Teenage Castaways

Chapter Two || Chad

My room was silent. My roommates were asleep. My mind drifted to sleep.

But it didn't last long. The captain had told us we were undetectable, but it wasn't true. We were shot at. Bombed. The ship was already half sunk when I finally got out of bed.

"Hurry up!" one of my roommates yelled, rushing out of the room. "We have limited time to get on the lifeboat!"

The lifeboats were made for six people each. They were quite lavish, but that's what happens when you're in the middle of a world war. Spoiler alert: it's much more likely to get bombed, sink, and be left alone for months than it would be if the world was at peace.

I was in the last group of lifeboats to go out, but that's what ended up saving my life. When I saw the large wave that ate up my peers, I was filled with fear. But I was alive. That was enough.

"Hey! Get in a boat!" a ginger had cried out to me. We were the last ones on the deck. Without pause, I threw myself onto the boat.

The ginger cried out in pain. In my struggle, I broke her arm with my arched back. I was impressed with myself, but I knew an apology was needed.

"Sorry," I said.

A guy, who I would later know as Killian, chopped off the rope and we flew down into the water. It was a whole two feet down.

That's not a lot.

"This-," a girl cussed, "-ing sucks."

"Thanks for the update," the guy said. "Now shut up. Since I'm the strongest, and male, I'm the leader of this boat. You will be submissive to me."

Suppressing a full laugh, I snorted.

Killian kept talking. "The storm will be over soon-"

A wave bumped the bottom of the boat and I fell out of the water. My bag, the only one I had managed to snag in time, flew out of my hands.

Paddling swiftly, I rushed to retrieve my bag. Shouts filled my ears telling me to come back. "I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT MY BAG!" Sweat poured down my face, but it was washed away by salt water.

I grabbed the bag and swam back to the boat. "Help me up, baddie," I said to the blonde that was peering over the edge of the boat.

She definitely didn't spit on me.

The ginger ended up helping up with her good arm. When I was back on the boat, everyone was shivering and soaked. It seemed the waves had also knocked loose some of the now-wet supplies.

A girl with space buns shoved into our brave leader and grabbed herself a sleeping bag, mat, water, and food before going to the back of the boat.

He let out a pathetic groan. "Thanks for the help!" he spat. But he couldn't do much, the brown-haired space-bun-girl was stronger, even if she didn't look to be.

"You're welcome," she said right before flipping him off.

"At least the storm is clearing!" the ginger said, smiling despite her destroyed arm and lost supplies. "Uh... What are your guys' names?"

"Killian."

"Chad," I said, clutching my bag.

"Lexie," the blonde cutie said.

"Nice to meet all of you! I'm Jovie," the ginger said with a smile. It was clear the brown-haired girl, who was setting up her mat and sleeping bag, wasn't going to bother with introductions.

"Let's share sleeping bags," I said to the blonde. Lexie. "We don't have enough for all of us to have our own." I winked at her and patted my bag.

"I'm sleeping on my own or with another girl," Lexie snapped. Geez.

"You can share with me!" Jovie offered.

"No way. You're... too big," Lexie snorted. "Actually, on second thought, I'm definitely sleeping alone."

"Fine. But no sleeping mat for you," Killian said.

Lexie's eyes turned to Killian. "Aw," she pouted, turning her face soft. "But I need my beauty sleep. You're one strong boy. You shouldn't need a sleeping mat, right?"

"I guess," Killian smirked. "Here." He handed her a sleeping bag and a mat. Lexie laid it out on the side of the boat, on a bench, and placed her sleeping bag on top. "So now we have one left. And there are three of us."

"We could share," I winked at Jovie.

"I guess. Sure."

"Then you're alone, O great leader," I said, snatching up the sleeping bag. Since Lexie took the last sleeping mat, I slapped the sleeping bag straight onto the bench. "Come on in," I cooed to Jovie. She definitely wasn't the baddie of my dreams, but it would only be a night.

When Jovie got into the sleeping bag, I noticed she kept her distance. Which I didn't think was possible because we were pressed together tightly. Maybe she was just really tired. I didn't have much time to think about it, though, because I quickly drifted off to sleep as well.

The waves rocked the boat. I felt like a baby in a cradle.

I woke up and found Killian had wrapped himself in a tarp and was holding tight to a water jug on the floor of the boat. Ruby and Lexie were still asleep. Jovie, the warm spot beside me, however, was gone.

Rubbing my eyes and escaping from the warm bundle I found her at the tiller. She sat softly with her curly red hair flowing in the breeze.

"Good morning," I moaned to her.

"Good morning to you," she said, eyes flicking to me.

I sat beside her. "You know, my parents died."

"I'm sorry." She was probably wondering why the hell I told her that.

Soon, Lexie and Ruby woke up. Killian, however, was still asleep on the boat floor. That's when Ruby came up with the idea.

"Don't do it!" Lexie shouted at Ruby.

"Shush! And why not? It wouldn't hurt him," Ruby said. "It would be funny. And the guy is a jerk anyway."

"But he's our leader! Show some respect to men..."

Ruby moved away from her and went to pick up Killian. With her skinny, yet surprisingly strong, arms she lifted him and tossed him over the rim of the boat and into the water below.

Gasps all around, we moved to the edge and peered over to find Killian padding in the water. He was holding the tarp with one hand and flipping Ruby off with another. Wow, these two loved flipping each other off.

"You should have been awake already. It's almost afternoon," Ruby said.

"How do you know?" Killian sneered.

"Look at the sun!"

Jovie and I helped Killian back onto the boat. Silently, he went to sit near the side of the boat he fell off. A puddle of water formed under the bench where he was sitting.

Our group sat unspeaking. It was for the better.

"Do you see that?" Jovie whispered after one too many moments of silent stillness.

"See what?" I replied, scanning the ocean. Everything was finally calm. The sky didn't hold a single cloud.

Jovie pointed to a nearby boat, exactly like our own.

Killian's eyes lit up with hope. "CAN YOU HEAR US? ARE YOU ALIVE?"