Wonderwall, JJ Maybank

Chapter Three. My Existence Is A Scandal.

CHAPTER THREE . . .  
MY EXISTENCE IS A SCANDAL.

     HERMAN LIMBREY DEAD... THE ROYAL MERCHANT A FAMOUS SHIPWRECK... 180 YEARS LATER. Cordelia could hardly wrap her head around the madness of it all. Still, it was rather exhilarating.

At first, the group had automatically assumed she was lying. Lying about her identity, her voyage, how she had ended up on the island... all of it. She had thought they were lying too. How couldn't she? How couldn't they? What both parties were saying shattered the idea of impossibility, so it had to be some strange joke. It was uncomfy to challenge such universal truths, scary even. Their stories were defying reality in its entirety. But it didn't take long for everyone to realize that no one was lying— they were so jarringly different. And so, they had found themselves siding with fantasy over age-old science.

     Cordelia had been sitting on a large piece of driftwood for the past 30 minutes, still a little baffled. The sun had long departed, but none of the seven teenagers had even brought up the idea of building a fire— they were a little distracted by the girl whose existence was impossible.

"Run me through it again." Pope paced back and forth in front of her, thoughtfully stroking his chin as his eyes stayed fastened to the ground; a line of deep tracks in the sand from how long he'd been marching there. He was much more concerned about it than anyone else, even the time traveler herself.

"I was aboard the Merchant, a storm occurred, I awoke on this island, and two and half months later you all arrived." she repeated for what felt like the millionth time, looking up at him. "Might you please sit down? You've been pacing like a caged animal for half an hour. Would a coconut to sip on soothe your troubles?" The boy didn't budge, muttering to himself as he carried on. She turned to the others. "Is he always like this?"

"Pope's a weirdo. You'll get used to it." JJ shrugged against the tree he was leaning back on, fiddling with his dinky knife. "So were they like, really chill about giving kids alcohol back then?"

     Back then— the words made Cordelia's head spin. Her life two and a half months ago was back then to them. It was an odd feeling, but it wasn't necessarily a bad one. Of course it was next level bizarre and incredibly difficult to comprehend, but she was starting to come around, and something other than shock was stirring in her chest— excitement. An avid fascination was brewing in the pit of her belly, the thrill of something so magical beginning to tug at heart.

     "JJ." Kiara shot him a pointed look.

     "What? It's a question. I remember Mr Sunn saying they weren't strict about that kind of stuff."

     "Glad to see you took something away from history."

"What do you remember from the storm?" John B cut in.

    Her memories surrounding the Royal Merchant were hazy, covered by a blurry film she couldn't seem to shake.

"Not a thing. I just recollect the happening of it." she turned to JJ, knitting her brows. She didn't seem very bothered by his question, in fact, it had raised one of her own; the girl more intrigued in this subject than restating what they'd already established. "Do you mean to tell me kids are prohibited from having a drink now?" She snorted. "That's ludicrous."