CH 6: The Island
I awoke terribly sick, and threw up for about the first hour of my morning.
Once I got that out of my system, I return to the room and find Tori still sound asleep. It was about four in the morning.
I don't know how she looks so composed; most likely because she's already used to the alcohol. I'm sure she'll be feeling SOMETHING though very soon.
"Good morning!" The girl smiles, stretching and yawning as she rises.
Unbelievable.
"What? No barfing? No headache? Nothing?"
She looks at me strangely. "Hey, why are you waking me up at like... four?"
I sigh. "I'm just... not feeling very well is all."
"Aw." She searches the area around her, then picks up a half-empty bottle. "This should make you feel better!"
I swat it away. "No! That's the last thing I need right now!"
Someone needs to learn alcohol doesn't solve all her problems, and that someone is Tori.
"Starting now, you and I aren't going to touch a drop of that stuff for twenty four hours, understood?"
Her eyes widen. "What?" She stands now. "Jade, no! This is the only time I can drink! Please, please! Don't take that away from me!"
Drama queen.
"Just do this for me, just until the end of the day." I reason. "And if you make it to midnight, then I'll buy you all the boos you want. Sound like a deal?"
She contemplates. "No, Philip already has all the boos I could want. I want something else."
"Okay..." I drag, crossing my arms. "What's that?"
She looks away and blushes. "A kiss."
A...
She was giggling to herself, and holding her hands to her face like a little kid.
"Okay then. You go the whole day without drinking, and I'll kiss you." I agree, highly doubting she'd be able to hold out that long anyway.
I considered the risks; it's true she goes without alcohol all the time back home, but I figure it's only because it's not available to her. Even if she does go most the day without drinking, I can always tempt her before midnight. It's like a win-win situation.
"Yay!" She excites, then runs down stairs. I still have no clue how she has so much energy after last night.
I had went back to bed, and this time slept until 2.
A helmet landed on my stomach, and I nearly threw up.
"Tori, for god sakes!"
"Get up lazy girl, we're going for a ride!"
Though I don't think she has any alcohol in her, it's possible she had a drink while I was asleep. Like I said though, she seems pretty sober now, and back to her regular Tori.
I climb on the back of her water bike and clasp my arms around her for support. My helmet was loosely placed upon my head, as I was too lazy to properly put it on. It doesn't matter; Tori's a friggin shark on this thing. I wasn't worried.
"You wanna tell me where we're going?" I shout over the roaring waves.
"Marina." I thought she had said, but it's hard to hear with the wind and such. I later learned she was taking me to the island in the middle of lake Diamond; Serena.
She sped toward the island, and I began to get nervous. She pulls back at the last second, and I'm impressed at her control over the black jet.
"Welcome to isle Serena!" She announces, removing her head protection.
She claims she gave it this name for its serine surroundings and lovely view.
"And why have you brought me to said island...?" I ponder, hopping off the machine.
"Cause there's no beer here!"
That's what she thinks! Me, being smart, brought along a canteen full of the stuff.
"And, I've always wanted to explore this place." The girl admits.
"Sounds like a lot of work." I sigh. But there's nothing better to do.
She lead the way, grabbing a long stick from the ground and using it as a walking stick. She hopped down the path cheerfully, humming one of the songs Andre wrote and occasionally skipping.
I remember why she annoys me so much...
I follow behind, walking along the trail toward the middle of the island. It wasn't too big, and there were people's summer homes all around the outside, but apparently there's nothing but forests in the middle section.
"Let's play I Spy!" The quirky girl suggests.
"Why?" I nag.
She stops and turns around. "Why not?" She asks, slightly upset.
"Cause that game's stupid!" I conclude.
She slouches her shoulders. "Aw. Well, can we play something else?"
"Yeah!" I say in a southern accent. "Let's all play the shut the hell up game!" I shout, switching back to my regular voice at the end.
"What's your problem?" She states, glaring in my direction.
I ignore her.
It was one of those silent walks for a while. I thought I wanted her to be sober, but the truth is she's only fun when she drinks. It's sad. I know I shouldn't be encouraging such behavior, but I wasn't going to spend my time here with a chipper Tori, and I DEFINATLY wasn't going back to grannies.
"Want some water?" I offer, pulling the canteen from my belt loop.
She seemed shock; I think she forgot I was there. That or she was just to lost in shock. She took the container from me when I offered, and opened the lid.
She puts her mouth on the lid, then shoots back. "This does not smell like water!"
Crap.
"Well how would you know? You probably drink this stuff so much it's become usual for you!"
"You make me sound like an alcoholic!" She hollers back.
"THAT'S BECAUSE YOU ARE!"
"Oh yeah..." The spacey girl remembers. "But only some times..."
Hopeless.
"Look, just have some. Just a little! Something that'll make you at least a little entertaining." I explain.
"Is that all I am to you?" She picks up. "Entertainment, and a provider for a place that you can stay?"
She seemed angry, but that's totally not what I meant! The truth is, Tori and I have really become friends over the past couple of days.
"N-no!" I stutter. "That's not what I-"
"You want entertainment? Fine. Then find your own way back! That should keep you busy for a while!" The upset girl out lashes in rage, and the runs off, dropping the canteen on the ground.
"Tori!" I call, drooping in disappointment.
I tried to follow her, but I quickly lost track of her.
It wouldn't be too hard finding my way OFF the island... I'll just have to walk in one constant direction until I find the water's edge. The problem is, I would have to swim back, or catch the ferry on the hour.
Which wouldn't be hard either, but I wanted to find my distraught friend before I went anywhere. I thought to look for the black jet, considering she'd have to go there eventually. On my way toward the shore though, I changed tactics and figured I would instead search the wooded area.
"Vega?" I call for the tenth time today. "I'm sorry. Please come out."
It was no use. I don't even know if she'd still on the island anyway! All I did was mock her a little, but I get how she can be so upset. I guess... it could seem like I'm just taking advantage of her. I have to find her, and clear this up.
And what was with her this morning, wanting to kiss me? I hope she wasn't serious. I don't know what's gotten into this girl all of the sudden.
While walking, I check up trees and on the ground, looking to see if the girl had left tracks or was hiding above. I accidentally ran into a small bush, and tripped and fell to the ground.
"Whoa!"
That was certainly clumsy!
But now I had thorns and pickers all over my clothes. ...they hurt! What kind of strange fruit was this place growing, anyway? Small, round red berries. And not like raspberries either. Like a blueberry; but half the size. ...and red. This sucks.
I thought about eating one... my stomach was empty and I was pretty exhausted from walking all this way. The odds of it being harmful aren't worth it, though, considering I may be stuck here for the rest of the day.
I took a break and sat by a tree, where I pulled the pickers off my top. Some were on the inside, which lead to me having to remove my top to take them out. I realized my skin was starting to become puffy and red from the sticky pickers, and wonder if I should be concerned.
I finish removing the spikes from my bra, but decide to leave my top off due to the increasing heat. It would probably cool off when it starts getting dark, but in the mean time, there's really no one here anyway.
Searching the island was exhausting. I wish I still had my canteen. At least I could fill it up with lake water or something to keep me from dehydrating. I'd been to the black jet three times, and each it still sat there.
"Maybe she caught the ferry back and left me the bike." I sigh.
I should be getting back, since she's probably there anyway. I don't want her to worry about me, if she even cares at this point.
"There you are!" I hear, and at first see nothing.
I look around until I notice the sound wasn't coming from behind, but above. Tori was laying on a branch, staring down at me.
"I thought you went back home! You've been here this whole time?" She asks, then starts her way down.
"Yep." I reply when she reaches a lower branch. "Lookin for you."
"I thought I annoyed you though." She says, nearly slipping on the next one.
I gasp, but she catches her balance.
"...yeah, sorry about that." I admit.
I look up at her, now only a few feet above the ground. She smiled at me in an accepting way, then loses her footing and slips for real.
"TORI!" I freak, and run to her position. She was caught by the edge of her shirt, and it looked like she was choking.
"Uh! Stuck!" She announces.
"No shit!" I call. "Tori, get down here before you hurt yourself!"
She flails about for a few seconds before finally slipping out of her top and landing on the ground in front of me.
"Ow." She sounds. "Thanks for catching me!" The hurt girl glares.
"Sorry. I was too busy watching you struggle." I tease.
"Yeah, I bet you enjoyed that."
Soon she smiled though and laughed. At least she wasn't upset with me anymore.
"We should get back to the jet." I advise, and start toward the edge of the island. I knew this place like the back of my hand, after searching around here all day.
"Actually..." Tori starts, and I stop. "It's kinda at home."
I stare at her wide eyed. "What?"
"Well! I thought you might have went home, so I rode the jet back, but you weren't there, so I was gonna go back and look for you, but if you had taken the ferry here, I figured I could catch you on the way over, and I also figured that if you were waiting for the ferry to get here, then I could catch you when we arrived at-"
"How much time do we have until the last ferry leaves?" I interrupt. For all I know, it could have left in the middle of her long explanation.
"Dunno. But I think we should hurry... it's getting dark."
We sprint as fast as we can to the edge where the ferry stops, but when we arrive, the boat isn't even on the cable.
I don't think it really hit either of us that we were now stranded here until tomorrow. We never verbally said the ferry wasn't coming back for us, but we sure did know it. You couldn't really tell that we knew it though, because we showed no concern what-so-ever.
"...we could play hind and go seek!" Was Tori's response to the missing boat.
Tori must have been starving, but I think she's used to it by now. I was also pretty hungry, but I figure if Tori can handle it, so can I. I also like to think that if you ignore something it'll go away, but Tori has already proved that theory wrong. I was stuck with this bitch forever. And I was kinda okay with it.
"Hey."
It didn't matter what I did to her in the past, there was no getting rid of her. Ever. It didn't even matter to her that I yelled at her and called her annoying, and practically admitted to using her. She was still concerned for me, and I was concerned for her. Maybe we just can't help but care.
"Hey..."
She and I found a little hovel in the center of this island; the deepest part of the woods, as a matter of fact, and we'd made a temporary home out of it. We even found my canteen before coming here, considering we had plenty of time to walk around the island and play whatever games Tori wanted. We stopped by a random house on the island and filled up our water bottles. Tori said that the people who lived there hadn't come back in years... so it was safe to go in. I'm just surprised the sink still worked.
"Heeeey!"
"What?" I moan and swing around.
"Are you asleep?" Tori asks.
I stare at her in disbelief.
"...right." she sighs. "Well, you weren't answering and stuff, so I just thought... I don't know. Never mind.
With that she crawls back to her area and slumps against a tree.
"Very cute." I smile at her. "But really, you should go to bed. It's like-" I reach into my pockets, then freeze. "Well, if I had my phone on me, I could tell you what time it is."
"I can tell you what time it is." She smirks with pride.
"How?"
She was looking up at the sky now. The moonlight shone through the trees, dotted by little star-like fruits glowing between the branches.
"It's really easy. Just think of the sun and the moon like hands on a clock." She explains.
I sit closer to see what she's pointing at, and the three-quarter moon was visible from her position.
"When the sun is just peaking over the east, it's six o clock in the morning. And when it reaches its highest point, that makes it twelve o' clock in the morning."
"Okay." I follow.
"So when it sets, that makes it six PM." She continues. "And the spots in between are nine AM, and three PM."
"So it's obviously past 6..." I comment.
She smiles. "You're smart. The moon and the sun are opposite of each other... you figure out the rest."
With that she looks back at the night sky. If 12PM happens when the sun is at its highest point, then obviously, since the moon is at its highest point.
I get the weirdest feeling I'm missing something, or, forgetting something. Not only that, but Tori was acting a lot different now. And not drunk different, but... something about her.
"..." She looked at me briefly, then looked the other way quickly. There must be something I'm forgetting... let's see...
~~~Flashback~~~
"I need those to say words!"
"Yeah, but wouldn't life be better if you couldn't?"
"JADE!"
~~~Flashforward~~~
Wait... that wasn't it. Maybe...
~~~Flashback~~~
"I'm a vampire!" She giggles. "I'mma suck your blood, Jade!"
~~~Flashforward~~~
What if Tori seriously is a vampire? And being explosed to the moonlight will turn her into a bat! ...no, no. That's crazy. I was getting closer, though.
~~~Flashback~~~
"How much time do we have until the last ferry leaves?"
"Dunno. But I think we should hurry... it's getting dark."
~~~Flashforward~~~
Too far that time. Tori was standing now, and began up the tree she was previously leaning against. I think she wanted to get a better view of the moon, maybe to try and calculate exact minutes, even. ...oh wait! That's it!
~~~Flashback~~~
"Just do this for me, just until the end of the day." I reason. "And if you make it to midnight, then I'll buy you all the boos you want. Sound like a deal?"
She contemplates. "No, Philip already has all the boos I could want. I want something else."
"Okay..." I drag, crossing my arms. "What's that?"
~~~Flashforward~~~
I look to her instantly at memory of this event, and she looks away and blushes...
"Hey." I say. "Get down here."
She slowly climbs down. "I'm not gonna fall again." She shrugs, although complying anyway.
"Not that. ...About this morning." I state, and hope she'll fill in the blanks.
"I had a feeling you were gonna ask me about that..." She winces, looking down.
"Look, I get it. You were drunk, you didn't mean it, and, if you still want me to buy you alcohol, then I will! Or if you don't want alcohol now, I could get you something else." I shrug. "You know, cause you haven't drank in twenty four hours. You won the bet, you get your reward."
"But I already told you what I want!" She argues, stomping her foot. "And, I know you were drunk, talking about... teachers and stuff, and, I know you were hung over when you promised you'd kiss me, but you still promised."
"Tori, no."
"You said you would!" Tori snaps. "I heard you! You said 'you won the bet, you get your reward'."
"I don't sound like that!" I defend, and feel an odd tinge of irony.
She just smirks and crosses her arms triumphant. I sigh and take s few paces in the other direction, and even though she may have won that last one, she's still not getting a kiss from me.
"...so maybe that method only works on me." She huffs, then drops against the tree. "Go figure."
Now I just felt bad.
"Hey, it's nothing against you!" I confide, and take a step closer. "You're a beautiful girl! ...if it's any constellation, I would so pick you over Miss Hill."
She lets out a laugh. "Right. The one you said was fat and hideous."
Why? Why does she have to be like this.
I sit next to her now, but she turns her face away. Was she seriously this upset because I wouldn't kiss her?
"...it's just a kiss, you know. It doesn't mean I don't like you, it just means I have a boyfriend... and that would kinda be like cheating."
She doesn't say anything, and at first I don't know if she's ignoring me, or just thinking.
After a few minutes..."Let's play 'If you could'." She decides.
"Isn't that a drinking game?" I ask, not quite sure where she's going with this.
"It's still a game, and it doesn't require alcohol, really. It's just a little more ridicules with it. Totally not necessary.
I look at her nervously. "...okay."
"I'll go first." She announces, then takes a breath in. "Jade."
I flinch as she says my name.
"If you could kiss me right now without Beck ever knowing, would you?"
...Would I?
It shouldn't even be a question, yet here I was contemplating it. And Tori was sitting across from me, looking into my eyes with all seriousness, waiting for an answer.
"...and I promise you won't hurt my feelings, no matter what you answer. It's just a game, okay?" She reminds.
I don't know if she really just wanted this, or what was going through her mind. The scary part is; I kinda wanted to. The thought of kissing a girl had never so much as crossed my mind before. With her so willing, and no one else around...
"...oh my god, Vega. If we're going to do this, you have to swear you won't tell anyone."
She was already smiling hugely before I could so much finish my sentence though. I doubt she heard a word I said.
"Really? You mean it?" She says, shaking and laughing with joy.
"First, promise." I demand.
"I swear!" She says. "I-I promise I won't ever, ever tell anyone about this." Tori nods.
"...okay." I state.
She was finally settled down from the initial shock, and now looked almost a little nervous. I can't say I wasn't feeling a bit nervous myself; my head felt a little dizzy, but that might just be the lack of food talking.
Tori scoots herself closer and takes my hands. She was looking down with her eyes half-closed, trying to catch her breath. Her head rose, and I caught a glimpse of absolute lust in her eyes before our lips touched and I instinctively closed my eyes.
It really hits you when you realize you're leaning topless against a tree, in the middle of an island, kissing someone of the same sex, who, by the way, is also topless, at exactly twelve o' clock midnight. I don't claim to know the feeling to describe the way this feels... But I liked it.