The Golden Couple (The Samantha Project Series, # 2) (29 page)

I ignored him and went into the bathroom, leaving him alone to dream about Rachel.
 

Our dance lesson was after lunch. Terrance taught us the Viennese waltz. It was faster than the other waltz we’d learned, and we both found it more difficult.
 

“You’re not connecting with each other!” Terrance scolded. “Do like you did yesterday. It was magic. Pure magic. Do that again!”

All I could think about was Erik imagining he was dancing with Rachel and not me. It was silly for me to feel jealous. After all, he had no chance with Rachel. And I had a boyfriend. Still, Erik’s infatuation with Rachel was distracting me from learning the steps. In fact, Erik was actually doing better than me.

“Samantha, focus!” Terrance shouted at me. “Focus on the feeling of his arms around you. Focus on the way he leads you across the dance floor.”

I snapped to, noticing that Erik was doing his best to lead us across the floor while I continued to mess up, always stepping in the wrong direction.
 

“Let him lead, Samantha,” Terrance ordered. “We’ll be here all day if you don’t get this right!”

Erik caught my eye.
“What’s wrong with you? Let’s get this over with.”
We turned and stepped to the right.
“I’m not even thinking about her, if that’s what’s bothering you.”

“I wasn’t thinking that.”
I stepped on his foot.
“Oops, sorry!
” I kept my eyes on my feet to avoid another misstep.

“Then what’s the problem? Just relax. And don’t look at your feet. It makes it harder. Just keep your eyes up here. Look at me.”

I did as he said. He was right. It was easier when I kept my eyes on his. I took a deep breath and focused on the feeling of his hand around my waist, guiding us across the floor.
 

Suddenly we were getting in sync again. Soon we were dancing without thinking about the steps. And it was actually fun. I think even Erik liked it.

Terrance applauded. “That’s excellent! Wonderful form! Bravo!” He stopped the music. “I would love to let you continue, but apparently you have other plans. I must dismiss you for today. But I commend you for putting forth so much effort. You truly let your feelings shine through, especially you, Erik. Excellent job!”

Back in our room, Erik seemed pleased with himself. “Guess I’m not so bad at this dancing thing.”

“Maybe Rachel inspired you. You’re probably hoping to get a dance with her on Saturday.”

“That’s a good idea,” he said, knowing it would irritate me. “Sam, I’m just kidding. I told you, I wasn’t thinking about her.”
 

“Then what were you thinking about? The footwork? Because I’m still having trouble with that.”

“I was thinking about my partner. Which is what
you’re
supposed to be thinking about. Or maybe you weren’t listening,” Erik kidded, getting back at me for my comments about his behavior on the tour.

“I
was
listening. But I don’t understand Terrance’s advice. If I think about you, then I can’t concentrate on the dance.”

“I didn’t think it would work either. But then I tried it and it actually worked.”

“What did you think about?”

“I don’t know. Just stuff from when we first met. Like the look on your face when you found out I could read your mind. And that time on my porch when you finally told me your real name.” He laughed. “Oh, and when you came in my room to wake me up that one time.”

The time he was practically naked and I walked right in, I thought. I’d been trying to forget that embarrassing moment. “So that’s all you did? And you didn’t even think about your feet?”

“I did at first. But then I got lost in my thoughts and somehow we were dancing. I guess crazy Terrance is right. You just need that connection with your partner.”

Although I
had
felt a connection with Erik during our dance lesson, I had trouble keeping the connection. My mind would wander to Brittany and then I’d get worried. Or I’d think about Colin and start feeling guilty. Or I’d have Terrance yelling at me.
 

I wouldn’t have even cared about mastering the stupid dance, but Erik and I had decided that we had to impress people at Saturday’s gala. Putting on a good performance on Saturday night might win us privileges, like the ability to walk the halls without an escort.
 

Soon after we got back from our dance lesson, Walter came by to take us to the dining room for another dinner. He explained that our etiquette coach would be observing us as he did the previous night and would also be awarding us a grade. Anything other than an A would mean additional hours of training.

“Erik, take my cue on which fork to use,”
I thought to him as we walked to the dining room.
“You keep using the wrong one. So just watch me, okay? I don’t wanna be stuck in that class again. We have better things to do.”

“This is so dumb. Who cares what fork or spoon you use? Or what glass goes with what—”

Erik’s thoughts ended abruptly. I looked over to see that he’d spotted Owens and Rachel in the hallway outside the dining room.
 

“Hey, guys!” Rachel said when she saw us approaching. Walter rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath. He didn’t approve of Rachel and didn’t think she belonged at GlobalLife.

“Samantha. Erik. How nice to run into you,” Owens said. “I was just going over some last-minute details with Rachel regarding the gala on Saturday. Are you prepared for your unveiling?”

“Yes. Absolutely.” I heard Walter muttering again in the background—this time something about my statement being an exaggeration.

“Glad to hear it,” Owens said. “So your week has been going well?”

“Yes, very well.” I smiled as I contacted Erik’s mind.
“Erik, talk about something so I can hear Owens’ thoughts.

Erik rambled on about how much we had learned on the tour, likely hoping to impress Rachel. Then he described our success with the waltz. While he talked, I listened to Owens.

“Did you locate the DNA yet? Smile if you did.”
 

I kept a straight face to indicate that I hadn’t.
 

“Then I’ve got a plan. On Saturday night, all the attendees are required to wear the brain wave scrambling device so that you and Erik can’t hear their thoughts. But I’ll be wearing the device that disables it. The same one I have on now. The device also works for people I’m next to. So I’ll strategically place myself around people who might know where the genes are. You and Erik will need to stay close and listen to what they’re thinking. Have you had any luck figuring out the biometric? Smile for yes.”

I smiled to indicate my answer. Erik was starting to run out of things to say, so Owens sped up his thoughts.
 

“Good. Very good. One more thing. Your sister. Brittany. I know what they did with her.”

I was sure Owens would say that GlobalLife had killed Brittany.

“Is something wrong, Samantha?” Rachel asked. “You look like you might be sick.”

“No. I’m just tired from all the dancing. Erik, tell them about the Viennese waltz we did today.”

Erik gave me a funny look because he’d already described it. Then he picked up on my clue. “Oh, you mean about the history of it? Okay, yeah, so anyway . . .”

As Erik talked, Owens continued.
“They moved Brittany to a different GlobalLife facility but she’s still in Iceland. Chamberlin knows your telepathy is back to normal and he didn’t want you trying to connect with Brittany. Given that you’re her sister, he was worried that you might be able to hear her thoughts despite the brain wave scrambling device. But I have people working on getting Brittany free. So I need you and Erik to stop worrying about rescuing her. You need to focus on getting yourselves out.”

“ . . . and that’s pretty much it.” Erik ended his story, smiling nervously over at me because he had no clue what else to say.

“Well, it sounds like you’ve been very busy these past few days,” Owens said. “Rachel and I need to get back to work but I’ll see you both on Saturday. Enjoy your dinner.”

Erik and I endured the formal dinner. We definitely didn’t enjoy it. During the meal, I was so distracted I almost used the wrong utensil twice.

“What are you doing?”
Erik yelled at me in this thoughts.
“You said you knew this stuff!”

“Okay, okay. I won’t screw up again.”
 

We ended up getting a B plus, which was bad enough to earn us an hour more of class. Erik couldn’t complain because without my help, he would have flunked, getting us stuck with at least five or six more hours of class.

When we were back in our room, I went through everything Owens had told me. Erik was as concerned as I was about Brittany’s safety.
“Where would they take her? Why not just let her go?”
he thought to me.

“Exactly. What do they need her for now? They have us. You don’t think it’s because of what your dad said about—”

Erik had the same thought.
“Organ donation? It could be. Who knows what they’ll do to us next week in the lab. Maybe something they haven’t tried before. Something that could damage us. And they need Brittany, in case, well, in case something happens.”

“So if my heart stops for whatever reason, they’ll just give her heart to me and let her die? No! They can’t do that! She’s a person. A human being! Not some device that stores organs. We’ve gotta save her, Erik!”

“I don’t know how we can help her, Sam. If Owens said he has a plan to get her free, then we have to count on him to do that. And if he screws it up, then we need to put all our effort into getting out of here so we can go find her.”

“We need to work harder, Erik. We can’t be stuck in here for weeks or months. We’ve gotta get out faster than that. And we can’t leave without getting the alien genes.”

“I’m working on it. I’ve got the first part of that cipher figured out. I think I can finish it by next week. You should start studying that map of the building Owens gave us. Look for any weak spots. Memorize how the cameras move. When the guards change.”

Finally, Erik was getting on board. Up until then, Erik was convinced we had no chance of escaping. I wasn’t sure what changed his mind, but knowing he was all in boosted my confidence that we could get out.

The next couple days, Erik and I continued going to classes. We spent several hours learning greetings in different languages in order to welcome our foreign visitors. We also had more dance and conversation lessons.
 

In between classes, we used every spare moment to brainstorm where the alien genes might be stored and who, besides Chamberlin, might have access to them. When Erik took breaks to work on the cipher, I studied the building maps in my head. Every time I walked the halls, I paid attention to see which guards seemed least attentive. Unfortunately, they were all attentive, constantly watching our every move.
 

On Friday, we tried copying each other’s brain waves. It was a skill we were now convinced we would need to access the genes. With Chamberlin in charge, the brain wave fingerprint technology had to be the biometric being used to secure the genetic material. Our first attempts at this skill went nowhere, so we decided to try again after the gala.

By Saturday, we were both exhausted. Our captors must have realized they’d overworked us because breakfast didn’t arrive until late morning. But right after breakfast, the day of preparation began.
 

First there was a review of acceptable topics of conversation. Next was a last-minute quiz on table etiquette. Then came one final practice of every type of waltz we had learned. And last, was the actual getting-ready phase, which meant Natalie and Kendall were back.
 

Natalie began with my hair, straightening it, then pinning it up so it was off my neck. She wove in tiny strands of sparkly beads so that when she was done, you couldn’t even see the strands. You just saw the sparkle from the beads.

My dress for the evening was delivered early in the day. It was all-white satin that was covered in tiny crystal beads that shimmered from every angle. The dress was sleeveless, held up by delicate, almost invisible straps. It was fitted except for the bottom third, which flared out a little. It was just long enough to lightly sweep the floor when I walked. The neckline dipped to a V in front without being too revealing. Once I was dressed, Natalie added the finishing touch. Diamond earrings and a matching diamond necklace.
 

By 6:30 that evening, I was finally ready. I came out of the bathroom to find Erik standing around looking bored and restless.
 

“Okay, she’s ready,” Natalie announced as she gathered her things to leave.

Erik looked up. “Sam, is that you?”

“Funny, Erik.”

“No, really. You look like a model or something.”
 

I spun around to give him the full effect. “Well, it better look good because it took long enough to get ready.”

Erik smiled. “Yeah. You definitely look—Wow! I don’t even know what to say.”

I checked out Erik as well. He was wearing a tuxedo with a white shirt and black bow tie. The tuxedo didn’t look like the old man tuxedo that Walter wore. It had a modern, clean cut that fit Erik well.
 

“Wow to you, too, Erik. You look really nice. I love the tuxedo.”

“Thanks, but I feel like I’m going to a wedding or something.”

“I know. Same here. This is almost like a wedding dress. I guess we’ll all look like we’re getting married with this black and white theme.”
 

There was a knock on the door. Walter entered followed by Rachel. She was wearing a long, fitted white strapless gown. She also had her hair up, showing off huge diamond earrings.
 

Rachel ran up to me. “Oh my goodness,” she gushed. “You’re so pretty, Samantha! They’re going to love the dress. I picked it out, but it looks even better on you than I thought it would. Don’t you love how it sparkles like that?”