

"Like a particular file," Vaughn surmised.

"Maybe," Lucas admitted.

"I don't believe you," Vaughn yelled, "Josie's in trouble…"

"I know that. But you heard what Z said. She can get herself out of it," Lucas spat. He was shuffling through his pockets now, his hopes lighting up somewhat as he found what he was looking for. He flicked on his tiny flashlight and a bright glow filled the room. He shined it at Vaughn who was effectively glaring at him, before skimming it around the room, searching for a way out. Vaughn was quiet, and Lucas couldn't tell if it was either from anger or whether he was thinking of a possible escape route as well.

Their silence was broken by a ringing that made both boys start. Lucas fumbled with getting his cell out of his pocket. He squinted at Marshall's number before flipping the phone open and answering.

"This is kind of a bad time," he greeted.

"I imagine it is," Z's voice responded. Lucas nearly dropped the phone in surprise, momentarily juggling both flashlight and cell before gathering the light against his chest in a partial embrace and just barely lifting the phone up to his ear. Vaughn watched with amusement.

"Z…what are you…why are you calling me with Marshall's cell?"

"Because luckily he had it on him so that I could call and yell at you! Do you realize how ridiculously lacking in intelligence it is to break into Pearadyne and steal Victor Pearson's private files? Do you understand the repercussions you will face if you are caught? Not to mention the moral issues of the situation!"

"Uh…Professor Z, could you lecture me later? I'm kind of in the middle of a crisis," Lucas admitted, and Professor Z fell silent.

"What's going on?" he finally spoke up, quietly.

"I think I found Victor's files," Lucas explained, "But…uh…I'm kind of locked in a room with them with no way out."

"I'll call Vaughn and…"

"Why? Do you want to talk to him?"

"Um…is he…there with you?"

"Yes."

"No, that'll be quite alright….I don't need to speak with him," Professor Z sighed, "Stay put…we'll try…plan…help…"

"What? Z…you're breaking up," Lucas scrunched his nose, trying to look at his phone. The signal was weakening.

"…worry…we'll…where are you…"

The signal cut out and Lucas frowned at his phone buzzing with the monotonous dial tone. He looked helplessly to Vaughn.

"What do we do now?" Vaughn asked, tapping his foot.

"Pray that they get to us before your dad," Lucas shrugged.

-00000-

Corrine leaned against the table watching Josie, who stared with amazement at her friend's green eyes. It was probably the first thing she had "seen" in the past half-hour, so, needless to say, the warm glow was a welcome comfort. It was almost a beacon of hope to Josie. A symbol almost that there was a way of fixing this and getting her eyesight back. Now that they'd found a connection to their fight that morning, all they had to do was figure out how to utilize it towards fixing their little eye problem.

"I think we need to talk," Corrine finally announced. Josie was silent, reluctantly looking away. It was obvious, she didn't want to let go of that hopeful light so quickly.

"About?"

"Don't you think it's a little weird…the connection this all has with our fight this morning? I think we need to talk about it."

"Fine. Then talk," Josie snapped, "Tell me all about how 'manipulative' you think I am. Tell me all about the plans I apparently have of using Lucas to make Vaughn jealous."

"Josie…"

"What? That's what you think, right? Or has your opinion changed? Am I secretly using both boys, pitting them against each other simply for the amusement of it all? Is that the new plan? Tell me, Corrine. What evil scheme am I plotting now?"

Corrine sighed, folding her arms over her chest and glaring at the tiled floor. The logical side of her brain knew it was wrong of her to accuse Josie of using people like that, but for some reason, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was right. Why else would Josie not have told her anything about having any feelings for Lucas? Corrine paused at that, her heart beating rapidly. That was an odd thought.

"Josie," Corrine started slowly, not sure what she was about to say.

"What?"

"I think…maybe this happened because…because maybe I am a little…slightly…kind of…jealous."

Josie was speechless. She didn't know how to react to that proclamation. Corrine patiently waited for her to let it sink in.

"You…are?"

"Yeah," Corrine went on, chewing the corner of her lower lip, "When you accused me of being jealous I was so mad. Because I couldn't figure out what I would be jealous of! But as I think about it…maybe I am a little jealous…of a lot of things." She started pacing now, everything spilled out now, "It's just…I was so angry when I saw you and Lucas kissing in the hallway! Because I thought you liked Vaughn, and you'd always told me…and standing there with the others, I just felt so…left out!"

"Corrine, I didn't even know how I felt about Lucas before that happened," Josie started.

"How am I supposed to know that, Josie?" Corrine cried, "You haven't talked to me about it at all since the kiss and…"

"Don't you think I've been dying to talk to you about it?" Josie demanded, she shook her head, turning back to Corrine, "It's just that…I try to talk to you about it and you change the subject or you tell me you have to go do something or you don't even seem interested in hearing!"

"Well how do you think it makes me feel?" Corrine spat, and then caught herself, dazedly questioning, "How does it make me feel…?"

Josie was silent, thinking the question through as well before closing her eyes and making a face in her realization.

"I'm so sorry, Corrine," she said, and it was Corrine's turned to be startled, "I never thought about what your reasoning could be behind not wanting to listen to me talk about Lucas. I just started to think…maybe it was weird, or you didn't even realize that I wanted to talk about it. I was too blind to see the real reason. I mean, it was right in front of my face…"

"And…what was that?" Corrine asked meekly.

"Marshall."

Corrine slumped into a seat, rubbing her hands over her face, a bit exhausted and emotionally drained.

"I finally seemed to have things somewhat sorted out with Lucas," Josie went on, "And I was just so excited and confused all at once, and I guess I sort of spilled my emotions all over you…I completely forgot about your Marshall situation and I was completely un-understanding. I was unfair to you, Corrine…gloating about my new relationship and…"

"No, Josie. I wasn't fair to you," Corrine interjected, "You're right, I was jealous because of Marshall, but that's no excuse! You had every right to be happy about your relationship with Lucas and I should have been happy for you…"

"But I didn't think about how it might make you feel, talking about my feelings for Lucas."

"No. You should have talked to me about Lucas, Josie. I'm your best friend, I'm the one that wasn't being understanding. And I wanted to hear about Lucas, I wanted to hear everything, but I was being so…green-eyed, that I never really listened. You needed me and I let my jealousy get in the way. I'm sorry, Josie."

"Well, I should have seen from the start what was bothering you," Josie returned, "Sometimes I get so raveled in my own dramas that I can be…completely blind when it comes to other people's feelings. I don't realize that I'm hurting people along the way. I'm your best friend, Corrine, and I should have been more sensitive to your feelings about this whole messy situation. I'm sorry."

Both girls startled, when there came a noise at the door. They fell silent, alert, listening to the muffled voices.

END A/N: Ah...who could that be at the door! I wonder...no, wait...I know, I wrote the story, but I'm sure you're all wondering. Ah...and finally the reasons behind Corrine's behaviour. I don't know how believable it is to all of you, but for some reason, it made complete sense to me!

Please excuse any grammatical or typing errors. REVIEW!

That's all for today. Now you must wait patiently for an update!

Thanks for reading.