Chapter 1: This Must Be Heaven
"Stand down! It's coming this way!"
"Ty! Give me your hand!"
"You don't understand, do you? Of course not. But you will…in time."
He was jolted awake as the plane he was on shuddered. Blinking away the strange dream, his red eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight streaming in through the window. He was of a light brown complexion, with shaved black hair. He was wearing a red V-neck with dark wash jeans. Looking out he could see the plane he was on was flying over the vast blue sea.
"Wow…" Ty said.
Next to him sat Diego, Ty's best friend, who gave him a goofy smirk. "Morning, sleepyhead." Diego has brown eyes, short, black hair and tan skin. He wears a short sleeved purple checked shirt with dark pants.
Ah! And there it was floating above Diego's head, that orange-yellow, open mouth smiley face. For as long as he could remember he had always been able to see those, and had long since shared it with Diego. With some trial and error, they had discovered it represented the relationship he had with certain people. They had chosen names for these statuses, Diego's was 'friend-status'. A step down from there was 'like-status', a yellow smiley face. Then 'neutral-status', a light blue, almost white straight face. The 'dislike-status', a blue to purple angry face. Those were the ones they knew so far. If there was more, then he'd just have to discover them.
"I'm not still dreaming, right?" Ty asked with a bright smile.
"Doesn't feel real, does it? But we're finally on our way!" Diego returned the smile.
The chatter of their fellow contest winners and schoolmates began to fill the plane.
"One magical week in paradise, here we come!" A girl said with a bright smile of her own. She has long red hair, blue eyes, and fair skin. She normally wears a white button-up knotted long-sleeved shirt with short jeans. Above her head, was the neutral status.
"All expenses paid, what whaaaat!" A jock said. He has short spiky black hair, amber eyes, and fair skin. He wears an orange and white varsity jacket with a gray shirt underneath. He fell in the dislike category.
"Good thing too. I'm so deep in student debt I couldn't even afford instant ramen right now." A guy cheesed hard. He has curly black hair, brown eyes, rotund structure and brown skin. He wears a blue checkered shirt over a cranberry shirt. That one there was like.
After those comments Ty went back to looking out the window, a strange look to his face.
"Hey…you okay, Ty? Bad dream?" Diego asked, worried for his friend.
Ty pulled himself together and looked back to his friend, "Just a really weird one. I dreamt about..about him!"
Walking down the aisle towards and apparently one of the people from Ty's dream was a man. He has short, curly dark brown hair, brown eyes, and brown skin. He normally wears a white and blue colored T-shirt. He was also neutral.
"You had a dream about Sean Gayle? Well, what are you waiting for? Go talk to him!" Diego pushed Ty out into the aisle…right as Sean passed by, causing the two to bump into each other.
"Whoa, hello there!" Sean said, giving him a smile.
Diego then chose then to say something, "My friend Ty here wants to say something."
Damnit Diego! He had been caught off-guard, "..I, uh… I dreamt about you!"
"Is that so? A good one, I hope." Sean seemed to have been well receptive to Ty's hast outburst.
"Actually, it was kinda terrifying." With Sean's acceptance, Ty felt a little less turmoil over being put on the spot, and could actually talk...until he realized how it may have sounded. "Oh, not because of you! It's just-"
Sean cut him off. "Don't worry. I'll take it as a compliment anyway." Sean sure was nice. Oh looks like he had gained a point with him.
Ty could see the green arrow shoot up in his peripherals, it usually occurred when he had a good experience with someone and red arrow shoots down for the inverse.
Sean shot him a smile and slipped by.
"Oh man, got that whole thing on video." Diego said with his phone out. "You've gotta see your face.." Diego gained a confused look as he stared at his phone. "Huh, weird. Is it really 5:15? We should've landed an hour ago… and it didn't feel like you'd been snoring that long."
"Hilarious. I'll go ask the pilot if something's up.." Ty made his way forward, passing by the other students talking loudly over each other.
"Excuse me, will you all please cease your babbling?! The tour guide is trying to speak!" One of them tried to yell over everyone else. He has blue eyes, short, light blond hair and pale skin. He wears a white shirt, purple tie and a blue striped white sweater. He also appeared to dislike Ty.
"Thank you, Aleister! As your tour guide for the week, I just want to say that we should all try to…you know, be friends!" The tour guide thanked Aleister and said cheerfully. She has short, brown hair, brown eyes, and tan skin. She wears a yellow collared T-shirt with a blue logo. She fell in with those who liked Ty. "It is an island after all, so…you're kinda stuck with each other! Hee heee!"
"Is it too late to jump out of the plane?" Another student asked. She has black hair streaked with pink in an undercut, crimson eyes and tanned skin. She wears a black jacket over a white shirt and a black choker. She also has piercings on her left ear and eyebrow. She also was of the dislike status.
Ty just continued his way past them and into the cockpit. Where he found the Pilot with his combat boots kicked up on the dashboard. He has shaggy light brown hair, cerulean blue eyes, and fair skin with a scruffy beard. He normally wears a black T-shirt, a green jacket, blue jeans, and dog tags around his neck.
"Excuse me. It's Jake, right? Weren't we supposed to have landed by now…?" Ty asked as he got further in he noticed Jake appeared to be sleeping. "Hold up! You can't seriously be sleeping!" Ty rested a hand on Jake's shoulder shaking the sleeping pilot.
Jake unconsciously grabbed his hand in a tight grip, surprising him. "Hrn?" Then Jake's eyes opened and looked back at Ty, then down at his hand letting go.
As soon as he had seen Jake's face, he had instantly recognized the man as well from the bizarre dream. He also noticed the man appeared to be neutral, that was good at least. Oh he was talking.
"Listen, Boy Scout, don'tcha know it's rude to wake someone who's taking a nap? Even more to touch them without permission." Jake said with a cool grin.
"Boy Scout?" Ty..did not know how to feel about that.
"What can I say? I give nicknames to people who annoy me." Jake answered, with an arrogant smile. Annoying? He was the annoying one. Two could play that game.
"In that case, I'm calling you…Top Gun." Ty said with a big grin.
"Top Gun? Hang on, you can't be giving nicknames. That's my thing!" Seems he had taken Jake by surprise, good.
"I dunno. I like it. Might keep doing it." Ty continued to grin.
That seemed to be the right choice, as he gained a point with Jake.
"You ain't clever enough to keep 'em coming. Takes work to be as good as me." Jake was very cocky. Or maybe it was confidence. Who knew? "Anyway, relax. We ain't landing 'til…" Jake looked at the time on his dashboard. "The hell? That time ain't right… And that ain't right either." Jake then whacked the instrument panel a few times.
Okay, he was starting to feel rather unsafe. "You sure you know what you're doing?"
"If you knew half the things I've survived, you'd bet on me to get you through anyth-"
Jake's humble brag was cut off as out of nowhere, turbulence hammered the plane. Ty got thrown into the wall of the cockpit.
"Fuck!" Ty cursed at the pain.
Suddenly the skies outside began to darken, as Jake's dashboard lit up red.
"Aw, just great! This stormfront's coming in quick." Jake leaned in and grabbed the yoke. "Get your ass in a seat, hear? And tell everybody to buckle up." He commanded Ty
"Right." Ty said, leaving the cockpit back out to find everyone shouting.
"Ohhhh, I am really regretting that airport Chipotle!' The rotund student yelled, holding his stomach. Near him Craig moved away.
"Don't puke, bro! If you puke, I'm gonna puke!" The jock yelled in response to his friend.
"Where the hell did this storm come from?! It was a clear day!" Another female student yelled in anger. She has long blonde hair with hints of brown, hazel eyes and lightly-tanned skin. She wears a pink button-up shirt and uses a lot of makeup. Luckily she appeared to be neutral status.
From the cockpit, Jake yelled back, "It happens, okay? This is totally normal!"
The one with piercings appeared skeptical. "Yeah. Sure. THAT looks normal." She pointed outside where there seemed to be balls of orange electricity coalescing out of the dark sky and exploding into a crackle of sparks!
"It looks like ball lightning… but I've never seen anything quite like this!" A student with glasses said. She has curly dark brown hair, brown skin and brown eyes. She wears glasses, as stated previously, and an orange sweater. She was neutral.
"This is all wrong! I can't die here, surrounded by these moons!" Aleister yelled, getting a pointed look from Ty for but a second. He wasn't so sure their status was ever gonna improve…assuming they survived this.
"Everyone, just breathe! We're gonna get through this!" Sean tried to calm everyone down.
"Oh god, oh god…" The red head was freaking out. Out of everyone she looked to be the worst off.
A blistering crack of thunder deafened Ty as lightning struck the plane! Sparks flying in the cockpit! No one noticed as a piece of the spark hit the back of Ty's neck and was absorbed into him, for a second his eyes charged up with it. Even Ty himself was unaware as he scratched the back of his neck.
"Welp, engines just lost power! Bringin' her down manually! Everybody, hang on!" Jake warned everyone.
The shouting only grew louder as all of Ty's classmates started to panic.. That is all except for one, who sat there in the back row of the plane, silent and unfazed…
She has long brown hair tied back into a ponytail with a few strands falling loose, lightly tanned skin and brown eyes. She has a long scar on her face along her right eye, and she wears a blue hoodie over a white tank top.
The tour guide then from her own seat called to Ty, "Ty! Safety first! Please find a seat!"
He began to look for an empty space around him, immediately spotting the one next to the red head and tumbling into it as the plane violently lurched! He looked to her, finding her face drawn tight as she refused to look at anything going on.
"Just breathe. It'll pass." He said to her in a soft calming voice.
Almost as if she hadn't heard him, or even aware of his existence next to her she spoke to herself. "This can't happen… not yet… it's too soon."
He wasn't too sure on what she meant by that but did notice as her grip on the armrests tightened. Then how the rise and fall of her chest grew more shallow, it was almost as if she was having trouble breathing. He rested a hand gently on top of hers.
"Hey, hey, I'm here. You're not alone. We'll be okay." He said to her, trying to soothe her.
"I…" She then relaxed and let out a deep sigh. Opening her eyes, they met his, "Thank you.."
That also seemed to have gained him a point with her, not his intention, but nice all the same.
She offered him her hand, he immediately took it and gave a gentle squeeze of assurance. She smiled at him sweetly; he couldn't help but think how it almost fitted her face perfectly. Adding to the beauty that was already there. Somehow as he looked at her, the shouting and alarms faded into the background. It was just them, there, in that moment.
"I'm Quinn." She introduced herself.
"Ty. Nice to meet ya." Ty smiled back at her, the slightest hint of a blush on his cheeks.
"Just a little farther! I think we're almost out!" Jake yelled back to them all.
And just as the lightning reached a fever pitch…the plane burst out of the storm clouds into clear skies.
"Wooooooohoooo! We're alive!" The rotund student was clearly happy.
Quinn then squeezed his hand to get his attention. "Ty, look! There it is…" She pointed out the window.
"Get a good look now, 'cause we're coming in fast! Welcome to La Huerta." Jake told everyone.
Outside they could all see the island's sandy beach fade into the green of the rainforest that made up most of it. That rainforest rising up into green hills and being split by blue rivers. Then there, the highest point of the whole island, its volcano, Mount Atropo. Which was currently breathing a column of smoke, as the plane sank towards the island.
"La Huerta Tower, this is tail number XC-DMK, requesting emergency priority to land!" Jake radioed getting no response. "Carlos! Pick up, you lazy bastard! It's Jake!"
Still nothing…
Jake was now getting pissed off. "Ignoring me won't ,ale ,e forget the hundred bucks you owe me. Like it or not, we're coming in!"
The plane landed on a dirt airstrip at the edge of the island, pulling into a hangar. Ty covered his eyes with his hand, squinting, as he stepped off the plane into tropical sunshine.
"Rough landing, Top Gun. Hope you don't work for tips." Ty teased Jake as he passed the pilot by.
"You kidding? I'm a damn hero for even getting you on the ground!" Jake played along, then called out. "Carlos, I need a tune-up!...Carlos!"
Jake marched off as the rest of the group disembarked and pulled their luggage from the plane's cargo bay.
"This island's supposed to be one of the most beautiful places on earth. The beaches, the waterfalls…" Quinn was in much brighter spirits now. Good, he's glad he was able to be there for her on the plane.
"It's also home to a plethora of rare flora and fauna!" The glasses girl said just as cheerful.
"Only ten spots on the trip, and they had to give one to this dork." The jock commented clearly not excited by her presence.
Ty ignored it all, going up to the cargo bay and reaching for his suitcase handle. Coincidently Sean had been doing the exact same thing at the exact same time.
"Oh, sorry!" Sean apologized.
"If you wanna carry my bag, go right ahead." Ty joked/flirted.
"Oh my god. Could you be any more desperate?" The girl with make-up said, coming up to the two, draping her arm around Sean. "People like you always hover around the spotlight like moths."
"Spotlight? What?" He was very confused on who she was and what she was talking about. She was rather pretty though.
Seemed she didn't believe him given how she chose to respond. "Yeah, right. As if you don't know who Sean is."
"No, can't say I do." Ty said.
His words seemed to que up the jock. "Seriously? Our superstar quarterback?...The Heisman frontrunner." He seemed to be rather angry from his ignorance.
Luckily before things could get worse Sean stepped in. "Guys, it's cool. Chill out-"
"Look, Sean doesn't need any famehounds hanging around, got it?" He spoke too soon, she wasn't done with him.
Truthfully, he'd rather die before allowing anyone to speak to him like that…but they just all almost died and he'd prefer to avoid any more drama for the day, best to just play into her. Plus it was always the easiest way to get people like her to zip it, since they never expect it.
"You're super gorgeous. You two must be together." Ty said, mentally patting himself on the back, soon as he saw her look of surprise.
"I… You… Well, yeah. Thanks." She was caught unaware as she processed it. "You're right on both counts!" Seemed he had made more than the right call, as he also netted a…wait 3 points…that was a first. Oh and it seemed she now liked him. Seemed this all worked better than expected.
Except he again spoke too soon, made clear by the…annoyance on Sean's face at…her?
"We're in reality, Michelle, remember? In reality, we are not together anymore." Sean said harshly to Michelle.
The two begin to argue, causing Ty to slowly begin to back away from them. His foot clinked on something as he walked.
"Hm?" Ty picked up what looked to be a metal dart.
"Is that…a tranquilizer dart?" Diego asked, walking up to him, taking it he examined it. "The vial's nearly empty. It must've hit its target."
"Yeah, and this is a pretty big dose. Whatever animal they took down must've been huge." Ty said, as Diego handed back the dart for him to put away.
"You mean, if they took it down." Diego said.
Ty looked up, and caught the sight of someone watching him from nearby and listening in. It was the girl in the blue hoodie.
"Hey, Diego…who is that?" he asked his friend.
"Dunno. Got eyes for the mysterious hottie, huh?" Diego jested.
"There's something… off about her." Ty said, suspiciously.
Diego rested an arm on his shoulder, "What gives you that idea?"
"It's that… There are too many of us." Ty said, looking around at everyone.
"Too many?" Diego asked, confused.
"Think about it. We'd been told that ten students from our college had won this trip, right? But count us off. Not including the pilot or guide… She makes eleven." Ty said.
"You're right. And I don't think I've ever seen her before. So… who is she?" Diego said with realization. Oh? There was another point with Diego, not like it mattered much.
Ty looked back in the girl's direction, and found that she was now staring directly back at him. Their eyes locked. Ty tries to look away, but for some reason he couldn't, it was as if she was pulling him in with her gaze.
"Hey, Lila! Where the hell are your people?" Jack came storming back to the group.
The girl looked away, releasing him from the strange hold she had. Ty blinked and shook his head to get his bearings.
"There's nobody here!" Jake was pissed, as he gestured to the general area around them.
They began to take a look around them, finding themselves to still be the only people at the airstrip.
"They should be here in a shuttle to take us up to the main resort, but…" Lila, the tour guide said in surprise. "I'm sure it's just a slight delay! No need to fret! They'll be here any minute." Lila then said in a more optimistic tone.
"The hell with that. I'm going up to that control tower to get some answers." Jake said.
"What do you think is going on there?" Ty asked, a hint of concern.
"No idea… Call it a gut feeling, but whatever it is, it ain't good." Jake was confident. "So, Boy Scout? You comin' or not?"
Michelle came up, "I could go with you-"
"Wasn't talkin' to you, Maybelline." Jake shut her down fast. Ty had to hold back a small chuckle.
"Um, okay! I guess, the rest of you, please follow me? We'll take the short walk up the hill to the resort. Sounds fun, right? Yay!" Lila tried to change the mood and get everyone onboard…that is until she saw Quinn coming past her and unbuttoning her blouse. "Um, Quinn? Where are you going?"
"Some of us want to explore the beach a little first! We'll meet you guys at the hotel!" Quinn said, fiddling with a button, "Oof, this button's stuck." She looked towards Ty. "Ty, could you help me."
Oh man, she was flirting. Ty gulped and went with the flow. "Oh! Sure…"
Quinn drew close to him, which allowed for him to undo the button and her to slip out of her top. Into her blue bikini
She smiled at him, "Ahh, that's better! You're coming to the beach with us, right?" Quinn definitely had no care for subtly, It oddly added to her charm.
Seems there were choices to be made, there was definitely something suspicious going on, and it would be pertinent that they investigated it. However he did want to spend more time with Quinn. Although nothing said he couldn't spend time with her after investigating the control tower. Or he could say screw all this and just go to the hotel…yeah, that wasn't an option. There was a mystery going on that needed solving, and once he at least got more information he could reward himself with some of the island's luxury. Going to the hotel would be like giving up.
"Yeah, but I'll go investigate with Jake for a bit then catch up with you guys, okay?" Ty told Quinn, who nodded and walked away with the rest of the beach group. At least his promise to join her later had been enough to net him a point with her. Ty took a deep breath, turned, and jogged to catch up with Jake. "So it's cool if I join you?" He fell into step with Jake.
"You ask permission for everything? Come on, Boy Scout." Jake teased.
Together, they scale the rickety, rusted stairs of the tall control tower. The rainforest stretches out before them, vibrant and lush.
Ty whittled, "Wow, this place is gorgeous. Do you fly out here a lot, Top Gun?" He looked over at Jake.
"Here and every other privately owned resort island in the Caribbean. The favored vacation spots of the young and the privileged." Jake answered casually.
Huh, there is something there, Ty noted. "You don't sound like you like it much."
"Hey, it pays the bar tab." Jake said.
Ty let out a small chuckle. "So, Jake… What did you do before this?"
"Hey, what is this, anyway? Twenty Questions?" That seemed to upset Jake a bit.
"Oh,... Sorry." He clearly had walked into a sore spot.
They both fell silent for a moment, then Jake continued with no further prompting.
"Fighter pilot. Navy." Jake was just looking ahead. "I was good at it too. Best in my class. Until I got discharged."
Ah, that explains the reaction, welp he already put his foot in his mouth once.
"What happened?" Ty asked.
"Punched my commanding officer in the jaw." Jake was back to being casual.
"Huh, well…I'm sure he deserved it." Ty said, unsure.
"...Yeah. He did." Jake looked like he was in a memory.
Ty felt a bit bad for bringing it all up honestly. At least until he saw he got a point…Guess he did right. Oh, Jake was continuing,
"I've been ferrying rich folks around the Caribbean and sleeping in a beach hammock in Costa Rica ever since." Jake finished his story, coming out of the memory.
Ty took a second to look at Jake, and he really looked at the pilot. He noted that the man almost seemed…
"Lonely." He said quietly.
"Hmm?" Jake prompted a repeat.
"That sounds so…lonely." Ty said.
Jake just gave a smile. "Uh, yeah. That's the appeal."
"Don't get me wrong. I get wanting to get away for a little while…but don't you want more?" Ty was curious and pressed on. "Someone to come home to…someone to listen to you…someone to hold you all through the night…" He couldn't help but note how that sounded like song lyrics.
"You offering, Boy Scout?" Jake half joked, half flirted.
That caught Ty a little off-guard. "What? No, I… I just meant… in theory…"
"In theory, I wanted to be the best pilot the Navy had ever seen. In practice… Well , you can't beat a cold beer and a Caribbean sunset." Ty couldn't help but note how good Jake was at covering up his loneliness. At least it seemed the subject matter was still okay and he wasn't tripping too many landmines, if that other point was anything to go by.
They continued to climb the tower's stairs. That is until a step started to crack in two beneath Ty, causing him to start to fall through.
"Uh, Jake!" Ty called out.
Jake reacted instantly grabbing him and pulling him into his, Jake's, arms. Ty couldn't help but take notice of how strong and muscular he actually was. A small blush crept across his face as that thought raced by.
"Gocha!" Jake said.
The rusted fragments of the metal step twirl as they plunge fifty feet to the ground. Ty stood there watching it.
"I think you just saved my life." Ty told Jake.
"Now you owe me one. Come on." Jake said, letting him go.
They continued on, till they finally reached the top of the tower. Jake pushed the door open…
"Carlos, you dumb-" Jake started but cut himself off. "Hey, what the.."
"There's no one here." True to Ty's word, the control room of the tower was empty.
"Thanks, Eagle Eyes. I couldn't tell." And there was Jake with the cheap shot.
Ty wandered up to the desk and dragged his finger across it. He raised an eyebrow as it turned out to be dusty.
Ty looked back at Jake. "Hey, you sure they still use this airstrip?"
"Of course I'm sure. I was just here a few days ago, and I'm damn sure…" Jake trailed off.
"Jake?" Ty called to Jake, finding the pilot staring past him and through the window, clearly enraptured by whatever he, Jake, was looking at.
Jake walked up and put his hand on the window. Ty followed his line of sight, seeing in the distance the island itself pulsing with red and blue light. Colors fluttering over trees, tinting the atmosphere in a rippling aurora.
"Wha…" Ty was enraptured as well. Then he felt it, the instinct. He reached down blindly and found Jake's hand. Their fingers laced together. "Jake… what is this?"
"I… I don't know." Jake answered.
Their gazes met, faces close. The beautiful colors playing across Jake's eyes. Ty casually noted he netted another 2 points with the man. Then he felt his mouth ove before he could even process what he was about to say.
"Jake, I…" Time seemed to slow, until he blinked and suddenly the colors were gone. "Oh hey, it stopped."
Jake exhaled, shaking himself out of it. He looked down to their interlocked fingers. He released a cough.
"...Uh. Sorry." Jake let go of Ty's hand. "Look, it must've been something… weird with the glass here. Who knows. Forget it, just…come on."
Jake ducked out of the control tower. Ty hesitated for a moment, looking back to see whether the aurora returned. But no such look, it all remained the same. Shrugging he followed Jake down the stairs. In the distance he could hear the laughter of Quinn and the others at the beach, playing.
Apparently Quinn noticed his presence, cause she looked at them both, "Hey, Ty! Come look at this view!"
"I'm heading up to the hotel to catch up with Lila. Carlos must be up there. Which way are you heading?" JAke looked at Ty and asked.
"I'll catch up with ya later. I promised Quinn and them, I'd join them after we explored the tower. Good luck finding your friend." Ty began to walk towards the beach, waving later to Jake. He slipped off his shoes and stepped onto the beach. The smooth sand, warming his feet. "Ahhh, that's nice."
He heard the sound of Quinn's laughing, looking in the direction of it, he found her twirling across the sand. A smile spread across his face, finding her laugh as beautiful as her.
"This must be heaven." Quinn said.
"Yeah, I think you are." Ty said under his breath.
One of the other beach goers, the rotund student, spread his arms and fell backwards into the sand with a deep sigh.
"Yuuuuup, I'm just staying here all week. I'm never ever moving again. Could someone get me a beer?" He was definitely enjoying himself.
Michelle looked over at Ty. "Isn't this wonderful? It's like our own private paradise, Ty!"
"Yeah, this is our turf." The jock co-signed.
Ty noticed Quinn, bouncing over to him.
"Isn't this magical? It's almost like we have the whole island to ourselves!" He really couldn't help but find her mood infectious, she had a very strong presence to her. He also couldn't help but think having a paradise to themselves sounded amazing. Just the two of them.
"It's so peaceful. And that water looks amazing. I wish we could go swimming." Ty said, keeping his thoughts to himself.
"Who says we can't?" Quinn grabbed his hand and started to lead him into the water. "Come on!"
"Ha, ha. Okay, okay. I'm coming." Yup she was definitely infectious. He couldn't help but love it.
"Hope you're a good swimmer!" Quinn said.
Ty blushed, "I'm actually barely able to float." Ty told her.
"Don't worry, I've got you. If anything happens, I'll save you and give you CPR." Quinn assured.
"You will, huh?" Ty never wanted to drown more than in that current moment. Oh, and another point, neat.
He began to strip down to his bathing suit, a pair of red board shorts. The water was warm and welcoming, the soothing currents curling around his legs.
"So, you always this spontaneous?" Ty asked cheerfully.
Quinn's eyes came to rest on the horizon.
"No. I wasn't always like this… But after last year, I've tried to make the most out of every day." Quinn fell silent. He could feel there was a story there, but he had al;ready stepped on enough landmines for one day with Jake earlier. So instead he looked to the water and got an idea.
Suddenly Quinn had water splashed all over her, as he scooped up a handful of water and splashed.
"Hah!" Ty said, then saw as Quinn suddenly went to like status as he gained another point with her.
Quinn looked at him and smiled. "Oh, I get it. You're pretty spontaneous yourself!" She then smirked and splashed him back.
"Hey! Haha!" Ty and Quinn continued to splash each other, drenching themselves. Suddenly she rushed towards him, then tripped and fell onto him. The momentum caused Ty to fall onto his back in the surf, Quinn on top of him.
"Oops." Quinn said simply with a smile.
Ty was blushing hard now, he could feel…everything. It took all his mental power to keep himself from getting excited.
"Don't gotta apologize to me." Ty got his blush under control.
Suddenly Quinn's eyes lit up and she pulled off him as she spotted something. Ty followed her with his eyes. Oh man, did he enjoy just watching her walk away.
"Ty! Look!" Quinn said as something small and dazzling leapt out of the water and unfurled wings that gleam like jewels.
"Whoa." Ty said, amazed.
The creature fluttered in front of Quinn, her hands outstretched as its iridescent wings caught the sunlight. Ty couldn't help but feel a sort of connection to it. Something in him resonated. Then it zipped off into the distance.
"Did that seriously just happen?! Have you ever seen anything like that?" Quinn asked.
"Can't say I have." Ty got up and walked towards Quinn, a fog of confusion in his mind on the strange feeling. "This island must have species we've never even heard of before!"
Quinn turned back towards the shore, looking at everyone.
"Guys, did you see that?!" She asked.
"Huh? Who cares? Do you see this?!" The jock was slowly burying the now snoring rotund student under a pile of sand.
"Ugh, everyone else already went up to the hotel! Come on, let's catch up! Who's gonna carry my bag?" Michelle raged, starting to walk in the direction of the hotel.
Michelle was definitely a lot. Ty is gonna have to be very careful to either limit interactions with her and be very careful of what he says. The others started to head up, leaving him and Quinn behind as the surf swirls around them.
"I can't believe they missed it! It was incredible." It was such a magical moment it was confusing how anyone could be so distracted to miss it.
"You and I are the only ones who saw it. It's almost like… we shared a secret." She looked at him for a long moment and laughed. "I'm glad you were with me, Ty."
"Me too." Ty smiled at her, he received another point, but that didn't matter to him as he couldn't help but think a shared secret between him and her…sounded kinda nice. But he did note that she was now of like status.
They headed back to the beach and got dressed. They then caught up to Michelle and the other two. Together, the group wind their way up the paved road with their suitcases. Ty out of some sense of courtesy decided, he'd help Michelle with hers. They started to feel fatigued when they came around the bend.
"This must be it." Michelle said, as they came upon the front of the hotel.
"The Celestial!" Quinn cheered.
"Aw, hell yeah, now that's what I'm talking about!" The jock smiled.
"Is this place even real?" The rotund student was next to speak.
"Let's go already! My luxury suite is waiting." Michelle started to push ahead once more in her excitement.
The group excitedly headed for the lobby, passing under a long, ornamented overhang of white marble. Ty could feel his heartbeat quicken in excitement as his group rushed through the automatic doors. Only to freeze once past the threshold. In front of them was the group that had left with Lila, they all looked bewildered, and ahead of them was an empty lobby.
"Uhh…" Ty had no words.
"What the…" The rotund student questioned.
"I… I don't understand." Lila said in shock.
The silence was deafening, the front desk stood deserted, suitcases and luggage carts left unattended. On a table, a half-finished wine glass gathered dust.
Sean looked over to Ty. "Hey, Ty, uh… do you happen to know.. Where the hell is everyone?"