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“Lots happened out there. I lost everything, yet found my strength in ways I never thought possible. In the end, I found everything I needed, and I’m just happy to be alive.”
Everyone told their version of the truth. They planted our faces in Time Magazine and the front page of newspapers across the globe for months. My version is the one the world believed. And justice is a cruel bitch.
I’d rather be invisible, anyway. I’m hoping I will be a faded memory for those who used to know me.
We lived a good life before my mom and I moved, and sometimes I wonder what my life would be like if I stayed. Would I have been happier?
Reading helped me forget about my home for the last eight years and exist in the in-between before enduring another year of high school.
His body language seems rigid, and he doesn’t seem to respond to her. The alpha.
New Ocean is not my home anymore, but now neither is Portland. I’m running from one life I want to forget and toward the other I already ran away from once.
It seems like I’ve gone full circle, as I ended up here, anyway. She pushed a lot of her childhood dreams onto me, ballet mainly. I loved all of it, until I didn’t. Until it hurt—until he hurt me. Never again.
These girls are wolves, and I am a lamb to the slaughter.
He started watching me.
“Can I at least help you?” he offers. “I have some extra clothes in my bag I keep for situations exactly like this. It will get you home at least.” My eyebrows shoot up even though he can’t see me. “Situations like this?” “You know, helping damsels in distress who wander the halls of school alone, afraid and completely naked?”
I have to be stronger than I used to be. I won’t sleep with him just to find out information, even if he tries. Because if I do that, then it will make me more of a villain than they are.
“You’ll be fine. Please quit pouting. Now that you know, you’ll pay more attention. But these guys are good; their manipulation is diabolical.”
Subtle differences, patterns, and personality in movement. I’ll keep watching them.
“Come on, London King,” he whispers in a lascivious voice. “I want to see what you’re made of.”
“Well, I want to see you,” he breathes and blinks at me through his thick, dark lashes. “I bet, deep down, there is something beautiful behind this angry girl facade. And I don’t mean under your clothes… I’ve already seen that. If you come tonight, I’ll make it worth your while.”
“But I absolutely refuse to talk about Micah, pretty girl. You’re only allowed to talk about me.”
He leans his head into mine. “Don’t open your eyes for anything, pretty girl. Okay?”
I’m not dead, I realize, even though I might wish I were. We all might wish we were from the impact of that crash. I may have lost consciousness right after Maison lost his grip on me, but he sheltered me from the worst of it.
Jade closes her eyes and leans into me. My eyes find Nigel’s, and I shake my head, marveling at the fact he’s standing before me, unscathed. “How did we survive this?” I ask him in a broken voice. A shadow flickers within his eyes, and to my surprise, he laughs. “It’s because we were shoved in the back. It seems everyone that’s walking right now was either in the very back or the very front. When the engine exploded, it killed the ones in the middle instantly. It seems our social standing saved our lives.”
I hope he’s helping others who are hanging on for their lives, instead of grabbing… his stuff.
“There is nothing we can do after. He’ll either live or he’ll die. He’s in the same fucking boat we are.”
“Are you doing alright, London? I lost my hold on you after the crash. I didn’t mean to let go of you.”
Survivor Count: London Jade Nigel Naomi Serena Micah Maison Ezra Thomas James Nathan Ollie Jess Madison Matthew Colton
“Do you think the wolves care if I’m a loser? They will rip you to shreds just as easily as they will me.”
“It’s been ten hours and no one’s come for us. We have to accept the possibility they might not know where we are.”
She looks as broken as I feel, though I seem to hide it better.
I’m ready to give him a flippant response, but he hands both me and James a bottle of water instead. “Here you go, sweetheart.” The sharp edge in his voice slices deeper than the rocks I slept on last night. “Drink this sparingly. It’s all you get for now.”
I sit next to him and take a small sip of my water, staring up at the fluffy clouds as a breath catches in my throat. Where the hell are we? And when are you coming for us?
“Ration this because it’s all you get. Walk exactly two hours one way and two hours back. If I were you, I’d head due west, and make sure you leave a trail,” Micah says to Maison as if I’m invisible. “Your primary goal is to find fresh water.”
Maison’s throat bobs and he stares at his brother. “Take it down a notch, Micah. Do your breathing exercises and go for a walk.” Maison’s challenging him, and it’s the first time I’ve seen him do that—except for when he intercepted Micah’s bullying of me on the airplane. Challenging him or… calming him. Micah’s fingers are clenched the same way they were when he cornered me. Blind rage.
Nigel is hiding in the shadows of the trees as Jade rejoins the group, and I catch his gaze. The dark look in his eye is worse than anyone else’s here.
Life—an essence of it. I’m still alive.
Micah silently broods without answering. Something’s missing between them—that twin chemistry bond I noticed earlier. Yet… an energy so deep and strong, a bond hidden and bubbling beneath the surface. So much is behind those words, it has me frozen as I watch them. Their tension is so thick and obvious, I don’t know which one to look at.
My body locks into place when it seems he is going to kiss me, but instead, he leans his forehead against mine. He rests his hands on my hips. “Why are you so hardened? Who hurt you so badly that you had to put a shell over yourself?”
“Why is your little heart racing so badly, baby? Do I scare you?”
“He treats you like that because you remind him of her.”
She’s the reason I’m here, stuck on this godforsaken island.
“Do I look like her or something?” I know exactly what she looks like, and I’m nothing like her. In fact, we couldn’t be any more different in our physical appearance. I’m not Micah’s type, so it’s another reason then.
“I want to see that lace, baby,” he murmurs, his mouth still latched on the sensitive skin beneath my ear. “Please let me.” I should… I secretly wore it for him.
He moves his hands off me, removes his soft lips from my neck. “What you say goes.” Is that what I want, though? For him to stop completely? “Maison,” I whisper. “Yeah, baby?” “I just want to feel good for a minute. Just one minute without feeling guilty.” Can’t I feel good for just a moment? Even by a person I should fear, someone who has the power to hurt me or share me with his alpha sibling, as I suspect he’s done before. He shifts. “Okay, what do you want me to do? Nothing you’re doing is wrong right now, baby.” “Touch me,” I whisper.
Micah merely nods at his friend. Only Thomas and Maison can truly communicate with him, something even Naomi seems to struggle with.
haven’t even talked about what happened between us last night, but his touch calms me, so I welcome it.
It’s only when Ezra comes through the line of trees at the edge of our camp that Micah places his arms around Naomi and presses his lips to the back of her head. I swear he’s only ever affectionate with Naomi when Ezra’s watching.
Those steam showers from New Ocean prep would be nice right about now.
“Naomi and I are going hunting.” It’s a miracle that Ezra doesn’t jump up and plunge the spear a few feet away right into Micah’s heart with the amount of seething rage coming out of him. He’s vibrating. Pure. Primal. Instinct.
We will get rescued, London. We will not stay on this island forever, and life will go on, and I still plan on getting that story written. You better hold up your side, or I will tell everyone why you really came on this trip. I will humiliate you.”
At least now I don’t have to hear Micah’s name every two minutes. He needs to leave my head. I won’t be alone with Micah if he behaves like that again.
“Micah and Maison both seem to have a thing for damaged girls, but I won’t sit by and watch another girl destroy them again. So, hear my warnings, London. I can’t do much about Maison because he seems into you, but stay away from Micah.”
