One of my somewhat favorite chapters. Enjoy
Frank moves Caroline himself, and Austin and I each pick up a twin and bring them to their beds in the plane. The rest stay up with Frank, I guess they figured there is no point in going to sleep now, the sun will be rising in a few hours, but I want to go to sleep, and Austin does too, since he lies down in his bed next to me.
I'm confused at how Austin felt about Caroline, and I think he might be too. He seemed like he wasn't interested in her, but I can tell he is very upset about her death, which is understandable. We lay next to each other in silence, both on our backs, looking up at the ceiling.
"Are you okay?" I ask Austin, not moving my eyes.
"I don't know." He says.
I turn over on my side and face him, and inch closer to him, our bodies slightly touching, "It's not your fault, you know. There was no way to save her; none of us could have saved her." I say.
He just nods and doesn't say anything. I take the blanket he gave me and put it over him and go back to my laying position. I close my eyes and ignore my thoughts, and eventually drift to sleep.
The next morning no one is in the mood to talk. Frank and Thomas took the twins to explore around the edge of the trees. Daniel, Wanda, Rick and Tiffany went looking for firewood. I'm sitting on my 'bed' and looking down at the blank page in my songbook. I know that I defiantly won't have inspiration for a song, but I'm just waiting for any thought to come to my head, but the only thing I keep thinking of, is Austin.
Speaking of Austin, he's still sleeping soundly next to me, cuddled up in his blanket. I don't want to wake him, but the commotion that just started outside will wake him for sure. But I step over him and run outside to see what's going on.
Daniel, Wanda, Rick and Tiffany are running towards me, and I almost expect a pack of wolves to be chasing them, but this isn't the case, no. They are all wet, soaked to the bone, with water. A huge smile appears on my face.
"You found water!" I scream.
"The river! It's only two miles that way!" Rick yells and points.
"It's a fast flowing stream, with really clear water, it's amazing." Tiffany says.
"This is the best news yet! Where's Frank?" I ask, but then I see him and the twins running towards us.
"What's going on?" Frank asks.
"We found the river!" Daniel says happily.
Franks face lights up, "This is great news!" He says.
I run into the plane, and decide Austin needs to know this. I poke him and say his name but he just moans and doesn't wake up.
"Austin!" I scream again, but nothing.
So then I jump on top of him, my legs straddling his wait, and shake his shoulders, "Moon!" I scream, and of course, he wakes up. He just looks at me, surprised at how I'm well, on top of him. I'm surprised by my actions too, seriously, because I'd never normally do this. But this is good news.
"Yes?" He asks, a smile appearing on his face.
"Err, Um, Tiffany, Rick, Wanda and Daniel found the river." I say, suddenly shy.
He uses one hand to grab my waist and uses the other to sit himself up, and now we're both sitting up, but I'm on his lap, facing him, our faces close, "That's awesome!" He says happily with a huge smile.
"Uh, yeah." I say, and our eyes lock together.
After a few moments of staying like that, I start to feel weird, like I'm extremely attracted to Austin Moon. So I roll over, off of him and stand up. He looks at me and then stands up himself, "Let's go." He says and I follow him outside.
Frank and the twins are gathered around my 4 classmates, asking how they got to the water, and where exactly it was. Austin interrupts all of them, "What are you guys waiting for? Who wants to go swimming?" He yells; his happy, upbeat self coming back.
We all 'woo' in response and follow Rick through the woods. It isn't that far, and when we're finally there, we are all shocked by the beauty of it. The river is defiantly clear and flowing fast. There is a spot that looks perfect for swimming, right next to a small water fall.
Rick takes off his shirt and jumps in, and I'm surprised by how muscular he is. He always hides himself in baggy clothes, and I just never noticed. Wanda and Tiffany walk towards the rocky part and just dip their feet in. Frank brings the twins to a more shallow part, since they say they aren't strong swimmers. Daniel jumps in after Rick, fully clothed, and makes a huge splash, Thomas does the same.
Austin goes over to a tree and takes off his shirt and hangs it on there, and then takes off his pants. So he's just in his boxers. I stare hopelessly at his six pack. He notices me staring, and I blush, "You swimming Ally?" he asks me.
"I don't have a bathing suit." I say.
He laughs, "Look around. Do any of us have bathing suits?"
I don't have to look around to know that they don't, since none of us were planning on swimming in the aquarium, "Well, I- I don't know." I say.
"Suit yourself." He says and jumps in the deep part. I watch as everyone enjoys their time in the water, with an odd feeling. We're all so happy right now, because of this, but this doesn't change the fact we're stuck here. Sure, it means we'll live longer, but maybe I don't want to live like this.
Austin comes up for air, and flips his wet hair to the side, water flying everywhere. His hair still lands perfectly where it always does, and the sun light reflects off of his jock body, and I feel that weird feeling, of want, and attraction. I look down quickly and focus on the rocks under my feet.
"Are you coming in, chicken?" Austin says and I'm shocked at how close his voice is. I look up and he's right in front of me. I jump back, startled.
"Where'd you come from?" I ask.
"You really didn't hear me walk up to you? What were you daydreaming about?" He asks with a smile.
I wanted to say, you. But instead I put my eyes back to the ground, "No I'm not coming in." I say.
"Why not?" He asks.
I shrug, "I don't know." I say.
"Fine then." He says and turns around. He starts to walk away but suddenly does a quick turn and grabs me by the waist, picking me up like I weigh nothing and he pulls us both into the water. The water's cold, but it actually feels amazing. But, I didn't want to go in because I'm not a strong swimmer. I go up for air and I feel myself sinking again and I start to freak out, until Austin's arm wraps around my waist, "I got you." He says.
"Jerk." I say.
"You love me." He says.
I roll my eyes, "You wish."
He takes both his hands and puts them on my waist and pulls me further into the swimming hole. I get freaked out and grab onto his shoulders, "What are you doing?" I ask.
"Swimming." He says calmly.
"But I can't swim that well." I say.
"Looks like you'll just have to hold on to me the whole time then." He says with a big smile.
I attempt to hide my blush and I put my arms around his neck, "The waters nice." I say.
"Yes it is." He says.
We stay like that for a while; Austin swims around in circles, and stays in the deep part so I have to hang on to him. It was the best time I've had since we got here, and I couldn't help the smile that was on my face for the first time in a while, too.
Austin lifts me out of the water and he goes and gets his clothes back on. I stand their awkwardly, shivering from the cool air, since the sun is almost setting. Frank and Thomas and the twins went back to camp earlier, and the other 4 are walking back with us.
When we get back, Frank has the fire going already so we can warm up. I take a seat on the ground next to the fire and Austin goes into the plane. The twins are devouring their small pieces of jerky and Thomas is attempting to teach himself how to play the guitar.
After a while, I start to get dry, and grab two pieces of jerky and head into the plane. Austin is lying on his back in his spot, still just wearing his boxers. I walk over him and sit down, and place the piece of jerk on his chest. He smiles, his eyes closed still.
"Did you make me a sandwich?" He asks.
"You wish." I say and lean against the plane.
His smile suddenly vanishes, and he sighs, "I could go for a milkshake."
"I could go for a slice of pizza." I say, while nibbling on the jerky.
After a little while of silence, I lie down next to him, and close my eyes, too. There's silence everywhere, and I'm starting to wonder what's going on outside, did they all fall asleep?
"I wonder what our parents are doing or thinking right now." Austin says.
"Well hopefully they are trying to find us." I say.
"They must be." He says, but there's a slight sound of worry in his voice.
"What do you think is going to happen when we get home?" I ask him.
"What do you mean?" He asks me.
"Like do you think everything will just be the same? We'll all go back to our own clichés in the high school, none of us being friends." I say, secretly I really just want to know how he's going to be when we get home, if we get home.
"You really think we're all in clichés at school huh?" He asks.
I lean up on my elbows and turn my head to him, "You popular kids really don't understand, do you?" I ask.
He mimics my movements and looks at me, "I hate it when you say that I'm so popular, it's like you think I'm not normal, I'm not like you. Though I am just like you." He says.
"I can't believe that. Do you walk through the hallways of school and get glares and have people laugh at you? Do you only have one friend? Do some teachers not even know you by your name? Can you not get any guy to like you? That's my life." I ask.
He falls silent, so I and roll over, my back to him.
"So what if I'm the quarterback, that's just a name and a jersey. So what if I have tons of friends, do you think they are my true friends like Trish is to you? No, they aren't. Have you ever thought maybe I don't like all of this attention? If I fail, everyone knows it; it's a lot of pressure. My parents even treat me like that; they expect me to be like my older brother Aaron. He was the quarterback of the football team all his years of high school, he had great grades, he knew everyone so he was always getting job opportunities and scholarships for school, and he goes to a great collage too. So my father expects me to live up to him, and if I don't, I'm a huge disappointment. "
I am stunned by Austin's words. I never thought about it like that. I know I would hate it, being the center of attention.
"Oh, and a lot of girls may like me, but if you haven't noticed, I never date any of them." He says.
It's true, he isn't a player, I've only heard of him having one girlfriend and that was a long time ago. I guess I was entirely wrong about Austin Moon and now I feel extremely bad about it. I roll back over and face him, I didn't realize he was facing me, and now our faces almost touch.
"Okay, I'm sorry. I really never thought about it from your point of view, and I should have. I just thought you liked this attention, I don't know." I say; pretty much at a loss for words.
"It's okay, I understand. How would you know any of that? You wouldn't." he says.
"I shouldn't have judged you so easily." I say.
"It's okay. I'm sorry that you're treated like that at school." He says.
"I'm used to it." I say.
"You shouldn't be." He says.
"No one thinks I'm friend material, I guess." I say.
"I think your friend material." He says, looking into my eyes now.
"You didn't before this trip." I say, and move my eyes to the floor.
"I guess almost dying changes people." He says lowly, his eyes on me, and I bring my eyes back to his. We stay like that for a moment, and the twins run in the plane, getting ready for bed. It startles us and we both jump out of our trance, and I roll over and face the plane.
Thomas comes in too, and then Frank, and then the other 4 come in too. And that's when it was time to go to sleep. Austin and I knew our moment alone was over, and neither one of us decided to continue.
We all fall asleep fast, until a noise outside seems to wake us all up. The twins stay asleep, and Tiffany and Wanda as well. But the rest of us all sit up, Austin looks at me oddly, and we all stay quiet, and listen. Frank crawls over towards us, listens in.
It sounds like something outside, more than just something, it sounds like more than one thing out there. There's walking, snapping of twigs, and I hear a scratching at the end of the plane that is thankfully sealed up.
And then, the most terrible sound, and the sound none of us ever wanted to hear starts. Howling, and it was just one at first, but then others join in, and that's when Franks horrified face makes me know, it's a pack of wolves.