Eye of the Storm

Chapter 6

It’s about our fifth day here. We’ve established a sustainable food source and a shelter of sorts. We’ve done the cliché ‘SOS’ in rocks on the sand but so far no luck. In my opinion it’s too small for a plane to see, but no one listens to me. Lorenzo and Nic have kind of ‘taken charge’. Basically if you have an ounce of confidence you can influence everyone. Doesn’t matter if you have a brain, in Nic’s case. Everyone has a role, because it’s the only way to keep order in such chaos. Isla, Amy, Alexia and Daniel are in charge of upkeep regarding the shelter. Making it a liveable and safe environment. Emerald, Charlie, Lorenzo and Ethan are self-proclaimed ‘chefs’, basically in charge of food. Figuring out what we can and can’t eat, how to eat it, all that good stuff. They’re also in charge of things like writing ‘SOS’ in rocks, hopefully they’ll come up with brighter ideas in the future, though. Nicholas, Leo and I are in charge of gathering, since we have the most stamina. We go out, gather foods, materials, everything we need in order to stay alive until we’re rescued. If we’re rescued.

Nic and I walk through the trees, making sure to leave a path behind us so we know our way back.
“What are we looking for?” he asks, grabbing piles of sticks. “Food?”
“Wow you’re a sh*tty leader,” I mutter.
“Heard that,”
“Good,” I look around, trying to find more of the berry bushes we’ve been living off the past few days. We do find the odd animal to provide two or three people with a substantial dinner every now and then, but it’s not guaranteed or even likely. “But you guessed right, we need food, we’re running out since yesterday all we brought back were ones that would kill us in seconds,”
“Yeah, remind me again why Leo’s ditched us?”
“I told you already he’s exploring the section to the right, there might be more animals over there,” Nic has become more mature in these last few days. I guess anyone would with death slowly sneaking up behind them. That doesn’t mean he’s tolerable.
“Right.”

We wrap up a leaf from of the big trees, filled with berries. No animals.
“Hopefully they don’t kill us all,” I joke. Nic raises an eyebrow.
“We’re going to die anyway, you know. They’re not going to come in time,” That’s both the most serious and cynical thing I’ve ever heard him say. He’s wrong, he has to be.
“Eleven teenagers go missing during a plane crash, yeah, sure, no one’s looking,” I scoff.
“Never said they weren’t looking,”

We return to the others, receiving concerned glances. We hand the rolled up leaf to Lorenzo.
“Is Leo back?” I ask.
“Yeah, he’s in the shelter,” I wave to everyone and walk off towards the shelter. He’s the only one I can stand to talk to right now. He’s not the ‘freak out’ kind. Usually I’d talk to Ethan but right now he’s the last person I want to see. I’ve been actively avoiding him. I’m scared if we spoke I’d yell or hit, which would help no one.
“Hey,” I greet, slipping through the gaps in the stick ‘wall’. Leo lies there, playing with the dirt on the floor.

“Sup,” he sits up straight and pats the spot next to him. “How are you, tired?” I nod, taking the seat.
“Yeah, you?” he nods back, stretching his arms a little. “Find any animals?” he scoffs a little.
“God no,” he sighs, resting his head on my shoulder. “Night,” he falls further into me.
“Hey, no, off,” I push him off, laughing a little. He pulls his head back up and looks me in the eyes.
“So mean,” his smile is genuine, something I haven’t seen in a long time. He runs his hand down my arm. “Your burns are healing,” he says, his fingertips lightly brushing over the scabs. A few days ago we figured that we’d bathe ourselves in the salt water from the ocean, to help with all our wounds. It was the single most painful experience in my life, but it helped greatly. He grabs my hand, lifting it up and inspecting the cuts. I don’t know why he’s so focussed on them when he should be focussed on his own. He’s battered and bruised, like he was pelted with stones then put in a blender. His fingers lace into mine. “How’s your stress?” he asks, squeezing my hand tightly.
“It’s ok, I guess,” I look up at him. “Could be better,” his thumb strokes mine comfortingly.
“It’ll be ok,” he smiles. I turn away. I can’t look at him while he smiles or I tempted to kiss him. “Oi look at me when I talk to you,” he laughs.

I shake my head.
“Am I ugly?” he asks, pretending to act offended. I try to hide it but the edges of my mouth curve up into a smile.
“No,”
“Then what is it?” he tries to catch my gaze, moving his head like an idiot. I sit there, smiling.
“Quite the opposite,” I giggle.
“Oh my,” Leo grabs my chin, pulling my face up forcing me to look at him. Sh*t.
“No, Leo, wait…” I murmur, trying to pull my head away.
“It’s rude not to look someone in the eye when they’re talking to you,” his voice lowers as his eyes intensify, finally catching mine. F*ck. This is bad. “Now tell me why you’re acting so rude,” I don’t have a choice do I. I can’t lie to save my life and there’s no way I’m getting out of this one.
“Fine… every time I look at you, that smile…” I pause, hoping maybe someone would run in, so I don’t have to finish my sentence. But of course, no such luck.
“Yes?” his eyes are expectant.
“I want to kiss you,” I mumble, feeling my cheeks flare up like fire.
“Then why don’t you…?” my body feels both hot and cold, numb and alive.
“I’m trying to stay alive here pretty boy, I don’t have the time or the effort for a relationship,”
“Then just this once,” with that his lips finally meet mine, breaking all this tension. It’s like a release that I’ve been so desperately craving, sending lightning bolts down my body and setting my heart alight. He runs his hands through my hair, pulling me in closer. “F*ck…” he murmurs against my lips, only making my fire burn stronger. I rest my hand on his jawline. His lips are soft but his passion is hard. I don’t even have to think about what I’m doing, it just happens. Like my body already knows what to do. But then, he pulls back.
“Leo?” I ask. He’s crying. I reach up to wipe a tear away but he stops me.
“It was foolish of me to think you’d want to be with me, but it was worth a shot. Thanks for… that,” he motions to my lips. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to surviving which is apparently priority and means I can’t do anything else so we probably can’t talk because I’ll be too busy surviving,” he stands up, and leaves. F*CK.
“Leo, wait!” I call. I stand but fall, landing in the dirt. I’ve f*cked up so bad.

A shadow dances at the entrance.
“Leo?” I call.
“Nope,” The shadow walks in. Ethan.
“How much did you see?!” I cry out. F*ck if someone saw that I’d be as good as dead.
“Oh, only all of it,” his face contorts into shapes I’ve never seen on him. Everything has twisted him, turned into something unsightly. Something out of my nightmares that never should have come out.
“Ethan, I” I begin.
“Shut up, you’ve done enough,” he hisses, venom leaking out of his mouth. He walks over to me, standing tall and menacingly. “You’re unbelievable, Esme,” his words hit me like a bullet in the heart, shattering it into a million sharp pieces that could never be put back together. He storms out. “Follow me and you’re dead,”

I don’t know how long it’s been. Maybe minutes, maybe hours. I haven’t moved, just stayed in the dirt, with my aching bones and heart. I think I just lost two of the most important people to me, all because I can’t sort out my feelings. This wouldn’t even be a problem if I never took up drinking, if dad hadn’t given me the idea. I wonder if he’s even worried about me, if he’s even looking. If he even knows.
“Hey, Ezzie,” Lorenzo pokes his head in. “You seen Ethan?” I look up, lifting the weight of the world.
“I thought he was with you,” I mumble.
“No… sh*t,” what’s the problem? “Esme he’s missing,” my eyes jolt open.
“He’s… probably just looking for food,”
“Esme we haven’t seen him in five hours!! We thought he was in here with you!” Lorenzo runs up to me, grabbing me so that I look into his eyes. “Esme this is serious,” everything in me suddenly freezes. Ethan’s missing. He’s wandered off.