Chapter Five

Melissa glared across the campfire at Jackson. She saw the flames come up and frame his face. Satan, she thought to herself. He sat there with an angry glare. Jackson watched Melissa eying him with her scowl. Crybaby, he thought to himself. Jo watched the both of them stare silently at each other with hatred burning in their eyes.

"Okay," Nathan said, walking up to meet the rest of the group. "Dinnertime." Daley and Nathan walked around the campfire, passing out small coconut dishes with small servings of macaroni and cheese in them.

"What gives?" Eric yelled out, "I had more macaroni in here last week. What's with the cut-down?" Daley sighed.

"Since there are more of us, we each get a little less food. We have to conserve it and make it last," she explained to him. Everyone turned to look at Jo. She played with her hair uneasily, smiling a little to be polite. She knew what they were all thinking.

Just then, Summit came trotting up the beach with a big mango in his mouth.

"Hey!" Taylor shouted. "I just picked those this morning you thief! Give it back!" She got up and took off running after the crazed pooch as he thoroughly enjoyed running away from her, towards the sunset.

"Who was in charge of guarding the fruit this time?" Daley asked, annoyed.

"I didn't know we had to guard the fruit," Eric responded. He shot Jo another quick stare. She folded her hands in her lap and scooted a little bit closer to Jackson. Melissa clenched her teeth some as she saw Jackson rest his arm on Jo's shoulder, as if comforting her.

Finally, Melissa couldn't hold it in any longer. She just simply couldn't control herself. She stood up in front of the group and stole everyone's attention.

"Look, I think we've all been more than generous with each other, but I think we should draw the line here. I mean, what will happen when Jory, Ian, Abby, and Captain Russell all come back? What do we do then? Do we cut our servings in half again? Do we have to share blankets when we run out? We don't have enough supplies. I think we need to do something," Melissa replied.

"Melissa," Jackson said, scowling.

"I think so too," Eric butted in. "What's ours is ours and I don't think that anyone else should be able to basically steal from us. Survival of the fittest, right?"

"Eric," Jackson warned. He glanced at Jo who was looking down at the ground. "You guys, this is just stupid," Jackson replied, starting to tell them off.

"No," Jo interrupted, "it's okay… I understand. I'll leave tomorrow morning."

"But Jo-"

"No, Jackson. They're right. It's not fair that they have to share everything they worked really hard for," she said.

"Jo, this is stupid. You can stay here. You're just as stranded as the rest of us." She shot Jackson a look and shook her head.

"This is how it has to be," she whispered before walking back to the tents. Jackson looked around the camp at the long faces of his fellow survivors.

"You know she could die out there. I hope you guys are all really happy," he remarked, running after Jo. The group was completely silent. Daley looked at Melissa and Melissa looked at Eric. Eric looked at Nathan and Nathan watched Taylor chase Summit around the beach, grabbing for the mango in his mouth.

" Now I feel really guilty," Nathan quietly said.

"Oh don't say that now. We can't turn back," Eric told him. Nathan nodded, really wishing democracy wasn't the only way they could get things done around here.

"Jo, wait!" Jackson called as he ran after her, "They didn't mean that! Jo, please come back." She turned around, frustrated, and looked him in his bright, shining eyes. "They didn't mean what they said," Jackson whispered once more. Jo shook her head.

"No, Jackson, they did and they want me gone. What else am I going to do? Melissa is totally right; I'm an outsider here and I can't just waltz in and expect to be fed and watered. I mean, you guys have worked so hard for all this and I just came in here with no effort at all. It really isn't fair to the group. I'm sorry, Cojack but I can't stay here," she said simply and started walking back to get her little bit of stuff.

"Johanna Emmett, you will die out there if you go alone!" Jackson shouted.

"Well, I can't please your soiled little rich kid friends so I'll just be finding some other way to do this on my own," she said. Jackson shook his head.

"Pleasing others is like holding your breath when trying to breathe," he replied. "You can't ever please everyone. Secondly, those kids may all be spoiled brats, yeah, but they're hardly my friends."

"Thanks Jackson," he heard someone say from behind him. Jackson turned around to see Nathan standing there. "I was coming to apologize to you and invite you and Jo back to the campfire but… spoiled rich kids, huh? Thanks. Feel free to pack up your stuff in the tent and get everything of yours from around the camp. I thought we were actually friends, Jackson," Nathan replied, turning and leaving after giving him a dirty look. Jackson sighed and leaned his head back, running his fingers through his thick, blonde hair.

"What'll you do now?" Jo asked him, her hand resting on her hip. Jackson shot her a look.

"I don't know but it will probably be best if we stick together," he said back. Jo put her hand on Jackson's back and comforted him as they walked.

Jackson and Jo walked along the island on the edge of the water with the sand in their toes. The beach was so quiet and peaceful. Nothing seemed to interfere with the moment expect maybe the occasional strong wave would knock Jackson and Jo off balance.

"I'm sorry I got you kicked out of camp," Jo finally said after many minutes of silence. Jackson shrugged.

"It's all right," he replied. "My mouth was bound to get me kicked out of the camp eventually." Jo looked at him.

"Really?"

"Probably not," Jackson said, smiling. He put his hands in his pockets and kept walking.

"You know, when we do get off this island, what will happen to us?" Jo asked. Jackson shot her a confused look.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean like… do we go on living our lives as we were… or now that we found each other, do we try to change things?" Jo asked her cousin. Jackson was unsure of the answer. "I know if John sees you or Aunt Judith, he'll get really angry. I'm not sure if I trust him again yet." Jackson nodded.

"Yeah, I wouldn't trust him either. I'll tell you what, Jo. There is no force on Earth or in Heaven that keep me from seeing you and Mark again. If there is a way to stay in contact, we'll find it," he told her. Jo smiled.

"You always made me feel better," she replied. Jackson nodded.

"You always made me feel loved," he said back. They exchanged smiles and kept walking down the beach.

Melissa slowly walked into the boys' tent, looking over everything. She glanced at both Eric's and Nathan's stuff but she felt almost depressed when she didn't see Jackson's stuff there. Melissa suddenly spotted Jackson's favorite beanie hat on the floor, by the edge of the tent. She felt the hat between her fingers.

Melissa was so torn. Her mind kept telling her that she hated Jackson and that he was a cold-blooded gold digger but her heart kept telling her how much she cared for him and that she should have faith in him. There were so many emotions flowing together at once. She didn't know whether to hug Jackson or hate him.

"Mel?" she heard Nathan's voice say softly. She turned and saw him standing by the opening of the tent. "What are you doing in here?" he asked. Melissa suddenly burst into tears and threw her arms around him.

"I can't help it," she whined, "I miss him so much." Nathan put his arm on her back.

"It's okay, Mel, we all do." They hugged each other for a few moments until Nathan gently pulled away to look Melissa in her eyes. "Look, we've discussed it a little bit and we think we may have been a little too harsh on Jackson and his cousin, Jo. You obviously think so too, so would you like to tag along with us while we look for them?" he offered. Melissa suddenly looked at Nathan with serious eyes.

"Wait, what did you say?" she asked. Nathan looked at her.

"What?"

"What you said a minute ago… Jackson and Jo are cousins?" Melissa asked, surprised. Nathan nodded.

"Yeah, Jackson told me that when we were fishing the other day. They haven't seen each other in years." Melissa gasped, putting her hand over her mouth.

"Oh my god," she mumbled to herself.

"What is it?" Nathan asked. Tears started forming in Melissa's eyes.

"Oh my god, Nathan, I've made a big mistake. We have to find Jackson… and we have to find him soon before he and Jo go into the jungle and get themselves lost. I made a huge mistake," she said. Nathan took her by her hand.

"Well, come on. Let's rally the search party and you can tell me what happened on the way there."