1.The Beginnings of everything

 “Catherine Watson, come in here please, thank you thank you very

much indeed.” Catherine Watson, a young woman, twenty- one years old, stepped

into the Grand Meeting Hall. She had tan skin, deep black eyes, wavy coffee-

brown hair which was left loose and she wore a blue blouse with a peach-coloured

skirt. She was at ‘STD’ which stood for Space Technology Department.

   As Watson entered the Hall there were many eyes

staring at her. The pair of eyes that caught her interest was those of David

Lewis.  He was a well-built man with broad shoulders, clear brown eyes,

fair and delicate skin, messy brown hair, side burns, and he wore a red- shirt

and grey- trousers. He too was staring deep into her. Catherine felt a cold

pickle rush along her back and scuttled away to sit down. The only empty seat

was the one next to David so that was where she sat. Onto her left sat Florence

Austen who had green eyes and short, blonde hair which fell down in perfect,

bouncy curls and William Jordon who had deep blue eyes and a tuft of messy

auburn curls. They were both her best friends. “I am sure that none of you have

any Idea of why I have summoned you here,” spoke Joseph Owens, CEO of STD, “My

dear scientists and astronauts, we, runners of the STD have come up with yet

another operation of building a space shuttle which is to be known as ‘Opollo

4.” There were cheers echoing all around the hall and then Joseph continued.

“It is said to take maximum four months to build so we are to come up with a

scheme consisting of which part of our universe to explore, so that we can

build it accordingly. I will dismiss the meeting for today and we shall have

another next Friday when all your plans are ready.” There was wild chatter.

   Catherine, Florence and William stepped out into

the centre courtyard. “I can’t believe it. A new space shuttle!” Florence

almost squeaked, twirling the end of her magenta skirt round and round. “Well

yes, I suppose it is exiting rather,” Catherine muttered. “You have gotten your

eyes on David haven’t you,” William remarked grinning all over his face.

Catherine spun around sharply sat this remark. She had been gazing at David who

was speaking with Joseph. All she wanted was for David to speak to her. “What!

Yes, I mean No.”

   “You’ve got to forget it. I mean that man has

got guts Cathy you know that. He only looks at those extra glamorous type of

girls, not brainy ones like you,” William said. Florence remained silent. There

was awkward silence for half a minute before it broke due to Catherine’s

increase in temper. “Listen up Wil, you cannot just tell me to forget it you

know. I mean it is not like you even care is it. And what do you mean by saying

not brainy ones like you! I am not a nerd you know.” Everyone around looked at

William in disbelief. Florence shook her head. It was quite natural for her

friend to explode easily.

   “Cathy-

   “Enough. Enjoy your afternoon… in peace. I am off.

Do not follow me.”

   Saying so Catherine stormed off past all the

whispering crowds into the quiet peace and freedom of the library. There she

grabbed a one-thousand-page book and began reading.

   “You should not have said that you know. She

really likes him,” Violet Dashville, a lady at about the age of thirty said.

   “How do you know that?” William said almost in a

whisper.

   “Saw them gazing at each other in the Grand

Meeting Hall.”

   “Oh, I see.”

   “Violet’s right you know they do seem to have a

liking for each other,” Florence began after Violet walked off. “Yeah. I

understand now. I regret what I just did,” William said as they entered the

Great Hall of STD where people ate, chat, held parties and just hung around.

“I’ll go apologize,” William declared in a soft tone as he turned to leave. “No

wait. Remember she told us not to follow her,” Florence said, grabbing his arm.

   The two of them blushed. “Three cups of coffee

perhaps?” William asked. “Yes, that would be marvellous. I’ll grab a seat.”

   Meanwhile, back in the library something struck

Catherine’s mind. Something that would change her life forever but the only

thing was that, to reveal it, she had to wait until the following Friday,

August eighteenth. All Catherine’s anger had disappeared. She ran down stairs,

past four large corridors, bumped into six people and finally found her

friends.

   As soon as Catherine entered the Great Hall, she

knew that her friends, and William would never be replaced by anyone else.

Sitting at one of the round tables were Florence and William. Lying on the

table were three untouched cups of coffee. The three friends ran and hugged

each other. “I am so sorry,” William said. “Oh no, Wil it is me who is supposed

to be sorry,” Catherine stated, “I am the one who shouted at you in the first

place and-

   “Oh, quit the fighting. Are you a pair of wild

cats or what? Let’s just drink our coffee before it cools shall we,” Florence

interrupted. So, the trio proceeded to sip their coffee. “Has any of you gotten

any idea about what we should with the new shuttle?” Catherine inquired. “No

why. Do NOT tell me that you have any idea because it is not due today or

tomorrow you know,” Florence smirked. “Well, it obviously does seem like our

brainwave has gotten some sort of idea doesn’t it?” “Oh, don’t embarrass me

William, or I shall simply do the same to you. And by Neptune! Why did you call

me a brainwave?” Catherine blushed. “Well, you do have some mind-blowing

thoughts, opinions and ideas sometimes you know,” William said. “Yeah, well I

do have an idea but it will definitely not to be exposed until Friday.”

   “There’s a good little astronaut,” Joseph said

smiling as he passed the friend’s table. “Coo, I did not notice him coming. Did

you? I almost spilt my milkshake when he spoke to me,” Rosa Parks said. She was

with her extremely smart husband, Hampton Parks. “Well Rosa he is something,

here isn’t he?” Florence giggled. “Am I not then?” Mr Parks asked.

   “I- I didn’t mean to-

   “Of course, you didn’t. Goodbye for now, the

three of you.”

   “Bye.”

   “Let’s eat dinner now and head off to our

dormitories soon. It is getting late. Look you can even see the sun setting,”

Florence said. “What do you want for dinner? I’ll order the food,” William

said. “I suppose we could do with some salad tonight,” Catherine said, almost

in a whisper. “Yeh, I’ll go order the food. Stay here.” So, Florence and

Catherine stayed back. “I jolly am glad that the boys’ and girls’ dormitories

are next to each other,” Catherine said. “What do you mean by that?” Florence

asked looking rather suspicious. “Well, you see we can communicate easily. We

do not have to walk a long distance to speak to them or tell them something

important you know.” “Are you still speaking about David?”

                 “What

does dormitories have to do with David… well yes I suppose I am.” “I have faith

in the two of you. I am sure that things would work themselves out towards the

end. Or look William’s gotten our food fast.” “Did I miss an important

conversation?” William asked as he laid the three food parcels on the table and

sat himself down between his two friends. “Oh no, you didn’t miss anything

important Wil,” Florence mentioned. They soon finished eating. “The food was

great,” Catherine remarked.

   “Let’s take the shortcut to our dormitories,

today shall we?” Catherine asked as the trio made their way to bed. “Okie. That

means that I get to go to bed before the two of you,” William said winking at

Florence as she winked back. Secretly the two of them knew that Catherine had

the intention of speaking to David on the way because the short cut would lead

them to pass the boy’s dormitory first. Eventually Catherine and Florence said

their goodnights to William as he entered his dormitory. Little did Catherine

know that her wish would soon come true. “Race you to bed then,” Florence said

as the two friends began racing past two corridors to get to bed. Very soon

Catherine had bumped into someone and both of them had fallen onto the red-

tiled floor. “Oh, I am so sorry. I really am,” Catherine mumbled noticing that

Florence had started grinning at her. She stood up and immediately found out

why Florence was smiling. She had apparently bumped into David and due to their

clumsiness, both of them had fallen.

   “It’s nothing really,” David replied. Catherine

tried her best to hide her embarrassment but was really bad at it. David

noticed that Catherine had started blushing. “I’ll head off then,” Florence

said and headed off to her dormitory. “It was nothing really. You did not push

me on purpose. Anyways Cathy, I received news that you, out of all others had

come up with an idea about the shuttle,” David said. There was awkward silence

for about five seconds before David and Catherine found themselves kissing.

David too had realized that he had a soft spot for Catherine. “Goodnight then

David. See you tomorrow,” Catherine said. “Goodnight.” Catherine skipped her

way to the dormitory. She was bursting to tell her friend the exiting news but

found Florence lying on bed fast asleep. Naturally she found herself doing the

same.

  In her dreams the day’s events all repeated itself

over and over again. Catherine even found herself smiling in sleep.

   The next morning Catherine poured out all her

news to her friends in the centre courtyard. “You kissed! Oh god,” William

laughed. This time even Catherine smiled. “The funny thing is they met by

accident,” Florence giggled. It was a beautiful day and the three friends were

sitting on a bench, enjoying the sun. “David told me too,” a boy named Flister

Roginston said emerging from behind a tree. “That was the first time we ever

saw him blush.” “I must have been asleep because he certainly did not tell me,”

William said looking disappointed. “Well yes you were asleep,” Flister said,

“Anyways I must be off now. Bye.”

   “Bye.” “See you soon.” “Bye.”

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