Fluke

Bonus 5: I'm (Not) on a Boat

"I'm so not feeling today. If Darrell says one shitty thing, I'll shove him into the ocean," Jia said.

Good morning to you, too.

"We'll handle the whale data today. Me, Brett, and Jia, and Carter if he wants to. You don't have to worry about a thing," Logan said. "That way, you can sleep like an actual human being instead of trying to survive on coffee."

Jia perked up at the mention of leaving the island. "Field trip?"

"I'm really not tired today," I began, but Logan shook his head and interrupted my half-truth.

"Don't start with that shit. You are physically incapable of doing your best work and being one hundred percent focused when you're running on empty. Caffeine doesn't replace sleep, so we'll get this done for you today since you've helped everyone else here."

I gripped the camera a little tighter. "Are y'all sure about that? It's really not a problem for me to do it, especially since you get sick, Logan."

"We'll be fine. It'll be a good chance to get off this rock for a little bit and help you out," Jia said.

"I mean, when have we ever let you down?" Brett asked.

Considering I was the one who blabbed about Logan and me, I couldn't hold that against them. They really hadn't let me down, had they?

That was somewhat unexpected.

"Well, there really isn't much that you need to know. Robbie and Nastasya pretty much do most of the work, and then all you have to do is take pictures of the whales when they're fluking and record as much detail as you can about the location and conditions. And take as many pictures as you want. That way, you guarantee at least one good one," I said. "Don't even bother with the crossbow. That's an accident waiting to happen."

"This is going to be so much fun," Jia said. "It's always a good day when Mom says yes."

I wasn't sure how I was elected Paradise City Mom after a few months, but it wasn't a bad title to have. I was doing an okay job with keeping Blue and Racecar alive.

Brett laughed. "Can we get McDonald's on the way back?"

I smiled. "That's funny. But all I ask is that you take it seriously. It's really important to me that this project goes well."

"Stop worrying. We got this, Rea," Logan said.

"Yeah, we're the most seriousest people on the planet," Brett said.

Seriousestly?

All I could do was hope that was a joke for my sake, theirs, the whales', and Nastasya's and Robbie's.

***

Although I wasn't sure what time of day it was, Logan's voice drew me out of my sleep. I opened up my eyes, and the sun shone through the window to greet me instead of the way it usually taunted me with reminders that I was only human.

Maybe sleeping wasn't such a scam. If only I had the time for it.

"Hey, Rea. You gotta get up," he said, but I wasn't quite ready to get up yet.

When did my pillow get so comfortable? Sure, I had spent a few nights dozing off on the couch and drowning myself in coffee, but I certainly didn't remember my Paradise City bed being so nice.

"How'd it go? Did you get any good pictures that I can use?" I asked.

"About that—"

I sat up. "Logan, please tell me you didn't drop the camera into the ocean."