Stranded Belief

Sneak Peak!

Howdy! This is a sneak peak of our second draft of Stranded Belief!
We've changed some things up a bit. For the most part personalities are the same but the writing style is definitely different and improved. Tell us what you think over in the comment section! Thanks!
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Prologue

As shrapnel and fire froze in the air, so also those moments before the profound sense of loneliness arrived were forever suspended in the memories of the young adults that ought to have died in the initial explosion. The six lost souls sat around the raging fire and leaned in close to get away from the frost of the December air. Their feet were nuzzled deep in the sand trying to keep them warm as their shoes dried from their dreadful fishing adventure. Hazel, the smallest girl on the island, gave a wretched cough and moved away from the smoke for a moment. She was anxious and she prayed she wouldn't get sick, then what would they do? Her immune system was failing. Destiny was studying medicine but she didn't have much with her to work with. All the circle of students, just hardly out of their teenage years had was what they had saved from the plane a few days earlier. The wind blew and the leaves of the great palm tree to their left shook and rustled. Their backs began to ache from sitting on the dark sand for so long.
The initial shock of the crash had gone away, mostly. Although, the fear of the unknown had struck. Six college students were stuck and had no idea how they would get out of their rotten situation. Bella, the smart blonde, an intriguing, cliché breaking type of girl was the first to speak up, "I believe we should try to head higher tomorrow, or at least a little further off the coast. Maybe it will be warmer the further away from the water we travel." Jet nodded but his twin, Jack, just stared down in silence. He was definitely taking it hard. Jack was bound to miss football star, Shane Turner coming to watch the team that weekend. They were supposed to return from Paris the night before the big game. However, it didn't seem like that was highly likely.
It had been a total of three and a half days and no one had gotten a signal and no one had come looking for them. "Ya know this isn't...this isn't so bad..." Mikki piped up, trying to hide the fear in her shaky voice. She took another bite of her small fish that Jet and Jack had caught earlier that day and Destiny had cooked over an open fire that Bella had set with a battery and a stick of chewing gum.
They all made quite the team. If you're gonna be stuck on an island like in a cliché movie, you might as well be stuck with people who aren't completely helpless. "I guess it could be worse," Hazel replied, unsure of how she actually felt. Her head sunk a little bit as if she was running over all the situations that could be worse in her head. Destiny hadn't spoken but she looked at the people surrounding her as if she was trying to learn who they were just from their eyes. She had only figured out a little about the group. Bella came from a Christian background and grew up in New York. She had a little brother named Josh and an older step-sister named Tara.
Jet and Jack were born in Texas but when their parents died they were adopted by a family in a small town on the outskirts of New York. Their baby sister, Jessica was adopted by their aunt. She didn't want them too. Who would want two trouble making boys? Or at least that's what Jack thought.
Hazel came from Florida and spent her high school years going to church with her father and little sister, Dallas, while her mom stayed home with her sick baby brother, Daniel. Daniel died the year Hazel left for college.
Mikki was born in California and traveled with her parents who were missionaries. Mikki had been all over the world on once in a life time kind of trips but she gave it up to go to college and get her teaching degree.
The gang hadn't learned much about Destiny, she hadn't really let them. Destiny was born in India but due to serious issues, she moved to the United States. She grew up Hindu but ever since she started her studies at NYU she had been taking in a lot of information and had a lot of thoughts on her mind. Destiny wasn't the open type of person. Not after the life she had lived.
Mikki looked around at everyone like Destiny had been doing only seconds before. There was a light in her eyes that couldn't really be explained in simple words. She seemed way too optimistic for the situation they had found themselves thrust into. Her eyes said it all. She was scared but she kept reminding herself that there was a reason they were all together. There was a reason she was there. She may have been the only one who believed that, so she felt it was necessary to keep herself happy and optimistic, for the sake of everyone else.
Hazel looked up from the ground and for a split second the memories from days before came back to haunt her.
Hazel sat between twin boys that she'd only known from seeing one on campus. Their school was all sitting in one section so familiar faces were surrounding her and keeping her anxiety from going crazy. Little did she know, her anxiety was the least of her worries. Hazel saw flight attendants rushing around the back of the planes and yelling something she couldn't comprehend. Other passengers were beginning to worry and Hazel wasn't quite sure what she was missing. Suddenly, a flight attendant passed out from what looked like fear. Before she could even think, all the lights went out on the plane. The intercom was down so no one could communicate with the captain. Through the dim lights, Hazel could make out the fear on the faces of the twins on either side. The feeling of gravity began to change and that's when Hazel realized what was happening.
Hazel was brought out of the memory by the sound of singing. The gang had begun to sing random pop songs to pass the time. It didn't take them long to realize that four out of six of them were choir students all four years of high school.
There was the sound of laughter in between lines of the song. Hazel, too, started laughing. It was good to be surrounded by some ounce of joy and hope. She didn't have much left so she was glad some of them had enough to share. "I'm gonna go for a run." Jack said quietly as he stood up without another word. He wasn't as into the songs and laughter as everyone else. They were all too optimistic for him.
He took off running along the wet, dark sand and past the large palm tree. He soon disappeared out of everyone's line of sight. After about a mile of passing nothing but the small waves of the green tented water, he sat down on the sand. He had worn himself out training for the big game. Eating hadn't been his first priority. He had basically stopped consuming food due to how worried he was about the coach. He had been basically living his life for that moment when Shane Turner told him he wanted him to play for the Hawks. That wasn't going to happen now and he was madder then he'd ever been. Running typically cleared his head, but not this time.
Jack fell back and let his back hit the sand. He looked up at the sunset and really tried to calm himself down. That used to be Jet's job and he was great at it, but going off to separate colleges and living separate lives had drawn them apart. He had hoped that France would bring them closer. It wasn't working yet.
Jack breathed deeply and ran his rough fingers through his dark black hair, sweat fell into his vibrant green eyes. He wasn't quite ready to head back to the camp so instead, he just stayed watching the sky turn to black.
Back by the fire Bella looked up into the same black, starless sky and wished she had gone running with Jack. She had recently got back to running after her injury that cost her a track career. She was only up to a few miles before her knee would start to ache but at least it was a start. You can't start back at 100 percent, that is definitely something she had to learn the hard and painful way. She gained her strength to speak, "I'm gonna head out for quick run too." she jumped up and stretched before she took off.
About a mile later she came across the black haired boy asleep on the sand. "Hey, runner. Only made it a mile?" she teased and he woke up. "I don't see you still running, Princess and by the looks of it you ain't gonna." His Southern accent that came back when he moved back to Texas for college slipped out. "I'm injured, what's your excuse?" Bella teased again "And don't ever call me Princess." Jack laughed. "Up for another mile?" He jumped up from his position on the ground. "You're on." So they ran in silence, the only sound being the crickets singing to the wind and their bare feet squashing into the sand.
Jet stared into the blazing fire, his glance occasionally shifting to Hazel. Destiny broke the silence "Wanna play a game? It's simple, you just take your middle name and your street name, or your dorm name since we don't have a street, and then that becomes your soap opera name." Mikki piped up for a moment, "I've played this!" Hazel laughed, "Diane Shakespeare. That was my street as a kid." Jet spoke next "Cole Excalibur." Destiny laughed as Jet puffed out his chest. "Renee Cadence, that's pretty I guess." about that time Jack and Bella came running right by them. "I win!" Jack shouted like a two year old. "No! Boy, what are you even talking about I was at least a foot ahead of you!" Jack laughed at her for a moment. "I know, Princess. However, you are darn cute when you're angry." Jack winked. "Ew." Bella said, rather bluntly. She had dealt with boys like him before.
They laughed for a few more moments and then Mikki started playing a song from her phone. A soft tune and lyrics written by a father singing to his daughter, his baby girl, his Cinderella, started playing. Bella started to sway and then turned and just let her feet lead the way. She did ballet for eight years but left it when her father wanted her to be a runner. "Wow, Princess..." Jack said, genuinely in awe. For a millisecond, just a fraction of a moment, they were happy. It wouldn't last long but at least they had that moment. The calm before the storm...