Later that evening, as everyone slowly drifted their own separate ways, I rested on the couch with some coffee and a bit of confusion about the events from earlier.
If I wasn't mistaken, Darrell had mentioned that Brett's plan was disrespectful to me before he mentioned anything about his rule. Once, and only once, he was explicitly nice to Carter by bringing him an apple, but other than that, I couldn't think of another time he had thought about anyone but himself.
Maybe he was finally starting to get used to me. Maybe he actually didn't hate my guts. Maybe he just found me slightly less horrible than Brett. Whatever the case, I was in a better spot with him than ever before, and nothing could wipe the smile off my face.
Well, except for everything else that happened.
"You still pissed about Brett?" Logan asked as he finally sat next to me.
"Not really," I replied.
"Well, you look pissed."
I thought I was smiling. Huh. "That's just my face, Logan."
"Yeah, I know. I used to think it was kind of irritating, but I'm used to it now."
I looked over at him. "What?"
"Apparently that was the wrong answer. Maybe I'll get it next—"
I interrupted. "No, I think you're just giving a bunch of wrong answers today."
I rose my eyebrows. Those words weren't supposed to escape the labyrinth of my mind.
"Did I—did I do something? Out of everyone who could have pissed you off today, was I the one that did it?" Logan asked.
"It's nothing. I'm just a little upset that you didn't say anything to Brett when he started to go overboard, that's all. It's not that big of a deal. I'll get over it."
Logan let out an annoyed laugh. "You're mad because I didn't tell Brett to fuck off?"
"Not mad. Just slightly upset." I ran my hand down my braided hair and looked down at the floor.
"Well, don't get slightly upset with me for not doing something that you could have easily done yourself," Logan said.
That was an undeniably good point, so I chose to switch gears on the conversation. "Turn the sarcasm down a few notches. People are trying to sleep, and I don't want Darrell to hate me," I said as the smile from earlier snuck up on my face.
Darrell didn't hate me. Maybe it wasn't too much to ask that I could do what I wanted and have everyone on the planet like me at the same time.
"I don't want to argue with you right now. If you want, I'll kick Brett's ass tomorrow, but I already had tonight all planned out in my—"
I interrupted once again. "No offense, but Brett would probably kick your ass."
Logan stared at me for a moment. "Are you trying to pick a fight with me?"
"You and I both know that's the last thing I'd want."
"Okay," he said, then took in a breath. "I don't want that either."
"Good." I rested my head up against him and looked down at my fingernails with chipped polish. "Do you want to go on my whale trip tomorrow with me?"
"I would fucking love to. And I promise I'll keep my vomiting to a minimum," he said, although the harshness from his tone hadn't quite dissipated yet.
"Alright, Puke Boy," I said with a smile. "You said you had something planned for tonight."
"Nothing planned exactly, but I figured we could just act like everything is normal again."
"When were things ever normal here? We're in the middle of the ocean, which unfortunately, is not the norm for society."
He hesitated for a moment before he stood up from the couch. "Right." Logan extended his hand out to me. "Then we'll pretend that we're the only two people here."
"But we're not," I said and stared at his hand in the illumination of my phone's flashlight.
"You're not grasping the concept of pretending, are you? I know you're quite the brilliant mind, but there are times when I wonder how natural selection hasn't weeded you out yet."
I laughed and finally took his hand to stand up. "That's not funny."
"Then you and I have different reactions to what's not funny."
Through the dull light of my phone's flashlight, I could make out the features of his face, and his eyes gazed back toward me. The corner of his mouth tilted upward, and I mirrored that expression.
"So, if we were the only ones here," I began, hoping Logan would fill in the blank at the end.
"I'd ask you to dance with me," he said.
"What?"
"Sometimes I just feel like we miss out on all the things normal people get to do, so I'd ask you to dance with me."
I hesitated. "You don't seem like the dancing type."
"Not really, but I have a theory that you'd be pretty damn good at it, like everything else."
I smiled as my heart rate sped up. "I guess I'd prefer that over arguing."
He tugged on my hips until I gave in and stood close enough to him for dancing. My initial impression was that this was very, very odd, but I didn't mention anything along those lines. He could figure it out for himself.
"No music?" I asked.
"I just figured the foghorn was romantic enough. Plus, you know, we're not actually alone here," he replied.
"Good point."
Instead, I played the music inside my head.
Almost heaven, West Virginia—
I mentally shook my head. Nope. John Denver had his time to shine earlier.
I picked a different song as we swayed, barely enough to be considered dancing.
Take me down to the paradise city, where the grass is green and the girls are pretty.
Another no. There wasn't even any grass on the island.
"I'm sorry, but could you just play a song really quietly? It's bothering me that I can't pick one out in my head," I said.
Logan let out a sigh. "What kind of music do you listen to?"
"Anything besides Take Me Home, Country Roads and Paradise City. They weren't working for me."
"You're sure it was the lack of music that wasn't working for you?"
I thought for a moment. Sure, that bothered me, but this whole dancing thing didn't feel very... us.
"Maybe not. No offense, but maybe this is one normal couple-y thing that we can kind of just cross off our list."
"Fine by me. I just figured you wanted something like that."
I laughed. "At least we're on the same page about it."
"Why don't we go watch the stars and seals instead? That'll feel more comfortable," Logan suggested, and I nodded.
The two of us put on our shoes to head outside, and with the first step I took, I knew we made a much more us choice than earlier. The stars lit up the night much more than my phone did inside, and I took in a breath of the crisp air. It wasn't as chilly as some other Paradise City nights, but it was still cooler than the summer nights in West Virginia that I tried to forget.
This was the life I signed up for, and although the rocks were covered in bird feces and my skin was a little oily, it was the most perfect night I could have imagined.
Maybe what pleased everyone else wasn't what was best for me when it came to love.
Logan looked up to the sky, and since we were so far away from anyone or anything, there was no light to interfere with the view of the natural light. The full moon pierced the sky with its shine, and the stars enlightened the earth with their part of the constellations' stories across the heavens.
"Yep. This was definitely the move. I have nothing negative to say about any of this," he said.
"Huh. That almost never happens," I replied, then smiled at him. "The stars are so gorgeous out here. I don't think you and I appreciate them enough."
Logan didn't reply to that; instead, he kept staring up at the sky.
It seemed that I had found something else the indifferent Logan wasn't so indifferent about.
"No," he finally said. "I don't think we appreciate it enough either. It's amazing."
I nodded wordlessly.
"Hey," Logan said, and I looked down from the sky at him. "So I was thinking while Brett was hitting on you earlier, and he missed a completely obvious one."
I shook my head. "I don't want to hear another one of those ridiculous—"
"You like whales?"
"Yeah." I didn't like where this was going.
He filled his pause with a smile. "Then you'll love this Moby Dick."
I covered my mouth with my hand before any sort of noise whatsoever could escape.
Was it rude? Yes. Inappropriate? Yes. Funny? Absolutely yes.
Maybe the stars had just aligned perfectly, but that stupid, horrible, hilarious line was just about to work for him.
***
With the endorphins from love, both Logan's and the ocean's, still running through my system, I stood on the edge of the boat as the saltwater sprayed up into my face. Logan leaned over the edge at my side, and like they had a mind of their own, my fingers ran down his spine.
We were a bit of a strange combination, but for the first time, it was a concept that completely made sense to me. Perhaps it wasn't a conventional relationship, but he appreciated what I loved enough that he was willing to throw up over it. And that in itself was a first. Nobody ever liked me enough to put up with my one-track mind, except for Logan.
For once, my mind was as clear as the open ocean. There was nothing more therapeutic than the gentle bobbing of the boat, the smell of salt, and the cooling spray to fight against the ever-warming sun.
Logan leaned over the side of the boat and threw up.
I pulled my hand away from his back and pressed it over my mouth. "Oh, shit. I mean, hang in there."
"Thanks, Rea." He spit into the ocean and wiped off his mouth.
Neither one of us said anything for a moment, but the lull wasn't awkward at all, even if Logan had just thrown up. The hum of the engine filled it well, and if I wasn't mistaken, there was a palpable buzz of excitement in the air.
"I think I have some gum in my bag if you want me to go get it for you," I said, and he looked over at me and nodded before turning right back to his braced position for optimal puking.
Mostly I wanted to get away from the terrible smell, but helping him was a perfect cover-up for that.
Nastasya and Robbie chatted in the cabin of the boat with Robbie at the wheel as I came in. Nastasya sat next to him, and she held some sort of case in her lap.
"Is that my crossbow?" I asked.
Nastasya stared back at me with wide eyes that I had never seen on her before. "It makes me feel like a badass, and since I recently lost my drone—"
I laughed as I searched through my bag for the gum I promised Logan. "You can hold it. It's not technically mine, and it makes me feel like a badass too."
"You know, you and that Logan kid remind me of me and my wife when we were young," Robbie said, then straightened his hat. I wondered if he ever took it off.
I snuck a glance over at his hands that steered the boat, but there was no ring on his left hand. Was his wife dead? Of course, that wasn't any of my business, but a curious child still lived inside me, even if I looked twenty-one.
Instead of asking about her, I smiled instead. "Yeah?"
"She always used to say that she knew I loved her when I began to look at her like I look at the ocean, and I think that's pretty interesting. She was beautiful and filled with life, but I also knew that she was a force of nature, just like the sea," Robbie continued.
Nastasya gave a tight-lipped smile and nodded her head for a moment, then look down to the floor.
"You really think so?" I asked, and without even thinking about it, I checked over my shoulder to give Logan a glance. "You think this could be like that?"
I wasn't entirely sure what I thought other than I really liked him, but had I accidentally stumbled upon a treasure that others spent their lives looking for? Was it really that easy?
Huh.
I always figured I'd have to give up more for something like true love, or whatever people called it, like I had to with my ocean dream.
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Hey there! Thank you so much for reading!
So it seems that someone has changed her mind on whether relationships are easy or difficult. How long do you think Reagan's current mentality will last?
And for a bonus question, what is your favorite thing to learn about?
For me, it doesn't exactly matter. I just like to know all sorts of stuff. History, science, languages, skills, or whatever else. I don't think I could possibly pick a favorite, since there's so much in the world that we know and so much that we don't.