by Sandy Beech
So that meant I had two people to avoid—Ryan and Kenny. Suddenly the island was starting to feel awfully small.
“Dani!” Kenny cried now, waving at me as he barreled down the beach.
I suddenly felt an irresistible urge for a swim. Pretending not to notice Kenny’s approach—or the fact that I was dressed in shorts and a T-shirt—I turned and splashed out through the tiny waves until I felt the firm, wet sand drop off beneath my feet. Making a more-or-less graceful swan dive into the deeper water, I swam straight out until I was pretty sure Kenny wouldn’t come after me and then turned and paddled along the shoreline.
Macy and Ned looked surprised when I emerged from the surf like some kind of wacky shorts-and-T-shirt-wearing mermaid. They were the only ones at Raft Central; Ned was peeling the bark off a large tree branch while Macy picked at the knots and tangles in a big bunch of twine. The raft itself was already starting to take shape. Specifically, the big, rectangular shape of a bunch of sticks tied together.
“Hey, guys. Where’s Josh?” I smoothed back my wet hair, trying not to feel silly about my impromptu swim.
Ned shrugged. “Haven’t seen him in a while.”
“I think he went into the woods to look for some bigger branches,” Macy added in her soft voice.
“Oh, okay. Just wondering.” I flopped down on the sand beside them, relieved at having escaped my little stalker—er, brother—once again. Not to mention successfully avoiding my spastic suitor for another few minutes at least.
I should have known it wouldn’t be that easy. “Yo, Dani!”
I glanced over my shoulder, my stomach clenching as I saw Ryan hurrying toward me. “Oh,” I said, my mind going blank. Now what was I supposed to do? “Um, hi.”
“Hey, if you re not doing anything, can I talk to you for a minute? You know—privately’
Out of the corner of my eye, I was vaguely aware that Macy and Ned were glancing at each other knowingly. Feeling my face burn, I tried to maintain a normal expression, my eyes darting around looking for anywhere to land except on Ryan’s eager face. I felt like one of Kenny’s creepy crawlies trapped in one of his hand-made twig-and-pebble corrals. Maybe worse. At least the creepy crawly would have the comfort of knowing that a bird might fly down and chomp it at any second, putting it out of its misery.
“We can leave you two alone if you want.” Ned was already climbing to his feet.
Macy nodded. “We need to go look for more twine anyway.”
The two of them rushed off, leaving me alone with Ryan. Still sprawled on the sand, I stared up at him, feeling panicky and a little sick. This was it, then. The moment of truth. Or at least the moment of awkward, semitruth-based excuses.
He looked uncharacteristically serious. “I just thought we should talk. You know.”
Suddenly salvation appeared at the edge of the jungle in the form of my little brother. Okay, that’s not a phrase I ever thought I’d use. But sometimes you just have to go with the lesser of two evils. And seeing Kenny pop out of the trees and wave at me, I realized that escape was at hand.
“Sorry,” I told Ryan, hopping to my feet. “Maybe later, okay? Kenny needs to talk to me right now. You know what they say—family first!”
I took off before he could respond, sprinting up the beach and skidding to a stop in front of my brother. Kenny looked startled at my dramatic arrival. Also a little suspicious.
“What’s the matter with you?” he demanded.
“What do you mean?” I tried to shove him into the shelter of the jungle, not wanting Ryan to get any bright ideas about following me. Glancing quickly over my shoulder, I saw him watching me. My sudden escape made me feel like a major dork, but I figured maybe in this case that was a good thing. It might make Ryan give up on this whole liking-me mistake. “Come on,” I told Kenny urgently. “Let’s go somewhere more private.”
“You’re acting like a freak.” He flapped both hands at me to stop the shoving, hitting me in the stomach in the process. I was tempted to hit him back, but I could still practically feel Ryan’s eyes boring into me. I settled for an evil smile.
“Okay,” I said. “You wanted to talk to me. So talk. What’s the big emergency?”
“You mean you’re actually going to listen to me?” Kenny rolled his eyes dramatically. “It’s a miracle.”
“Very funny. Now talk already.”
“Geeze, even when you’re being nice, you act like a big jerk,” he muttered. Then, seeing my glare, he quickly continued. “But anyway, I just wanted to finish what I was telling you yesterday. You know, about the smoke.”
“What about it?” I was already losing interest. Another quick glance down the beach showed me that Ned and Macy had returned to the raft. At the moment Macy was talking and gesturing in the general direction of the supply cave.
“You didn’t stick around long enough to hear the most important part.” Kenny’s voice had taken on a sort of urgent whine that reminded me of the sound of a choo-choo bug in flight. “See, when I was looking at that smoke from the other island, I saw something else.”
“Yeah? What?”
“A boat!” Kenny shot me a triumphant smile. “It was way out past that other island, like at the edge of the whole island chain, I think.”
“A boat?” I repeated.
“Yeah. I watched again this morning at the same time, and I saw it again. I was thinking it’s probably, like, a mail boat or some other kind of delivery thing that goes to some of the other islands every day, you know?”
“Hmm.” Little bells of skepticism were going off in my head. This whole new boat twist seemed just a little too convenient to me. Chances were good that Kenny was making up the whole thing just to get everyone to pay more attention to him now that Josh had taken over the rescue plan.
“Yeah, right.” I smirked, not willing to let him think he’d fooled me for even half a second. “Or maybe it’s a big old cruise ship taking people on a daily choo-choo-spotting tour.”
He scowled. “Don’t be a dummy; I’m serious. If we want to get rescued, we should—”
I stopped listening. There was no room in my brain for Kenny’s lame rescue plan, whatever it was. Every synapse was suddenly focused on Josh and Angela, who had just emerged from the jungle together a few yards away. She was clinging to his arm and laughing giddily. He looked uncomfortable, though maybe not quite uncomfortable enough for my taste.
My eyes narrowed as they reached Raft Central. Ryan, Ned, and Macy had wandered off again while I wasn’t looking, so Angela and Josh were alone. But I didn’t intend to leave them that way.
“Excuse me,” I told Kenny. I’ve got to go.”
If looks could kill, I would be nothing but a smoking pile of rubble on that beach right now. Because Angela sure wasn’t happy to see me when I jogged over to join them.
“Watch out, Dani,” she said prissily as I skidded to a stop in the sand at the edge of the raft. “Do you always have to be so clumsy? You just kicked sand all over Josh’s raft.”
“It’s okay,” Josh said lightly. “This raft has to survive a trip across the open sea. I think it’ll probably be okay with a little extra sand.”
I smiled weakly. Even though I was touched that Josh was sticking up for me, his words pushed all my doubts about his raft plan to the front of my mind.
Doing my best to heave them off to the back again, I glanced down at the raft. “So what are you two working on?” I asked as brightly as I could manage.
“We were just about to start tying on some of the life jackets,” Angela replied. “Why don’t you run off and fetch us some more rope, Dani?”
I just smiled. She wasn’t going to get rid of me that easily. “Looks like there’s plenty of rope here already” I gestured at the sizable pile of rope, twine, and assorted spare shoelaces lying nearby.
“Actually, I just realized we should probably fix those rips in the life jackets first,” Josh put in. “Hey, Angela, could you go get Macy’s sewing kit fro
m the supply cave?”
“Oh.” Angela looked worried. I could almost see the evil little wheels in her mind turning. How was she going to get out of this one without revealing her true evilness to Josh? “Um, I’m not sure where it is. Maybe Dani could go find it instead.”
I rolled my eyes. It didn’t take a genius to notice that she was always trying to send out everyone else on little errands so that she could be alone with Josh. The girl was about as subtle as a choo-choo bug in a glass of ginger ale.
“How am I supposed to know where it is?” I demanded. “You’re the one who organized the whole stupid supply cave when we got here, remember? While the rest of us were out in the hot sun carrying supplies and hauling water and building the fire and all the other actual work? Ring any bells?”
Angela scowled at me. But before she could respond, Josh put a hand on her arm. “Please, Angela?” He flashed her his most winning smile. “Dani’s right, you’re totally the best at finding things in there. Or maybe you could find Macy and ask her about it. I’m sure it won’t take you long!’
How could she say no to that? He’d asked so nicely, I was almost tempted to go on the errand myself after all.
“Well … okay.” Angela returned Josh’s smile. “I guess I can probably find it. Be right back.” She hurried off in the direction of the caves.
When she was gone, Josh visibly relaxed. I only wished I could do the same. Yes, having Angela out of our hair for a few minutes was nice, but it didn’t change the rest of my problems. Or rather, my one big problem: the secret part of my secret romance. If it wasn’t for that, all my other problems would go away. Ryan would stop following me around, the twins would realize they could stop bugging me about Josh, and Angela …
“Wow, Angela’s really excited about this whole raft thing,” Josh commented with a smile. “I felt kind of bad sending her off like that when she’s so eager to help. But I figured this was, like, a good chance for us to hang out a little bit, you know?”
I returned his smile weakly, not bothering to clue him in as to Angela’s true motives. If he couldn’t see it for himself, it would be too hard to explain. Besides, if I could convince him that the whole secrecy thing wasn’t working, it wouldn’t matter anymore. We could tell everyone the truth, and then Angela would probably shrivel up and blow out to sea from pure frustration and fury. The thought almost made me smile. Almost.
“Listen, Josh,” I began tentatively. “I was thinking. You know how we decided to keep things a secret? About us, I mean. You know.” I could feel myself blushing, as I always seemed to do when I tried to discuss that topic.
Josh looked a little embarrassed himself. “Yeah?”
“Well, I wonder if maybe—”
“Josh! Josh!”
I winced as Angela’s familiar, irritating voice cut me off. Glancing around, I saw her racing down the beach toward us, her blond hair flying in all directions and an excited look on her face.
As she reached us, she held up something in her left hand. “Check it out,” she said breathlessly. “I just found this duct tape in the tool kit we brought over from the boat! I didn’t even know it was there. We could use it for fixing the life jackets instead of having to sew them, couldn’t we?”
Josh grinned, grabbing the roll of duct tape out of her hand and gazing at it as if it was the Holy Grail. “Yeah! Good eye, Angela. That will be awesome! It’ll save us tons of time.”
“You’re welcome, Josh,” Angela simpered, looking way too pleased with herself. “I’m totally glad to help.”
You know how a bull usually reacts to a bullfighter’s red cape? Well, that’s just about the same reaction I always have to Angela acting self-satisfied. Sitting there and letting her bask in her own stupid glory wasn’t an option, which meant I basically had two choices: I could say something, or I could leap forward and throttle her with my bare hands.
The second one sounded a lot more tempting, but I resisted the urge. Never let anyone tell you I have no self-control. “Hey, I almost forgot,” I blurted out, doing my best to sound normal and almost succeeding. Okay, maybe my voice came out a little squeakier and tighter than usual, but I don’t think Josh noticed. “Kenny just told me he saw a boat going by.”
Instantly Josh’s attention was riveted on me again. “What? A boat? Really? Where?”
I was so busy basking in that attention that I almost forgot to answer. Angela’s suspicious glare reminded me.
“Oh!” I said. “Um, I think he spotted it from the ridge. Out past that other island. Said he saw it yesterday and again today at about the same time.”
“Wow!” Josh tossed the duct tape onto the half-built raft, his eyes gleaming. “That’s incredible! Why didn’t you tell us right away?”
“Yeah,” Angela put in sourly, staring at me with suspicion written all over her face. “Why didn’t you, Dani?”
I guess Josh, at least, meant that as a rhetorical question, because he didn’t wait for an answer before adding, “This is awesome!”
He stared into space, looking excited. I guess either he was dreaming of being rescued, or he has an invisible friend.
“Don’t get too excited yet, Josh,” Angela warned, still glaring at me. “It’s not like this information comes from the most reliable source.”
I wasn’t sure if she was referring to me, Kenny, or both. I made an ugly face at her. Either way, I figured that should cover it.
Josh was still staring into space and didn’t notice. “I’ll check it out myself,” he told Angela absently. “If it’s true, this will make things easier. We can aim our raft at that boat instead of the other island!”
I gulped, forgetting all about Angela for a second. Even though I still wasn’t sure whether Kenny’s story was for real or not, I’d sort of figured that if it was true, it meant we could abandon the whole questionable raft plan completely and just figure out an easier and less shark-involving way to communicate with that boat. But now it sounded as though that hadn’t even occurred to Josh.
“Ooh, you’re so smart, Josh!” Angela cooed. Her voice had instantly shifted from harshly incredulous to gooey sweet and smarmy. “That’s an awesome idea.”
Yeah, right. I was pretty sure she would insist it was a brilliant idea if Josh suggested we all stand on our heads and sing sea shanties to help rescuers find us. That’s the kind of person she is, and its just one more way in which we’re complete opposites. I always speak my mind, no matter what anyone else thinks of me.
I was just opening my mouth to do so when Angela spoke again. “Josh, we’re all sooo lucky to have you on this island. Thanks for being such a great leader!”
With that, she flung herself toward him and grabbed him in a tight hug. Think big, blond leech attaching itself to human flesh.
Josh looked startled and embarrassed at the sudden display of affection. But he neglected to do what I would have done under the same circumstances, which probably would have involved an elbow to the throat. At the very least. Instead he gingerly patted her on the back as she clung to him. He also shot me an apologetic glance.
Realizing my mouth was still hanging open, I snapped it shut. Okay, so maybe when I said I “always” speak my mind, that was a tiny bit of an exaggeration. Because just at that moment, telling Josh my true opinions about his raft plan didn’t seem like the best idea in the world. The last thing I wanted to do was make him mad and ruin our new, still uncertain relationship. Especially with Evil Angela hanging all over him, ready to swoop in and take my place at a moment’s notice …
Not for the first time, I found myself wondering uneasily what Josh really thought about Angela. Like I said, he’s nice to everyone, so all along I’d been assuming he was just faking it with her. But what if that wasn’t the case at all? A lot of people—especially boys—seemed to be taken in by Angela’s insincere smiles, her pretty blond hair and nice clothes and perfect makeup. What if Josh—gulp—liked her, at least a little?
That reminded me about what
had happened in those first couple of days on the island. Remember that election I mentioned earlier? Well, like I said, Josh won by a landslide. But Angela and I had each ended up with one vote in addition to our votes for ourselves. All along I’d been assuming that Kenny had dredged up enough family loyalty to vote for me. I was also pretty sure that Josh hadn’t voted for himself—he had looked way too surprised when his name started turning up on the voting chips. That turned it into one of those logic problems my math teacher loved to give us. If Josh hadn’t voted for himself and he hadn’t voted for me, that left only one option. One that I didn’t even like to think about.
I swallowed down my doubts about the raft along with the lump that had just formed in my throat. “Yeah,” I said weakly as Angela finally loosened her grip on Josh and backed away. “That should be cool.”
It wasn’t exactly the most enthusiastic endorsement in the world. But it still made me feel like a big phony. Not to mention a major wimp. Since when was I afraid to tell someone what I really thought?
But this was different, I reminded myself uneasily. Wasnt it?
“What is it, Dani?” Cassie asked as she followed me down the narrow jungle path. “What’s the big emergency?”
“Yeah.” Chrissie was right behind her sister. “Spill it. And this better not be just something lame, like Angela looked at you funny or whatever’
Reaching a small clearing, I turned around and stared at the twins, tempted to tell them the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Unfortunately that wasn’t an option, which suddenly made me feel lonely and kind of homesick.
A quick glance around confirmed that we were alone in that part of the jungle. I took a deep breath. “Have you guys heard about Ryan?”
“What about him?” Chrissie shrugged. “We’ve heard he’s a spaz, if that’s what you mean.”
