Author's note:
Okay, when can you expect new chapters? My schedule changes from week to week, so I can't place a day on it. But on average, it'll take about five days, give or take. Maybe a day less, maybe a day more. I can't guarantee when.
Suggestions are fine, but I've got the story planned out, and it'll happen that way. I might have an idea sparked from a suggestion, but don't plan on it being part of the story.
Third, PLEASE DO NOT CONTINUE IF YOU ARE STRUGGLING WITH DEPRESSION, SELF-HARM, OR SUICIDAL THOUGHTS! THE NEXT FEW CHAPTERS WILL CONTAIN SENSITIVE TOPICS! IF YOU ARE STRUGGLING WITH ANY OF THESE, PLEASE PROCEED WITH CAUTION AND GET HELP!
Other than that, enjoy!
"Wait, hold up?! Why?!" Kenji exclaims, waking Sammy, Darius, and Ben.
"What? Brooklynn and I woke up first," Yasmina smirks mischievously.
"Woah, Brooklynn, did you do this?" Sammy asks, gently grabbing Yasmina's hair. The athlete's chocolate brown hair was done up in two Dutch braids.
Brooklynn's pink/bleach white hair was a mess. For once, she didn't have it up in a bun. "Yeah, I learned how to braid in 'Unboxing Cosmetology,'" she says lacklusterly.
"Ooh, they're so pretty!" Sammy admires the braids.
"Ha, ha, Brooklynn and Yaz beat your system," Ben laughs.
"Shut up," Kenji rolls his eyes with a grin.
The campers have a quick breakfast, interrupted by an equally as quick sneak attack from the Indoraptors. Toothless would lunge for Kenji's food. "No!" he scolds, stopping the youngling in her tracks. She'd move again and he'd repeat his command.
Rima jumps on Yasmina's shoulder, snatches her breakfast and races up to the roof. The others follow. "Hey! Get back here with my food!" Yasmina shouts, sprinting after her baby dino. By the time she gets to the food, it's covered in dino saliva and no longer appetizing. She climbs back down, grumpy. "Well, there goes my breakfast."
"You can have mine," Brooklynn offers. "I'm not hungry."
"No, I can get her more," Sammy says.
"No, really, it's fine," Brooklynn insists. "I'm not hungry. You can take it. I hate the feeling of being full."
"We're on fricking Isla Nublar," Yasmina glares. "We don't know when the next meal we'll have is. Don't go skipping meals. You'll go hungry more often than not, so eat when you can!"
Brooklynn sighs angrily, takes a bite and shoves the rest to Yasmina. "Happy?" she asks with a mouth full of food. The pinkette gets up and slides down the slide to go to the bathroom before the older girl could protest. The athlete's glare follows her as she goes.
When Brooklynn comes back up the ladder, somebody grabs her from behind and sits her down in the center of the shelter. "Eat," Yasmina orders, pointing to the new portion of breakfast Sammy had prepared. "You're gonna eat all of it, and you're not leaving here until you do. This is for survival."
"More like for being bossy," Brooklynn mumbles, slumping. "I'm not hungry!"
"I don't care," Yasmina shrugs. "You need sustenance and you can't be starving yourself because you're not 'hungry.' I will force feed you if I have to."
"Darius!" Brooklynn tattles. "Yasmina is trying to force me to eat!"
"Which I okayed," Darius's head pops out of the small room. "You need to eat something. At least eat half of it and Kenji will eat the rest. The Lord knows he's always hungry."
The two girls laugh. "Speaking of," Yasmina grins. "Kenji's trying again with Sammy. You better hurry up if you wanna watch the next episode of 'Tell Tiana.'"
Having motivation to finish her breakfast, Brooklynn eats half the food and crawls over to lay on her stomach with Ben and Yasmina. The two had taken to this birds eye view of their hopelessly troubled friend. There had been a lull in Kenji's attempt to tell Sammy as he thought through things. Now that he had thought things through—and his friends convinced him that hurting Sammy was a highly unlikely option—he was ready to try again, and more confident about it. His wingmen believed that they were closer to seeing an actual confession soon.
"Annnd what sort of distraction will keep him from telling her this time?" Yasmina giggles, raising an eyebrow.
"Maybe he'll actually do it this time," Ben shrugs.
"In this soap opera?" Yasmina laughs. "We got a whole 'nother season for this crap!" The two start laughing at their own jokes. Brooklynn laughs with them, but despite understanding the joke, just didn't feel the spirit of joy they did.
Kenji approaches Sammy and gives her a surprise hug from behind. She startles. "Ahh, why do you like surprising me with hugs?"
"I thought you loved hugs," Kenji chuckles.
"Yes, I do," she grins up at him.
The alpha male's chest rises as he plucks up the courage to say it. "I love you, Sammy."
"I love you, too," she smiles. "You're a wonderful friend."
"Wait, no, you misunderstand," Kenji panics in his head. "Thank you, b—"
His sentence is interrupted by Tornado nimbly running into Sammy and scooping her up semi-gently with her horn. Sammy yelps in surprise, laughing at the same time. She slides down the face of her dino and lands on her butt.
Yasmina and Ben start snickering.
"What was that for?" Kenji laughs. Tornado bellows and charges at him. He shrieks and begins to run in the other direction. Tornado lifts her head and headbutts Kenji in the back as he runs, knocking him over. "Hey!" he protests. "You got horns that could seriously hurt me, you know!"
Tornado snorts and charges at her ride. It's Sammy's turn to escape the running horns.
Yasmina starts wheezing. "I shouldn't be laughing, but," she covers her mouth as she wheezes.
Sammy jumps up onto the tree's roots to try to escape. Tornado pokes her in the rear with her small horn, causing the Texan to jump. "Stop it! I need these pants! And my butt," she laughs.
The Triceratops sputters, nudging Sammy's shins with her face.
"Do you wanna play or something?" Sammy asks.
Kenji sighs. "This is not how I intended it to go," he shakes his head. "So, uh, continuing our conversation—YAGH!"
Tornado turns around and bolts towards him, tongue hanging out like a dog. Kenji runs towards a tree and starts climbing. The herbivore stomps in front of the tree, bellowing.
"What's up with you," Sammy laughs. Her dino charges at her for the third time. Sammy is prepared. The horse rider darts to the side, grabs the edge of Tornado's frill, and kicks off the ground. She climbs up onto her back effortlessly.
"Wow," Kenji breathes.
Bellowing happily, Tornado runs at Kenji before Sammy can take control. He squeaks and runs in the other direction. Tornado corners him and scoops him up. The alpha male holds onto her top two horns and breathes a sigh of relief. "Man, that was way too close to my goods."
Sammy looks over the Triceratops' frill and laughs. "Did she get you down there?"
"It was a close call," he laughs sheepishly. "Where were we before she interru—"
The rambunctious dino lowers her head and jumps up, throwing Kenji off of her face and on top of Ben and Yasmina. The latter was a wheezing mess.
"Oh my gosh," Ben chortles. "That was awesome."
"I can't," Yasmina squeaks as Kenji gets off of her. "I can't!" She falls back on top of Ben, face turning red.
Brooklynn chuckles as Sammy tries to get control of her wild dino. She couldn't bring herself to laugh as hard as Yasmina, though, or even Ben. It was as if there was a dark rain cloud over her, preventing her from being joyful. Still, she had to laugh; the others wouldn't know about her little rain cloud.
Kenji sighs as Darius comes out of the room to watch the commotion. "I tried. That wasn't my fault this time."
"Oh, gosh," Yasmina pants. "That was the best."
"If y'all are done wheezin', maybe you could help me out?!" Sammy exclaims, almost getting bucked off as Tornado races into the woods.
"Dino nerds, activated," Darius says heroically, sliding down the slide. Ben follows, running to an amused Bumpy.
Kenji follows. "You coming?"
"Let me catch my breath," Yasmina pants.
Brooklynn zones out sadly as she lays there. "Why can't I be happy right now?" she asks herself, knowing fully why she couldn't.
"Hey! No! Do not eat that!" Yasmina shouts, breaking Brooklynn of her thoughts. The athlete sprints after Toothless, who had stolen the rest of Brooklynn's breakfast.
"Eh, let her eat it, I'm fine," Brooklynn chuckles.
Yasmina sighs. "I guess it's good that the others left. I've been meaning to talk about that."
"About what?" Brooklynn asks, a pit of dread forming in her stomach.
"About you basically starving yourself on this island," Yasmina says, putting her hands on her hips.
"Just because I don't have as big of an appetite as you doesn't mean I'm starving myself," Brooklynn mumbles.
"You should be eating as much as you can on this island," the athlete says.
"I'm fine," the pinkette insists.
"Not when you're starving."
"I'm not starving!"
"Then why aren't you eating?!"
"Because I'm not hungry!"
Yasmina groans. "Fine, what's your diet at home?"
"I can't remember," Brooklynn lies with a shrug.
"Really?" the older girl smiles dryly. "Social media influencer doesn't have a super strict diet to keep herself from gaining weight?"
The comment hits the nail on the head. "I don't have it memorized," Brooklynn retorts, immediately sliding down the slide to get away.
Yasmina jumps down from the deck and lands in a parkour roll, stopping Brooklynn in her tracks. "You're freaking light for your age," she argues. "Why?"
"I'm FINE!" Brooklynn shouts, trying to sidestep the athlete. "Why are you obsessing over this?!"
"Because you're not!" Yasmina hisses, stepping in front of her again. "We're all starving and you still refuse food!"
"I'm not hungry, okay?!" Brooklynn shouts, crossing her arms tightly.
"That's not okay," Yasmina barks, grabbing Brooklynn's arm. The pinkette wrenches it from her grasp, turning away and clenching her fists by her sides in anger and fear. The athlete quickly reaches around, and unzips her pink jacket before she can react.
"Hey!" Brooklynn protests, trying to get away. Yasmina fights to pull her jacket off, and the two girls fall over. After squabbling, the older girl pins her on her back and wrestles the jacket off. Only then does she let Brooklynn get up.
"Give me my jacket!" Brooklynn hisses, reaching for it.
Yasmina keeps it out of her reach and looks Brooklynn up and down. "And that's why you don't take it off in front of us."
Superstar's face heats up, but she tries to play it off with humor. "Yep, you got me. I'm all square and chubby."
"Who are you talking about?" Trackstar frowns. "Look at yourself."
"I guess not everyone was made to have the perfect hourglass figure and toned abs and flawlessly tanned skin!" Brooklynn exclaims. She phrases it like a joke, but her voice cracks at the end.
Yasmina's features soften. "I'm not judging you. I'm trying to help you. There's nothing wrong with your body other than how skinny you are."
The younger girl tschs. "Well, obvs I'm gonna be skinny, I'm on Jurassic island like you keep reminding me!"
Yasmina unzips her jacket and takes off her lavender tank top to reveal a sports bra and rock hard abs. She pulls on the hem of Brooklynn's shirt.
The pinkette lets out a heavy sigh, knowing that Yasmina wouldn't let it go. She takes off her red shirt, revealing pronounced ribs. "Happy now?!"
The older girl lowers her voice. "Look at me, then look at you. Do you think you should be that skinny? I should lose weight faster than you because I have more muscle, yet you're way thinner than me. Do you think that's okay?"
Brooklynn crosses her arms, refusing to look Yasmina in the eye.
"Listen, I'm not sure what goes through your mind when you look in the mirror, but it's obviously a lie," the athlete says as she gently takes the Youtubers hand. "You're a beautiful young girl who's been lied to by society and goaded into starving herself to feel pretty. You look like your mother. Was she a late bloomer?"
Brooklynn nods.
"Well, maybe you'll grow into your hips and thicken out later on. Maybe not? There's nothing wrong with being flater and more square. You're not ugly. What's concerning is that I can clearly count your ribs. That's not healthy."
Brooklynn wipes away her tears in anger. She hated talking about her flaws and problems; avoided them at all costs. She was a social media influencer, she had to be perfect. Nothing was allowed to break her smiley facade. She refused to admit that Yasmina was right and desperately tries to change the subject. If there was one thing she was good at, it was changing and avoiding subjects.
"Oh, so now all of a sudden you care? Since when do you care about me? You hate me! You hate pretty much everyone! You're an antisocial jerk who's better at cutting with her words than running!"
Yasmina's fists clench in rage. Brooklynn smirks; turning the conversation to Yasmina's sensitive subjects was bound to get her off the hook. A fight was better than opening up. "What is your problem?!"
Brooklynn's split second smirk was a bad move as Yasmina noticed. The older girl adopts a neutral expression and crosses her arms. "I'm antisocial, cold, insensitive, sarcastic, and have trust issues. What's your problem?"
The younger girl sputters. Yasmina had just taken all her ammunition, and they were back to square one. Yasmina was not easily deterred. "Wha… Wha-wha, what is your problem with me?!"
"When we first met?" Yasmina quirks an eyebrow. "You were annoying. You were obsessed with making videos and getting the perfect camera angle and being popular. You seemed really shallow in the beginning. But now that I've gotten to know you, I know that you're just desperate for love. It's sad, now… You're so desperate for attention and love that you become a dance monkey and dedicate your life to doing whatever the Internet wants! You're so lonely that you put your whole life on display, hoping that someone would affirm that you're worth loving!"
Brooklynn shoves her back with a shriek, crying burning tears of shame and sadness. She couldn't deny that Yasmina's words hit home.
The girls stand there in silence until Yasmina breaks it. "Do you… hate me?"
"Hate is a strong word," Brooklynn chuckles bitterly. "I'm jealous of you. Jealous of your perfect, beautiful and strong body… and your steel willpower to just push through all the pain and hardships… and your ability to just not care what others think of you and not need friendship."
Trudging out the jungles comes Sammy, muttering under her breath. "Where's that… feisty Triceratops, bless her heart." She comes to a stop at a tree and frowns in confusion. "What in the world? Why are you two in your bras? Are you guys working out together?"
Yasmina blinks at Brooklynn and starts chuckling. Her chuckles turn into shrieks of laughter and she claps her hands. She throws her head back. "YoU… You thought… Thought I don't need friendship?! HA!" She rests her elbows on her knees, wheezing at the thought. "I need friendship! That's why it… hurt so much when… Sammy came out as a s-spy!"
Sammy slides back behind the tree, saddened.
The athlete sighs. "I don't want to be betrayed, Brooklynn, so I shut everyone out. I'm so scared of being hurt emotionally that I brave the pain of loneliness. I'm more scared of being betrayed that I take the pain of walking alone. All I want is a friend that I can trust with my heart without fear of being burned. But past hurts make me scared to trust even those that seem nice."
"Oh," Brooklynn whispers, looking down.
Sammy blinks back tears and quietly runs back into the woods.
"Brook," Yasmina gently lifts her chin. "I'm just as desperate for friendship as you are. We just have two different approaches."
The pinkette crosses her arms vulnerably. Yasmina guides her over to the support beams of the shelter and they sit down. The athlete wraps her right arm around Brooklynn's boney shoulders. "Do your parents love you and spend time with you?"
"They're barely home," she whispers.
"How about your brother? Or other family members?"
"Brothers a jerk and I only see my other family members for holidays and birthdays."
"Friends?"
"A couple," Brooklynn says. "Youtube stars. We make videos together."
"Do you hang out or talk outside of Youtube?" Yasmina asks.
"Not really," Brooklynn shakes her head.
"Do you think that…" the older girl bites her lip. "Maybe one reason you care so much about what the Internet thinks is that you have nowhere else to go for love?"
The younger girl stares at her shoes, silent tears dripping down her cheeks.
"I know that I can be insensitive," Yasmina sighs. "It's one of my issues. I know that I may have sounded harsh and mean up there, but I wanna help you. I can see you struggling. I of all people know what it's like to want to shut down and not let anyone know what you're going through. But I also know that sometimes you need a push to open up and get help. And I know you don't want to talk about whatever you're struggling with, but you might be hurting yourself more by doing that."
Brooklynn clutches her hands to her chest, and Yasmina holds them with her free hand, creating a protective circle around the younger girl. "I've struggled with things, too. Maybe the same things you're struggling with. I don't know what you're going through, but I'm here if you need me. You can talk to me, cry on me, whatever. I'm here for you."
Brooklynn looks down at her hands. They say that the eyes are the windows to your soul, and she didn't want Yasmina to see how broken she was inside.
"Okay," Yasmina says quietly. "I've pushed far enough. Let's go back up to make sure the Indos didn't eat anything they're not supposed to… unless you wanna talk more."
"I'm good," Brooklynn says quietly. "Would you really be there for me if you knew?" a small voice wonders in the back of her head.
"Put your shirt back on," Yasmina laughs, throwing Brooklynn her shirt as she puts on her purple tank top. "Before Kenji finds us."
Brooklynn truly laughs for the first time in a few days, imagining the rumors that would spread of that.
Back in the jungles, the others are searching for the pesky Triceratops. Kenji lifts a huge leafy to look into a clearing. "Why on Earth did you decide to adopt this pesky dino, Sammy?!" he groans aloud.
He hears someone behind him and turns around, only to be attacked by Sammy. She wraps her arms around his stomach and cries into his chest. Kenji's heart stops. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it! Tornado's not that bad!"
"No, no," Sammy sobs. "All I want is a real friend who I can open up to! I'm always the emotional pillow for people and when I try to open up, they get impatient and want to talk about themselves!" She sniffles. "This applies to people at school, not you guys."
"Okay," Kenji says, unsure why this was a problem but sympathetic nonetheless.
"I've tried to treat others how I want to be treated," Sammy cries. "I've tried to be honest and sincere and trusted. I do it because I'm nice and I care, but just once I wish that what goes around would come around! And the one time I'm not honest robbed me of a true friend!"
"What?" he asks, not fully following.
"I overheard Yaz and Brooklynn talkin'," Sammy sniffs, releasing Kenji from her death grip. "Yaz is scared of opening up and trusting other people, so much so that she's willing to be lonely to avoid the pain. Keepin' Mantah Corp a secret just set her back to square one! The one time I hid somethang it… it hurt her and lost my chances of ever having a true friend!"
Anger swells up inside the boy. Anger towards Mantah Corp. Towards the mean kids at Sammy's school. Towards the fact that his friendship apparently wasn't true!
"Okay, first off, the way you say something is adorable," Kenji starts off. Sammy smiles with tears. "And second, the fact that you've never apparently had a true friend is just sad," he states. "You're absolutely amazing. Anyone who doesn't want to be your friend sucks. I judge them for being either complete idiots or just plain old a**holes—sorry for the language!"
Sammy chuckles with tears. "Language," she giggles.
"And third, I'm sure Yaz will come around," Kenji continues. "She's stubborn and opinionated. And she's got a lotta trauma hidden away inside her. She just takes a long time to open up to the point where she feels comfortable. Give her some time. She's opened up to everyone else and I'm sure she'll open up to you… eventually."
The Texan nods.
"And fourth, even if Yaz never opens up," the alpha male says. "Even if everyone else leaves you, you're never gonna be devoid of a true friend. I will never leave you. You're gonna have to leave me first."
Sammy chuckles. "I'm not leavin' you, you're gonna have to leave me first."
"No, you're gonna have to leave me first," Kenji states.
"No, you," Sammy giggles.
"You!" Kenji says aggressively.
"You!" Sammy shouts.
"No, you! You'll have to leave first!" Kenji argues.
"The only way I'll leave you is if I die!" Sammy huffs.
"Death won't even stop me!" Kenji jumps up and down. "I will become a friendly ghost who haunts you! You will forever have a friend and whoever hurts you mysteriously disappears!"
"And what if I die?!" Sammy laughs.
"Then we'll become ghosts and live together forever!" Kenji declares.
Sammy cackles and gives him a peck on the cheek. "I love you."
Giddy with glee, Kenji smiles. "I love you, too."
"I love you more," Sammy waggles her eyebrows.
"I love you most," Mr. VIP competes.
"I love you the mostest," the Texan laughs, nudging him with her shoulder.
"You can't love me more than I love you," Kenji nudges her back.
"You're my best friend, you can't love me more than I love you!" Sammy exclaims, good naturedly pushing him.
"Wanna bet?" Kenji says, a little hurt by being friendzoned. "I love you more because—"
The two fall on their butts with a grunt as Tornado headbutts them. The Triceratops bellows.
"We finally found her!" Darius exclaims, laughing. Ben and Bumpy lumber up beside them.
Sammy laughs. "What's up with you today, girl?" she asks as she mounts her ride.
Kenji gives Ben a frustrated look. "I tried!" he mouths as he climbs up onto the Ankylosaurus. His wingman pats him sympathetically on the back.
"You think they'll support a rescue mission?" Dave asks as he and the families look up at the large office building.
"She better," Roxie sighs.
"Got a Facebook message," Milton states. "Says: 'My sister works a high level job at Jurassic World. Trying to win her support for you guys. - Karen Mitchell.' Man, never thought I'd meet a nice Karen in this day and age."
"That's Claire Dearing's sister," Ben's mother explains.
"Well, let's head in," Roxie sighs. "Hopefully they'll listen to us."
"They will," Ben's mother says darkly.
"Maybe I should come," her husband suggests.
"I've got this, Christian," Mrs. Pincus says, a murderous glint in her eyes. "Come on, they're waiting."
Roxie and Dave step out of the way of the determined mother and follow her into the building, biding the families goodbye. The others wish them good luck as they head into the belly of the beast.
Roxie, Dave, and Mrs. Pincus open the doors and enter the meeting room for Masrani's boardroom. Claire Dearing is standing by the window. Her usually perfectly cut hair was done in shorter layers. In contrast, Ben's mother's hair was done in a messy bun. She couldn't care less, though; she could excuse her appearance to stressing over her son.
The rest of the boardroom were sitting around a table. Mr. Geller—the man who told them that there would be no search party—was pointedly focused on the papers in front of him.
"Mrs. Dearing," Roxie nods. "Board members—"
"Forget the formalities, you all know why we're here," Mrs. Pincus interrupts, venom dripping in her voice. "Because my son and the other five children sent to that stupid summer camp are stuck on the island and no one is helping us!"
"Mrs. Pincus—" Mr. Geller starts.
"Don't you 'Mrs. Pincus' me!" she snaps. "You were the one that told us that we could be arrested if we sent out a search party!"
"Still technically true," he murmurs.
"Emma, listen," Claire starts.
"No, you listen," Emma hisses. "I sent my son to that camp because you guaranteed that it would be safe! I sent him there mostly because I trusted Roxie and David!"
The camp counselors wince.
"You promised that safety measures wouldn't be cut!" Mrs. Pincus continues.
"And they weren't," Claire explains. "The whole park was in chaos that day, it wasn't just the camp—"
"And what does that say about your ability to cope with a disaster?!" Ben's mother shouts. "For years I have advocated for better safety features and stronger walls, and no one has listened! You've cut corners and focused more on the cost than the risk! Dinosaurs were breaking loose for years before the Indominus rex was even dreamed! Tourists were getting lost in areas they weren't supposed to! This did not start with the Indominus, it only made the accident worse!"
"Very true," one of the board members mumbles.
"Emma," Claire says quietly.
"Hey, I'm not finished yet!" Mrs. Pincus snaps. "The worst part is that you authorized the creation of the Indominus rex! A monstrosity in a world of experimental, risky, genetic hybrids! You created that monster for what?! A jump scare for guests?! You didn't make sure it was properly contained! Many, many, many casualties are on your hands because of that monster! And you don't want my son to be one of them."
"Emma," Claire tries again.
"I'm still not finished!" Ben's mother barks, her brown hair a bit disheveled. "You abandoned the park in the middle of a crisis to go save your nephews. Hopefully that says you have a heart!"
Claire winces, knowing that was going to come up.
"You can't even imagine the turmoil of a mother who can't save her baby," Emma says, her voice cracking as emotions start to overwhelm her. "My precious son is fighting for his life on that wretched island! And I can't go to save him…" she sniffs. "I would give my own life to bring him back! I will do anything to bring him back! I am at my wits end to find my baby! I can't sleep, I can't think! All I can think about is my baby! I will do anything to bring him back, and d*** you if you stand in my way!"
"Can I speak now?" Claire asks, a little intimidated by this emotional explosion.
There was so much more Mrs. Pincus wanted to say. She wanted to shout and scream and tell Claire about every little thing she did wrong. But her energy was gone, leaving her to feel broken inside. She shrugs, feeling too tired to even do that.
"We scheduled this meeting because we wanted to help," Claire finally explains. "We're going to organize a rescue operation."
Mrs. Pincus softly gasps, sniffing as tears slide down her cheeks. Roxie and Dave—who had pasted themselves to the wall to put as much distance between them and Emma as possible—sigh with relief. Roxie clutches her hands to her heart, relieved that there was finally hope. Dave silently pumps his fist in victory.
"We already have many volunteers," Claire explains, handing Mrs. Pincus a handkerchief. "Many know first hand the tragedies or know someone related to the Indominus rex incident, or to the first park."
Ben's mother dries her eyes with the handkerchief. Thank God, she didn't put on makeup that day. She would look like even more of a wreck.
"We still need to work on getting through the ban," Claire says. "But we're going to try."
"Thank you," Emma Pincus sobs with relief, hiding half of her face with the handkerchief.
There was great rejoicing when Roxie and Dave announced to the families that there would be a rescue operation. Ben's father embraces his wife, and she happily sobs on his shoulder.
Darius's mother screams with joy and gives her older son a big kiss on the cheek. Brandon was too happy to be annoyed by his embarrassment of a mother. He and Brooklynn's older brother give each other a hearty high five in victory.
Yasmina's younger siblings tackle their older brother and father in joy, and the two men spin them around, laughing. Yasmina's mother embraces Roxie with tears of jubilation.
The Guiterrez family could not be contained, nor silenced. Sandra tries to hug her older sister and Habeeba at the same time—while the other girl was currently clinging to her brother. Miriam cries in delight and gives Ghaleb a kiss on the cheek, shocking him. The two are over the encounter and laughing with joy in a few seconds.
Kenji's step-sister lets out a high pitched squeal of glee, startling Kenji's father. He stands there in shock as she hugs him, before embracing her back. The usually stoic, exasperated man sighs with tearful eyes.
"We're going to bring them home!" Dave throws his arms up in the air in triumph, and a great roar of victory follows.
"I swear! Tornado just doesn't want me to tell Sammy!" Kenji rants as he climbs up the ladder and comes to lean on the railing next to Yasmina. "Two days now! Every time I go to say it, she conveniently starts charging or headbutting us!"
Yasmina cackles. "This is, like, the best sitcom ever."
"At least you enjoy it," Mr. VIP rolls his eyes. "I might have to put this on hold, though."
"Why?" Yasmina asks.
"Brooklynn," Kenji whispers, nodding his head at the younger girl. She was staring forlornly out of the shelter, lost in thought. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to chicken out of telling Tiana," he says. "But I'm worried about Brooklynn. There's something going on, and I'm wondering if other problems are going to have to be put on hold."
"I know what you mean," the athlete nods. "She's going through something."
"Any ideas on what it is?" Darius asks, approaching the two older campers. "Glad I'm not the only one who's noticed this."
Yasmina sighs. "I'm almost one hundred percent sure she has Anorexia nervosa. Eating disorder where you starve yourself because you think you're too fat," she explains when Darius gives her a confused look.
"Young girl who's obsessed with being the perfect Youtube star," Kenji murmurs. "Constantly putting up a face and projecting a perfect image. Refusing to eat food under the guise of 'I'm not hungry' even though we're all starving… makes sense. She's the perfect prey for it."
"Yesterday, I talked to her," Yasmina explains. "Finally got her to take off her jacket and shirt. She's really, really skinny. And she thinks she's chubby."
"I think there's probably more going on than just that," Kenji whispers. "She seems… I don't know if I wanna say it."
"What?" Darius whispers.
The alpha male winces. "Depressed."
"Like depression?" Darius's eyes widen.
"Her mood is really down," Yasmina hisses. "She has low self esteem right now. She's been making more self deprecating jokes recently. I wouldn't be surprised if she is depressed."
"Ever since her fight with Darius," Kenji says. "I'm not blaming you, just so you know." He places his hand on Darius's shoulder.
"That was like… a little over a week ago," Darius counts. "Can you develop depression that quickly?"
"Who says she developed it then?" Yasmina shrugs. "For all we know, she's been depressed since we met her and she's just hidden it very well. She's in the public eye; she knows how to put up a face and pretend that everything isn't as it seems. Being here on Isla Nublar would probably wear down on her ability to cope—or dial up the severity of her depression—and maybe the fight you two had was the final straw. That is, if she actually has it. This is all speculation."
"It's hard to believe," Darius mumbles. "She was always… peppy. She always seemed more happy and confident at the camp. It's not since the fight that she seems depressed."
"Depression is different for everyone," Yasmina explains. "Some people can't get out of bed, while others deny they have it. Some people are better at putting up a face and faking it than others. Plus, depending on the severity, you can be happy and funny."
"Did you have depression?" Darius asks quietly.
Yasmina shakes her head. "Not that I know of. You see, I'm naturally more pessimistic and cynical, so it's kinda hard to tell. If I did, it was mild."
"Do you think that… Brooklynn has depression?" Kenji whispers. "Or… something else?"
"Like hurting herself? Or feeling… suicidal?" Yasmina suggests, grimacing.
"God, I hope not," Darius sighs.
"I pushed her to open up yesterday," Yasmina says. "Trust me, I understand. Sometimes you just don't want to talk about it, and it's terrible when people try to force you to talk about your problems. But…" she sighs, leaning on the railing. "She's struggling with something, and I'd hate to think about what would happen if we left her alone. Sometimes you need that push to open up before you can get better. I was so annoyed with Sammy for pushing, but… maybe it was a good thing she did. It's been helpful to open up to you guys."
Kenji and Darius nod. "It's just…" Yasmina sighs again. "I don't want her to go along, thinking that she's alone. I pushed her already to open up—and really, it was more me telling her what I speculated. She hardly talked. I don't know if I should push further or let her choose when to talk."
"It's a hard balance to walk," Darius agrees. "Well, I guess the only thing we can do is check in on her. Ask her if she's okay and if she wants to talk. Let her know that we'll be there for her no matter what she's dealing with."
Kenji and Yasmina nod.
The emergency device interrupts their conversation. Brooklynn is startled out of her thoughts as Roxie says, "Campers! Come in!"
Kenji, Darius, and Yasmina fall all over each other trying to reach it. "Hey, Roxie! We're here!" Darius says.
Kenji and Yasmina beckon Sammy and Ben to climb up the ladder as Brooklynn joins Darius. "Guess what?" Roxie says.
"What?" Sammy perks up, her head appearing behind Ben as he steps onto the deck.
"We have just convinced Masrani Corp to fund a rescue operation to come get you guys!" Roxie exclaims. "A rescue operation is finally underway! All we need now is to get through the ban!"
The campers start rejoicing. Kenji tackles Darius and rolls over, whooping. Sammy and Yasmina high five and join the boys in a group hug on the ground. Ben pumps his fists in the air and flops down on top of his friends. Brooklynn joins last.
"We'll be seeing you soon, kiddos," Dave's voice comes through.
The radio stops crackling, and the campers whoop. The Indoraptors stare in curiosity and twitter. "Finally, we're getting close to the end!" Yasmina laughs.
"Whoo hoo!" Sammy exclaims, throwing her fists in the air.
"We're going home!" Darius says, smiling wider than he could.
"I can't wait to see my parents again," Ben laughs happily. "And the bullies at my school. They're gonna take a beating, Ankylosaurus style!" He punches the air in front of him, making his friends laugh.
"Finally, this nightmare is coming to an end," Brooklynn sighs with heavy relief.
"This calls for a celebration!" Kenji sits up straight, untangling himself from the celebration pile and searching through a backpack. He pulls out a suspicious looking bottle. "Let's par-tay!"
"What is that?" Sammy asks, giving him a scared look.
"Is that alcohol?" Ben chuckles nervously.
Kenji gives them a look. "Why would you think that?"
"Does Weed, Crack, and Pot ring a bell?" Yasmina quirks an eyebrow.
"No, it's sparkling lemonade I snagged from the lab," Kenji huffs, putting his hands on his hips.
"So you definitely don't know what alcohol tastes like?" Darius asks.
"I know what it tastes like, but it's not like I'm gonna feed it to you," Kenji shrugs. The other campers widen their eyes. "What? In France, minors can drink alcohol!" Kenji shrugs with a laugh.
"Very true," Brooklynn chuckles.
The campers relent and all have a glass of the sparkling lemonade and have a celebration party. Everyone is too excited to notice that Brooklynn's smile slowly becomes less natural and more forced. As the night wore on, she began to feel like the Joker: forcing herself to smile as a tear slowly dripped down her cheek. "Come on, you're going home soon," she tries to give herself a pep talk. "Be happy. Just snap out of it!"
But as she falls asleep that night, she just can't.
The next day, the campers take a bath and wash their clothes. Brooklynn takes a bath in a small pond. A couple trees away, Yasmina and Sammy keep watch. They were far away enough to give her privacy, but close enough that they could come to her rescue if she was attacked.
"We might need to head back to the condos," Brooklynn hears Sammy say. "We're running low on medical supplies, so we probably need to stock up again."
"Or just stop getting hurt," Yasmina laughs.
"That's on you, Missy," Sammy cackles.
Brooklynn tunes them out, watching the water slowly drip off her fingers. "Why do I feel so fat when I'm so skinny?" She looks at her arms and chest. The young girl almost sees two different pictures. On one hand, she saw someone who needed to lose weight. On the other hand, she saw skin and bones and someone who needed to gain weight. She wasn't entirely sure which picture was true.
Brooklynn slowly wraps her arms around her chest, staring at the sky through the trees. She didn't want anyone to see her. She didn't want them to see how unattractive and flat she felt. She didn't want them to see how vulnerable she was.
"You should be one of those Youtubers that only shows their face, cause that's the only pretty part of you," her depressed mind recalls a harsh comment.
"Ew, your eyes are gorgeous, but the rest of you is hideous."
"A guy without feet shouldn't wear shoes. So why do you wear a bra?"
"Must've been hard for your mother to give birth to a fridge."
Brooklynn buries her face in her arms, wishing she was prettier than she felt. "You're a beautiful young girl who's been lied to by society and goaded into starving herself to feel pretty," Yasmina's kind, gentle words come back to her.
Brooklynn lifts her head slightly. "Does Yaz really think that? Maybe I should talk to her…"
"Why would Yaz want to help me?" a sad voice whispers in her head. "She hates me! I'm shallow and self-obsessed. None of the others would really like me. They're just being nice because we all have to help each other survive."
"Come on, they really care, don't they?" Brooklynn asks herself.
Past comments about her start rolling through her head. "Enough already! There are bigger things going on here than your phone!" Darius says at the van.
"At least I'm thinking of someone other than myself," Ben retorts at the condos.
"You're so lonely that you put your whole life on display, hoping that someone would affirm that you're worth loving!" Yasmina shouts in her head.
"The only reason she's making videos is because she's self-obsessed and attention seeking," a critique says about her.
Brooklynn sniffs. "Why can't I just be loved? Why do I have to be so broken?"
A small growl jolts her out of her thoughts. Her eyes widen and her head snaps to attention. A tiny little Compy had wandered into the pond with her. Before she can react, it bites her leg. She screams and hits it. Scrambling backwards, Brooklynn looks around. Where there was one Compy, there was a pack.
There were quick footsteps and then the twang of a bow. An arrow pierces the Compy's soft skull.
Brooklynn pants, curling her injured leg underneath her and covering her chest. "Good shot."
"I was aiming for it's chest," Yasmina pants as she lowers her bow.
"Are ya hurt?" Sammy asks, lowering her rifle.
Brooklynn recalls Sammy and Yasmina's previous conversation. "We might need to head back to the condos. We're running low on medical supplies, so we probably need to stock up again."
"It's not that bad," she convinces herself. "Nothing a couple leaf bandages won't fix. Ben lived with those on worse."
"You're not worth the use of our precious medical supplies," the small, dark voice whispers in the back of her head.
"No, it didn't get me," Brooklynn lies.
"Thank God," Sammy sighs. "We'll make sure there's no more while you get dressed."
As Sammy and Yasmina check the perimeter, Brooklynn makes a small, makeshift bandage of leaves. Then she pulls the cargo pants over it and heads back to camp.
After Sammy finished washing their clothes, Brooklynn gets dressed in her damp outfit. She is extra cautious to not let her friends see the bandage. The pinkette heads over to pet her little Indoraptor. The young dino purrs as she rubs her back.
"Hey, you okay, Brook?" Darius asks, crouching down next to her.
"Mhm," she nods, trying to put on a fake smile.
Darius notices, but doesn't push it too far. "Well, if anything's wrong, you can come talk to me, you know? I'll listen."
"Okay," Brooklynn nods.
"You're one of my breast friends—best—oh, Lord," Darius sputters and starts laughing.
Brooklynn barks out a laugh. "Breast friends, huh?"
"I mean, it's not inaccurate," Darius chuckles sheepishly.
"Barely," Brooklynn mumbles, looking down at her chest, then back up at Darius.
The young boy's face turns red and his eyes dart away. "Um, sure…"
"Sure?" Brooklynn asks, slightly offended.
"I mean, I'm not sure what you mean by barely," Darius starts to ramble in embarrassment. "You have… you… ya, you know what I'm saying right?"
Brooklynn giggles at his embarrassment. "Boobies?"
Darius squirms under her gaze. "Yeah, you're one of… my boobie friends."
Brooklynn laughs. "Just slightly. Yaz and Sammy are definitely your boobie friends."
"Can we just stop talking about these things?!" Darius exclaims uncomfortably. "It's just… bleh!" He gags.
Brooklynn cackles. "Oh, that's right, you're twelve. I guess you can't be mature in everything."
"Can I just not be mature in that… situation?" Daris turns even redder. "Like, ever?!"
Brooklynn squeaks from laughter.
"Okay, the point is, you're one of my best friends," Darius enunciates. "You can come to me with anything. I love you. I'd gladly give my life to save you if the situation arose. You know, that, right?"
Those words hit Brooklynn hard, and she struggles to keep it together. She nods, and hugs Darius. The two embrace before she pulls back and notices his face is red. "Um, I'm gonna go see what Kenji and Ben are up to," he says. "Unless you wanna talk more."
"Thinking about boobies?" Brooklynn teases, barely keeping it together.
"Stop drawing my attention to them!" Darius shouts, sprinting away.
Brooklynn laughs hard, walking into the jungles. Her laughter turns to crying and she slumps against a tree. "He's willing to die for me," she sobs. "Even after I made him feel disrespected and unloved. He's so perfect!"
"I'm so unworthy of loving him," the voice returns. "He deserves so much better. I'm not even worthy of his friendship!"
"I wish I could love you, Darius," Brooklynn sobs, holding her face in her hands. "But you deserve so much better!"
The next day, Brooklynn's mood gets worse, as does her wound. It was red and tender. Still, she refused to tell anyone, convincing herself that it would get better with time. All of her friends noticed how depressed she was and tried to talk to her. "Are you sure you don't wanna talk?" Sammy asks for the umpteenth time.
"Yeah, I'm good," Brooklynn nods, not even trying to put on a smile.
"Okay," Sammy says quietly, concerned for her friend.
That night, it was Brooklynn's turn to keep watch. Pretty much everyone offered to take it for her, but she refused to give it up, despite how bad she felt. The others slowly fall asleep. Pretty soon, Kenji and Sammy are snoring. The Indoraptor's soft growls blend with her friends snores.
Brooklynn begins to wish that she had someone else to talk to other than the voices in her head. "Brooklynnunboxestheworld is one of the worst Internet influencers this year has seen," she rereads a negative post in her head. "Used to be cool," a Youtube comment comes back. "'You made Jurassic World boring.' 'Lame.' 'No one likes you anymore.'"
Brooklynn wipes beads of sweat off of her forehead, trying not to cry. "Stars have their time in the light," she tells herself quietly. "Eventually… people move on. That's the thing with fame."
"I was never loved to begin with," the dark voice says again, this time a little louder than a whisper.
The girl wipes her nose. "I can move on. I have friends."
"Why would they care?" the voice of doubt says again. "I'm petty and care about appearances. I'm shallow and I can't make true friends."
"But they like me, right?" Brooklynn argues in her head.
"Why would they like me? I was a jerk to Darius. I made him feel useless and stressed him out. What kind of a friend does that?! I attacked Sammy. I made Kenji feel unloved. I'm a terrible friend! As soon as we get off the island, they'll want to have nothing to do with me, and for good reason!"
Brooklynn pants, wiping her head with the back of her hand. Why was it so hot? "Come on, my family loves me, right? Darius said he loves me. He said he would die for me. Yaz tried to help me, even though I annoyed her. They love me, right?"
"If my family didn't care before, why would they care now?" the voice asks. "And really, why would Darius want to die for me? Why would Yaz have any reason to like me?"
Brooklynn sobs, wiping her face. Her hands were trembling; her body ached. She couldn't think straight.
Unknown to her, Yasmina was actually awake. "Come on, wake one of us up!" she thinks, cursing her sleep paralysis. "You're loved and cared for, just talk to us! Please! Get help! Don't suffer from this alone! Argh, why can't I MOVE?!"
To Yasmina's utter horror, not only was she paralysed, but she fell back asleep, too, leaving Brooklynn alone with her thoughts.
Midnight comes and the dark, depressed voice continues to harrass Brooklynn. "I'm not helping anyone," it continues. "I have nothing to contribute to this world. I'm a dead weight to this group. I'm making it hard to survive. No one loves me. No one wants me.
"I should just die right now and make it easier for them," the chilling thought comes.
Too worn out and too feverish to think straight, the Superstar doesn't push the thought away. The thought had come before, but she would reject it, pushing it away with reason. She had always told herself that things would get better: she would get more subscribers or her family situation would get better. But now she had nothing to combat it. "Is life really going to get better? I'm stuck on Isla Nublar, for gosh sakes! Maybe killing myself is the best way to help my friends. I'm not helping them survive. I'm just a dead weight. They'd be better off without me."
Shakily, Brooklynn stands up. Her body aches and she groans. The young girl walks over to the railing, almost as if she was in a trance. The whole thing felt like a fever dream. "Jump," the voice tells her.
She steps over the railing and looks down. Really, the height wasn't enough to kill her, but she wasn't thinking straight.
"Do it," the chilling voice says.
A still, small voice cries out. "No! You're loved! Don't kill yourself! The others aren't liers, why would they tell you that they love you if they don't mean it! They all said to come to them if you were in trouble!"
The two voices battle back and forth in her mind. She cries out loud as she battles the urge to jump. "I just want to be loved!" she wails in her head, letting out a pained sob. "Somebody help me!"
Darius wakes up to the sound of a piano playing. He recognizes the song, but can't place it…
"How can you see into my eyes? Like open doors," he hears someone sing. The boy looks up to find himself in the city. Brooklynn stands on the top of a ledge of a building, her hair and dress flowing in the harsh wind. She was singing forlornly. "Save me!" she cries out.
"Brooklynn!" he shouts, starting to climb up the building. "Don't jump! Don't jump! I'll save you!"
His friend leans forward and his heart stops.
Darius jolts awake. He looks over at Yasmina, who's startled awake, too. She stares at him with panicked brown eyes. "Brooklynn!" she shouts, running to the railing. Darius doesn't hesitate to race to the railing with her and grab Brooklynn. She was standing behind the railing, one hand off. Yasmina grabs her roughly and pulls her into a tight hug. "If you fall, I fall, too," she says determinedly.
"I'm not letting go," Darius cries, fear pulsing through his veins.
Brooklynn crumbles into uncontrollable sobs as the others wake up. Kenji reaches over the railing and picks up her legs. Yasmina helps him lift her over the railing into the safety of Darius and Sammy's arms.
Brooklynn convulses as she sobs in her friends arms. She attempts to tell them everything that was happening, but her hiccuping sobs made it impossible to understand. The group gets the gist of what she was dealing with, though.
After she was finished ranting, the campers envelop her in a hug. "Don't ever think of killing yourself again," Yasmina scolds. "We love you."
"Don't listen to those lies," Sammy says. "You're priceless and unique and wonderful."
"We would miss you so much," Darius says, kissing the top of her forehead. It is burning hot. "Brook, you're burning up!" he panics.
"I didn't want to worry you," Brooklynn whimpers. She weakly gestures to her right leg.
Sammy pulls up her jean leg and takes off the crude bandage. "I think she's got blood poisoning!" the Texan wails.
"The Compy did get you," Yasmina hisses.
"I didn't want to worry you," Brooklynn whispers, leaning into Darius's embrace tiredly.
"Rest," Darius says. "Just rest. Compies have trace amounts of venom in their bite, she's fighting off not only an infection, but venom. Did you guys pack a cure?"
"I packed anti Compy venom," Yasmina nods.
"I don't see any," Sammy says, rummaging through the backpack.
"What do you mean, I know we saw it!" Ben wails.
"You must've thought you packed it and forgot because it's not here!" Sammy shouts.
"Yaz, Ben, take care of Brooklynn," Darius orders. "Sammy, Kenji, we're heading back for the medicine. Stay with us, Brook," he kisses the top of her head.
"I love you," Brooklynn whispers, tiredly. "I don't deserve your… your friendship…"
"Just rest," Darius says. "We'll help you. Just stay with us. We all love you."
"Okay," Brooklynn barely nods as Yasmina takes her from Darius.
"Come on, guys, the clock is ticking," Darius says determinedly as he slides down. "We need to find the medicine fast. Brooklynn's life depends on it."