After living on the Safe Haven for quite some time, some of the kids made an estimate that they've been living there for about a year. Even though no one knows for sure, it still feels like it's been that long.
Jorge and Vince wanted to speak with Joel, Luke, and Courtney for a private meeting because they were the only adults. They were standing near the cornfield, discussing the plans for the One Year celebration and bouncing off ideas on how they should celebrate.
They came up with the perfect plan: splitting up the celebration into three days.
Day One: The kids will assigned to three different tribes at a bonfire.
Day Two: Competing in various games.
Day Three: The day they celebrate the actual date of arriving at the Safe Haven. Joel and Luke will perform a new song. Paper lanterns will be lit and flown into the night sky in honor of those who never made it to the Safe Haven.
The five of them nominated Frypan, Mallory, and Aris as the leaders for the three tribes.
They all felt satisfied after everything was confirmed.
Thomas, Minho, and Delilah were watching the conversation from one of the picnic tables, but they couldn't hear what was being discussed.
Newt and Mallory were walking around and holding hands, when they noticed their friends were focused on the adults.
"Hey, guys." Newt said.
"What goes on?" Mallory asked.
Thomas shushes them and shows them what they had their eyes on.
"Wow. It's strange to see them all buddy-buddy." Delilah said.
"Yeah, but what are they talking about?" Minho wondered.
Newt and Mallory sit down at the picnic table with their friends. The two of them helped themselves to the snacks that were on the table. After a few minutes, the adults seemed to have concluded their conversation and went their separate ways.
When the kids notice them walking towards the picnic table area, they looked like they weren't paying attention.
"Hey, guys." Luke said as he went into the kitchen.
"How's it going?" Courtney asked.
"Good." Thomas answered.
"Nothing much." Minho said, then ate a berry.
"If you don't mind, would you all go around and spread the word about having a bonfire tonight?" Jorge asked.
"Sure, not a problem." Delilah said.
"Alright. Well, let's get back to it." Vince said.
~~~~~~~~~~
The day went by so fast and it was now night time. The adults went to the front of everyone sitting around the bonfire, just like the other times.
"Good evening, everyone. We hope you're all doing well." Jorge said to their attention.
"We've called this bonfire because it was brought to our attention that it's been about a year living on the Safe Haven." Vince said.
Everyone started cheering for a few seconds. After settling down, the adults had the floor again.
"To celebrate, we thought it would be fun to divide up the celebration into three days worth of fun." Luke said.
Everyone seemed intrigued by what he meant and they're eager to find out.
"Would Mallory, Frypan, and Aris please step forward?" Joel asked.
The three of them looked like deer in the headlights as they stepped out of the crowd. They stood before the adults, not knowing what to expect.
Luke moved over to Mallory, Courtney moved over to Frypan, and Joel moved over to Aris. They each had a different colored cloth in their hands and tied it to the right bicep of the kids' arms. Mallory had the color red, Frypan had the color green, and Aris had the color blue.
The three of them were instructed to turn and face everyone else.
"It is with great pleasure that I present the tribe leaders! Mallory is the leader of the Crimson Angels. Frypan is the leader of the Verdes Maximus. Aris is the leader of the Azure Apostles." Jorge announced.
The other kids stood up and cheered. Mallory, Frypan, and Aris looked so shocked that they were chosen to be leaders out of the hundred kids there. One by one, three different kids went up to the front to be placed in one of the three tribes.
The rest of their friends got assigned to the tribes through the different colored clothes on their arms.
Thomas, Gally, and Sonya were apart of the Blue tribe. Newt, Delilah, and Harriet were apart of the Red tribe. Minho and Brenda were apart of the Green tribe.
After the other kids got assigned to the tribes, they all started to clap a certain way.
Aris stepped out from the blue tribe.
"We are Apostles and we're gonna win. We'll beat you down and destroy you from within." he chanted.
The others in the Azure Apostles tribe repeated after him. The other two tribes booed and shamed them.
Frypan stepped out from the green tribe.
"We're not rude, we're not mean. We're just money, honey. We're the green machine." he chanted.
The others in the Verdes Maximus tribe repeated after him. The other two tribes booed and shamed them.
Mallory stepped out from the red tribe.
"Stronger than steel, hotter than the sun. Red won't stop till we get the job done." she chanted.
The others in the Crimson Angels tribe repeated after her. The other two tribes booed and shamed them.
"Mallory looks like she's getting competitive." Luke whispered into Joel's ear.
"Yeah, that's my girl." he said, very proudly.
Aris stepped back up.
"I'm sure you're fine, I'm sure you're sweet. I got bad news, we can't be beat." he chanted.
The others in the Azure Apostles tribe repeated after him. The other two tribes booed and shamed them.
Frypan stepped back up.
"You like your style? You like the way we rock? Green is the team that be stopped." he chanted.
The others in the Verdes Maximus tribe repeated after him. The other two tribes booed and shamed them.
Mallory stepped back up.
"Red's gonna beat you, red's gonna score. Red's gonna win, we're tough to the core." Mallory chanted.
The other in the Crimson Angels tribe repeated after her. The other two tribes booed and shamed them.
A stumping noise got them all to settle down, then Vince stood before them.
"I only have one thing to say to all of you...LET THE GAMES BEGIN!" he yelled.
With that, Jorge and Courtney pulled down a blanket to reveal a scoreboard for each tribe. Everyone cheered one last time.
"Tomorrow's gonna be a tough day of competition, so get some rest." Vince advised.
Everyone went their separate ways for the night. After saying good night to their friends, Joel and Mallory walked back to their hut.
"You sure were getting competitive during those cheers." he said as they walked inside.
"Well, sure. I'm ready for this and it's going to be fun." she said.
"So, how does it feel to be a tribe leader?" Joel asked.
"It feels amazing yet daunting at the same time because I don't look like the person to take the lead, but I'm grateful to have an opportunity to show that I'm worthy to take on a leadership role." Mallory explained.
"That's my girl. Well, we've got a long day tomorrow, so let's go to bed." Joel said as he got underneath the bed covers.
"Good night." Mallory said, then blew out a candle in a lantern and got in bed.
~~~~~~~~~~
The next day consisted of the three tribes competing in various games. Each game will earn the winning team 100 points and each tribe will put forward the best players for those particular games. Everyone looked they were having a lot of fun, which was a good feeling because all the kids never had the chance to be kids.
The Crimson Angels tribe won the three-legged race, the parachute game, and the hula hoop contest.
The Azure Apostles tribe won the fighting circle, the sack race, and the ring toss.
The Verdes Maximus tribe won tug-o-war, the spider web maze, and the limbo contest.
Since there's a 3-way tie between the tribes, there was one more challenge to determine a winner...a scavenger hunt, which will be done between the leaders.
Mallory, Frypan, and Aris were given three lists of things that they need to find throughout the island. Whoever can make it back first with most or all of the items on their list...wins.
It was a close call between all three leaders, but Frypan managed to come out on top for the Verdes Maximus tribe to take the win. Everyone in the tribe cheered in victory and the other two tribes clapped in good sportsmanship.
When it was all over, Mallory said good night to her friends and walked to her hut. She could hear some voices inside as she got closer. It sounded more like singing rather than talking.
J: So let us begin
The celebration and the ceremony
There's silence on Earth but the Heavens are roarin'
Tellin' the story of the coming glory
J&L: Can you feel your heart begin to race?
Can you see the tide begin to change?
With all of our futures rearranged
The world will never be the same
J&L: For God is with us
Oh
God is with us
Oh
Mallory walks in on Joel and Luke. They stopped what they were doing to try and cover their tracks. They felt like they got caught red-handed.
"Hey, love bug." Joel said to her.
Luke just laughed nervously to himself.
"You two sounded really good. What was that?" Mallory asked.
"Just singing to ourselves." Luke answered.
Mallory felt a sense that she wasn't buying into it, as well as feeling like they weren't going to tell her what they were really up to. Suddenly, she remembered something and left the hut.
Once Mallory was gone, Joel and Luke could let out sighs of relief.
"This is gonna to be tough to pull off." Luke said as he gathered up the papers from the bed.
"This song is supposed to be a surprise for the one year celebration, so we have to make it work." Joel explained.