16. Test

"Paige. Paige, look at me." Lance was sitting on the floor with crossed legs, not caring about his image at all; his face was full of worry.

He had been gripping her arms, trying to find out what was going on.

She came to herself after a few minutes of shock and was still terrified.

"You won," she said aloud, not speaking to Lance but simultaneously telling him.

"I won't disclose any more information, even if I have it in the future." She cast a look at Lance, who got the message; she didn't know any more about the reborn Jace.

"I really won't tell you. I'm sorry, but this is too hard for me." Her eyes wandered to the floor, feeling a bit disappointed in herself for giving up so soon.

"What even happened?" He no longer cared about the golden finger; he didn't want to witness such a seizure again.

"Can I disclose this information?" She asked again, more loudly.

After getting approval from the system, she told him,

"My heart stopped for a few seconds, and I never want to feel that again."

Bewildered, Lance nodded, promising her,

"Tell me what you can without getting punished; the rest is up to me to discover. Everything else doesn't matter."

She nodded weakly.

"What are you doing?!" Just then, Jace's surprised voice was heard, scrutinizing their positions on the floor, looking all chummy.

Paige looked up and ignored him; he would realize she wasn't the original Paige faster than everyone else anyway if he were reborn.

On the other side, she didn't have any more energy to spend on him.

Lance threw a fleeting glance at him, feeling that he had indeed a great timing. Just as one source of information was lost, another appeared.

He would ask that jerk, but not now; he too didn't respond and helped Paige up, finally heading to the infirmary.

Jace, left alone, pushed his glasses up in frustration. But they didn't matter much for now; he had to go back to see Tasha again.

When they arrived, a male and female school nurse were standing ready. The female school nurse was tying her hair and looked a bit disheveled, apparently just having gotten here.

"We were informed; I've got this." She shook the two little bottles that would be used to hold their urine.

"Lance Walker and Paige Smith?" 

Lance smiled teasingly at Paige and mouthed 'Smith?', earning an eye roll in return.

That was the made-up surname the system created, not her real one. 

"Yes." She answered the nurse. 

"Good, you go with him, and I'll go with you." They were escorted to their respective school restrooms, Paige accompanied by the female nurse and Lance by the male nurse. 

He scoffed, "Is this really necessary?" 

The male nurse patted him on the shoulder. 

"Yes, if you're a minor in school and suspected of using drugs. And yes, if you've been wrongly accused and need to clear your name." 

That, he understood, so he fully cooperated. After their urine was collected, they met again in the corridor. 

"My first drug test with my crush!" Paige initially tried to sound enthusiastic but then sighed sorrowfully. 

Lance laughed, "The original Paige would have thrown a tantrum." 

"No way, she would have just pushed them all down the stairs," she giggled. 

Lance was laughing harder than necessary, finding everything so absurd. But looking at her, when her face unfroze, she looked quite animated. That was a Paige he had never seen before, and somehow he felt that today he should say "Good night" back to her. 

"Let's go back to class," she said, stretching. This was all too taxing for someone like her. 

Lance heard her mumble absentmindedly again and could only agree.

If he couldn't make money with his golden finger due to a speech ban, he had already chosen another shortcut.

'I bet my brother would love to help.'