Castaway Island

Neil

Neil frowned. The boy sitting behind him had jumped into the ocean to save Valarie. No one had reacted besides him. Valarie was now sitting safely in the raft wet and shivering. Neil wished he could ease her pain. He pushed his glasses a little farther up his nose. Now that the girl was unable to row, he would have to take her place.

Neil smiled as he realized that he would be that saviour to all these other kids. Yes, they had the strength but, Neil had a intelligence level. He was sure of it. He had a survival book and a few other books in his travel case. Neil smiled at the thought of the cruise ship. He had known the attendant was going to send those kids off. It was obvious after Neil saw him shove that girl into the raft.

Neil crawled into position and started rowing along with the other kids. He did not realize how hard it would be until he actually tried to row. Neil looked at the other kids faces. In front of him the girl in front of him had been sweating a little. Behind him the boy with the brown blond hair was looking at Valarie helplessly.

"Hey," Neil called. "Hey, what's your name? I'm Neil." A few kids looked at him. The girl in front of him turned around.

"My name's Vanessa. Now will you leave me alone?"

"I'm Maximum..." The boy who had saved Valarie said nervously. Everyone in the boat stifled a laugh, even Neil.

One by one, each of the kids said their names.

The boy named Maximum laughed with the other kids about his name.

            "I'm an athlete." He said. "I'm used to people hearing my name called over the speaker."

Another girl, spoke up. "I'm Lacey." She said simply. She fingered her shirt shyly. The last two remaining kids were male.

               "Luke." The first boy said smiling cockily. He looked down at his expensive shirt and looked next to him in distaste where Valarie was passed out on the seat. She was dripping water but otherwise seemed fine. The second boy didn't say anything. He was overlooked by everyone. 

Then, Valarie started to cough. Nobody knew what to do.