The Island

Chapter 12 - The Weird Romance Drama Thing (Why Just Why?)

Evening.

Finally, a few hours later, Todd got the fire going and Ben and Hailey had stopped laughing. Well, they had stopped laughing about two hours ago, but the conversation was around five hours ago.

"I'm gonna go look for some food," Todd said, walking off. "You two had better not still be all weird when I get back." he said.

"You're not our mom!" Ben called after him.

"Then you guys quit acting like a pair of five-year-olds!" Todd called back over his shoulder as he walked away.

"What's wrong with you two?" Hailey asked. The pair normally got along really well. Well, they did before they ended up on this island, anyway.

"Nothing's wrong." Ben said.

"Okay," Hailey said, though she wasn't so sure. "You think we should tell him?" Hailey asked suddenly.

"Tell who what?" Ben asked. Hailey glanced over at the woods where Todd had walked off. "Oh,"

Ben looked at the trees, Todd had left. "We could... Or we could play with his mind a bit." He said mischievously.

"Now, now Ben, we need to gain his trust." Hailey said.

"We already have his trust," Ben said.

"Yeah, because people he thinks are delusional have Todd's trust."

"Well, we already did before that. We're all still friends, too."

Ben sighed, and ran off to follow Todd.

Ben found Todd ripping at the dirt, looking for katniss roots by the stream. "Aren't you supposed to be delirious?" asked Todd as he ripped up a root.

"Thanks," Ben said. "Glad you like us better delirious."

Todd ripped up another one more violently. "I never said that," he said, throwing the root into the small pile he'd made.

"Anyway," Ben said. "Just came over to tell you something."

"What?" he asked.

Ben sat down. "It's about Bianca,"

Todd stopped attacking -I mean picking- the katniss roots. "What about her?" he asked, turning to face Ben.

"Um... So... Hailey told me something..." he trailed off. Todd raised a brow at him.

"Told you...?" he asked, prompting him.

"She told me that Bianca..."

"That Bianca what?"

Ben averted his eyes, staring at the roots. "She told me that Bianca doesn't like you. In fact, she hates you."

Todd went silent, and resumed picking roots. Finally, Todd spoke. "Why?" he asked.

"I- I don't know," Ben said. "That's just what Hailey said."

More silence. After a bit, Todd picked up the roots and walked back to the clearing, staring at the ground the whole time.

Ben waited a couple minutes, then walked back to the clearing, where Hailey was watching as Todd roasted the roots angrily.

"Come on," Hailey was saying as Ben arrived. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," Todd said as he shoved a root into the fire, his green eyes smoldering with anger.

"'Nothing's wrong'? Can you even hear yourself? Come on."

"I don't wanna talk about it," Todd said, giving her a root. "Now shut up."