Safe Harbor

| 17 |

"Alright, so all of you have to learn the basic subjects of maths, science and history," Keda is saying, while the boy next to me groans.

"Aww, do we have to?"

Indy flicks my best mate in the arm to quiet him. "Marco, you're 16, not 6," She reminds him, rolling her eyes at his silly antics.

Keda rolls her eyes but laughs, good-naturedly. "For the millionth time, yes, Marco. What, did you think just because you're on an island in the middle of the ocean, far away from home that we'd just let you all become illiterate fools?"

Marco pretends to think about it for a moment. He turns to Indy then, a lopsided grin on his face. "If I say yes will you flick me again?"

She shrugs, her brown hair falling into her eyes as she does so. "I dunno. Probably not, since I don't really care."

He turns back to Keda then. "... Yes?"

Indy promptly flicks him then, a huge grin on her face. "I lied."

Marco narrows his eyes at the Indian girl. "You betrayed my trust."

"Bummer," she responds with an easygoing tone.

"Oh will you all just shut up!" Pierre bursts out, effectively silencing us all.

"Thank you, Pierre," Keda says jovially, for once, pleased with his actions. "The younger ones will also do some basic reading and writing, so we can make sure your skills are up to date," she continues. "And all of you have the opportunity to learn new languages, considering how diverse each of us is. French is taught by Moni and Henri, Spanish, by me, and of course, English, by pretty much any one of us. Since those are are most demanded, we divide the kids that choose to do them into 2 groups that we teach once a week, usually on Mondays and Fridays. Any questions?"

I'd woken up this morning with my face inches away from Marco's bum, which told me today would be an interesting day. We-Marco, Jean-Luc, Nico, Georges, and Pierre- had been placed in the same hut last night, and it looked like we were going to be roommates from here on out. Breakfast had been a new but exciting ordeal at the same time as well; everyone gathered around the fire and ate, talking, laughing, and eating like campers around a campfire. I got to meet so many more of the island's original habitants, as well as seeing Frederick, Mae, and Henry once again. It was the strangest thing I'd ever experienced, but I wasn't quite ready to write it off just yet.

The ten of us are gathered on the beach once more, sitting in the warm sand as Keda stands in front of us, explaining how school works over here.

Pierre steps up then. "And exactly what history will we be learning about? Just England's?" He sneers, his face drawn into a sour line. He'd been like this since we got here, obviously having a more difficult time adjusting than the rest of us. Without his fancy clothes and money to comfort him, he was at a loss of what to do and how to proceed, but that didn't stop him from keeping his snarky attitude towards the rest of us.

Keda smiles then, as if expecting that question. "Of course not," she replies kindly, unperturbed by his sourness. "That would be unfair. Damien and I will take care of England, while Moni and Henri take France, and Helen and Jack take America. And once again, all of you are welcome to learn about any of those countries' histories, not just your own," she adds. "We've been graciously lent textbooks and the like from different sources, so you can be assured that what we teach you is straight from the countries in question, not made up," she continues.

"So how many hours a day will we be here with you?" Marco asks, curiously. "Learning, I mean. While I do love your company..."

"Since all of you are different ages, you'll be added to different classes, so it depends. We'll devise schedules for each of you, which includes your other activities as well. It'll let you know what you're doing throughout the day, every day. You'll come to memorize it sooner than you think, I promise."