Destination Reached

JAKE

The girls still weren't back.

The rain had finally stopped, but the girls still weren't back. It was overcast now. The sun would be going down soon.

I was trying not to worry. It wasn't my style. But I couldn't help but imagine worst case scenarios as the minutes continued to pass. I checked the time again. It was the same as it had been fifteen seconds ago, and the girls still weren't back.

I felt like Sophia.

"Are you sure neither of them have tried to contact you?" I asked Kai, keeping my voice steadier than I felt. I peered anxiously at the direction they'd disappeared in too long ago.

"Both of them left their phones here," Kai shook his head, gesturing back at the towels and our bags of stuff.

A spike of panic shot through me, "What? Why would they—?"

"It wouldn't matter even if they had," Kai said, as if that was supposed to fucking make me feel better. "There's barely any service here, let alone in the caves."

I paced back and forth, huffing frustratedly. I was about ready to tear my hair out, and maybe Kai's for good measure. Why weren't we doing anything? Why wasn't he more worried? It was his twin sister for fuck's sake. How could he be so nonchalant? How could he expect me to just sit on this beach and twiddle my thumbs and wait until they came back? If they were coming back...my stomach clenched uncomfortably. The way it had when I heard my parents fighting all the way in my room upstairs when I was younger, and they way it tried to whenever I thought about future plans. A feeling I rarely experienced because I'd gotten so good at ignoring it.

"So to be clear," I managed through gritted teeth. "They have no way to get help? And we have no way to reach them? How—?"

"Look, man, I know it's tough," shrugged Kai. "But Maia knows what she's doing. If something did happen, she's handling it."

"Oh great," I scoffed, "Maia's handling it." Kai frowned at me sharply, thrown off by the venom in my words.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Maia's the reason they're in this mess!" I said, unable to help myself. I was positively stewing with anger and worry and the knot in my stomach was only growing. And for me, anger was preferable to the anxiety. "The sea caves were her fucking idea, and Sophia wouldn't have even—" I didn't mean it. Not really. But I wasn't being rational now. I didn't feel rational. And all I could think about was the fact that without Maia she wouldn't have gone in there and she'd be with me right now. Safe.

"Sophia chose to go with Maia," he replied in a calm, but warning tone. "She has agency."

"A choice that she wouldn't have made without Maia pushing her to," I shot back, breathing hard. Normally, I wasn't a particularly combative person, but my fists were clenching dangerously at my sides, and my nerves were buzzing hot and fast. "Sophia's not like Maia, you know that. She doesn't do this sort of thing, and maybe Maia knows how to 'handle it', but Sophia's not Maia—" I thought about how cautious Sophia had been when I'd first met her, the genuine fear in her eyes during the plane turbulence. "Maia pushed her too far—"

"Maia did?" Kai cut me off, crossing his arms. He was infuriatingly still. Composed. I could've punched him. "Or could someone here possibly be projecting?" I swallowed. He was dead on, and we both knew it.

There was a low whine in the back of my mind that said...this is your fault. She wouldn't have gone in there if it weren't for you. I thought it was a good thing she was becoming less cautious, but now I wondered if I'd been a bad influence rather than a positive one. Maybe I shouldn't have teased her, given her such a hard time. I couldn't say that to myself. It couldn't be my fault. If she was in danger— it couldn't be because I— you pushed her. You pushed her too far, Jacob. Why couldn't you just leave her alone?