He was dreaming of Serenity. She was back home again in their apartment, with her beautiful, flowing platinum blonde hair. He really missed running his hands through that hair. Her smile lit up the entire room, and she ran up to him, throwing herself in his arms. He spun her around, just like in the movies. And when they kissed, he felt fireworks, just like the first time. Everything was perfect⊠until he woke up.
Noah wasnât in his apartment with Serenity. No, he was with nine total strangers in a virtual world. He never expected to be in this situation. Yet here he was. And as much as he didnât want to admit it, it was all for one girl. The love of his life. Serenity. If he went and saved the entire human race from dwindling to nothing, she would see so much in him. She would most certainly want him back. And then he could go back to being happy again. When he was completely honest with himself, he didnât like the person he had become. He was bitter and angry most of the time. He had lost most of his spice for life, and had resorted to just kind of going through the motions. He worked more hours than he could count, came home just to sleep and eat, and then went on repeat. Even his weekends werenât filled with fun.
He wasnât going to treat this mission any differently. It was work to him. Even though this virtual world was supposed to be the place of dreams, he didnât want to get swept up in it. He wanted to get in, get the job done, and get out. He was afraid that he would find Maya Virtuele too appealing, and wouldnât want to leave. He would almost say he hated his life. The only reason he would never enter the virtual world was because he felt he deserved to hate his life. He had driven the love of his life away. And so he chose to live with his guilt.
It was hard every single morning to get out of bed. Noah wanted more than anything to just leave his problems behind. Working so much helped get his mind off of his depression and Serenity. But when he came home, the emptiness was almost too much. He couldnât look around without remembering her. They had made memories there, and then she had left him.
He sat up, noticing that most everyone else was still lying in the sand. Yet one other had already woken up, and was standing in the water, staring out across the ocean. She was wearing white, and he looked down to notice he was wearing a similar jumpsuit, only his was a dark gray. He stood, heading immediately to his left towards the rocks. He didnât feel like being social, and wasnât going to bother the girl who was staring out at the ocean. No, he wanted to stay out of the way, and observe everyone else.
He couldnât see their faces, but he had gotten a glimpse at each of them back at the station. He had surprisingly seen Gavin Youngblood, his best friend back when he was younger. But they had fallen apart, so to speak, when he had begun dating Serenity, his step-sister. He wasnât exactly sure where that interesting turn was going to lead. It could go well, or extremely bad. Other than Gavin, however, he hadnât recognized anyone else. He certainly would have seen the beautiful platinum blonde hair of Serenity if she would have been there, but she wasnât. He was disappointed.
Noah stood against the rock with his arms crossed, watching the others, and simply waiting.