Eye of the Storm

Chapter 4

Eventually we all realise sitting around feeling sorry for ourselves is going to accomplish nothing and we need to start putting effort in if we want to stand a chance at surviving the night.
“What’s priority?” Alexia asks, pulling herself off the sand.
“Shelter,” Amy replies. “We need shelter, its f*cking cold,”
“What about the trees?” Lorenzo points to the array of plants behind us. Tall trees with metre long leaves, thick grass and sticks.
“It’s all we’ve got,” Lorenzo gathers everyone and leads them into the trees hiding them in a sea of green.
“I’ll be there in a second,” I say, turning my back to them and staring at the stars as they meet the water along the horizon.
“Me too,” Leo joins me.
“And me,” Ethan.

We stand there in silence for a while just letting the moonlight cascade over us.
“It feels like just a moment ago we were on the plane…” Ethan murmurs. We all nod. I still can’t believe it. Wait, the plane. The pilot!
“Guys!!” I exclaim urgently. “The pilot what happened to the pilot!?” Perhaps there’s still hope. If the pilot is here he might have a radio and he can contact the airport and tell them where we are. That is, if he knows where we are. I’m not sure anyone does.
“We… still can’t find him, we think he’s in the wreckage.” Leo replies, eyeing the elephant in the room. The big hump of burnt, destroyed metal. “I don’t think he made it…” all new found hope runs away faster than my beating heart.
“F*ck man…”
“Yeah.”

“You two aren’t together, right?” Ethan asks, staring at me.
“No, she hates me,” Leo laughs a little, then his eyes rest on me. Both their stares burn into me causing me to break. “Wait shit no Esme it was a joke don’t cry,” Leo puts a hand on my shoulder.
“Don’t touch her,” Ethan spits. “Don’t you think you’ve done enough?”
“What do you mean?” he asks, obviously taken aback.
“Don’t act all innocent,” Ethan walks in front of me, standing intimidatingly in front of Leo. Why is he doing this?! “You know what I mean,” I don’t!
“Why do you even care it was six months ago!” oh. That. I still don’t know what happened and it’s tugging at every chord in my body. I hate how I used to drink. I drunk to wash away my problems instead of facing them but now I’m a lot more mature. I drunk so much I didn’t know where was up and where was down.
“Because you still like her?!” Ethan’s words pull me out of my thoughts and thump me back into reality. Ethan gets too dramatic and makes accusations like this, it’s the one thing I can’t stand about him. But on second thoughts I can’t really judge because I don’t even remember. Maybe he does still like me, for something I did while I was drinking away my depression.

“What the hell is it to you, what are you, her father?!” Leo steps forward, pushing his chest outwards. I stand back, my feet sinking into the sand as well as my heart.
“Please stop…” I try to yell but it comes out as merely a whisper. My voice lost in the tension.
“So you DO like her?”
“Is this really what we should be talking about right now? We’re STRANDED in case you haven’t realised!” I don’t know if I’m crying, probably. I can’t stand fighting, it hurts and brings me back into my past. When mum and dad used to yell, every night. Then when he was done with her he’d target his 2 year old daughter. Me. Screaming at me. I don’t remember what he said, I didn’t even know how to speak. But it’s locked in my mind somewhere in a dark, dark place. A dark place that’s being brought out by Leo and Ethan.
“BECAUSE I F*CKING LOVE HER,” I tune in. I wish I hadn’t. Oh how I wish I hadn’t. I look up at Ethan, anger spilling out of him, words dribbling out. He stares at me, red. From anger or embarrassment I couldn’t say.
“…Ethan?” I squeak. He loves me?
“I’m sorry,” Ethan turns around and runs off into the green, where I swear I can see the others peeking, watching the drama. “WHAT THE F*CK ARE YOU LOOKING AT?!” Ethan screams. He’s like a kettle. Things add up constantly and he burns slowly until he boils. And when he boils, run.

Leo throws his head into his hands, groaning and tilting his head towards the sky.
“F*ck f*ck f*ck F*CK,” he turns to me, his eyes red.
“I… um…” at a loss for words I stare at him, not sure what to think. Not sure HOW to think.
“Don’t… please don’t speak,” he falls into the sand. What’s that supposed to mean?
“I… wasn’t listening… to most of the conversation,” I fall down next to him.
“Wait, so you didn’t hear what I said, about you?” he looks at me, hope coating his face.
“No.”

Leo and I sit there under the moon and the stars for hours, not saying a word. Letting the waves and wind do the talking for us. Except I dare to break the silence.
“It’s kind of funny, isn’t it,” I say. He turns to me, confused. “All of this,” I signal to the island, to the wreckage. To everything.
“Yeah,”
“Leo,” I catch his gaze, pulling his attention to me. “What happened that night?”