|| Starburst || // An Among Us Fan Fiction

Chapter 5 - Different Feelings

The first thing I see as I walk inside is a small puddle of water. Then I see Oakley, his body shaking uncontrollably and his hands clenched in fists.

"Oakl-" I start. Before I can even finish saying his name, he lifts up his head.

His eyes are barely recognizable. They are puffy and red. He jumps back, increasing the size of the puddle on the floor.

"Don't come near me!" He screams. "I tried to kill you!" His face is filled with guilt. So, so much guilt. He is ashamed of himself.

I take a deep breath. Oakley puts his head back in his legs, his shaking continuing. The hurt I am feeling now is beyond anything I have ever experienced. I don't hesitate. I don't care what he says. I run up to him and hug him as hard as I can. He tenses up, becoming completely still. Then he relaxes, hugging me just as hard.

"I'm so sorry." He muffles through sobs.

"It's okay...it's okay..." I reassure him. I think I am calming him down.

He holds me closer. I smile. I am so lucky I met him. We hug for what seems like hours. I never want to let Oakley go. I think he feels the same way about me. I realize my shoulder is soaking wet. After a couple more minutes, he pulls away. I smile weakly at him. He wipes his eyes. "Thank you." He whispers.

I don't even realize that I threw my helmet off my head when I went in to hug him.

"It's nothing." I say. "It is. We just met, and you care for me so much." Oakley says. I smile wider.

"Well, I wasn't just going to let you sit there and breakdown while I did nothing." I say.

He rolls his eyes. They are still relatively puffy. "It's late." He mutters, looking straight at me. "I don't think I can be alone tonight. Do you think I could sleep in the bed with you?" Realizing what he had said, he suddenly goes extremely red.

"I- I mean, I'll stay on the other side of it!" He says in a panicked voice. I laugh. "You can." I say. He sighs in relief. He grabs a set of clothes from his shelf and heads to the small bathroom. Once he is done changing, I do the same. His face seems to have a permanent pink color. When I am done, Oakley is already on the other side of the bed. I lay down on the opposite side to him. I fall asleep almost instantly.

When I wake up, I see Oakley staring at the ceiling, my right hand interlocked with his. He turns towards me and jumps. He snatches his hand away from mine in an instant. He nervously laughs and jumps out of the bed. I follow close behind him. He goes over to the breakfast that was delivered to us. It's only for one person.

We split it like we always do. I think Oakley is working on making it so we get two breakfasts. In the meantime, this is all we get.

As we eat, I stare at the blank T.V. We haven't turned it on yet; at least since I've been here.

"So, does the T.V. work?" I ask him. He looks at me.

"Yes. Of course it does."

"Can I try it?" I say.

"Sure. Just let me get the remote." Oakley answers, standing up and walking to one of his shelves. He picks out something from a bottom shelf, under many other things.

"Here." He exclaims, handing it to me.

I aim the remote at the T.V. and press power. A few seconds later, a cartoon appears on the screen. My eyes hurt for a second. I haven't seen anything like this in a while. I blink a few times, dazed.

"I haven't used this in a while." Says Oakley. "Why don't we see what's happening on Earth?" He adds, and switches the channel. As he does it, someone starts blabbering about something on the T.V.

"There's never interesting stuff on the news." I exclaim, rolling my eyes. "That's true." Mutters Oakley.

Suddenly, my eyes widen. Oakley gives me a confused look and looks back at the T.V. The T.V. reads: "Kid put into Juvenile for refusing to participate in Intellectual Space Program." I blink a few times, not sure if I'm amused or in shock. "I doubt it." I say.

"They probably killed them."

"What?!" Oakley says, looking back at me.

"Huh?" I ask. "You just said-" He starts, his eyes glossy. "Oh. Oops. Did I say that out loud? Oh, sorry. I meant to say it in my head." I confess. He sighs. "Well. You still thought about it." He pauses for a second, thinking.

"Honestly, it's probably true."

For the next few days, we talk about our old lives. Both of us keep lots of information out. We are scared. We don't trust each other fully yet. We just met a week or two ago, afterall. Oakley shows me more of his gadgets from his shelves. I am amazed by what he managed to bring. We play card games and poker. It never gets old. We laugh. The days go by quicker than both of us have ever remembered them going. When it is finally the day for us to go back, we are tense with anticipation.

I gulp as we inch towards the spaceship. There's a small bump when we hit it, and I almost fall backwards. The door to the pod opens, and me and Oakley walk out of it slowly. My arm is interlocked with his. People look at us suspiciously. I quietly walk towards them. Most of them are slumped, scared, or bored. Sometimes we have to wait in the lobby for hours if there aren't enough people. We still need at least five more people to arrive before we can start.

One person is standing up straight, her helmet under her shoulder. She has her hands on her hips and is looking straight at us. I feel unworthy to be in her presence. She gives off an aura of protection and hatred. Her eyes seem to be staring into my soul. I gulp. I don't realize how tense I look. Oakley looks down at me with a confused look, but I don't see him. I am still staring in front of me. The girl turns and starts walking towards me. I tumble backwards. Oakley catches me from behind but all I can focus on is the girl. I am off my feet, my back in Oakley's arms.

When the girl stops in front of me, I scramble to my feet. "Um, hi?" I say, flustered.

The girl smiles at me in a somewhat devious way. "Hello." She says, calmly.

She leans into me and looks me up and down. I feel paralyzed. She is definitely taller than me, but Oakley is still the tallest. "My name is Coral." She exclaims, looking straight into my eyes.

Her eye colors startle me. One of her eyes is an extremely pale blue. Half of the other eye is the same, but the rest of it is a deep brown. Her skin is clear, without a blemish of anything on it. "What's yours?" She adds, not leaning away.

"Amber." I say quickly, so quickly I'm not even sure she heard it.

She leans back and I take in her whole presence. She has a round, somewhat big body; although it is shaped in a way that makes her athletic. I look like a weak stick compared to her. The front strands of her hair contain a faded blue. She must have dyed her hair before she arrived here. The rest of her hair is a dark brown.

"Well, Amber." She says.

"Let the game begin."