Fluke

41: Plans

"I can't believe this is almost over. I'm pretty excited to get off this island, though. It's been fun, but this isn't real life. I miss being stressed about student loans," Jia said.

I wasn't sure how much more real life could get than how we lived at Paradise City, or why anyone would miss the stress of impending financial doom, but I didn't say anything.

"What's the first thing you're going to do when we get back to the mainland?" Logan asked.

Jia didn't even hesitate for a second. "Get Chipotle."

"That sounds really good actually. What about you, Rea?" Logan asked.

"I don't know. I'll probably just head back to my apartment and cry," I said.

"That sounds less good. There's still a week until classes start, so don't you at least want to do something fun?"

I shook my head. "What could possibly be more fun than this?"

"Death or literally anything else." Jia laughed. "What about you, Carter? What's the first thing you're going to do when we get off this island?"

Carter finally looked up from his reading. "I haven't really thought that far ahead."

Not surprising.

"Logan? What's the first thing you're gonna do?" I asked.

"I'm gonna get you a fucking ice cream cake," he replied, and I smiled.

There were times I pushed him away, and I didn't even know why, and there were other times that he tried to keep me out of the loop of his real feelings, but unlike the ocean, the deeper into his personality I got, the clearer and purer he seemed. At the heart, we really weren't different at all.

On the surface, though, we were like sharks and dolphins.

It was a complete fluke that we were isolated together, but it wasn't luck that we found the best in each other. That was patience, and kindness, and compassion.

"Maybe I'll have to change my plans, then," I said.

On day one of Paradise City, I would have never believed that Puke Boy had a soul, and I'd be in love with him. Funny how things worked out.

With the bacon finished cooking, our breakfast was ready. I wasn't sure how Brett managed to keep a smile on his face the entire summer, but he never lost the joy that he started with. At least the rest of us had some project to keep us busy for a while, but Brett just cooked (and had a good time) every single day. And he kept his mouth shut as well as he could, all the way up until I blew the secret myself.

Speaking of the secret, Darrell was still upstairs sleeping, so I headed up there to make sure he'd be awake for breakfast.

I knocked on the door twice, and when he unsurprisingly didn't respond, I opened it just a crack. "Hey, Darrell. It's time for breakfast."

"Don't care," he mumbled, or at least that's what I thought I heard.

He usually liked to give long speeches in regular conversation, so I opened up the door a little more. "Are you at least dressed?"

"Kind of."

These two-word answers were beginning to freak me out.

"What do you mean you're kind of dressed? Are you wearing clothes?" I asked.

Darrell scoffed. "I bet you'd be interested in the alternative, slut."

"Okay, this is exactly why no one has tried to talk to you the entire time you've locked yourself away from the rest of us. Because you say mean stuff like that," I said.