*Watty's 2021 Shortlist*
Samantha Roberts and Ben Evans have one thing in common - they both attend Sir Robertson's School for the Gifted, an elite boarding school for the children of the world's wealthiest. Both scholarship students, they gravitate...
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"Hey." It's Charlie, I think—I'm terrible at telling the twins apart. Anyway. He looks worried. I pause my music and pull off my headphones, noticing the scream of the wind for the first time.
Outside, the ocean looks terrifying, all whitecaps and swells and fierce wind that whips through the palm trees. I see a frond rip off and spin through the air. How did I miss this?
"Woah," I say, and Charlie nods beside me.
"We're on complete lockdown, basically," he says, and his face is a little worried.
I check the time. 6 pm. "When did the storm hit?"
"You must have been really out of it, dude," Charlie says, sitting down beside me. "It's been a couple hours. But they've been warning us about it all day."
I look away. "It's not—yeah. I guess."
Charlie just gives me a look, one of the ones I hate. The ones full of pity.
"You look worried," I say. Change the subject, please.
"Yeah. It's um. Anthony."
My lungs clench at that. It's weird to feel betrayed, but I do. I know there's nothing official between Sam and him, but I'm not stupid. I've seen the way they look at each other.
I don't know how everything between us went so wrong. I was so sure that she liked me. That she was just holding back because she didn't want to ruin our friendship. I thought I was well on the way to convincing her we would be better together.
I guess not.
"What about him?" I ask, trying to keep my voice even.
"He's not here. I saw him leave—he said he was going to the library. But he's not back. I'm worried he could be out in the storm."
"What was he doing?" I ask, but I know. Of course, I know.
"I think he was, um—I think he was meeting Sam."
Yup.
There it is. I was expecting that, but it still hurts. Him and Sam. I feel like I don't know her anymore. I feel like I don't know anything anymore.
"Wait—so she was out too?" Suddenly I'm worried. Sam's organised, and smart, and capable—but she's also like me. She can get lost in reading, or a project, or listening to music.
What if she didn't realize the storm had begun?
What if she was out there right now?
"Yeah, I guess," Charlie says. "I tried to call Anthony, but he didn't answer."
I pull out my phone and hit Sam's contact button, listening to the ring tone with bated breath.
It rings once, twice. Then it goes to voicemail, and I hang up in frustration. "No answer. Her phone's probably dead—she always forgets to charge it."
