IMPRINT

"Wake up,"

Someone gently shook me as they whispered the words. I slowly opened up my eyes and rolled over to look at the person.

"What time is it?" I mutter, rubbing my eyes.

"It's 5:30 in the morning. But we have a plane to catch by 8." Luke explains. "So up and at it, babe."

I sit up and stretch. I look over at Luke, who was packing his suitcase.

He smiles at me. "You look cute with messy hair."

"Thanks," I say, "but after these past few days, don't you think something's up?"

"What'd ya mean?" Luke asks, zipping up his suitcase. I search mine for a clean outfit.

"I mean, we've been practically attached since you tried to nail me three or so days ago." I describe. "Don't you think, God forbid I say it, it has something to do with, I don't know..."

It took a lot of energy to get the name out. "IMP69?"

For some reason, the actual name of the drug was easier to say than the slang for its effect, so I decided to stick with it.

Luke bites his lip (and unknowingly turns me on a bit).

"Your theory makes a lot of sense towards my behavior..." he starts, "but what about yours? You don't have the drug in you."

"Great question...but then how does it work for everyone else? They both fall hard, and the girl doesn't have the drug in her!" I reply, repacking up all of my stuff.

"Sit with me on the plane, we'll research it before jumping to conclusions." Luke suggests.

"Perfect," I respond.

About a half hour later, the taxis hold everyone's luggage and we're headed for Sydney International Airport. I tap my fingers on the door handle as I state out at the sunny landscape.

"Where are we going, anyway?" I ask my mom.

"Perth, then Adelaide, then Melbourne, then Brisbane, then back here." Mom explains. "And this is just the Australian leg of the tour."

"Okay then," I say, unbuckling my seatbelt as we approach the airport.

Once the taxi comes to a complete stop, everything seems like a blur. It seems like within minutes we are boarding the plane, even though I knew it was over an hour.

As discussed, I sat next to Luke on the plane. Once we'd safely taken off, Luke opened up his laptop and we began our research.

"I'm actually kind of scared to find out stuff," I comment as he types "imp69" into the Google search bar. Once he presses enter, we begin to search through the results.

"Go to the official website." I whisper, pointing at the screen. "That seems reliable."

He nods as he clicks on the link. Within seconds the website pops up and we find ourselves staring at the answer.

"IMP69 is a drug created by scientists in the United States that makes it easier for humans to find their forever mates. After seeking inspiration for the drug from animal habits in the wild, the scientists created the drug and named it for the first three letters of "imprint", the official term for its effects. As though it is unknown how "69" was chosen to be added at the end, an insider says the number is the age of the oldest scientist working in the drug.

"The drug is only injected into males, but is spread to females physical love. Once the drug is spread, it is into full effect.

"There are only two official ways to test to see if imprinting has happened. The first way is for the couple.to engage in physical love, as explained above. The second way is for the male to go in to an office certified for distribution and testing of IMP69 and have the testing run. If the result is positive for imprinting, the male is sent with a kit to test the females around him." Luke reads quietly so only the two of us can hear.

"So, we've got two ways to find out," I say, "your choice, Lucas."

"Option 2, if that's possible." Luke answers quickly. "But, if we have to, option 1.."

"Well, testing seems like the easy part. Now, we just have to find a way to test my mother's thoughts on this." I say, already getting ideas of what she'll say.

This isn't going to be pretty.

Notes

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