Chapter 4

The next morning came too soon for Danni, but she bolted out of bed as the aroma of coffee filtered into her room. When she finally got downstairs, she realized she was the last to enter the dining room. An unofficial meeting of the Surfer Tribe was now in session.

Grabbing a cup of coffee, Danni sat down next to Guy, a former prisoner of the Technos. He wore his hair in Zoot style dreadlocks. Guy had never been a follower, but he couldn't fault the guy's style. "Where's Re-Nee?" she asked groggily, noticing that he was rolling something between his fingers.

"I think she headed towards East beach," Guy whispered. "She said she was leaving to gather food, but I think she left under other terms." Opening up his hand, he showed Danni what he had been playing with. It was a seashell bracelet, Re-Nee's bracelet in fact. The shells alternated between two colors: brown, white, brown, white, etc.

The only other bracelet that matched this one was Bray's. Danni quickly looked in his direction. Like Guy, Bray was rolling his own bracelet. His other hand seemed to be pulling at the chain under his shirt, playing with the phantom ring that hung there.

The bracelets were the tribe's marking. Each member had a bracelet. If they were single then they're bracelet was all white. If they were taken, the two in love chose a color and painted every other shell that color.

"Great," Danni muttered. "No one went with her?"

"She was gone before anyone awoke." Guy looked up at the concern look on Danni's face. "Don't worry love, she'll be okay." He quickly kissed her forehead as everyone sat down. Once seated, Tina began to serve breakfast.

"Can we talk without worrying that the others will come in?" Danni asked. Her annoyance was fighting against her strength to stay calm.

"I believe we can," said Tina. "They were pretty tuckered out. A good meal and a nice sleep was all they needed."

"Good. I want them gone!" Danni said point-blankly. Ved, Cloe, and Bray sent her a distressed look. "I'm sorry, but I just don't trust them."

"Stop it Danni," Cloe said. "You only mean Ebony and you know it. The others have nothing to do with this grudge you have against Ebony. I don't want them gone. It gives me a chance to apologize."

"I agree with Cloe," Ved said. He was cut off by Danni.

"You only say that because she did. Doesn't anyone else see the problem here?" Danni was getter angrier with each word she spoke. Breakfast grew cold as tensions mounted.

"Danni..." warned Guy.

"What's the problem Danni?" Bray asked with as much anger as her. The others sat and waited impatiently for her response. Guy was the only one who didn't seem upset with Danni. She just shook her head and stared down at her plate. "Don't you see what's already happening to this tribe? We're breaking apar..."

"Don't say it Danni," Bray warned. "I want them to stay. I've finally have gotten the chance to see my two year-old son, and I want to be part of his life..." He in turn was cut off by the door slamming open. There stood a blue- haired man with a bag of fish.

"Did you see the boat?" he asked. He seemed a little excited, but concern etched his face.

"Luke!" Tina exclaimed as she jumped up to take the bag from his hands. When she tried to move away, he wrapped an arm around her waist and held her close.

"Did you get enough?" Guy asked a little worried.

"Because we'll need it," Danni muttered to herself under her breath. "A pack of strays have moved in..."

"Stop it! If you got something to say, say it," Tina demanded. "Re-Nee said they were welcomed, so they are. I don't understand your behavior. We've survived this long because of Re-Nee's decisions and now you're going to question her?" Tina would have continued on her tantrum had Luke not put a stop to it by kissing her. After he was done, he turned to the others.

"Now will someone /please/ fill me in?" he asked with a smile. He hated to be away from the tribe because he always seemed to miss the exciting things. But the tribe needed food, so that meant he left the group every other week for three days to go fishing. When he had seen the boat yesterday, he cut his trip short by a day and headed back.

"Maybe I can," a feminine voice said from the doorway.

Throughout the house, Mall Rats were awakening to the sunlight filtering through unfamiliar windows. Some tried to turn back over while others stiffly climbed out of bed.

Bray Jr. cried and flung his doll at Amber. She knew she could no longer pretend to be asleep so she sat up. Her eyes were puffy from her night-long cry and tears formed as she thought back to it. Picking him out of the crib, she changed his diaper and carried him to the balcony. After placing him down on the floor, she sat in the rocking chair and watched the waves break in the distance.

Down the hall, Jay sat behind a closed door. He had awakened before dawn and witnessed one of the most beautiful sunrises he had seen since he left the Eco-tribe with Ebony and Amber. Forgetting where he was, he almost ran out of the house when he saw a figure heading towards the beach. After taking a couple of steps, his mind woke up and he realized he wasn't at the mall anymore and it wasn't his duty to worry where people went and what they were up to.

On the floor above them, Mouse and Brady were waking up, ready to explore. After conspiring for a while, they put their plan into motion. Mouse crept to Salene's bed as Brady approached her mother. Silently, the climbed onto the bed and on the count of three, they began to jump and yell. "Wake up! Wake up!" Both older woman jumped and almost knocked the younger girls off the bed. After recovering from their shock, they grabbed the girl that had awakened them and started an all-out tickle-fest.

"Wake up! Wake up!" filtered through the wall, waking Lex from his deep slumber. He threw the covers off and stormed over to the wall separating the two rooms. Raising his arm, he was about to knock before he heard the laughter that always set his insides on fire. /Damn it! / Lex cursed himself for the millionth time since he discovered his true feelings. /I'm not suppose to feel this way towards HER. / Keeping up his reputation, Lex finally knocked on the wall. "Some of us are trying to sleep!" he yelled. The outrageous laughter stopped, but soft giggles could still be heard.

On the first floor, Slade pulled Ebony closer to him. He wasn't ready to get up, but the smell of fresh coffee was making it hard to stay asleep. His stomach grumbled and it caused a small giggle to escape Ebony's mouth. He smiled against her ear. Ebony couldn't be any happier. This even beat her happiness of getting rid of that lying, manipulative Ruby. Before reaching this island, the Mall Rats had stopped at another one. That island was supposed to be their final stop, but some of them wanted to continue moving. In the end, Ruby, Sammy, Gel and May stayed on that island. The others took the boat and headed off. Now Ebony didn't need to worry about Ruby trying to break Slade and her apart.

On the fourth and final floor, Jack and Ellie were the last to smell the coffee aroma that flowed through the house. Like Slade, Jack tried to pull Ellie closer, but she wiggled free. "I'm going to explore," she whispered into his ear. He grumbled and pulled her pillow to his chest. Ellie chuckled and headed downstairs.

Following her nose and remembering yesterday, she headed towards the dining room. She stopped short when she heard angry voices. /What's going on? / she wondered. Making no noise, she slowly approached the door and listened.

"Don't say it Danni." Ellie recognized Bray's voice and knew he was angry. "I want them to stay. I've finally have gotten the chance to see my two year-old son, and I want to be part of his life..." Ellie jumped when the door slammed open.

"Did you see the boat?" the blonde felt as if all the air had cleared out of the room. /It can't be! / she told herself. /He can't be here! / Sure enough, there stood the man that left her without a single goodbye, the man she thought she would spend the rest of her life with.

Her breath was knocked away again as she saw him kiss that girl. /What's her name? / Ellie asked, raking her mind for the answer. /Tina, that's it.../ It felt like forever before he stopped kissing her. Finally he spoke again. "Now will someone /please/ fill me in?"

Ellie's mind race and she couldn't control her tongue. She had to let him know she was there. She had to make him acknowledge her. "Maybe I can," she said, stepping out from her hiding spot.

A/N: Ok...here's another chapter...you talked me into giving it to you....