Fluke

10: First Things First, I'm The Realest

"Jia—" Toby began, but Jia left to do some research. Toby chuckled. "Well, I've seen people lose their minds even more than she has."

"She's being absolutely ridiculous right now, since we didn't need to leave Paradise City last year due to mental instability," Darrell said.

Toby gave him a quick stare. "Really?"

"Well, it wasn't because I was an absolute psycho. I certainly had a valid reason for my decision," Darrell justified.

"Including, but not limited to, being an absolute psycho," Toby said.

Darrell left Paradise City last year?

Jia would certainly love to have that information for future arguments. I stored that knowledge away in my mind to share it with her that night.

Dragging me away from my evil master plan, Carter tapped me on the shoulder. "You were being sarcastic, weren't you? About me?"

"I'm sorry. I was just messing with Jia. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings," I said.

A small smile spread across his face. "You're funny."

I didn't really get that compliment too often, so it didn't seem true, but I smiled back at him. "Thank you. You're interesting."

He seemed to have a similar thought process as I did, but he didn't say thanks. A bit rude, perhaps, but that was Carter.

***

"Ginger," Jia read off her list of remedies for seasickness.

Brett held up a Ziploc baggie. "Check."

"Peppermint gum."

"Check."

"Saltine crackers."

"Check."

"With peanut butter?" Jia asked.

"Is there any other way to eat them?" Brett laughed.

"You keep me sane. Thank you."

Logan wandered into the kitchen. "Why the fuck are you guys yelling? I'm pretty sure they can hear you in Canada."

"Happy birthday," I said.

"Dammit, Reagan! I wanted to be the first to say it." Jia sighed. "Happy birthday, I guess. Whoopee."

Logan smiled. "Thanks, but it's not my birthday."

I looked over at Jia. Now we just looked stupid.

She smiled. "Nice try. It's written on the calendar."

There's a calendar? Since when?

I really needed to start paying attention to things, since I wasn't blessed with the ability to just know everything.

"Okay, fine. It's my birthday, but we're stuck here, so it doesn't really mean that much," Logan said.

"That's not true. We've packed you a special picnic for the boat ride to Bar Harbor, and we're going to finally see something besides rain and loneliness," Jia said.

"The issue isn't loneliness. The issue is that I'm forced to spend all my time with you people," Logan said.

"And if we got off this island, you could get away from us people for a little while."

Logan thought for a moment. "You have solid reasoning skills, but my stubbornness is enough to override it. I'm not getting on a boat. I'd rather throw myself into the ocean."