Water. Water everywhere. That was all Sammy could process for a second. Everything seemed calm and serene, as if she was suspended in the air. Then the panic set in. She was underwater, tumbling in the strong current. Up was down and down was up. Nothing made sense. She opens her eyes. Everything was blurry and gray. Where was the surface? Was she upside down? On her side? She couldn't tell with the current rolling her violently. Her lungs begin to burn; she needed air!
"Sammy!" Kenji shouts, scrambling to his feet and throwing himself off the railing. He dives into the water, and is immediately tumbled. After being rolled in the current, he reaches the surface. Kicking his feet to negate the rushing rapids pull on him, he scans the water. "Sammy!" he shouts.
"No!" Yasmina shouts, rolling Darius off of her chest and running to the railing.
Ben grabs her arm. "You're still disoriented, you can't help!"
Yasmina pants, and jumps onto shore and begins to follow Kenji's bobbing head. There was no sign of Sammy. Ben jumps onto Bumpy and Darius and Brooklynn jump onto Tornado. The herbivores jump onto shore and take off. Blue gets to her feet and guides the Indoraptors off of the cruise and onto land.
Sammy flails her arms in the water. "Come on! Something, something!" But there isn't even a branch for her to grab onto. Her hands break the surface and she claws at the air. Her head breaks the bubbling surface and she gasps for air.
"There she is!" Yasmina shouts, trying to follow her friend on land. It didn't matter how fast she was; the water was faster.
"Yaz!" Ben shouts, leaning over Bumpy's back and holding out his hand. She takes it and Bumpy kicks it up a notch, bellowing as she charges after the drowning camper.
"Sammy!" Kenji exclaims, finally spotting her. He dives under the water and starts kicking his legs, using the current to try to push him closer to her.
The Texan gasps for air and kicks her legs and flails her arms uncoordinatedly. Her head dunks under the water and she comes back up. Unable to help herself, she lets out a fearful, tortured scream. It was a mistake as she sinks under the surface, cutting her scream off. She kicks her legs, and tries to swim like she saw people do in the movies. In her fearful, oxygen-deprived state, she couldn't get the hang of it. The current pulls her under water deeper and she starts to regret screaming. Her lungs burn, and she grabs at her throat. "Help!" she screams in her head.
"Where'd she go?!" Brooklynn shouts, frantically scanning the river.
Kenji breaks the surface, shakes his head and looks for his friend. "Sammy!" he calls out.
"Where is she?!" Yasmina cries, holding onto Ben as Bumpy gallops on.
"She's underwater," the dreaded thought comes to the alpha male. He takes a deep breath and dives under the water, swimming desperately and reaching out for his friend.
"Come on, no!" Yasmina shouts, still not seeing Sammy.
Sammy desperately reaches for the surface, gritting her teeth as she tries to hold her breath just a bit longer. Her lungs felt like fire. As she rolls in the water, her body instinctively breathes in. Water floods her lungs and she starts coughing. Terror like she had never felt before grips her like cold Indominus claws. She had ran from dinos, seen people get eaten, faced off against the queen of dinos. But nothing compared to the sheer horror and panic she felt when the water flooded her lungs.
It felt like hours of enduring the horrifying sensation of drowning to her. But within seconds of flooded lungs and overwhelming panic, Sammy loses consciousness, and her limp body floats in the water.
"Sammy!" Yasmina shouts, her throat raw from screaming. The others are shouting her name, desperate for a sliver of hope.
Kenji kicks and wildly reaches out for his missing friend. His lungs begin to burn for air, but he refuses to surface. "She's here, she's here, she has to be!" he desperately thinks. "I can't lose you!"
The sensation of overwhelming relief that flooded his body when he felt another hand was indescribable. His eyes widen and he grabs her hand, pulling her close to him. She wasn't struggling, but he didn't have time to think about it. He wraps his left arm around her stomach and swims to the surface with his right.
The two surface, and Kenji gasps for air. "He's got her!" Darius exclaims with relief.
Kenji treds the rapid waters with his right arm, trying to keep Sammy's limp head out of the water. "Come on, Sam, don't leave us!" he shouts as they are pulled down the river. He begins to swim towards the shore the other campers were on. He claws at the dirt and rocks, trying to find purchase and stop them from sailing further. Finally, he hits a rock and clings to it for dear life. Sammy is still unresponsive.
"Come on!" Yasmina shouts, offering her hand to him. She reaches as far as she can go, but just can't reach him.
Kenji winces, panting. If he lets go of the rock, he would be pushed further down stream. But he couldn't let go of Sammy…
The alpha male gasps in surprise and almost lets go when something touches his legs. He and Sammy start to be lifted out of the water by a large head. The Plesiosaur lets out a purr as she lifts the two humans to shore helpfully. Three others pop up, bobbing up and down as they resist the current. The campers are in tears, so thankful that these beautiful, angelic water creatures came to their friends' rescue. Yasmina and Darius grab Sammy while Ben and Brooklynn help Kenji up.
Yasmina and Darius lay Sammy flat on the ground and the athlete begins CPR. "One, two, three, four, five," the athlete counts to herself, gritting her teeth as she tries to bring her friend back to life.
"You're going too fast!" Brooklynn exclaims, counting with her. Yasmina slows down before giving the Texan two breathes and resuming compressions.
After giving her another two rescue breaths, Brooklynn takes over. She gives Sammy two breaths, two more compressions before letting out a sob. There was no response at all from their friend. "It's not working," she sobs.
"No, it has to work!" Kenji cries out, his voice cracking. He moves the pinkette out of the way and resumes compressions. "She can't go! She—she has to come home with us! We all have to go home!"
"Come on," Yasmina wails, searching through the backpack Ben had the good sense to keep on.
"Kenji," Darius says shakily, sniffling. He holds Brooklynn's hand as she sobs uncontrollably.
"No, she's not gone!" Kenji shouts. "She can't be!"
Tornado groans and nudges her mother. Kenji pushes her out of the way and continues compressions. He gives his friend two breaths before resuming the compressions.
"Kenji," Yasmina says.
"No, no, no!" Kenji bawls, beside himself. "She can't be gone! There's, there's so much—no! She can't be gone! Wake up, Sammy! Wake up! You have to wake up! You can't go! You have to stay with us! Come on, baby, breathe!"
"Kenji," Yasmina says with more force.
"No, we can't give up! She wouldn't give up on us!" he shouts hysterically, barely able to perform correct compressions; he was shaking so much.
Ben's death was hard. Seeing your friend fall to their death was difficult. But it felt even more agonizing to hold your friends hand; to have the chance to save her and watch her lay unresponsive. Maybe it was that the six had spent two months together inseparably. Maybe it was that they had watched Sammy fall and watched her struggle. Maybe it was that with Ben's death, they had no choice; with Sammy, there had to be a point where they stopped. A point where they said, "It's over. We can't bring her back." That was the hardest call to make. How do you make that call?
"Come on!" Kenji shouts, almost in anger. "You can't go! We all said we would make it! I told you that I would hold you! I wouldn't let you drown! You have to wake up! For the love of God, just wake up!" He slams the ground with his palm, going mad with grief and anger and sadness.
"Kenji!" Yasmina snaps, smacking him across the face. He falls back on his butt in shock. The athlete pulls out a defibrillator from Ben's backpack. Kenji's arms go weak with relief as Brooklynn unties Sammy's shirt strings and pulls down her muddy, soaked Hawaiian shirt. Yasmina quickly turns on the defibrillators and touches them to Sammy's chest. "Clear!" she shouts, and a bolt of shock went through the Texan.
Sammy's body jerks and she begins to cough up water. Yasmina and Brooklynn quickly turn her over on her side and Sammy chokes out all the water she breathed in. She struggles in her friends arms, trying to breathe. She breathes in the little bit of water left in her lungs and cries out as she coughs it back up again.
"It's okay! You're safe, just cough it up," Yasmina says turning her on her stomach.
Sammy spits out all the water she breathed in, and takes in a shaky, gasping breath. Yasmina and Brooklynn turn her over to lay on her back and the pinkette pulls her shirt back up. The Texan lays there, gulping down air as if she would never breathe again.
"It's okay, it's okay," Ben says. "You can breathe now."
When her breaths are more steady and less desperate her friends try to give her a hug, relieved that she is alive. Sammy weakly moves her arms to stop them, very disoriented. "Enough," Yasmina interferes, pushing Kenji and Brooklynn away.
Sammy finally opens her eyes, tears glistening. She moves her hands to her neck and notices that her shirt isn't tied. "Th-this shirt is defective," she stutters out, too shocked to think of anything else to say. Her friends start chuckling.
She blinks out tears, traumatized. "Don't let me drown again."
"We're not going to let you drown," Darius says.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Kenji sobs. "I told you that I'd hold onto you. I told you that I had you. I'm sorry."
Sammy sits up with Yasmina helps and ties her shirt again. "It's, it's okay," she sighs shakily.
"That was the scariest moment in my life," Kenji says, looking her in the eyes. "Thinking that you wouldn't make it. Knowing that you would die without knowing how special you are and how loved you are. The thought of losing you is scary enough, but the idea that you died thinking no one loved you was torture."
"I know that you guys love me," Sammy sniffs, wiping water off of her face. "I know you love me."
"No, you don't," Kenji cries. "You don't know how much you mean to me. You don't understand how much I care about you. You think I see you as just a friend but I don't see you that way. A crush doesn't even begin to describe the way I feel about you. I love you and it's more than just a friend-like love, or even a sister-like love. It's a deep, indescribable affection for you that has taken over my mind."
Sammy covers her mouth with her hands, and a tear slowly drips down her already wet face.
"I've tried to tell you for a while now," Kenji admits. "I don't know why you can't seem to understand, but I love you. Romantically."
Sammy looks up at him, tears in her eyes. An internal war was going on. One side wanted to believe him. "He's the one. He's the one." The other told her that his feelings would change and she would be broken afterwards. "He's desperate right now. I'm just rebound." The negative side wins out, surprisingly. "Until someone more special comes along," she whispers sadly, having been broken too many times to believe it.
Kenji stares at her, not sure if he should be angry or upset. "Do you think I'm lying to you? Do you think I don't mean it?"
"No, I know you mean it," Sammy sobs. "But… you're not the only guy who's said he loves me. But they've all left. They've all found the special one and it wasn't me."
He stares at her in shock. "I don't know what kind of girl they found, because you're an angel from Heaven. You're a glorious star shining light in the night when the moon is gone. Falling in love with you has been like falling down a steep slope. I just can't stop myself. Everything you say is so kind and sweet and loving, and you're always so positive. Everytime you smile, it's like my heart melts, and everytime you laugh, it's like beautiful music. Life here is torture, but you make it an adventure. I feel like we're kids running through a make believe jungle and fighting imaginary dragons, and that we'll always win when I'm with you."
Sammy lets out a small sob.
"You're the nicest, kindest, most loving person I've met," Kenji continues. "When we first met, you had zero reasons to be friends with me. I was a self-absorbed, prideful, and shallow player. I was insecure and covered everything up. I annoyed the heck out of everyone. But you looked past all of that and gave me affection and admiration when I didn't deserve it. I don't know why you did it; I can't see anything in it for you. You've seen and experienced what guys like me can do to your heart, and you still opened up to me. You encouraged me and believed that I could become better, even when I myself didn't. You saw a gentleman in me when everyone else saw a nuisance. You saw a hero where everyone saw a villain. You pushed me to be better when I lost hope in ever becoming someone worth respecting. When you tell me that I can do something, I truly believe it. I want to become the man you see in me."
She looks up at him, tears glistening in her eyes.
"I could take hours to list everything I love about you!" Kenji exclaims. "You're the sweetest, happiest person ever! You're funny, and super laid back. You're quirky and amazing and so beautiful. I know so many guys have hurt with their words, but you are the most beautiful person I've ever met. You have this heart for people and animals that is beautiful. You have the most gorgeous face, cutest eyes, and a smile that lights up the room. Your excitement is infectious. And, you know what? So what if you're 'bigger' than what society tells you to be? I like a girl with a bit of a gut because for gosh sakes, it's normal! You've got 20 feet of intestines, a gut should be beautiful! You're not overweight, and you've taken care of your appearance the best you can. I think that's the most beautiful thing: confidence and self respect. You're taking care of your body because you respect yourself."
Sammy half chuckles, half sobs.
"I can't think of anyone that I would ever want to spend the rest of my life with," Kenji says sincerely, taking her shaking hands in his. "When I think about the future, I can't picture anyone but you. I imagine buying a house together and cooking together. I've even imagined cleaning the house together, gosh darn it! I can see our kids, laughing and giggling and running around the house. You would be the best mother, taking care of them and being so very patient. I've imagined all our dates and all the goofy, practical jokes we'll play on each other. I've imagined growing old with you and seeing our grandchildren. I can see myself telling the grandchildren scary stories about this island, and you scolding me for giving them nightmares. I can see it all so clearly. And it wouldn't be complete without you."
Sammy is bawling. "Curse hormonal periods," she thinks, trying to control her crying. There was no way she could deny it; he couldn't be anymore serious about his affection. She had this feeling, this knowing. "He's the one," a voice in her head says. It couldn't be any more clear. She had heard God's voice before; she had ignored it out of fear. But it had persisted, and she knew it was stubbornness at this point to ignore it.
Sammy is snapped out of her thoughts by the soft touch of Kenji's lips on hers. She lets out a soft gasp of surprise—mirrored by Brooklynn's loud one—and she closes her eyes. The teen girl subconsciously kisses him back, her heart racing with surprise and exhilaration. 'Twas her first kiss, and she had no idea what to expect—certainly not when he took her by surprise! Kenji was gentle and delicate, something she didn't expect from him. She squeezes his hands as what feels like a herd of butterflies flutters around in her stomach. She feels the blood in her cheeks heat up as he pulls back slowly.
She shyly brushes a wet, wisp of hair behind her ear, breathing harder than she would've thought. "I'm not allowed to date until I'm eighteen," she admits sheepishly.
Kenji's eyes widen. "Will your Dad shoot me with a shotgun if he finds out about this?"
"Sammy, that is not how you respond to a kiss," Yasmina pipes up, immediately being smacked by Brooklynn for interrupting the romance.
"Oh, shut yer mouth, you'd probably run away if you got kissed," Sammy snaps. "And, no, he shouldn't. That was more my fault for not tellin' you. I didn't feel like I had to. I… I was afraid of having to. I… I've felt the same way about you, but… I was scared that… I was scared that you wouldn't feel the same way. So I convinced myself that you didn't to save me from heartache…"
"You feel the same way?" Kenji asks, hope starting to flood his chest.
"Yeah," Sammy nods, wiping away her tears. "As much as I want to date you, we just can't right now. My parents don't want me to date until I'm eighteen, and I agree with their reasoning. We're very young and still growing in our brains. We're pretty immature, and I'd rather wait until we're older and married to do anything we might regret. It's just safer to wait."
"Oh, yeah, definitely," Kenji nods. "I'm very immature. I'm perfectly fine waiting until we're older to start dating. I'll wait the two or three years, seven if I have to. Right now, I'm just glad I have your friendship right now."
Sammy nods, smiling.
"We need to set boundaries, though," he states. "What we can and can't do. What's friendly and what's romantic, you know."
"Yeah," Sammy nods. "Kissing on the lips is out of the question, sorry. Too romantic. But a simple kiss on the cheek, nose, or forehead is friendly; I've done that with all of you before. Hugs are a must have, but hands can't stray too far downward. And holding hands is fine, as long as it's not too romantic. Anything else romantic is absolutely out of the question. Basically what we've been doing as friends before."
"FUWAM!" Kenji shouts, holding up his hand for a high five.
"What?" Sammy frowns.
"FUWAM, Friends Until We Are Mature," he explains.
"Oh, yeah! FUWAM!" Sammy laughs, giving him a high five.
Their friends start clapping. "Whoo hoo!" Ben whistles.
"Finally!" Darius laughs.
"EEEEEE, SO ROMANTIC!" Brooklynn holds her fists to her chins.
"Finally fessed up," Yasmina grins, clapping. "Couldn't have been better, though."
"Wait, so everyone knew about this?" Sammy asks.
"For a while," Yasmina says nonchalantly, scratching her neck. "Are you done, Kenji? With your little romance?"
"Uh, yes?" he frowns.
Yasmina moves forward and slaps Sammy's thigh. The Texan squeaks. "Why do you have to mess with me?!" Yasmina snaps. "I open up to you, you work for Mantah Corp. I open up again and you almost die! Are you trying to kill my SOUL?!"
Sammy laughs. "Sorry, Yaz. I don't ever want to go through that again."
Yasmina pulls her newest friend into a tight, bone-crushing hug. "You better not," she sniffs, tears starting to flow.
"It's okay," Sammy giggles. "That was more torturous for me than it was for you."
Yasmina pulls back and Darius tackles Sammy from behind. "That was so scary," he says, squeezing her tightly. "I don't know what we would do without you here." Inside him, a storm of self-blaming thoughts and feelings brews.
"It's not your fault," Sammy says, knowing exactly what was going on in his mind. "Nobody gets blamed for this."
Brooklynn and Ben move in at the same time and try to talk over each other and tell Sammy how much she means to them and how much they love her. The other three hug her again and do the same. Blue shrinks back from the obnoxious chattering the humans were making.
"Okay, okay," Sammy laughs tiredly. "Thank you. But you guys are really loud. I never thought I'd be overwhelmed by love…"
"Are you becoming introverted?" Yasmina asks with a grin.
"You just went from drowning to an emotional love confession," Darius says, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Give her some time to recover from everything, guys."
"Yeah," Sammy shudders, trying not to remember the first part. "Thank you for being there for me, guys."
The Indoraptors chirp and squeak, and start jumping onto her. Mocha pushes her snout up against Sammy for a kiss. Toothless begins to excessively lick her cheek, while Princess nuzzles her other cheek. Indigo climbs up her back and clings to the Texan's head like a hug, and Rima affectionately gnaws on Sammy's fingers. Sammy giggles, falling over and shooing away the young hybrids. Tornado moves in and starts giving her Mother slobbery kisses.
"Eugh, my shirt is all slimy now, Torni," Sammy laughs, wiping away Triceratops saliva from her mouth.
Bumpy gives Sammy a couple licks before waddling away. The Texan gives the velociraptor a glance. "You gonna join in or?"
Blue bobs her head, as if giving Sammy a nod, and begins to walk back to the cruise ship.
The campers laugh. "Well, we should probably retrieve the rest of our stuff and move on," Darius says, helping Sammy to her feet.
Everyone begins to fuss over Sammy, making sure she wouldn't faint and offering to support her. The Texan shoos them away. "I'm fine, y'all!" she exclaims with a laugh.
A pristine Prius pulls up to a parked trailer. The trailer was situated next to a scenic lake and a quaint cabin house. Standing next to a grill was Owen Grady, cooking a BBQ steak for himself. He looks up at the car pulling up and groans.
Claire Dearing steps out of the Prius. She wore a loose, elegant, dark grey jumper with a soft white jacket. Owen ignores her until she speaks his name. "Well, if it isn't the Willie Wonka of dinosaurs," he smirks wryly. "You changed your hair. Going for a non robotic look?"
Claire purses her lips. Their relationships had never lasted long. While they would forever have the bond they shared from surviving on Isla Nublar, dating might be problematic. Still, they had lasted for a month this time, so there was progress.
"Are you here to start another theme park?" Owen continues. "Maybe with werewolves?"
"No," Claire sighs.
"Vampires?" Owen guesses again.
"No," Claire says, trying not to get irritated.
"How about zombies," Owen suggests. "Kids will love those."
"I'm not here to start another theme park," Claire interrupts. "I'm here—"
"To ask me to join the rescue operation on Isla Nublar," Owen cuts in, slapping the steak on a plate and heading inside. "Your assistant already called me about it."
"And you said?" Claire asks.
"No," Owen states, almost tossing the plate of steak onto the counter and retrieving a fork.
"These children have been stuck on Isla Nublar for almost two months now," Claire says. "I didn't think they could survive and that it was hopeless to rescue them, but here we are."
Owen gives her a look of disdain. "So that's why a rescue mission has taken so long to be put together? You weren't willing to start it?"
"Don't give me that," Claire hisses as he strikes a nerve. "You're over here refusing to come along and help."
"Not because I don't care," Owen argues. "I would love to help."
"Then why aren't you?" Claire prompts.
"Because me being on the island might be more dangerous for the kids than helpful," Owen says bitterly, leaning on the counter.
"How?" Claire asks, leaning on the other side to stare him in the eyes. "We need all the help we can get. Survivors from the first park are coming to help them. We need your expertise in the field. How can you say that you wouldn't be a help?!"
"They've had years to get over PTSD," Owen states. "I've only had two months."
Claire watches in shock as he leaves the trailer. "So you're scared?" she asks, following him. "You're scared of dinosaurs?"
"Scared of killing the kids," Owen says, leaning on his mailbox. "Unlike you, apparently, it's damaging for me to see people getting eaten and dinosaurs trying to eat me."
"It's damaging for me, too," Claire sighs. "I've had many nightmares about it."
"Any flashbacks?" Owen asks. "Any panic attacks? Any situations that make you forget where you are and make you attack randomly and violently out of fear?"
"No," Claire says quietly.
Owen opens his mailbox door and closes it over and over again. It makes a funny squeaking sound. "If you wake up from a nightmare about pterodactyls, this squeaky hinge can be very triggering." He gestures to bullet marks in the wood. "I almost shot my sister when she was getting the mail early in the morning before I sorted out reality from flashbacks."
Owen walks back into the trailer. Claire stands in shock for a second before following him. "I didn't know you had a sister."
"She's the one who owns the cabin with her husband," Owen nods to the house. "She's letting me stay on her property. Look, I wish I could help the kids, but I don't want to possibly be in the woods with a rifle, see a dino, and go ballistic. That's not what the kids need. I'm sorry, but I don't think I should go back. Not so soon."
Claire sighs, knowing that he had a point. "Just… just think about it. Please." She leaves the trailer and climbs back into her Prius. Owen hears her drive off.
He picked at his steak, but suddenly didn't feel like eating it. He sighs and pushes it away. He didn't want to do nothing for the campers, but the ex Navy seal felt like a danger if he put a rifle in his hands. It didn't help that holding a rifle would cause the occasional minor flashback to his Navy days… Those flashbacks were coming back after he started to become afraid of shooting people… And now the idea of seeing a dinosaur again made him anxious.
"Are the kids chances of surviving greater or worse with me on the island?" Owen asks himself as he stares in thought at the counter top. No matter how much he stared, it wouldn't give him an answer.
"We've been walking for a while now," Sammy remarks as the campers walk along through the jungles. She normally wasn't one to complain, but she had just gone through a lot of trauma, so her exhaustedness was to be excused.
Darius looks over at Yasmina and Brooklynn, who nod in agreement. Brooklynn was still feeling weak from her fever and Compy bite, and Yasmina was still recovering from being shaken violently by Crack.
"Think you guys can walk further?" Darius asks the group.
"I can't," Brooklynn says, sitting down on a rock.
"I can not," Sammy sighs, sitting down next to her.
"I'm unable to walk another step," Ben sputters, plopping himself down on the dirt ground.
"Henceforth, I am unable to can," Kenji says dramatically, quickly sitting down on a vine covered slope. His friends laugh.
While Darius discusses what to do, Kenji leans back. He frowns in confusion and moves the vines away. "Guys, I'm sitting on stairs," he announces. The group crowds around him. Indeed, he had found concrete steps. The campers look up. A building shrouded in vines and overgrown trees stood in front of them.
"What is it?" Yasmina asks.
"Might be the old park," Darius suggests, climbing the steps. "The original one."
"Let's explore," Yasmina suggests. "Maybe it'll make a good shelter."
The campers climb up the steps and enter the building. The old glass door creaks as Darius opens it and they look around. Bones hung from the ceiling and littered the ground. A tattered, old banner laid crinkled on the ground. It read: "Dinosaurs ruled the Earth." The ceiling reached a glass dome that was still intact. Vines and other plants had started to grow over everything.
"Wonder what happened here," Ben murmurs, looking at the destruction.
The campers begin to explore the place. They find an old movie theater and follow the ride to the lab. Abandoned equipment stood around the lab, and broken egg shells littered the floor and tables. Brooklynn tries typing on the computers, but they refuse to turn on. "They've got no power," Kenji shrugs as she sighs in frustration.
The campers move on to the dining room and the kitchen. "Wonder if there's anything to eat," Kenji murmurs, squatting down at the far end of the kitchen.
Darius and Sammy examine a large dent mark in the silver cabinets. "Looks like some dino fight when down here," Darius says.
"There's no sighs of death, so maybe they got away—KENJI!" Sammy snaps all of the sudden.
Mr. VIP shoots up. "I wasn't going to eat any of it!"
The campers start laughing. "Dang, you couldn't even see him," Yasmina cackles.
"Sammy's officially the Mom friend," Brooklynn announces.
"Hey, you can't be the Mom friend of me!" Kenji says. "That's a whole new level of friendzoning someone."
"What, son zoned?" Ben wheezes.
"No eating any of the food you find here," Sammy scolds. "This food is from the 1990s."
"Talk about expired," Kenji shrugs.
The campers decide to stay in the dining room, since it had room for Bumpy and Tornado to sleep in. They prepare a quick dinner and struggle to keep it away from the Indoraptors. "Stop being greedy, you guys ate a Compy each!" Yasmina exclaims, holding Rima's snout. Her Indoraptor jumps up and bites her ponytail. "Again with the hair!" the athlete exclaims, done with her dino.
"Back down, Toothless!" Kenji says, elbowing his hungry dino away.
"They've gotten so big," Darius remarks, sitting next to Kenji. Mocha stands up on her hind legs next to Darius, and she could look him in the eye.
Indigo sits down next to Brooklynn and starts purring. "Are you giving me puppy dog eyes?" Brooklynn laughs.
"This is one of those moments where I'm glad I don't have an Indo," Sammy smirks, holding her sandwich away from Rima. While Sammy isn't looking, Tornado takes a big, slobbery lick of her sandwich. The campers try to warn Sammy before she bites into it, but they were too late. The Texan pauses for a second before spitting out the bite and gagging. "She licked it, didn't she?" Sammy gives the Triceratops a dirty look while the Indo's pounce on her spit out sandwich. The campers howl with laughter, and Kenji loses the one bite of his sandwich left to Indigo.
As night falls, the campers begin to settle down. "I'm starting to wish I had jumped in the water instead," Brooklynn says, trying to get comfortable with all her mud caked on her.
"No, you don't," Sammy says firmly. Her and Kenji were the only campers close to being pristine.
Darius and Ben go through their backpacks while Sammy and Yasmina chat. "Guys will never know the feeling of standing up after laying or sitting down for a while and having Hell's red waterfalls run down their legs," Yasmina says dryly.
"That sounds very painful," Kenji grimaces.
"It is," Yasmina winces.
Brooklynn is laying down, lost in thought. Finally, she comes to a decision and sits up. "Okay, I have a confession to make."
"What?" Darius asks, anxiety rising up in him.
"Why do you look so anxious?" Brooklynn asks.
"I get anxious whenever you say you have to confess something," Darius admits. "I don't know what you're about to say."
"You don't have to think the worst!" Brooklynn protests. "For all you know, I could be admitting that I just farted." That gets a laugh out of him. "But in the spirit of confessing," Brooklynn continues, "I just wanted to say that I love you Darius."
Darius nods, confused for a few solid seconds. Then his eyes widened in realization. "Like romantic love? Like Kenji blushing mess love?"
Brooklynn giggles. "Something along those lines. I never had true friends, and you were kinda my first real friend. It was my fault we got into the mud pit in the gyrosphere. And even when we were sinking, you never blamed or got irritated at me. You just hugged me and told me it would be okay. And… that was when we first became friends."
"When did you start to have a crush on me?" Darius asks.
"I don't know," Brooklynn sighs. "I think I developed a small crush on you in the gyrosphere. But the first time I realized it was… was the first time I got my period on the island." She blushes. "You were so traumatized when we first explained it to you, but you still hugged and comforted me. It was then that I… I wanted to kiss you."
Darius chuckles nervously. "Well, please don't?"
"This whole time, you've stuck with me and encouraged me," Brooklynn continues. "You've been so patient and caring, even when I was stressing you out. And you still care about me even after I did that. I… I don't think I can express in words how much you mean to me."
Darius looks at her. She smiles and blinks her eyes. The boy blushes. "Well, I'm glad that you're my best friend, but… romance intimidates me. I'm twelve and not really interested in dating at the moment."
"But something's brewing," Kenji casually comments as he takes a sip of a water bottle. "Given your blush." This makes his leader blush even harder.
"It's okay, I understand," Brooklynn says. "Boys mature later than girls. But… will this affect our friendship?"
"Of course not," Darius shakes his head. "You're my best friend. This doesn't change anything. I still love you."
Brooklynn smiles and tackles him with a hug. She nestles her head under his chin and hugs him tighter. Darius wraps his arms around her and glares at his cackling friends as his blush grows stronger.
Ben clears his throat and blushes when everyone looks at him. "I guess if everyone's confessing, I need to come clean, too."
Brooklynn giggles happily, excited to see her ships sail.
"Yasmina," Ben starts. The athlete's eyes widen and she freezes. "I, um, have had a crush on you for a while now."
The athlete stares at him, frozen like a deer in headlights.
"I'm not expecting you to like me back or anything," Ben starts to ramble. "I'm not expecting anything back. I just wanted to tell you because you like your friends to be honest with you and this is something I haven't told you. You don't have to ever date me in your life, I just wanted to tell you this—"
Yasmina scrambles like a cat and runs out of the dining room. The Indoraptors run after her, excited. They think that she's playing a game of tag. The campers can hear Yasmina yelp and scold Rima for biting her.
The campers cackle in amusement. "Sorry, bruh, that's cold," Kenji claps Ben on the back.
He chuckles. "Honestly she stuck around longer than I thought she would."
After about five minutes, Yasmina returns, giving Ben a nervous side eye. "Remember what I said to your comment on my reaction to Kenji's kiss?" Sammy waggles her eyebrows, leaning against said boy.
"Shut up," Yasmina snaps, not even glancing at her. "Does this change anything? Because we ain't dating."
"No, no it doesn't change anything," Ben promises. "I agree with Sammy; we should wait until we're adults and married to act on any feelings. I wasn't expecting you to like me back, I just wanted to come clean."
Yasmina's suspicious disposition relaxes. "Good. You gave me a panic attack."
"Why does romance scare you so much?" Brooklynn chuckles, still cuddling Darius.
"One, I had a bad experience with a love triangle—which I wasn't even in," Yasmina states. "Two, I got trust issues, still. And three… number three is on a need-to-know basis and you don't need to know."
"Ah, so number three is the next layer of Yasmina's past we need to get to," Kenji says, leaning back against a table and folding his arms behind his head.
"Why do you… love me?" Yasmina asks curiously, sitting next to Ben.
"Uhh, because you're you," Ben stutters. "It's like every part of you is perfect; it's hard to pick out what I like."
"So you like my trust issues and stubbornness?" Yasmina quirks an eyebrow teasingly.
"No, you're twisting my words," Ben sighs. "I mean, sometimes I do love your stubbornness. Like when you wouldn't give up climbing in the mud pit. Or when you were stubborn to save all of us. I admire your ability to push through the pain and the fear and just do it. You're really caring and loving, despite your trust issues, and you're so loyal. And you're so strong and brave. You were always in my mind when I was trying to be more brave. Pretty soon, I was crushing on you."
Yasmina smiles shyly.
"Is he the first guy who's ever told you that he loves you?" Sammy asks.
"The first one to actually have a good reason to like me other than boobs and butt," Yasmina says, brutally honest.
Ben chokes on his saliva laughing. "The best part of you is your personality and heart. Next is strength and agility, and third would be looks."
"Oh, so you do think I'm attractive?" Yasmina raises her eyebrows.
"Duh," Ben shrugs, like it's the most obvious thing.
"Boys ain't like girls," Kenji says. "Girls fall in love with a guy's personality and then think that they're beautiful. Boys have to like both before falling. Attractiveness is the difference between an amazing female best friend and a girlfriend."
"I said I liked you because you are you, and that means all of you," Ben says.
The Trackstar smiles and looks down at her hands. The group begins to discuss what Kenji said, and she leans over to whisper in Ben's ear. "I have zero interest in dating or settling down and having a family, but if I did, I would choose you."
Ben blushes. Yasmina smiles at him as she leans back and butts in on the conversation. On the outside, Ben was cool and collected. But on the inside, he was freaking out. "She would choose me! She would choose me!"
After exhausting their conversation of girls vs boys, the group lays down in a snuggle pile, exhausted from a long day. But they went to sleep with a smile on their faces, finally clearing the air about their feelings. The other campers fall off to sleep, and the Indoraptors fall asleep on top of them. Bumpy and Tornado snore next to the humans and hybrids, forming a protective wall around one side of them. Blue was laying on top of a table, keeping an eye on her human charges.
Sammy twitches in her sleep, whimpering as she dreams about drowning. "No, no, no. Help… Help!"
"Sammy," Kenji whispers, shaking her.
She is startled awake. "I was drowning."
"You're safe now," he whispers.
She wipes her eyes. "Can we talk? Like away from the others? Ya never know when Yaz is awake or asleep."
Kenji chuckles. "Yeah, totally." The two crawl behind a table where the campers couldn't see them, but Blue could. "So, what's up?"
Sammy sighs. "Why are you willing to wait til I'm eighteen?"
"Because I don't want to do something we'll regret later," Kenji says. "You know, if any of the others are awake, they'd think we'd be making that mistake, hiding behind this table and all."
The two chuckle at the thought.
"Can I… tell you a secret I've hidden from pretty much everyone?" Kenji asks, wincing.
"You've slept around?" Sammy asks, getting straight to the point.
"Um… yeah," Kenji nods, gulping in guilt.
"It's okay," Sammy smiles. "I wouldn't recommend doing it, but it's not like I'm mad at you or anything. You don't have to feel bad about—"
"I'm a father," Kenji interrupts.
Sammy stops talking and stares at him in shock.
He taps the ground nervously and looks up at her. "We weren't even seriously dating. She was… actually cheating on her boyfriend." He winces. "We had protection, but she still ended up… pregnant. I had to find out by spying on her friends. She was… going to get an abortion without ever telling me."
Sammy lets out a quiet gasp.
"I did everything I could to try to talk her out of it," Kenji sighs. "I offered to propose. I offered to pay whatever she needed. I offered to take the baby myself and she would never have to have anything to do with us… But she still got the abortion."
Sammy touches his shoulder sympathetically. Kenji looks at the ground, then back up at her again. He was trying to hold back tears. "I would never, ever force a girl to go through with a pregnancy if she didn't want to. I know that it's uncomfortable and painful and birth is probably the worst pain a woman can ever feel. And I understand that it would take out nine months of her life, and probably strain her relationship with her parents, and maybe hold her back in school, I get it! I would never force any girl to go through that! I-I would never!"
"Kenji, I know you wouldn't," Sammy says quietly. "You sound like you're defendin' yourself."
"I feel like I have to," Kenji admits, pulling his knees up to his chest. "When I confronted her about it, I was just confused. I wasn't angry, I wasn't begging, I didn't even ask about the baby. All I said was, 'I heard your friends talking about your pregnancy. Were you going to tell me about it?' and she blew up! She went off on me about how I could never understand and how I couldn't have any say in it because I was the problem. I… How was I the problem? It takes two to make a baby, I didn't force her to sleep with me! She was the one who made the first move! She was the first—and last—girl I ever helped cheat! And I was the one wearing protection, she had nothing! I don't see how everything was my fault…"
"It wasn't," Sammy says. "It's a two party mistake. It's not fair for her to blame everything on you."
"I totally understand why she wanted to get an abortion," he sighs. "I didn't agree with it; I wanted to raise my child. I think… I don't know. I would've reacted better to it if she didn't lash out and treat me like crap. It was her attitude about it that made me… stubborn. She acted like I was completely unaffected by the pregnancy. She acted like I shouldn't have any say in what happened, which I don't get. If it takes two to make a baby, why does it only take one to get an abortion? The fathers are affected, too. We may not carry the baby or give birth, but we're still affected. Whether he's in the kids life or not, he's still a father, and you can't take that away from him."
Sammy rubs his shoulder sympathetically.
"If a girl wanted to keep the baby, but the man didn't, he's the bad guy," Kenji states. "He's considered lazy and problematic and… a word that I cannot say. But if she wants an abortion and he wants to keep the baby, he's the bad guy, too. It's her body, her choice. The fathers in an unwanted pregnancy situation seem to be considered the bad guys. Not all the time, but… when there's conflict, you know?"
She nods.
"People seem to ignore the effect fatherhood has on teen boys," he exhales sharply. "If I were to keep the baby without her help, I would have to make sacrifices. Sure, I'm better off than most guys and could probably hire a nanny, but I guarantee most guys who get into my situation don't have that luxury. They'd be taking the time and effort to raise the child all on their own without the help of a mother. And if the guy leaves and the girl keeps the baby, he'd have to pay child support. Nobody says it's his money, his choice. It… It just feels a little unfair."
"I get that," Sammy nods.
"It's a hard situation to rectify, though," he leans back against the table. "Because it is her body, and I don't want to tell her what to do with it. I wouldn't want to tell you to go through the pain of birth. It could lead to abuse for women if we were allowed a say, but… it seems slightly abusive towards men if we aren't allowed a say… I don't know what I would suggest to fix it."
"It would have to be more of a case-to-case situation," Sammy says, leaning against the table next to him. "If the man is abusive to the women, I wouldn't want him to have a say. But if he genuinely wants to take care of his child… well, I don't know. I wouldn't say force the woman to carry the baby, but at least consider how he feels."
"The only conclusion I've come up with is don't sleep around," Kenji shrugs. "Unless you're married, or you've discussed what you're going to do in an unwanted pregnancy situation. I'm not gonna get myself—or you—into a situation where we have to make that call. I always got annoyed with adults for telling me to wait. I thought you were spoiling my fun. Now I wish I had listened to them."
"Why did you want to keep the child?" Sammy asks.
"How can I talk smack about my father and then abandon my own child?" Kenji asks. "It's not like I wanted to be a father, but I was willing to step up and be there. I probably wasn't ready for fatherhood, but I was willing."
"That's good of you," she whispers, holding his hand. "Stepping up even when it was hard and scary. Owning up to your mistake and trying to make things better by raising the baby who didn't ask to be made."
"Still want to date someone who's already a father?" he asks. "Someone who's first time wasn't with you?"
"Yes," Sammy nods. "Your mistakes in the past don't change my feelings for you. I could say that you're a terrible person for making that mistake, but then again, you could hold Mantah Corp against me."
He chuckles. "Thank you for being understanding, Sam. I truly can't understand why guys wouldn't want to date you."
Sammy smiles. "Maybe because God picked you out for me."
She gives him a kiss on the cheek. "Come on, let's head back to bed. You can sleep, but I'm staying awake."
"I can stay up with you," he offers.
"No, I think I'd like some time to think," she shakes her head. "And time where I won't have nightmares."
"Okay," Kenji yawns, laying down next to Darius. "Good night."
"Good night," she whispers as he begins to snore.
Sammy stays awake, curling into a ball. She shivers, scared of having nightmares about drowning, and would rather have some alone time to think through everything that happened. "Lord, please tell me that was your voice," she pleads in her head. "Please let it be you that told me to marry Kenji and not my desperation. I don't want to get in a relationship with him and possibly ruin our friendship forever because I was too desperate for love. Give me a sign, a dream. Something that lets me know that he's the one!"
With that, she sighs and lays down next to Ben and Yasmina. She hated the idea of nightmares, but she was feeling pretty tired. With great reluctance, she closes her eyes and drifts off to sleep.