Subjects

3- A Five Minute Walk And Five Hundred Albatross

The flight made Eva grumpier than ever. Not the best first impression but... Oh, well. At least she only takes it out on Ben. If you yell at someone because they're doing something that genuinely annoys you, it doesn't count as "not getting along", right?

"Will you move it already?!"

Ben takes out his camera the moment the plane landed to film the first look of Midway. Too bad he is now blocking Eva's path down the stairs that lead out of the airplane.

"Why do you have to be so bossy all the time?" he replies, still filming and not making any effort to clear the path.

"I'm not bossy, you're just a jerk. Can't you see I have a heavy suitcase?"

Ben turns around toward Eva but instead of looking at her he is pointing his camera at her, "And here we can see an example of the common snob. I know it's tough, but you can't let their mean behavior ruin your day."

Leo shows at the airplane's door. "Ben..." he says with a warning tone.

"Alright, alright," he turns around and continues walking down the stairs.

To say the least, the island is stunning. Clear blue water on one side and green treeline on the other. The air is so fresh that you can taste the salt from the sea. The only sounds you hear are the waves crashing against the shore and the albatross calling. In the distance, just by the treeline, there are a few small houses.

And then there's the albatross. So many albatross. They're everywhere, seriously. The grass between the airplane landing and the treeline is just full of those birds. I don't know how many of them there are there, but it's a lot.

"I can see why they need an actual team to count them," says Eva to Emily.

"No kidding," she replies.

The group starts walking along the landing track, approaching the road that leads to the houses. This has been a long night and they are all just exhausted. You'd be too if you would've spent so many hours up in the air, even worse if you'd be around Eva after she had to use the toilet. You wouldn't hear the end of it about this "unsanitary box of the world's most horrible smells."

Let me correct myself, not all of them are exhausted. Ben, as it turns out, doesn't need any sleep when he's out in nature. The moment he set foot out of the airplane, his energy level was boosted to the maximum and there is nothing that can bring it down.

"First impression of Midway?" Ben is asking Roger while walking backward and aiming his camera. His huge backpack doesn't seem to slow him down or take up any effort whatsoever.

"This place seems great," answers Roger. "It's so peaceful and quiet."

And then a rookery of albatross passes right over their heads, making a horrible sound that makes Ben jump and cover his camera.

"I guess it'd be quieter when the birds go to sleep," Ben takes out his camera again and checks for damages, he'll have to do some major editing later.

Ben turns to Emily, "what do you think?"

"I just can't believe that we get to be here and get a scholarship for it," Emily is looking around with absolute awe.

"Can't say I don't agree," Ben points his camera at Eva and immediately regrets it.

"It's too hot here," Eva's suitcase gets stuck on a rock, she pulls it violently and almost falls over.

"Alright then," Ben now turns to Leo. "So Leo, what are we doing now? When do we start counting these majestic creatures?" Eva snorts lightly.

"Right now I am going to show you to your accommodations," says Leo. "I think we all should rest for a couple of hours and meet up later."

Leo is truly hoping that this is the last lie he has to tell them. The only reason he didn't tell them the truth before was that he thought it would just complicate things. He had to bring them out here as fast as possible and there was absolutely no time for arguments or philosophical discussions. Not that he can't make them come if he wants to, but he truly doesn't want to. I guess you could say that right now Leo is caught in a web of lies, soon to be eaten alive by the guilt spider, and all of this is happening on a remote island out at sea. Not to mention how he left things with his wife and daughter. Leo, buddy, you got yourself into quite a mess.

After a twenty-minute walk that took every last bit of energy each of them had (not including Ben, of course, he was still as vigorous as ever), they finally arrive at the accommodations. There are a few buildings there, three floors tall. The group enters one of the buildings and just collapses to the floor, literally. Leo is leaving for a couple of minutes to get their room keys while the teens are lying there on their bags, feeling grateful for the invention of air conditioning.

"This felt like it was never going to end," remarks Emily.

Eva agrees, "I was not prepared for this type of walk right now."

"Leo made it sound like it's five minutes and we're there," Emily continues.

"Leo makes everything sound like it's five minutes and we're there," says Ben and then deepens his voice, making it sound like Leo's. "'Yeah, we're just going to hop over to that island real quick...'"

The whole group starts laughing uncontrollably. They may be tired and smelly, but laughter always makes things better, and that moment is no exception. When Leo finally comes back, they all feel a whole lot better about this trip, even if there's no way they would ever admit it (I'm talking about you, Eva).

"Come on, kids. Just a little more effort and you can rest all you want."

"Can't we rest all we want now?" asks Eva tiredly.

"You can, but you won't. Get up on your feet, you are going to like your rooms," Leo lends them a hand to get up and leads them up to the second floor. "There is a room for the boys and a room for the girls, I expect you to be good roommates."

"We share a room?" Eva asks, surprised.

"You can sleep in the hallway if you prefer, I believe at night it's all yours," Leo answers, handing two keys to Ben and Emily.

"This is outrageous."

The four start heading to their rooms when Leo stops them, "I know you all must be wanting to sleep this day away but there are still some things I need to talk to you about. Meet me downstairs at say... Five pm?"