I woke up earlier then usual the next morning, not wanting to wait for Claire to wake up. I unzipped the door quietly, trying not to make to much noise as I exited and closed the door as best as I could. I felt the heat hit me like a giant wave as I rolled my shorts and rolled my shirt, exposing skin that was already sun kissed.
I wasn’t sure what I was to work on today, but I knew I had to occupy myself. I decided I could sharpen the rock that had served as a knife that Claire had given me, so I made my way to the water pool.
I knew we needed to clear a path for us, just to make it easier to access the water, so as I walked I began pulled down leaves and vines, kicking branches out of the way. Finally I made it to the water hole, finding the big, sharp rock sticking out of the ground, remembering how it had come in handy for cracking coconuts.
I pushed my rock against the other, grinding it away as I made it sharp against the edge of the rock. I began to sweat as I continued to grind it down, chipping away until I felt it was sharp enough.
And I couldn’t stop thinking about last night with Claire.
I didn’t know why I had come onto her so hard, I didn’t regret it though, because I did want her. I wanted her to want me to, and I figured it was only because it was just her and I on this dreaded island.
If we would be in Rio I would most likely never have given her a second thought.
Or would I?
Sitting next to her sparked something in my stomach, when I had looked up into those familiar green eyes. Something in my stomach knotted, and even if I had ignored it, it had made me slightly happy on the inside. So maybe, just maybe, I would’ve tried to keep contact with her in Rio.
Maybe I liked her more then I wanted to admit to myself. Maybe I wasn’t completely over her like I had convinced my heart, and knowing that was a possibility scared me.
Because now it was just her and I on this very dangerous and primitive island.
I studied the rock, touching the sharp end, knowing it was sharp enough. I put it in the hymn of my shorts and made my way back to the camp, hoping Claire would want to join me in finding breakfast.
But she wasn’t even awake yet.
I had been gone for at least thirty or forty minutes, we had shit to do and she needed to wake up.
I crawled in the camp and on top of her, straddling her sleeping body as I let my hands under her arms and tickled her. She gasped away, laughing and angry words coming out of her mouth, “Alex! Stop it dammit!”
I laughed at her reaction, “It’s time to wake up.”
She squirmed under my hands as she tried to force me off of her but I let her have her mercy as I fell off of her. She punched me in the arm, “I hate you.”
It stung hearing that but I knew she didn’t mean it, I grabbed her arm and pulled her back, “You don’t mean that.”
She gave me a very mean look and I smiled slightly, easing her morning anger. I grabbed her hand, “C’mon, I’m hungry, we’ll go find some food.”
She followed me out of the camp and I let the sun soak me once again, grabbing my sharp stick and my knife and starting down the beach. She fell into the same pace with me, and in the back of my head I was hoping she would bring up last night.
I don’t know why exactly.
I looked down at my feet as the sand made it’s way through the creases of my toes, and suddenly I spotted the spot where the fish liked to prowl. I looked at her, “Want to give it a go?”
I handed her the spear and she took it slowly, holding it tightly in her hand as she looked at the spot where all the fish were. We stepped into the warm, shallow water, moving slowly toward the fish as I stayed close to Claire. I could tell she was nervous about doing this, she had never done it before, but I would help if she needed.
We approached a school of fish, and we moved closer very slowly, taking our positions. Claire brought the spear down quickly, only missing the fish by an inch, and she brought it back up, “Damn it.”
I smiled, we continued walking toward more fish and she continued to take stabs at them but she couldn’t seem to catch one.
She was frustrated, “Damn it! It’s harder than it looks.”
I held her hand over the spear, guiding her over the fish that was circling between our legs. I had practically mastered this, you just had to be quick, and not hesitate. I could feel her warm skin under mine and I spoke, “Just follow it, and when it slightly stops, stab it.”
I brought the spear down with her hands gripping it tightly, and the fish flailed as it was now close to death. Claire looked up at me, smirking, “You’re good at this.”
I shrugged, “I’m the food provider, remember?”
She shoved me slightly, making me laugh as she put the fish into a sack she had created from clothing. It was like a gatherer bag, and it was really smart.
She was the one who liked to invent things.
“Can I get this one on my own?”
I nodded, handing her my spear as she walked through the water slowly, coming near a couple of fish. I watched her from afar, her tanned legs looking extremely inviting as her quad muscles protruded. She was focused on hunting while I was focused on her, and then the spear came down, revealing a catch on the end.
She smiled victoriously, putting the fish into her bag and handing me the spear, I spoke, “Maybe I can make you your own spear.”
She smiled, and for a second I thought I saw something inside her that was happy… and different.
We made our way back to camp as I began cutting the fish so we could cook and eat it. Claire cleaned out the coconut bowls and cracked a fresh one to flavor the fish, “This bland fish is really getting old.”
I looked at her, “I mean unless you have fish fry somewhere in that suitcase, it looks like you’re stuck with it.”
She sighed, looking at the sea for awhile, and then nearly blurting, “Do you think I could possibly get some salt from the ocean?”
I looked at her, “You’d have to boil the salt after you evaporate the water, we have no bowls that could sustain that kind of heat.”
She fell back, “Looks like we’re stuck with coconut flavoring then.”
I laughed to myself as I threw the fish onto the plate to cook, the sun was hot on my skin but I was used to it now. Me and Claire had gained nice tans, our skin had burnt but we had dug out some sunscreen in a former suitcase so it helped slightly.
Then as I thought I was in the clear on what I had pulled last night, I was proved wrong. “So, last night… what exactly were you trying?”
I circled my finger in the sand as I tried to muster up an answer, but I really had none. I didn’t want to sound desperate for her attention, because I wasn’t the person to say that, but I was. I shrugged, “I don’t know, maybe I was just thinking about what we used to be.”
She stayed quiet for awhile, which sort of scared me, “”Which was…?”
That stung a little, and it forced me to bail out. I shook my head, “Nothing…”
She grabbed my hand, “No, Alex… I didn’t mean it that way.”
“How did you mean it Claire?”
She sighed, as if searching for a legit answer, “I just… do you… do you miss it?”
I scratched my head, shrugging, “Yea, I kind of do Claire.”
“Why? All I did was hurt you.”
“You did hurt me, but it wasn’t always like that. You would lead me on and then bail on me when I thought I had you, you weren’t fair… but you were different.”
“Good different?”
I looked at her, nodding, “Good different.”
~ ~ ~ ~
The conversation with Claire had ended soon enough as we ate our food and went on our ways to doing our separate things. I had gone into the jungle to the water hole to clean off some clothes and she had started creating her own fishing tools.
So you could say we had gotten nowhere.
I had noticed that there was a huge mountain in the distance from where we were located and I felt compelled to go there. It would give us an amazing vantage point to actually see how big this island was, and it might reveal something vitally important.
I made my way back to camp as it began to get dark, I would pitch the idea of traveling to the mountain to Claire tonight and hopefully she would be up for it.
I felt like going there would be really important for some reason.
***A/N***
Hope you guys are enjoying the story, it’s really fun to write for you guys! The comments of encouragement keep me going guys, I know I have the best fans ever. “Stranded” is mostly just a project I started because the idea interested me but it is going to be a SHORT STORY. It’s not going to be full on 56 chapters like “Dear Mrs. Rose” or anything. It’s going to be short and quick because I already have my next STORY underway. It will be another TeacherxStudent story, but with a twist! So enjoy “Stranded” while it lasts because soon after I’ll be posting my new one!