Chapter 4- A Not-So-Ordinary Day
Jackson arrived back at camp, carrying the fish he had caught.. He sat down on a log and started to clean them, one by one.
He was on the third one when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He jumped a mile and looked around. Melissa was standing over him, grinning. "Hey, Jackson."
"Oh, Mel, you scared me," Jackson replied, grinning himself.
"Sorry," she said as she sat down next to him.
"No problem... what are you up to?"
"Well, I'm supposed to be boiling and filtering the water, but since Eric hasn't actually gotten any yet..."
"You're stuck doing nothing," Jackson finished for Melissa with a small smile.
"Exactly," Melissa said, smiling back at him. She noticed the fish he was cleaning. "And how'd you get stuck doing that?" she asked him.
"Ah," he said, a sly smile appearing on his face. "Well, everyone else was way to busy all of a sudden."
Melissa laughed and looked at her watch. "Eric won't be back for another... eight minutes, so I have nothing to do until then..."
Jackson looked up at her in amazement. "How on earth would you know that?"
"Because I know Eric," Melissa explained. "Plus, I've been working with him on the water ever since you became leader, so by now I've gotten used to these things..."
Jackson shook his head in amazement and went back to cleaning the fish. It was unbelievable what being stranded with six other kids could do...
There was silence, and suddenly Jackson found himself feeling awkward. He was thankful when Melissa broke the silence.
"Here, let me clean some of those."
Jackson handed her two fish and said, "Thanks."
She smiled at him. "No problem," she said, and they sat in silence cleaning the fish for a few more minutes. When they were done, Melissa said, "Let's go put these away," refering to the tools used to clean the fish (AN- I have no idea what they would have used). Jackson nodded and the two of them got up.
They were headed towards the tent when suddenly Melissa tripped and fell backwards. She let out a small cry but suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap around her shoulders. She looked up and saw Jackson looking down at her. He had darted forward and caught her at the last moment.
Melissa smiled and said, "Thanks."
"No problem," he replied as he set her back on her feet. Jackson didn't, however, release his hold on Melissa. Neither did she. They gazed into each other's eyes, and Melissa felt a shiver go up her spine.
"Jackson-" she started, but he interrupted her by gently pressing his lips against hers. After a moment she began to kiss him back, and after a few more they broke apart and smiled at each other.
"Melissa," Jackson said, "I really like you- a lot."
"I like you, too, Jackson," Mel replied, and Jackson gave her a peck on the cheek, which made her blush.
"But," Melissa began, looking confused, "I don't understand. What about your 'no relationships' rule?"
Jackson sighed. "Oh, that," he began. "Well, I thought that, with relationships here, we would have too much of a risk of falling apart, and things would be too weird. So I didn't think that relationships here were a good idea." He paused for a minute, and then added, "But that's a chance I'm willing to take with you. I really care about you, Mel."
Melissa smiled at him. 'Oh, he's so sweet!' she thought. 'And cute, especially when he's like this...'
"I love you, Mel," Jackson said, not looking away from her beautiful eyes.
"I love you, too," Melissa replied, and they kissed again, this one more passionate than the other, until Melissa pulled away and checked her watch again.
"Three, two, one,..." she said, and she completely let go of Jackson as Eric appeared with two jugs of water in his hands.
"I know, I know," Eric said to Mel before she even opened her mouth. She smiled and started, "And don't-"
"I won't forget," Eric interrupted her as he picked up the two empty jugs and disappeared into the jungle.
"Wow," Jackson said in awe. He paused and then said, "You two should go out."
Melissa laughed and gave him a hug. Jackson smiled and wrapped his arms around her. Then Mel said with a smile, "But you wouldn't like that very much, would you?"
"You have no idea," Jackson replied as he kissed her forehead.
29DWN
The rest of the day went by in a blur for the group. Everyone was hard at work on the new shelter. Lex, who was working on the blueprints and was sitting down at the fireplace, was observing the others as they worked. Jackson and Melissa kept whispering quietly to each other and looking cautiously at the others. Then they would sneak away for a few moments and return grinning but acting as though nothing had happened. Taylor and Eric were teasing each other, doing nothing to help as usual. Nathan and Daley were working together and were also whispering to each other. One would break away from the group and then come back a few moments later, and then go back, bringing the other with them. As Lex watched his friends, he felt as if he were missing something, something that the others all seemed to have. He thought about it for a moment and then brushed it off, knowing it was probably nothing.
That night, though, when they all drifted off to sleep, Lex tossed and turned as he dreamed...
LEX'S DREAM
Lex came up from the beach, looking excited about something. He looked around for signs of anyone else, but no one was around. He walked up to camp where he saw Eric and Taylor fooling around. He went up to them. "Guys! Guess what I found!"
"Stop it!" Taylor squealed as Eric squirted water at her.
"Guys!" Lex tried again. "Guess what-"
"Make me!" Eric cut him off.
"I will!" Taylor yelled back at him, and she jumped on Eric and tackled him.
Lex sighed and walked away. He hadn't expected Taylor or Eric to listen, anyway. He went looking until he found Jackson and Melissa.
"Hey! You'll never guess what I found! It's-"
"Not now, Lex," Melissa moaned as Jackson massaged her gently.
"But-"
"Lex," Jackson said as he wrapped his arms around Melissa, "Why don't you go see if there's anything else you can do around here?"
"But-"
"Go ahead," Melissa said. "You'll find something to do."
"But, Jackson-" Lex cried. Why weren't they listening to him?
"Later, Lex," Jackson said firmly, and he started whispering in Melissa's ear and she began to giggle.
Lex turned away in bewilderment, wondering why they were all ignoring him. Then he found someone who was sure to listen to him.
"Daley!"
Daley didn't show any signs of hearing him as he ran up to her.
"Hey, Daley, guess what I-"
"Not now, Lex," Daley replied, still not looking at him.
"But I have news and no one else is-"
"Hey, Day," Nathan said, coming up from behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist.
"Hey," she said, giggling as he ran kisses down her neck.
"Nathan! Daley!" Lex cried. "This is important!"
"It can wait, can't it?" Nathan asked as Daley cuddled up to him.
"No! It can't! Why won't you listen to me?"
"Go find Jackson," Daley said. "Talk to him."
"I already did! He was-"
"Or Melissa or Eric or Taylor..."
"They're all-"
"Lex," Daley said, sounding annoyed, "I don't have time for this. Neither do the others. Just go away and leave us all alone."
"But, Daley-" Lex was once again cut off.
"Go, Lex," Nathan said, throwing him a look.
"Yeah, Lex," Melissa said, appearing with Jackson.
"Get off this island!" Taylor said, appearing with Eric.
Suddenly, Lex was blown backwards, away from them all. They were back to what they were doing, not appearing to even notice that Lex was gone.
"NO!" Lex cried, trying to get back to them.
"NO!" Lex screamed as he sat up. Panting heavily, he looked around and sighed- he was still in the tent. He checked to see if he had woken anyone up. Next to him was Taylor, and next to her, Melissa, then Jackson, then Eric, then Nathan, and finally Daley, who sat up and looked at him with concern.
"Are you okay, Lex?" she asked him.
Lex, who was still panting, answered her. "Yeah... yeah, I'm okay. Just a nightmare."
"Are you sure?" Daley still looked concerned.
Lex nodded, and Daley laid back down, facing away from Lex.
Lex sighed as he tried to drift off to sleep again. But something kept him awake. No matter how hard he tried to stop thinking about it, he couldn't stop wondering if his nightmare would come true.
29DWN
The next day, everyone set back to work, all doing their separate jobs. Melissa kept the fire going, collected wood and boiled & filtered the water that an unhappy Eric lugged from the well. Taylor lay sunbathing on the beach with the battery charger next to her. Nathan and Daley went out hunting for food, while Jackson saw that everything was done, doing anything else that came up. Lex, who was very tired from the previous night, had fallen asleep in his breakfast and was sleeping in the tent.
Everyone (including Lex when he awoke) worked hard that day on everything from the shelter to the food hunting, and everyone was exhausted when they were finished. Eric had collapsed into a chair and was sleeping. Taylor was reading a magazine and Lex was gazing into the fire. The others were nowhere to be found...
With Jackson and Melissa
"Wow, am I beat," Jackson said to Melissa as they walked through the jungle.
"Me, too," Melissa replied. "We all worked hard today."
"Well, maybe we deserve a rest, then," Jackson suggested, and they stopped at a clearing and sat down on a boulder.
"Maybe we deserve a little something else, too," Melissa said seductively, and they kissed passionately. Things heated up, and soon it had turned into a full make- out session. They were so caught- up in each other that they didn't have another care in the world...
"Jackson?!"
"Melissa?!"
The two broke apart, their eyes widening, as they heard those two familiar voices. They turned around to see Nathan and Daley standing there, hand in hand, staring back at them.
Cliffhanger!! So you guys like it?? Press the purple button and review!!