Taken (On Hold)

Chapter 4

Crystal is standing on a small boulder on the beach, her perfectly plucked brows furrowed and her manicured hands placed delicately on her hips. "Someone had better have a good explanation for why I am on this stinking island.

"Yeah," Madison and Summer echo from where they have placed themselves at her side. They never cease to amaze me, the way they can be so dependent. Sometimes it's as if they can't think for themselves, unless it involves makeup or hair.

Connor walks up to her and stops right in front of her. He looks directly into her eyes, which is funny because she's so much taller than him on that boulder.

"Let me try to put this into terms even you and your simpleminded friends can understand," he says.

I snicker, and I am not the only one. Connor glances back at the three of us and smiles approvingly.

It's pretty amusing to watch their reactions. Summer's eyes narrow and her cheeks flush with anger. Madison frowns. "You better not be talking about us. I am so not simpleminded, Connaissance."

Crystal gasps indignantly. "Don't you dare talk to us like that, you worthless Class C vermin!"

Cameron, who I hadn't noticed until now pushes his way over to them, followed by Jacob and Alex, and glares at him. "Never talk to my girlfriend like that again, you hear me? Or else," he threatens.

Connor shrugs innocently. He seems totally unfazed. "Sorry. I just assumed, you know, you'd actually want to understand my explanation. But never mind, I'll just be going then - "

"Explain! Now!" Crystal snaps, her face crimson with anger. She seriously has no patience whatsoever.

"Okay, here goes: we've been Taken. Was that simple enough to understand?" Well, he certainly didn't beat around the bush. I'm glad he tried to break the news more gently to us instead of telling us so bluntly like that. I might have reacted even worse than I did.

"What?" she shrieks.

"I'm sorry, I really don't know how to put this any simpler. I must admit I'm a bit surprised you didn't understand, as I made it as easy to understand as I could," Connor says, feigning surprise. I'm really starting to like this kid. Not many people stand up to the Class A kids.

"I think we understood you just fine, Connaissance," Cameron says coldly. "We just don't believe you. We're not stupid, you know." Despite his steely appearance, I get the feeling that he's considering what the boy said. He's smarter than he seems, cunning even. A single twitch of his eye is the only sign that he is even remotely nervous.

"So we haven't been Taken?" Crystal blinks, relaxing a little.

"No, of course not," Cameron scoffs. "That's ridiculous."

"Hey, you can believe me or not, that's your choice." Connor holds up his hands in surrender. "But you're the ones who wanted to know."

"What if he's right?" Alex asks quietly.

"He's not," Cameron says firmly, shooting daggers at the Connaissance boy with his eyes. I can't help but think that he's trying to convince himself as well as everyone else. His eye twitches again, betraying a little fear. Not a lot, but it is there.

"If we've been Taken, then maybe we should all work together, sí? Maybe we can escape this island," a Hispanic girl speaks up. Eri nudges me and raises her eyebrows.

"We haven't been Taken!" Cameron yells. "And I really don't want to deal with any of you lower class people while we're here. So how about this: we Class A people will wait on the beach here, and you can all go do whatever until someone comes to get us out of here." He phrases it like there is a choice, but his tone makes it clear that nobody is to disagree with his suggestion.

"What if no one comes?" someone dares to ask.

"Of course they'll come!" Cameron shoots a glare at the kid who spoke up.

"Don't worry, we'll make sure they don't leave any of you behind. Maybe. If we're feeling generous," Crystal giggles. Her boyfriend smiles maliciously.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Cameron demands when nobody moved.

"Get out of here!" Summer chimes in. "This is our territory now." The other Class A kids laugh and exchange high fives.

Everybody scrambles to get off the beach. Nobody wants to be caught disobeying the Class A kids.

Amy Rose and I have only walked a few yards when we hear footsteps behind us. Turning, I see Eri. Whoops. I forgot about her. She was with us throughout the whole Class A incident, but we hadn't waited for her as we were leaving. I feel really bad.

"Hi, Eri," I say guiltily.

"Hi. Would you mind if I joined you?" she asks shyly. "I don't know too many other people here, and as much as I'm ashamed to admit it, I'm a little frightened to be on my own here." Then she flushes. "I'm sorry, that sounded really selfish."

Amy Rose smiles warmly. "Of course you can join us! Maybe with the three of us working together, we can find a way off this stinking island." I nod in agreement. "And Eri," she adds, "you're not in Altruisme anymore. It's okay to be selfish every once in a while."

Eri looks relieved. "Thank you so much."

"So how do we want to try to escape?"

I think for a moment, then smile slowly. There's only one logical way, really, unless we want to sit around and wait for help that probably will not come. "We'll build a raft."

Don't judge my lame attempt at a picture compilation.

-Lucia<3