-Coldplay, "A Rush of Blood to the Head"
-----
"I've never been on a frog hunt before," I confessed, looking down at the sand. "Is it hard?"
"Nah," said Bumlets.
We were walking along the edge of the water, looking for frogs. Don't ask, it was Bumlets' idea. I think he has a sort of frog fetish or something...
Well I guess that makes sense; they're small and adorable and huggable and only make noise when they have to. He could probably relate to a pet frog more than another human being, come to think of it.
I honestly didn't think we would find any frogs in the ocean. Neither did Bumlets. Nevertheless, we were going on a frog-hunt anyway.
"Where do you learn how to do all this shit, anyway?" I asked.
"What shit?"
"Like frog-hunting and fishing and stuff." I bent down and picked up a smooth stone from the sand, rubbing it between my fingers. "I mean, I'd never even seen a real ocean before — one that's not all polluted and stuff — and here you were, knowing how to stab a fish down the middle with a pointy stick." I skipped the stone across the water and let out a low whistle.
Bumlets chucked. I loved making him laugh. He just had this great laugh, real quiet and shy, and it made everything seem so much more intimate — like he was laughing just for me, y'know?
Hopeless romantic? Oh yeah, baby.
"I dunno..." he said after a minute. "I feel like I just know this stuff. I don't know where I learned to do it."
THREE WHOLE SENTENCES!! WOO HOO!
I wasn't sure if he was telling me the whole truth or not, but I decided to let it go and focused myself wholly and completely on frog hunting. Bumlets was an interesting guy, kind of socially awkward, but that was why I loved him.
As a friend.
Ack.
"I see one!" I yelled, running forward and throwing myself onto the sand. (We had all completely given up on trying to keep our clothes clean. Mush had actually thrown his shirt away because it had gotten so filthy, and a permanently shirtless Mush hopping around on an island made everyone happy.)
It wasn't a frog. It wasn't even alive.
"What the fuck..." I mumbled, picking it up and sitting back on my knees.
"What is it?" asked Bumlets. I didn't answer him, so he dragged himself over to me and sat down too. His eyebrows shot up when he saw what I was holding, and he took it gently from my hands and looked it over.
"It looks like a video camera or somethin'," I said unnecessarily. "Like the security cameras you see when you go into a public store — but why the hell would one be here?"
Bumlets shook his head and turned the thing over in his hands. "It's solar powered."
"How'd you know?"
"See the solar panels on the side?" He pointed them out to me, imprinted on the side of the small camera. "That's where the camera collects the energy from the sun."
I frowned at the thing. "Somebody must have put it here, then, but it's not supposed to be in the sand by the water," I said slowly. "It's perfectly designed to withstand the elements — look, it's wicked hard and small and it looks waterproof, too."
"It..." Bumlets looked shyly up at me, black eyes almost embarrassed. "It kinda looks like it's supposed to be attached to a tree or something, y'know?"
"You think so?" I asked. I took it back from him and entertained the idea for a minute. "I guess that kind of makes sense..."
"I dunno. It just looks the right shape, and it's got this weird clip on the side."
A thought struck me, and I looked at him suddenly. "Bumlets—" I said. "Bumlets, do you think there are more of these things? I mean think about it, there could be hundreds of 'em all over the place. Are we, like, being constantly filmed or somethin' screwy like that?"
A grin tugged up the corner of that gorgeous full mouth of his, and his black eyes glittered. "Wanna find 'em?"
"What?"
"The other cameras. Let's go find them." And with that he got up and headed straight for the trees behind him.
Ladies and gentlemen, Bumlets Thayar. Quiet, blunt, but full of hidden enthusiasm and passion. God, I love that man.
As a friend.
Ahh.
I hauled myself to my feet and hurried after him, running a hand through my thick red-black hair. "Do you really think there are more of them?"
"Well this one can't be a coincidence."
"Point taken." The pair of us made our way into the woods, checking as many trees as we could. "Why do you think we've never found one before?" I asked after a minute or so. "I mean, we've been on this Island for what — three or four weeks? And we've never seen anything like that."
"Camouflage," he said, and handed me the camera.
I looked at it. It was exactly the color of the hundreds of tree trunks around us. "Oh," I said. Bumlets just smiled at me and continued to search the trees.
It was another ten minutes before we found what we were looking for: another small camera, identical to the one I was holding, nestled carefully between two large branches way above our heads. "Sweet," I muttered. "How do we get it down? I'm just 5'8, I'm not tall enough to..." I trailed off, looking at Bumlets. He was grinning evilly at me. "Oh no. NO. You are NOT getting on my shoulders."
"We need to get that camera," he reminded me.
I scowled at him, weighing my options. On the one hand, I could refuse and spare myself the pain (and humiliation, might I add) of having a sixteen-year-old boy on my shoulders. On the other hand, I did want that camera.
And Bumlets was shirtless.
"Fine," I said grumpily, and bent down so that he could climb onto my back.
-----
"HOW HIGH DOES THE SYCAMORE GROW?" sang Nani loudly (in a surprisingly good singing voice, might I add). "IF YOU CUT IT DOWN, THEN YOU'LL NEVER KNOW! AND YOU'LL NEVER HEAR THE WOLF CRY TO THE BLUE CORN MOON, FOR WHETHER WE ARE WHITE OR COPPER SKINNED ... WE NEED TO SING WITH ALL THE VOICES OF THE MOUNTAIN! WE NEED TO PAINT WITH ALL THE COLORS OF THE WIIIIIIIND!"
"And the wind blows ever so gracefully through her hair!" I yelled, hopping up and wiggling my fingers in a rather Wayne-and-Garth fashion to represent the classic Pocahontas wind.
"YOU CAN OWN THE EARTH AND STILL ALL YOU'LL OWN IS EARTH UNTIL YOU CAN PAINT—"
"Ack, stop!" Braids yelled. "Where's John Smith?!?"
Everyone froze. "DUTCHY!" Nani exclaimed, grabbing his wrist and pulling him onto the "stage".
"Why me?" Dutchy demanded.
"'Cause you have the hair," said Nani, poking it.
"GUYYYYYYYYYS!" someone yelled from the forest.
"Hark! 'Tis the sound of the sweet wood nymphs which inhabit the magical forest!" said Bel.
We all turned to see Bumlets and Swifty sprinting towards us, their arms full of some sort of ... hell, I had no idea what they were carrying.
"And lo and behold, here they are!" said Bel happily, clapping her hands in spontaneous delight.
"Aw shut up, Bel," said Swifty fondly, dumping the stuff onto the sand at her feet. "This—" He held one under her nose. "—is what Bumlets and I have been collecting for the past hour and a half."
"But I thought you were frog hunting..." said Flare confusedly. Race laughed and patted her shoulder sympathetically.
"What the hell?" Bel took the thing and looked it over. "What is this, a camera?"
"We've been Punk'd!!" said Sapphy excitedly.
"They're all over the forest, stuck in trees and stuff," said Swifty. "One of them had been knocked out and was sittin' in the sand, and I picked it up 'cause I thought it was a frog. But I mean dude, if I hadn't been so incredibly thick, we'd probably never have found them..."
"Whoa, wait, you found all these in the forest?" Irish demanded, picking one up and peering into the lens.
"Yeah. Well Bumlets found most of 'em, but I found this one!" said Swifty. He pointed to one of them enthusiastically, but nobody was really listening.
"Are you trying to say that we've been on film this entire time?" demanded Spitfire.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"Braids, cut it out," said Spot calmly, slapping her cheek. She stopped screaming and scowled at him (or tried to, anyway).
"Why the hell would anyone want to film us?" King chuckled.
"Think about it," said Alaska. "I mean, I think we've grown a little too used to being on this Island. We still don't know why we're here — for all we know, we could be part of some huge scientific experiment on human nature or something."
There was a dull silence. "Actually, that's probably exactly why we are here," said Emily.
There was another dull silence. Braids opened her mouth to scream again, but Spot slapped her before she could make any noise. She slapped him back.
"You really think so?" said Kyriel, looking extremely creeped out.
"I don't know..." said Emily, and she crossed her arms over her chest and looked down at the sand.
"It makes sense," David justified, stepping forward. "Why else would we all be here with such similar conditions? Why else would there be little cameras stuck in the trees? I'm beginning to think we're all just pawns in some bigger chess game that none of us understand..."
Coin stared at him. "Dude, you're the only person I have ever met who actually talks in metaphors."
"This is screwy..." Chris groaned. She took out a cigarette, felt around in her pockets, remembered she didn't have a lighter, stuck the cigarette back into her pocket, and looked about ready to cry.
"Well the solution is obvious," said Scout (looking very proud of herself for using a big word like "solution"). "We can't just allow ourselves to be used like this. We gotta fight back!"
"YEAH!" yelled Soaker, slapping her a high five.
Sapphy hopped onto Race's shoulders. "THE STUPID PEOPLE CONDUCTING THE HYPOTHETICAL EXPERIMENT, THEY THINK WE'RE NOTHIN'! ARE WE NOTHIN'?"
"NO!" we all yelled.
"THE STUPID PEOPLE CONDUCTING THE HYPOTHETICAL EXPERIMENT, THEY THINK THEY GOT US! DO THEY GOT US?"
"NO!" everyone yelled again.
No. Not everyone. Most of us were yelling, but there were a few people who were looking extremely shifty. Granny rounded on them, eyebrows raised. "What's up with you guys?"
Jack tilted his head to the side and drew a design on the sand with his toe. "I dunno..." he said, sounding uncharacteristically quiet. "I guess..."
"TELL ME TELL ME TELL ME!" said Cat, hopping up and down. (Spaz.)
"It's just ... I don't wanna sound corny or anything, but this is the happiest I've ever been. Here."
Bandit was rubbing his forearm. I noticed that he did that a lot when he was feeling under pressure. "Yeah, I've actually had a pretty fucked up childhood too. With Marie—"
King looked at him. "Are you ever going to explain about this Marie?"
"She was ... she was my younger sister." Bandit was looking awkward, rubbing his forearm harder than ever and carefully not meeting our eyes. "Man, she was real little. My best friend in the world after Mom and Dad died, and then she got leukemia..."
"Holy shit..." Boots murmured.
"The orphanage couldn't pay for the expenses. She died 'bout three month after she was diagnosed." There was an odd, hollow quality to Bandit's voice, and his face was suddenly mask-like.
None of us could think of anything to say. "I'm real sorry, man," said Blink after a minute.
Bandit pulled off his shirt. There on his forearm, bright against his brown skin, was a tattoo of an angel with the name "Marie" printed underneath. "I got it a week after she died," he said dully. "Once I was able to drag myself out of the house."
"My older brother died when I was six. All the more reason to fight back, don't you think? If the world hates you, ya gotta learn to deal with it, to retaliate," said Spot sagely.
"You don't get it, do you?" Bandit snapped, pulling his shirt back on. "She was all I had. My life after she's gone has been complete hell, and the last thing I want to do is give up the only place I've ever been fucking happy in and go back to the way things were."
"Some of us were happy where we were, though," said Scout quietly.
"I'm aware of that," said Bandit coolly.
"And we don't want to be used like this. I want out." She pulled her cap on over her hair and stood up. "Who's with me?"
Emily, David, Swifty, Spot, Flare, Irish, Race, Mush, Ershey, Snitch, Granny, Soaker, Sapphy, Cat, Braids, and Alaska were. The remaining 17 of us were overwhelmed, but we stood our ground.
"Fine," said Jack.
"Great," said Scout.
"I'll see you around," said Jack.
"Aw shut up..." said Scout, and she stormed off down the beach. The others looked at each other and followed her, leaving the rest of us standing awkwardly on the sand. Skittery and Kyriel sat down on the sand and began to play rock-paper-scissors-shoot out of pure boredom.
After a minute, Swifty came back and pulled the heap of cameras into his arms, carefully avoiding Bumlets' eyes.
-----
singin'-newsies-goil: I FORGOT YOUR SHOUTOUT?!?! AHH!!
singin'-newsies-goil: Ha, now you have two. Thanks for reviewing, I love ya!
TechniColor DreamGirl: All right, I am officially in love with Bandit. Can I keep him? :-D You have like the best characters in the whole story, seriously. Thanks for reviewing, I love ya!
uninvisible: HAHAHA! SHEEPISH! Like in "Aladdin" and the genie goes "Ohh I feel sheepish" and then he turns into a SHEEP!! WOO HOO! ...Wow, I'm tired. Thanks for reviewing, I love you!!
Written Sparks: Yeah, it broke my heart to make Skittery gay ... But I figured that I had so many girls wanting him to go out with them, I might as well have him go out with Snitch and then everyone will be happy! HOORAY! lol, thanks for reviewing!
SpotLover421: You, my dear, had the best reviews ever. ((gives you flowers))
blackblood: Aww thank you so much!! ((grins like an idiot)) Ohh and now I'm grinning like an idiot. WONDERFUL. Thanks for reviewing, I love ya! (And I'm REALLY sorry I can't give you a part in the story, but I'm having trouble keeping track of all these characters as it is...)
Soaker: I need to give you more lines. So far you've been scared of raw fruit, you've done a high five with Scout, and you've been peed on. That's really cruel and unusual punishment, isn't it? I'm sorry!! ((cries))
Ershey: LOL!! You are a NUT and I love you for it ... I love Keenan too. He's like my favorite character. I have no life. Anyway, thanks for reviewing, I love ya!
KyrielF: My favorite pairing is actually Swifty/Bumlets. It's gonna be like my trademark pairing or something, I LOVE THEM TOGETHER! Snittery's awesome too, though (which is why it's in this story). HOORAY FOR SLASH! lol, thanks for reviewing, I love ya!
Ccatt: ACK I had to sleep in my cousin's room once when I was visiting his family (he was in college) and the ENTIRE ROOM was covered in cat hair. ((shudders)) lol, thanks for the review, I love ya!
Matchin' Laces: A pair o' new shoes with Matchin' Laces! HAHA! Mush wants a pair of new shoes and YOU! Wow, I'm pathetic. Thanks for reviewing!
Bookey Elliot: MAN I love you, you always make me so damn HAPPY! Thanks SO MUCH for reviewing!! (Naked Spots? Yes sir.)
Scout73: Actually, as a child Spot had enuresis and it kind of messed with his mind. :-D I'M SORRY I TOOK YOUR SNITCHY AWAY!! AHH I FEEL HORRIBLE! Perfectly miserable, as a matter of fact, a phrase which I only use under perfectly miserable circumstances. ((sobs))
nani at 12 o'clock: Yes, I think I will have Spottie darling lose his shirt. :-D My dad goes fishing all the time too, but I'm really not into it ... I'm such a girl, it's really sad. Thanks for reviewing, I love ya!!
tinydanceremily: Ah, you're introverted too, I see. Introverted compulsive writers unite!! WOO HOO! I adore Elton John, he's like my hero. Lol, thanks for reviewing, I love ya!!
Madison Square: Yeah, the whole creepy animal thing was scaring me. Notice I didn't mention it at all in this story. ;-) Thanks for reviewing, I love ya!!
Repeat: I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry... ((cries)) ((runs away and sing Cher songs)) ((kills all life as we know it))
Lady of Tir Na Nog: Dude, your penname reminds me of Monty Python. WE ARE THE LADIES WHO SAY "TIR NA NOG"!! Hahaha ... yeah, I crack myself up. Thanks for the review, I love you!! (And don't worry, nobody's gonna die, lol.)
Coin: YAY! I LOVE YOU!! Thanks for reviewing! :-D
Cassies-Grandma: Yes, notice that Spot didn't mention peeing ONCE throughout the whole story. WOO HOO!! Thanks for the review, I love ya!!
Sapphy: Yeah, I couldn't resist having you eat a little fish ... All right, I've had my fun, I'm done with the fish jokes. :-D And no more elephant jokes, either! Lol, thanks for reviewing, I love ya!
Dakki: YES! Ahaha, I can see it now, let us scare the public with our deliciously random co-written fic!! HOORAY! (And we'll do Mink, 'cause I love Dalton.) Thanks SO MUCH for reviewing, I love ya!!
-----
Author's Note: I LOVE LEX LUTHER!! ACK!
-Saturday