Eye of the Storm

Chapter 5

“That’s all I remember, I’m sorry,” Leo stares at me. “I hope that eases your concern,” He picks himself up, and heads into the green. “Goodnight,”

Thoughts spin around my mind and makes my head sting. Life feels like a fairy tale and I can’t see my happy ending. We’re pulling apart the flying death machine, now that we’re all a bit stronger after sleep. Not that any of us got much. Our minds racing at a million miles an hour.
“FOUND MINE!” Amy yells, pulling out a yellow bag. It looks mostly intact if you ignore the burnt edges and zip hanging down the side. Amy’s red hair blows in the wind as she stands on top of the plane, making her look strangely empowered.
“Mine’s f*cked!” Daniel pulls a cloth mess from under a piece of metal. Clothes, if you can even call them that, fall out in pieces. His whole bag got fried. “What the f*ck am I meant to wear?!”
“Let me get this straight, we’re on an island, we’re deserted, and you’re worried about what you’re going to wear?” Amy stares at him in disbelief, earning a matching glance from Daniel.
“You’re not?!”

I didn’t bring much in my bag, only a few photos which are nothing but a pile of ash, as expected. Then a few clothes, I was planning on going shopping so I didn’t pack much, mum’s advice. And dads wallet. Dad left when I was five, flew inland. He’d had enough of us, not that we had done anything. We sat there, listening to his drunk rants. His alcohol habits is what inspired me when I was going through a tough time. Apparently, he’s different now. He’s married with two kids, happy family. Guess we just weren’t good enough. It’s a bit of a bad feeling, not being good enough. You try your best but even your best is shit and there’s nothing you can do about it. All you can do is watch your life crumble. I pull out a grey sweater, it’s a bit rough around the edges but fits better than this beige hoodie. I throw the hoodie off and pull the sweater over, immediately being engulfed in the smell of smoke. There’s a few pairs of underwear, some bras and some shirts. Didn’t bother packing any pants, I wear the same shorts every day.

“Ok guys, put everything you’ve got here,” Nic points to a patch of grass under a tree. “No use in putting it on the sand, it’ll ruin everything,” We all nod and do as he says. My stomach feels like it’s been hollowed out, empty. And it’s not afraid to tell me so. The only sound to be heard over the raging wind is all of our stomachs rumbling. We need food.
“What are we going to eat?” Charlie asks, pulling her hair out of her face.
“I saw some berries earlier, bit further in,” Daniel replies, eyeing the trees. “Don’t know how good they are, though,”
“I’m not hungry,” Leo stands up and walks off through the trees. What’s his problem?
“Ezzie, go after him we can’t have people wandering off,” Lorenzo says.
“Why me?”
“Don’t make me say it, just go,” he looks at me with exhausted eyes, eyes that I can’t say no to. I go after Leo.

“Leo!!” I call. “Leo where are you?” I walk in the direction he went off in. I hear the footsteps a few metres ahead. “Oi!”
“WHAT?!” I stop, startled. He comes back to where I am. My eyes widen at the sight of him. I’ve never seen him so pissed.
“What’s wrong…?” I murmur, avoiding the sticks biting at my ankles.
“Your little boyfriend had a chat with me this morning,” f*ck.
“…Ethan? He’s not my boyfriend I told you that…” what the f*ck did he say. This could be bad. Ethan’s past boiling, he’s boiling over, the steaming water seeping out like poison.
“I can’t believe I thought you LIKED me!” he rolls his eyes, taking a step back.
“What did Ethan say?”
“Great, so you don’t like me,” he’s making me angry.
“WHAT DID HE SAY!!?” I raise my voice louder than I was meant to. Leo stops in his tracks, seemingly lost for words. He straightens himself up.
“He… he said you f*cking… you f*cking couldn’t stand me,” he scratches the back of his head.
“You know that’s not true,” I can’t believe Ethan went that far. “I don’t remember what happened with us but I know now that you’re great ok, I get along with you and you get me,”
“I thought about that night every day,” he looks on the verge of tears. “Kind of, kind of depressing that you don’t remember,” he chokes on his words, making guilt run through my veins.
“I’m really sorry Leo,” he looks at me with an expression I can’t figure out and I’m not sure if I want to.
“I left out a bit, when I told you what happened,” he signals me. “Come, let’s find somewhere to sit,

We find a place with less trees. He grabs my hand and pulls me down onto a patch of grass.
“Ethan walked in, pulled me up by my shirt and gave me a blood nose,” he laughs a little, turning to me. Ethan did that? As far as I know he’d never hurt a fly. Ethan’s the guy that holds my hand when I’m scared, makes funny jokes to cheer me up. It’s almost like I don’t know him at all.
“You sure it was Ethan?” I ask. “It was a while ago,”
“I’m sure,” he catches my stare. “Certain,”
“Ethan’s not a violent person,” I don’t know if I’m saying that to assure myself or inform him.
“Love makes people do crazy things,” he looks off, seemingly deep in thought. It’s almost barbaric that Ethan loves me. Very cliché. Two people, girl and a boy, childhood friends. It’s almost expected, but I’ve never thought of him like that. Meeting him at such a young age I formed a friendship that never seemed to shift, never even curiously dipped its toe into romance.

“He’s liked you for a long time,” Leo says.
“Really?”
“I thought you were together for the longest time because of the way he looks at you,” The way he looks at me? He doesn’t look at me any different to how he looks at the others.
“Bull,” I murmur. Leo laughs a little, shaking his head disapprovingly.
“God you’re naïve,” he’s right, I guess. I don’t know the slightest thing about anything. The world scares me. “So… you, Ethan, not gonna happen?”
“Oh god no,” I shake my head, shuddering at the thought alone. It’s odd. Leo is the only person I could be joking around with on an island. He has an effect on me, makes me calm. Takes away all my worries about getting home, survival. It’s almost like he’s a living, breathing antidepressant.
“Good,”