Bells thoughts she might as well have been sleeping for ages, or at least, it felt like it. She found herself face-up on the shore, her dark brown curls wet and full of sand. The crashing waves still came down and rose up to her feet, before slowly sinking back into the ocean again; the blazing sun overhead blinded her eyes for a moment and warmed her skin. She could hear the sound of trees swaying and salty sea winds blowing past her. Her body had seemed to sink into the sand somewhat, making her dress full of sand and water. If things were not bad enough, her body felt as though it had been beaten like a piñata. She was sore all over; she was not sure whether she could move or not. It was slightly discomforting.

She tried to remember exactly how she had arrived on this island or beach or wherever she had ended up. It was all a big blur. Her and her troop had been sailing on her parents' boat after the large ceremony they had announcing the winners: Her troop had not been one of of them had really cared to begin with. They had spent months and months trying to rid themselves of those disgusting Girl Scout cookies, so given that this had been the end, they felt a celebration was in order.

'Until next year!' She remembered toasting with a glass of fizzing, ice cold soda.

There had been a big quake that caused everything to stumble forward after that; the lights going out and making the place completely dark; there had been screams and cries of worry or panic, and the shifting feeling of rocking and thrashing. The storm that had formed outside had been harsh and rough on the now calming waters; it must have been how the boat had crashed into the reef and the rocks. She could see Ms. Norris' wrinkled face telling them to stay calm; that things would be over soon. She had not even known how she had managed to end up toppling over the side of the stern.

The young teenager sat up and looked at her surroundings. The island was similar to those that she saw in the postcards her grandmother sent her: White sandy beaches; tall green palm trees and crystal blue ocean as far as the eye could see. She groaned when she felt her tender muscles stretch, rubbing her arms. The orange frilly dress she had worn to the party was wet; it stuck to her skin and felt uncomfortable. Blue greens scanned the area for any signs of life. It appeared that she was the only one on the beach. They had to have made it out alright. They were a tough group for a bunch of Girl Scouts. They could survive anything. Her stomach turned into a knot.

"Chief!" A voice called in the distance.

Bells turned her head with a grin on her face. Few feet away, a tall skinny girl with trenches of curly red hair trudged through the sand on her way down to her. She wore a champagne colored halter dress that was also damp and worn looking; even torn at the bottom hem. The girl came up to her and held out a hand for assistance. With an easy tug, Bells was lifted onto her feet, trying to move her body to ease her muscles somewhat. Jess smiled down at her, and then spoke.

"You okay? Nothing broken or anything?" She asked concerned.

"Nah," Bells replied with a hand through her hair, "Could use a massage and a shower, but other than that I'm fine."

Jess chuckled softly, and then started forward towards the jungle. "I've been looking for you for ages," She told her. "We thought we lost you."

"'We'? You mean the others made it?" The knot in her stomach unraveled itself, leaving her feeling much better.

"Yeah. They're over here."

She pointed to a shade of palm trees, where a group of girls settled. They lounged out on long logs; rested against the tree or even sat in them on the branches. The small semi-circle seemed to look like a meeting place rather than a random spot on a beach; laid out just for them. Also, the way some of the girls were dressed, one would think they were out for a day on the beach. Some had torn their dresses and now had them as skirts while their bras were now more like bikini tops; others wore nothing but their underwear, and a few were still in their full clothes with only shoes off. They all turned their heads when Bells and Jess showed up beside them. Calls of greeting, words of relief and hugs were exchanged. It made her feel better knowing they were all safe and together.

"Alright, so everyone is here, right?" Bells asked.

"Linda's hurt," A small girl with waist length red hair said, pointing to a spot nearby, "And Ms. Norris is missing."

On one of the logs sat a girl with curly black hair and deep blue eyes. A bandage had been put around her arm, which she cradled in the other arm now. There was a large spot of blood.

"Lin," Bells came beside her.

"I'm good, Bells," She replied, raising a hand dismissively. "Nothing I can't get over."

"But you could get an infection," One girl said from a tree.

"Not if you keep it bandaged up," Jess told her.

Bells examined Linda for a moment. The girl was slender and her hair was equally wet, but drying in the cool sea breeze. She took the arm tenderly and observed it. The bandage was made of a glittery blue cotton fabric she guessed came from the bottom of Linda's dress; the blood was dark against it, and Bells hoped the bone was not sticking out.

"Where's Ms. Norris?" She asked, looking around the landscape behind them.

"We don't know," Jess answered. "We think she might have….died."

There was a silence as they all pondered on it. The thought of Ms. Norris, their lovely elderly troop mother, sinking into the dark depths of the ocean made a shiver go down Bells' spine. She had gotten the through so much. She supported them and stayed optimistic when their own moral had run low. She had helped Bells plan the party, because she believed they had all deserved it. Now, they were all alone, with no parent or adult to help them. They were abandoned; scared and troubled. The thought of them dying on the island came to the young fourteen-year-old. She shut her eyes to clear it out of her mind.

When she felt a hand touch her own, Bells opened them again. Linda gave her a reassuring smile. Although, she could detect a bit of her own doubts in it.

"We should keep looking for her," Someone else said.

Nora was leaning against one of the trees when she said it. The narrow shouldered girl with sandy blonde hair gazed at them with lovely dark eyes. The small black dress she wore was frayed somewhat and clinging to her skin.

"She might be washed up somewhere. We have to find her, B. She might be hurt." Her voice was full of concern and anxiety.

"We will," Bells said, "But we need to straighten some things out first." She got off the log and stood up to face them, "When we find Ms. Norris, we can bring her back here and she will help us get off this island. Until then, we make our own way. We're going to need food and fresh water to stay alive. Has anyone seen any kind of fruit or anything?"

A hand from the smaller group of girls rose up. "Yes, Judy?"

"I saw some of those little banana thingies on one of the trees over there," She pointed westward. "We couldn't get to them though. We're sorry."

"It's okay. We can get to them," Linda told the girl, patting her head for comfort.

"Water?" There was no show of hands. "Okay, we're gonna have to work on the water issue." She gave a small pause before saying, "We also need to build some kind of signal. Nobody knows that the boat has crashed or that we're stuck here. If we build a signal, someone is bound to see it and come get us. Anybody have an idea of what we could do?"

There was silence. "We could build a big sign out of the trees," A girl sitting in one of the trees said, "Maybe if we make it large enough they will see it."

"No, we don't have anything to cut them down with," Jess said. "We need something simpler. A signal we can build without causing too much trouble"

"I know!" Linda piped up. "Remember that time Ms. Norris took us into the woods, and she made us believe we had taken a wrong turn and gotten lost?"

The older girls nodded, but the younger ones remained clueless. "And that she taught us how to make fire and smoke signals to attract attention to where we were? We can do that! We can make a fire; keep it going, and we'll be saved in no time."

"That's right," Bells said with a grin. "We'll do that, but where are we going to put the fire?"

"On the beach maybe?" Jess suggested. "We can keep an eye on it, and we won't have to worry about starting fires whenever we eat."

"And whatever comes our way is bound to see the smoke if it is out in front for them to see it," Said Nora.

Bells listened to their solutions with a nodding head, but were more sunk into her thoughts. What if there was some kind of village or place where there were people that could help them? It was worth looking into. Anything to get them all off the island as soon as possible. Looking up at the group again, she had figured out what they were going to do.

"We also need people to make shelters for us to sleep in at night," Bells said. "Did anyone get their Building Badge yet?"

A couple of the smaller ones and Linda and Nora raised their hands. "Alright, you ladies can start gathering up stuff to make the huts with. Linda, Nora, you guys are in charge, and guys," She addressed the little ones, "Please try and listen. We need to work together."

They all nodded and went to crowd around Linda and Nora. Bells then turned to Jess, "You and me will go into the jungle to see what else is here and try to find some food and water."

"Like, explore?"

"Yeah. You know I wouldn't go with anyone else."

They both shared smiles. Bells turned her gaze back to the other older girls. "Dana and Diana," The pair of twins sitting on the rock-with identical green eyes, brown hair and pink dresses-stared up at her. They could be no more than fourteen. "I want you to take the rest of the little kids and go look for wood and leaves to make a fire with."

"Okay," They said in unison.

"Now that we're all settled into groups," She said, "Let's move it!"

The girls all split up: Nora and Linda leading their group down the beach; Dana and Diana taking theirs inside the jungle, while Jess walked alongside Bells.

The jungle was hot, humid and green all over. There were vines hanging from the trees; bunches of bushes they had to go through to move; their bare feet crunched down on the dead leaves, twigs and fallen palm tree leaves. The colors consisted of all shades of green, brown and the occasional spout of color from a bundle of flowers. The two friends continued to walk. It was rare that they were together anymore, considering that they had different classes at school and they lived far apart. Before high school, they had been inseparable. They had classes together, lunches together and even walked home together.

Things change.

"You think we're going to be here for a long time, B?" Jess asked when they had passed a particularly lofty tree that seemed to bend and provide a shade for them from the burning sun.

"Probably," She answered, "But I'm sure someone will come get us in the end. It's only a matter of time."

"At least we don't have to go to school anymore," She said. "No teachers, no adults, no stupid boys…"

Bells laughed somewhat, "You, Jessica Swanson, actually happy she does not have a fresh supply of boys handy?"

"Okay, well maybe the boys I want, but only the cute ones. Like Taylor Johnson from math class or Toby Kenner. They're like gods among high school boys."

"They're total jerks," Bells said as she recalled the two popular boys from their school. The kinds that make girls like Jess swoon and sigh dreamily. "They bully people, have serious superiority issues, and only care about themselves. How could you want their fat heads here?"

"Alright then, who would you have?"

The two girls continued talking about the boys they would like to have accompany them on the island, which slowly diverged into sexual exploits with boys, which then turned into the conversation about what they would do when the infamous menstrual cycle came along. It was when Bells passed by a thicket of bushes that she heard something. She had stopped in her tracks, making Jess bump into her.

"Hey!" She said, but Bells shushed her.

Listening hard, Bells tried to decipher the very faint noises she was hearing in the distance. Were they voices or animals? She motioned Jess to follow her towards these curious sounds. They walked carefully, incase they were about to disturb some wild animal in the middle of it's feeding. The closer the two girls moved, the louder the voice became. It was…signing? Yes, it was some kind of chant that had an upbeat rhythm to it that Bells could make out.

"I know that song," Jess whispered. "My brother sings it."

"What is it?"

"This little marching song he learned from the military academy he goes to. He would sing it whenever he was mowing the lawn. I would know it anywhere."

"Then it has to be people!"

A bit more quickly, the pair of them drew closer to the edge of the jungle that met with grassy fields. They crouched in the bushes underneath a coconut tree. Once down, she tried to search for the group of people that were signing the song. Perhaps they were from a village on the island and they could help them. This could be their way home now. Running a hand through her hair, Bells felt her stomach churn as she looked around. Her eyes looked over the tops of the ruffling bushes; her hands gripping her aching knees. No matter how far she walked, it seemed her muscles stayed achy. They searched up and down the fields until they came to the conclusion that the place was deserted. There was nobody there. The thought of possibly imaging the whole thing came into Bells' mind. They really were alone on this island now. They would remain here until they died.

"Bell look! Right there!"

Bells looked to where Jess pointed and saw a line of boys marching. They were holding long sticks and were wearing parts of what could have been a uniform. They were a mix of young and older kids, but they had no adult with them. A tall brunette was leading the group, calling out the words to their march that the rest repeated. He seemed to be the only one in charge.

"Do you think they live here or are stranded like us?" Jess asked in whisper.

"I don't know-"

"-Ah!"

Smack! Thump! Jess tilted over and had smacked herself against the unsteady coconut tree, which shook for a moment and released a shower of coconuts. The girls covered their heads and moved out into the open away from the tree, which had stopped shaking at once.

"Well," Jess said, looking down and picking up a large coconut, "If we had some tequila and ice, we could have ourselves some good margaritas."

Bells laughed, and then heard a voice. "Hey!"

They turned.

The gang of boys had noticed their presence, which was not hard to miss on the count of the many thumps the coconuts had given.