Hello everyone! Short chapter today, and I'm sorry that I'm posting it so late! This week I have Thursday and Friday off, though, so next week's chapter should be on the longer side. 

Enjoy! 

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When we reach the dome, I say goodbye to Camryn and ride to Harvel's in a daze. I walk inside of the apartment and I think I might have said hello to him but I really don't remember. I march into my room and collapse onto my bed, smiling like an idiot. I wonder if Camryn is doing this right now as well. I'm reliving the details of the afternoon when someone knocks on the door. I get up and open it to find Harvel standing there.

"Yo, man where'd you go today?" he asks.

"I went out and got a new buzzbike," I say, still smiling much too widely.

"You sure that's all?" says Harvel, smirking slightly.

"I took it out for a ride... and rode with Camryn," I say, my goofy smile growing larger still. 

Harvel's smirk gives way to a knowing smile. 

"Good for you, man. Looks like things are finally going your way," says Harvel. "Are you cool with Drayk?" 

My smile fades. I honestly hadn't thought about Drayk yet.

"I don't know," I say carefully. "I haven't talked to him yet." 

Harvel nods slowly, a thoughtful look on his face.

"You guys are brothers, you'll figure it out," Harvel says. I give him a small smile. 

"Alright, I'm gonna leave you alone now," says Harvel. "I've got myself a date with Aekira in a bit." 

"Nice work, man! Have fun out there," I say, wiggling my eyebrows playfully. 

"I'll try my best, sergeant," says Harvel, mock saluting me. 

He spins on his heel and marches out of the room. I get up and close the door after him, breathing a small sigh of relief now that I am by myself again. I plop down on the bed to sort some things out. 

First off, I need to decide how I'm going to visit my mother. My original plan was to visit her during the day, but that might arouse suspicion from my friends. I could also visit her at night, but that wouldn't make sense either. Both options aren't good ones, and both would take a lot of work to pull off naturally. 

I puzzle over the situation in my head, trying to figure out some way that I can go out into the petrified forest without it looking strange. I think and think, until the solution seems to simply tumble into my head. 

I know how I can do this! I jump off the bed and fumble in my pants pocket for my phone. I finally manage to get it out. I quickly turn it on and dial a number. 

"Hello, is this the Science Corps?" I say. "My name is Kaze Alio. I was wondering if you had any positions open in your exploration department."