Chapter Seven ~ "The Not-So-Fake Skeletons"
•Quinn Shoenfield•
"Everyone up! You'll have to get up this instance if you ever want to reach Malaga islands. It's a good 20 to 30 minutes from here by boat!"
I groaned, and rolled over. That was 100% the voice of Tommy, our tour guide.
"Shut up! We're trying to sleep!" I snapped.
"Now, now, Princess," a voice mused. "What would daddy say to wasting money for sleeping in?"
I sat upright to glare at Kade, "You just manage to annoy me first thing in the morning, don't you?"
Kade just laughed, "You're the one getting annoyed, aren't you?"
"Oh god, just shut up, you two!" Kyra snapped. "Kade, get lost. We're going to get ready."
Kade left, wordlessly. I just gaped at his retreating back.
"What?" Kyra giggled. "Staring at his hotness?"
I snapped my head towards hers, "More like shocked. He didn't annoy you at all. It's like he's made it a mission to annoy the crap out of me."
"Stop getting bothered by it. He'll drop it if he doesn't get any reaction from you." Kyra advised, wisely.
I rolled my eyes, "If it were that easy, I would've done it by now, Ky."
•••
"Okay, have you'll got everything you need?" Tommy asked, looking around at the six of them.
"Yup!" Derek replied.
"Okay, then! Everyone aboard. It's not long until we see Malaga islands, so don't get too comfy." Tommy warned. "Also, out of the two islands, Cadise is the more popular tourist attraction. At Malaga, we'll be roughing it up."
"Roughing it up?" I echoed, frowning.
Cadise was no New York City and if that wasn't roughing it up, what the hell was he talking about?
Tommy smirked, "For one, you'll will be staying in tents."
"What?" Kyra and I shrieked at the same time.
"I can't sleep in tents." I complained.
"Neither can I. My chiropractor will have a hell of a time if I sleep on the . . . ground." Kyra whispered the last word.
"I'm not sleeping in mud." I stated, firmly. "Do you have any idea how many worms live in that?" I scrunched up my nose at the thought of me sleeping on worms.
"It's like you were born into riches." Kade muttered, looking annoyed.
"I was." I stated, oblivious to the fact that he mocking me.
"Anyway, this island a lot of gorgeous reefs, so you'll can go snorkeling ther-" Tommy tried to continue.
"I wanna go snorkeling!" Kyle perked up.
And I refrained myself from snickering.
"Okay, you know what?" Tommy exclaimed, exasperated. "Let's just go there because apparently I can't talk without getting interrupted."
•••
Half an hour later, I understood what exactly Tommy meant by 'roughing it up'. I honestly didn't like the idea of roughing it up at all. The island, per se, was gorgeous, with lush green trees surrounding it and white sand. It was definitely smaller than Cadise but I like it; I just didn't like the idea of staying in tents. That was meant for camping and I hated camping.
I'm
We were nearing the gorgeous shore of Malaga. Kyle, Tommy and Ian hopped off to help pull our small-ish boat in. Soon, all of us got off and I absolutely loved the feel of the plushy sand under my feet.
"Okay, our boat should be safe here. Come on let's get settled, shall we?" Tommy called out.
Suddenly Kyra let out a blood-curdling scream and started hopping around like she was doing a crazy dance. After screaming and hopping for a minute, she jumped onto Ian and clutched his neck, not letting him go. I had to stifle a laugh at the sight. It was truly hilarious.
"What the hell?" Ian groaned, at the sudden weight.
"T-th . . . the c-cra . . . crab. The-there was a . . . a cr-crab!" Kyra whispered, looking absolutely frightened. "Don't let it touch me, please!" She continued to beg.
Honestly, crabs didn't scare me as much it did to Kyra. However, if it did touch I would definitely freak out. But deciding to have some fun, I let out a shriek and mimicked the dance Kyra had earlier.
"Oh my god, save me! I don't want a crab. Where is it?" I shrieked, doing a similar hopping dance that Kyra did.
Suddenly I spotted a ginormous crab. Now I understood her fear. Crabs were truly disgusting creatures and I'd do anything to stay away from it. It started walking towards me.
"Take it away. Throw it! I don't want it" I pleaded, Kyra's plea merging with mine.
"Kill it!" Kyra begged.
But it seemed that our situation was nothing but funny to boys, as they all burst out laughing. I stopped hopping around and turned to glare at them. But I felt something ticklish on my foot and, to my utmost horror, there was a tiny crab on foot. And I felt genuine fear this time. I let out, once again, a shriek and jumped onto the person nearest to me, which just happened to be Kyle.
"Oh- oh my god, Quinn! It's a teeny tiny crab!" Kyle laughed, so hard, but, thankfully, didn't let me down.
I bit my lip and stared at the tiny crab on the sand. Looking at it, made me want to cry. It was so scary. What if touched me again? What if it bit me? Do crabs even bite? What if they're poisonous?
"I could die." I whispered, softly to myself.
But since Kyle was, practically, holding me bridal style, heard it and his eyes widened.
"Are you seriously that scared? It's not going to anything." Kyle said, looking completely weirded out.
"How do you know?" I asked, glaring at him.
"Because . . . because . . ." Kyle struggled to find an answer. "Because it told me. It won't hurt you."
"Really?" I asked, after contemplating my choices.
I wasn't that dumb. I knew crabs couldn't talk but atleast then if the crab did do something, I could blame it on Kyle.
"Yes," Kyle said, firmly. "I promise."
"Promise it won't touch me." I said, pushing my limits.
"Okay, I promise it won't touch you, Quinn." Kyle rolled his eyes.
I nodded, "You can let me down."
"You're believing him!" Kyra exclaimed, still death-gripping Ian. "Quinn! He's-"
I gave her a knowing look and she immediately understood what I doing. Kyra smirked at me, winking, she turned to Ian with wide eyes.
"Can you talk to crabs, too?" Kyra asked, innocently, twirling her red hair.
Ian began coughing, "What? I mean, yeah sure. It won't touch you."
Kyra smirked, and let go of him. She got down and smoothed her pants.
•••
"That was ingenious, Q!" Kyra exclaimed, grabbing a few stones. "But," She looked at me, sheepishly. "I didn't know that you were as scared if crabs as I was." She admitted.
I grabbed a couple of sticks, and looked up at her, "I'm not."
"Huh?"
"I'm not scared of crabs." I shrugged. "They are absolutely harmless."
"What?" Kyra gaped. "You were acting?"
I nodded, "I figured I might as well have some fun." I winked. "But I was genuinely scared when crab was on foot." I admitted.
"Have you got enough twigs and sticks?" Kyra asked, gesturing the clump of sticks I was holding.
The guys had decided, since Kyra and I were pretty much useless, that we should collect sticks and stones. I was handling the twigs and sticks whilst she collected pebbles and rocks.
"Yeah, I guess, but let's go exploring." I suggested.
"No thank you very much!" Kyra exclaimed. "You know I'm scared of insects and basically anything creepy. This island is infested with those."
"Wimp." I muttered under my breath, rolling my eyes.
"Let's just go back, okay?"
"Okay." I rolled my eyes.
After ten minutes, we both came to the conclusion that we were lost. Yes, somehow we had managed to get lost on this minuscule island.
"This is ridiculous!" Kyra exclaimed, waving her hands about. "We're lost."
"Gee, thanks!" I muttered, sarcasm dripping from my tone. "You just stated the obvious."
Kyra turned around and gave me a glare, "Just call one of them."
I sighed, and pulled my phone out, "No network." I stated, disbelievingly. "This island has no network. Check if you have network, Ky! You use LTE anyway, right?"
"I didn't bring my phone." Kyra groaned.
"What? Why?" I exclaimed. "How are we to get back now?"
"I don't know!" She sighed, frustrated. "What's the time?"
"7:45am." I replied, glancing at my lock screen.
"We've been missing for an hour." Kyra did a quick mental calculation. "They'll hopefully notice and try hunting for us."
"Hopefully." I repeated, looking around at the unfamiliar surroundings. "Wait," I held my hand up, silencing her. "Do you hear that?" I asked, softly.
"What?" Kyra shrieked. "A bear?" She exclaimed, and took off running.
"Ky!" I yelled, but she disappeared and I was all by myself. "Ugh, stupid girl!" I muttered under my breath.
I grabbed a long stick and began walking towards the sound. It was the sound of water; not a bear, and atleast if I had water, I could survive until someone found me.
Pushing past a clump of trees, I spotted a small gurgling stream. It was truly a sight. The water was crystal clear and I could see small orange and yellow fish swimming in it. I smiled at myself.
Suddenly, the leaves behind me rustled, and I jumped up and held my stick out, ready to attack whatever came.
"Glad to see, if I was an animal, you would've been able to protect yourself." Kade said, looking very amused at the situation.
"This is a joke to you?" I snapped, lowering my stick.
"Whatever." He rolled his eyes. "What took so long?"
"What do you think?" I countered, rhetorically.
"You got lost." He stated.
"Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!"
Kade began laughing, "Where's Kyra?"
I looked up at him, frowning, "What do you mean? She's not with me."
"Quit fooling around, Quinn. Just tell Kyra to come so we can go back to the shore." Kade snapped.
I looked at him, "I swear to god, Kade. She's not with me. We . . . we got separated."
Kade started muttering profanities under his breath, "Okay, let's get you back. I'll go hunt for Kyra."
"I'll come with you." I said, firmly.
Kade looked at me sharply, "No!"
"What do you mean 'no'?" I exclaimed. "I know which direction she headed in. Do you?"
"No, but you will tell me." Kade said, clenching his jaw.
"I will not!" I said, stubbornly.
So, that is how we spent the next twenty minutes. Roaming around the island of Malaga, trying to hunt for my brain-dead best friend. With no luck, Kade and I went back to the shore. Luckily, Kade's sense of direction wasn't as bad as mine.
"Where the hell were you two?" Ian demanded, the minute we were in sight.
"We were . . ." I trailed off, noticing Kyra and Derek having a deep conversation.
I glared at her back.
"We were hunting for Kyra." Kade said, through gritted teeth.
"Oopsie?" Kyra said, looking sheepishly.
"I can't believe you took off like that!" I exclaimed.
"You said you heard a noise." Kyra defended.
"The noise of water!" I yelled.
"Oh."
"Wow, you did are the most troublesome tourists I've had." Tommy whistled, chuckling.
"Sorry," Derek apologised instantly.
"Nah, it's cool." Tommy shrugged. "So, now that everyone is here, let me tell what you'll will be doing . . . this island is deceptively small but somewhere near the heart, the island is split."
"Split?" Kyle echoed.
"Yes, split." Tommy confirmed. "There is a river like thing that runs through it. But the heart is where the river is supposed to be the deepest. So, tourists generally swim in the river - the currents aren't that strong, don't worry - and go to the other side."
"What does the other side have?" I asked, curiously.
"The ruins of the Mayans and the Aztecs." Tommy responded.
"Like their temples?" I asked.
"Yes, are you familiar with them?" Tommy inquired.
"Fairly," I nodded. "I went on this hiking trip in Tikal in Guatemala to see the Mayan ruins. It was truly tiring - the treck, that is - of course, but extremely gorgeous."
"Yes, but here you'll be swimming to see ruins. If you're into historic stuff, this is definitely for you. But for those of you that can't swim very well, I advice you'll not to do this."
"I'll go." I announced.
"Me too!" Kade nodded.
"Count me out." Kyra said, holding her hands up in surrender.
"And me." Ian added. "I'm not going to swim the breadth of a river."
"I'm going." Kyle exclaimed.
"Yeah, I'm coming!" Derek stated.
"Hmm . . . would you two be okay by yourselves?" Tommy asked. "You'll could get lunch ready."
"Sure!" Kyra rolled her eyes. "But I'd rather go skinny dipping!"
The guys began coughing, and looking around weirdly. I just burst out laughing.
"Only you, Ky!" I wheezed out. "Only you!"
Kyra flashed me a grin, and bobbed her head.
"See ya later, amigos!" Kyra turned, walking to the shore. "Hope you'll survive swim but if you'll don't, enjoy this view!"
"I'm going, too!" Ian said, and went in the same direction Kyra went.
"Okay, so you'll go change into your swimwear and meet me in five minutes." Tommy announced.
"We haven't yet taken tents." I pointed out.
"We set up three." Derek said. "Two big ones and one small."
"The small is for me. You six split into two groups and share the tent." Tommy shrugged.
"Kyle, Derek, me in one." Kade said, immediately and I made no protest.
I headed over to one of the tents.
"Wait, will the water be really cold?" I asked.
"Yes, why?" Tommy frowned.
"The only form of swimwear I have is a bikini." I said.
"Suck it up and deal with it!" Tommy shrugged, indifferently.
I pursed my lips, but changed into my bikini nevertheless. It was a red bikini, with white lace on it. I didn't bother pulling an overall or a loose dress over it as I wouldn't have any place to keep it. I placed my phone, money and keys in my Dolce & Gabanna bag.
•••
"You said the current wasn't strong." I gulped, staring at the fast flowing river/stream.
"It isn't. Not in Crestville." Tommy shrugged, pulling his shirt over his chats and putting it on the rocks.
"We're not from Crestville!" Derek snapped.
"So?" Tommy challenged. "Honestly, though, if you can swim properly then you swim this. It's not actually that strong. It's just fast. You'll also be wearing these," he got out five goggles that would help us see clearly underwater.
"It looks dangerous." Kyle pointed out.
"It's not." Tommy assured. "Millions of tourists have done this."
"Quinn, you're not coming." Kade said, firmly.
"What?" I exploded.
"It's not safe for a g-" Kyle began, rationally.
"For a girl?" I burst out. "What the fuck makes you think that boys are stronger than girls? Huh? Well, I'll have you know that I'm a three times winner of the triathlon."
"Quinn," Derek rolled his eyes. "It genuinely doesn't look safe and I'm sure your mother wouldn't appreciate it if we brought you back dead."
He didn't mean it but hearing him talk about my mom brought tears to my eyes. She was always so strong; I wasn't. Which is why I tried my hardest to excel in everything, be it singing, dancing, running, academics, sports, etc. but I could never be even half the human being she was.
"Shit, Shoenfield, are you crying?" Kade muttered, staring awkwardly at his friends.
"I know how to swim." I stated, looking away to blink away the tears.
"Yeah, I'm sure she does. Let's go!" Tommy said, awkwardly breaking the silence.
•••
"The simulation was excellent actually!" I exclaimed, as we reached the other side of the river.
"What simulation?" Kade frowned.
"Those fake skeletons at the bottom of the river. Those ones." I said.
All of them fell silent, as I looked around, realisation dawned on me.
"Of my god!" I shrieked. "Th-those we-were . . . r-rea-" I gulped, feeling the urge to gag.
"Real skeletons?" Tommy completed. "Yes, they were. They're skeletons of the Mayans and the Aztecs."
I was feeling sick to the stomach. Somehow the skeletons made me think of my mother's lifeless body and I couldn't take it.
"Oh gosh," I squeezed my eyes shut, and sat down. "I can't handle this. I think I'm gonna puke."
"Do you want to back?" Kade asked, concerned.
I nodded, still feeling extremely nauseous.
"Let's go back then." Kyle said.
"Yeah, we can see the ruins later." Derek agreed.
"No," I protested. "You shouldn't miss seeing it because of me."
"I'll help you back," Kade said, after giving it some thought. "Derek, Kyle and Tommy can go ahead. We an go back."
"A-are you sure?" I asked, hesitantly.
"Yes." Kade reassured. "Come on," he held his hand out for me to grasp. "Let's go."
•••
XxThat SummerxX
Hello, all of you gorgeous Spongecakers!
How's your life going this Monday? I know mine's is amazing considering my sum,er vacation is just starting.
Anyways, what are your views on thus chapter?
Until next Monday,
Xoxo,
M & S
XxThat SummerxX
PS:- There are 47 people in the States that are named 'Lol'
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