The Island's Captives

Chapter Thirty-four: "Did my heart love till now?"-Romeo and Juliet

Peter Morris

How did this happen to me? The thought went round in circles in my head. Not so very long ago I had been elected to be the leader of these people, and before that I had been the coolest kid in school. How does one go from being those things to becoming an outcast? I had done nothing but what I thought was the best for everyone. Didn't they see that? And Alex! How could he?! I was his best friend; he was my best friend!

I felt a tear of frustration run down my cheek and quickly wiped it away. Oh it's useless, I thought as another tear fell, I'm pathetic! With that thought I allowed the tears to fall freely. Sitting down at the base of a tree (I had walked into the forest where we collected our fruit) I put my head in my hands and cry. Yes, very pathetic.

I don't know how long it took before I finally noticed, but eventually I realized someone was holding me. One hand was gently scratching my back in a way that felt comforting and soothing, and the other had wrapped itself around me to bring myself closer to the person. I felt their head on top of mine, and also realized the front of their shirt was wet with my tears. For a moment I thought it must be Alex. But no, the person was smaller and, I could hear, crying. Alex might have been my closest friend and cared a lot for me (whether or not he did at the moment I wasn't sure), but he never cried in front of me. And he usually left me alone when I cried. Also, the soft sobs were that of a girl, not a guy.

Can it be...

"Amy?" I said in shock as I sat up. She lowered her face, as though to hide her tears. Neither of us said anything for a moment, but then Amy broke the silence.

"That wasn't very nice of them...what they said to you I mean." I nodded my head in agreement. She waited a little longer, waiting for me say something.

"I just...I just don't understand why he would say all that, and why everyone sided with him," I said, "I didn't mean for any of those things to happen! I would never have let Rose back into the group or let Fawkes near us if I had known what would've happened! I mean seriously, do they really think I knew Fawkes would have Menelik and Ludwig's house burnt down or that he would've had Mahal killed?! Do they?!" I was yelling at this point and had stood up and taken to pacing back and forth (which I usually did when I get upset), and when I finally looked back at Amy she seemed a little unnerved by my outburst.

"Sorry," I apologized as I sat back down, "Didn't mean to yell."

"It's-it's okay," Amy replied, "And, I don't think they really believe that. They're just... upset, you know? They want to blame someone."

"But why me? Why not Fawkes? No, why not Daniel? I think most of what's happened is because of them, not me," I said, resuming my pacing, "Yet, I'm the one getting all the blame." I looked at Amy and saw her watching me intently, hanging onto my every word. "What you think? Am I being overcritical?"

"Not really, I don't think. They were very mean to you, and it would make more sense for them to blame Fawkes or Daniel, not that I think they know Daniel," she paused for a moment, as though to wonder about whether or not the group knew about Daniel, "But, you got to remember they aren't perfect. I'm pretty sure if you went back, like, in a few hours or so, they'd apologize...or at least feel bad." I smiled a little, whether at Amy's somewhat awkward way of talking or just out of my (usually) optimistic self I couldn't decide.

"You know what..." I started, sitting back down.

"What?" Amy asked.

"I think this is the most I've heard you talk without all the 'um' and 'uh' 's," I said, giving her a smile. She blushed.

"Yeah...I've been working on that," she replied. I nodded and neither of us spoke for a while. I could hear the waves crashing onto the beach from a distance, and the occasional sound of a bird.