as unsinkable as i can be // the wilds

chapter twenty.

"How is your knee? Is it doing okay, getting better?"

"I mean, I've been better. But I could also be in a much worse position, so I don't have the right to complain."

"May I ask, how did you injure your knee that badly?"

"... I don't want to talk about that."

"Why not, Dot?"

"Because I said I don't, okay?! Can you not just leave it at that?"

"You aren't a very tense person, Dot, and yet talking about this is making you forget yourself-"

"Look, I said I don't want to talk about it, so change the fucking subject or let me leave!"

"...let's talk about Raelynn Jones."

"Look, I just said-"

"No, not about that. Just about what she was like on the island. How she treated the other girls, if she was helpful, those sort of things."

"Oh. Sorry."

"No need to apologize. You're in a hard situation right now, in a bad state of mind. This is just a conversation."

"So you've said. Um, she was nice, I guess. She didn't talk a lot, but when she did, it wasn't like she was saying stupid shit or anything. I mean it was all useful information. She had a lot of breakdowns, but I didn't really get the inside scoop on any of those."

"Well, who did?"
"Can you guess?"

"Toni?"
"Who else? She was always the first person by her side, and she seemed to shield Raelynn from the rest of us like she didn't want Raelynn to feel like she was being paraded around. As if none of us were going through our own crap and couldn't have helped. But Nora tried, and Leah was always there, too, so I guess it wasn't just Toni."

"Did Leah and Raelynn talk a lot? Were they close?"

"... I mean they talked some, but uh, not much I don't think. I don't know."

"Who do you think she was closest to, besides Toni?"

"Nora, definitely. She had moments of being close with Fatin, but she never really talked to me, Martha, Rachel... especially not Shelby, either."

"Why not Shelby?"

"...I think I'd better let either Raelynn or Toni answer that question for you."

"Okay, well, we have one last question then. What happened between Raelynn, Toni, and Shelby when Fatin went missing?"

"...How much time do you have?"

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Short chapter, I know, and sorry to have been taking so long!! Hope you guys are all doing well around the world, and stay safe everyone!! Love y'all!!

xoxo,

Em :)