Survive

“How long do you think the storm will last?” Tori asks me.

I shrug and reply, “It could be minutes, hours, days.We have enough food and water to last us a couple of days.And enough wood for weeks.We’ll be fine.”I hope.

The storm rages on outside.From where I am sitting, I can see out the cave entrance.I don’t think anyone else can so that’s a good thing. I see the rain pouring down, trees bent over because of the wind, things flying around.It doesn’t look good.I look at the sky and see that this storm may last a long time, especially with the ocean wind.

Thunder can be heard and lightening can be seen, but other than that the girls don’t know what it’s like out there.An especially loud clap of thunder had almost all the girls screaming.

“We’re going to die in here,” Anna cries.

“No we are not,” I say firmly, “We will be fine as long as we don’t panic.”

“Why don’t we play a game?” Tori suggests.“We can play truth or dare.”

“But what kind of dares could we do?” Lucy points out.

“Fine we can play truth or double truth,” Tori says.Liv looks a little nervous so I’m guessing it’s a game the two play.

“How do we play?” Claire asks.

“We start out asking easy questions…like who you like.Then we start with the harder ones…like your least favorite person here.After about five questions each, we get to the hardest one.Your biggest, darkest secret,” Tori explains to the group.

I look around and I see that most girls look a little nervous.Biggest, darkest secret?No one wants to tell that.But then I see the girls start nodding.

“I’ll ask the questions,” Tori says.“We will start with Liv and go around the circle until we reach me.There are no passes so everyone has to say something.Ready?”

The girls nod and the thunder claps.I pass around some tiger and we roast our tiger while we talk.

“First question is…which boy is your favorite from either One Direction or 5 Seconds of Summer?And you have to give a one sentence explanation too.”

Tori turns to Liv who says, “Louis because he is super funny and cute.”

“Zayn,” Quinn says, “because he is so artistic and hot.”She giggles along with Penny.

“I would say,” Penny starts, “Harry because he’s cute and silly.”

“Same,” Kay squeals.“I like him because he is such a good singer too.”

“I would say Luke because he seems really genuine and down to earth,” Mac says.

“Ashton because he is super nice and has a great voice,” Mila says.

“Michael because I love his hair,” Claire squeals.Riley and Mila giggle around her.

Riley’s turn and she has to think. “I think Calum because he is sweet and funny.”

“I would say Louis because he seems funny and real,” Leah says.

“Umm, Zayn because he has some awesome tattoos,” Lucy explains.

“Liam,” Brooke says immediately, “because he is smart and hot.”

Anna says, “Luke because he has the lip piercing and I really want one.”Everyone laughs a little.

“Umm…Niall because he’s Irish,” I decide.

“Okay my favorite is Ashton because he is so hot,” Tori exclaims.“Next question is…”

We do three more questions before we get to the big one.

The first one is: who is your lady crush?Most girls say someone from Little Mix or The Saturdays, some say someone from America, and some say some older ladies.I say Evanna Lynch because she’s Irish and she battled anorexia but came through to become an actress.

The second one is: what is a quality or feature you want to change about yourself?Some say shyness, some say noses or hair or eyes.I say my nose but really I don’t care about me nose.I would change my needing to be a hero all the time quality because I’m going to get hurt from it someday.

The third question is: what would you do if you had a million dollars from the lottery?Some say clothes or food, some say college, some say cars or houses.I say college but I know I won’t be going to college.I’ll go straight into the spy business and start spying for whoever pays me.

And then we get to the biggest, darkest secrets.

“Okay last question.Your biggest, darkest secret that no one here knows about.No passes.You have to be honest.There is no point in keeping it.We are all each other has for now so we have to be honest.Liv?”

Liv sits up a little straighter and takes a deep breath.“My name used to be Oliver.I was born a boy but have been taking hormones for a little over a year now.”There are gasps, there are looks of disgust, but no one speaks.Tori grabs Liv’s hand and squeezes.“I was going to have the procedure when we got back from America but we don’t have the money to have it anymore so I have to keep taking the pills and wait.”

“I’ve been smoking since I was 14.My parents don’t smoke, I get the cigarettes from my uncle.The smell is me even though I have blamed it on my parents for years,” Quinn says quickly.More gasps, especially from Penny, and more looks of disgust. Penny takes her hand and gives her a smile before speaking.

“I met a man in the woods yesterday.He is a spy from the CIA.He said there is some illegal activities going on on this island and he has to stop it.But he left before the storm really hit so I haven’t seen him since then.”

“Penny,” Claire starts to say.

“You guys don’t believe me,” she says simply before crossing her arms and looking at the fire.

“I was adopted from Australia,” Kay rushes out, saving us all from an awkward silence or Penny from having to answer questions.“My birth parents died in a car crash. I was nine at the time and my mom was pregnant with my baby sister. My mom and sister died instantly but my dad and I were rushed to the hospital. I came out with only a few injuries while my dad didn't come out at all.”She reaches for Penny’s hand and gives it a squeeze.Penny looks up at her and gives her a small smile. She then looks past her at Mac, encouraging her to go.

Mac looks at Penny with wide eyes before speaking.“My older brother tried to commit suicide when I was four.I walked in while we was hanging from the ceiling.I gave him the stool back and he stopped but he told me the reason he did it was because he didn’t want to be an older brother to me and Penny.”Penny has wide watery eyes.Both girls look at their laps.

“I…I…uh…had an abortion about…four months ago,” Mila stutters softly. “My ex-boyfriend and I had sex when he was drunk one night.I…I didn’t w…want to but he made me,” she cries.Tears roll down her face as she continues, “I never knew if it was going to be a boy or a girl.I could have had a baby but I took the coward’s way out so that no one would know and so that my boyfriend would stay with me…but he…he didn’t.And everyone thinks that I broke up with him but he dumped me because I had an abortion that he told me I had to have.”Mila is now full on sobbing and Claire takes her hand.Mila looks up with tears still streaming down her face and she smiles at Claire before she goes.

“I am the reason my parents got a divorce.My mom cheated on my dad and had me.Just a few months ago, he found out that he has been sterile all his life and so he broke it off with my mom.He doesn’t even want to see me anymore.”

“Some of you noticed that I haven’t been eating much.I went to the doctor and I was diagnosed with anorexia.I have been trying to stop but I can’t and now it is affecting me a lot.”Liv rolls a fruit over to her with a smile.Riley returns the smile and we all watch as she takes a bite of the fruit.

“Uh…my sister is locked in the mental institute because she tried to kill me when I was seven.She tried to drown me, push me off the roof, run me over, and burn me.My mom walked in once and so now she’s locked up.”

Lucy sighs and looks at the ground.“My crush and my best friend are the same person,” she says softly.“I have liked Leah for at least four years but I never said anything because she would always talk about the guy she likes…the guy not the girl.I am a lesbian,” she says louder at the end.“And I’m proud of it.”She doesn’t look at Leah but Leah slowly reaches her hand out and puts it on Lucy’s arm.

“I have never been the smartest person…that’s because I have dyslexia.I’m not super smart with reading and writing but I’m pretty good with a wrench and some wires.My parents want me to like a teacher or something like that but I can’t.”

“I was first raped at the age of 10,” Anna whispers.A lot of us perk up a little because we thought Anna was always a good girl who lived a nice life.She continues, “A lot of my family is alcoholics.My uncles rape me whenever they are drunk, which is a lot.I’ve never told anyone except my mom.She told me to not tell anyone because they will hurt me more if I tell anyone.”

“The real reason I went to this school was because of my mission.My father is a spy for the CIA and I am a spy-in-training.I was sent to this school because Miss. Kaylee is under watch.They say she is involved with some people who want to dominate the world.I didn’t find much but I’m not giving up.I need to get back to my father so that we can figure out what to do next.So there it is.My biggest, darkest secret is that I am a spy-in-training and that’s why I had the knives and know how to do all this stuff.”There are no gasps or looks of disgust.Instead there are scared looks and backing away from me.I don’t care.

Tori goes right after me so that no one looks at me like that for too long.I will thank her later.“My life isn’t as perfect as everyone thinks.We don’t have enough money for Liv’s procedure.We might not even have enough money to go to this school next year.I get most of my clothes from my older cousin, Liv and I share, or I go to Good Will.I’m not very smart either, Brooke tutors me and Liv does some of my homework for me.Basically…I’m not perfect even though I did bully girls who were ‘worse’ than me but now you know that most of them were better than me.”

We all sit in silence for a while.No one says anything, we all just look into the fire.

Finally I stand up.I go to the entrance of the cave and see that the storm is still raging on.But I see something in the distance.A boat, I think.

“We might have a problem,” I say.I hear the girls getting up and coming over.With the exception of Mila, Liv, and Lucy, everyone gathers around me.

“Oh my God,” Leah cries.

“Is anyone on it?” Claire asks.

I shrug and try to look closer.“I’ll go find out,” I say.“You guys stay here and keep the fire going and eat some tiger and make sure you drink lots of water.”

I turn around and grab a backpack.It is the same one I grabbed a while ago so I know what’s in it.I don’t bother grabbing my clothes because they’d be soaked in a minute and I don’t care if someone sees me like this.

A hand grabs my wrist before I leave.I turn to see Tori. “Be careful,” she says.

“Watch the girls,” I say back.We both nod and I head out into the storm.

Notes

Hope you liked it! Happy Reading! :)