Snippet Sunday: Storybook Love
This story is just a for-fun story I started a while back to experiment with the romance genre and have an excuse to write what’s basically Maze Runner fanfiction. (Yes, I hated those books. That doesn’t mean I hated all the characters, and tossing in extra characters means I can partially rewrite the plot.) I actually didn’t intend to ever share this with anyone beyond my best friend, but it was on the list of stories I’ve started and it’s what the random number generator landed on, so here’s your snippet. Enjoy. :)
A legal note in case it’s necessary: The Maze Runner and all characters therein belong to James Dashner.
I woke the next morning with a smile and bounded straight out of bed. I hastily dressed and ran downstairs. “Bye Mom! I’m heading to the holodeck!”
There was no response. She was probably knocked out on the couch.
I headed outside and hopped on my bike, riding straight to Sabrina’s house. I checked my watch. Only nine, so too early to be politely visiting. Fortunately she came bounding out of the house as I put down my kickstand and I was saved the deliberation of whether or not to knock.
“Hey!” Her eyes were aglow and there was a bright smile on her face.
“Hey.” I returned the smile. I considered telling her she looked nice – her sea green top really brought out the green in her eyes and white shorts accentuated her tan – but decided against it.
“So where are we headed?”
“The Grantech lab. It’s just a few blocks away.”
“I know where it is. It’s huge.” She chuckled as she mounted her bike and put up the kickstand. She headed off and I followed, coming up beside her. She looked over at me, dark hair flowing behind her. “Race you there.” She grinned.
“Go!”
We both picked up the pace and she beat me by a foot, pulling into the parking deck underneath the lab and propping her bike up against the cement wall. Apparently being barely beaten by her was going to be a recurring thing. I set my bike next to hers and nodded toward the elevator, gesturing for her to follow. I stepped into the shiny elevator and prepared to press the button for the fifth floor, waiting for her to enter.
We emerged right near the holodeck door. Derreck, a man I knew well from long days spent holoplaying, stood guard at the door.
“Hey, Derreck.” I grinned.
“Your dad said you’d be coming.” He looked Sabrina over somewhat judgmentally. “Go ahead.”
“Thanks.” I flashed him another smile as I opened the door. I stepped aside and let Sabrina enter the grey-walled room first.
“No wonder the building is huge,” she remarked, eyeing the vast room. “This room alone is ginormous.”
“Yeah.” I stepped over to a control panel by the door. “Name of your character?”
She paused for a moment. “Marie.”
“Like Marie Curie. I always go by Speare in the Maze Runner programs.” I punched in the orders.
She smiled. “Shakespeare.”
I looked over at her before pressing the start button. “You ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.” She grinned and I hit the button.
Suddenly we were no longer in a grey room. We were in a box, ascending into darkness. When we reached the top, the box’s lid opened. Blinding sunlight flooded in, blocked only by a couple of guys who immediately helped us out.
As we stepped out we were surrounded by about fifty boys, all murmuring to each other.
“Welcome to the Glade.” The boy’s British accent gives him away immediately. “The name’s Newt, greenies.”