Drama, Love, And Dangerous Weapons

“We need to get out of here! Now!” Jazz said, running over to help Phoenix up. Avery stood up, and helped me up. Jazz threw oxygen masks at us, and I thanked Avery for saving me.

“No problem,” He said, winking. I blushed, and turned to find me a tank. Phoenix nudged me, giggling.

“What?”

“You and Avery. It’s funny.” She laughed, and I just handed her a tank, rolling my eyes. Inside though, I was thinking about that. What was going on there? I couldn’t give much thought to it now, so I promised myself that I would think about later.

We were all in wetsuits, and I was helping Phoenix transfer her stuff into a water-proof pack when alarms started beeping.

The water was up to our ankles now.

“If we don’t get out of here soon, we’re going to explode with the ship. The pressure is cracking the engines, and soon it’s going to explode.” Jazz said, hurrying to finish packing.

Avery ran over and started helping Phoenix. “I’ve got it,” he said. “Go get your stuff.” I nodded, and ran over to where Jazz was standing, and began to shove my stuff into a water-proof pack. “Are you okay?” he whispered.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” I asked quizzically.

He cast a look over to where Avery was. “I don’t trust him.”

“Why not? Avery is a good guy.”

“You think so?” I nodded. He sighed.

“Well, I you trust him, then I suppose I will too.” He smiled at me, the same smile that always made my heart flutter. I had to keep my head down so he wouldn’t see the pink appearing on my cheeks.

The water was up to our knees, and Jazz turned to the other two.

“Ready?” He asked, and they nodded.

He kicked the already cracked windshield, and then water came flooding in. He put his oxygen mask on, and we followed suit. Quickly, we swam into the dark blue ocean, surrounded by the fish from before. It hadn’t been but 45 seconds, when the ship exploded. The blast sent us all tumbling in different directions, and the last thing I saw before getting knocked out was Jazz reaching for me and barely missing.

~*~

I washed up on a beach with pale white sand and palm trees around me. Sitting up, my head started to throb and I groaned. I looked around for anyone that might have washed up on the same part of beach as me, but there was no one. Slowly I stood up, my head still throbbing.

“Ugh.” I groaned again, and began walking towards another part of the beach. I could see smoke, and where there is smoke, there’s fire. And where there’s fire, there are people.

~*~
[Jazz POV]

“Pippa?! Pippa?!” I yelled out, trying to find the girl that was like a little sister to me. I almost had her, and then she slipped out of my grasp. I kept kicking myself in the butt, because it was my fault that I had lost her. And it was worse that I didn’t know where Avery was either. It was something about that guy that made me not trust him. And what if he found Pip before I did…

I didn’t want to think about it.

I kept searching the white sandy beach I was on, until the sun had started to set. I started to make a fire, and the smoke rose high into the sky. After it was roaring, I reached into my backpack that survived the wave, and pulled out my Swiss Knife and began to whittle a spear out of a piece of firewood. I would have to eat something, and since I was near the ocean, fish seemed obvious.

Soon I had eaten, and still had fish for later. I rolled out a blanket from my backpack, and lay down, using my pack as a pillow. It was getting darker now, and I needed rest. I would finish my search for Pippa tomorrow.

~*~
[Avery's POV]

“Pippa! Phoenix! Jazz!” I yelled out.

I had washed up on a shoreline of white sand, and had wandered into the jungle that made up the middle of the island. I had been shouting for my teammates for hours now, and still no sign of them.

I sighed, and sat down on a rock. My throat was sore, and my leg muscles were screaming for me to sit and relax. My head fell into my hands, and a feeling of desperation had washed over me.

Hadn’t I promised my foster parents that I would make sure Phoenix would stay safe with me? That I would always take care of her? I had failed them. I didn’t know where she was, and I felt awful.

It also killed me that I had tried to save Pippa over her.

I don’t know what it was about that girl that made me feel like I was on top of the world, but she had it. I had only met her, and I was thinking about her more than I thought about my real parents. And I thought about them a lot.

Closing my eyes, I tried to remember what I could of them. I didn’t really think of my dad much. All I do remember of him was that he left when I was really little, around two years old. It was my mom that occupied my thoughts.

I remember that we looked a lot alike, and that she was a wonderful person. She would always play with me, no matter how tired she was. She would always sing to me at night, and make sure that I knew my nightmares weren’t real.

It was all going swell until one day she didn’t come home.

I remember crying for so long at night. I couldn’t accept the fact that my mother, the one that nurtured me, and raised me, and had promised that she would always be there for me, had just abandoned me like that. Left me for dead.

I hadn’t forgiven her for leaving me. So it hit me hard when I saw her at the Academy, as the headmistress.

Then she tried to apologize.

As if just saying measly words would take back the hurt I had felt, the fear that had overcome me, and the pain I had to go through.

I stood up, anger coursing through me. I wouldn’t abandon my teammates like my mother had me.

With all new resolve, I began to search through the jungle deeper.

I would find them.
~*~

[Phoenix POV]

I ran towards the fire. The shape that was sitting there looked vaguely familiar. I knew that person. That was Jazz, the boy Pippa worked with.

Quickly, I sprinted as fast as I could, stopping on a dime when I made it.

“Jazz!” It was him. I was right. I beamed, happy to find him.

He looked up at me. “Phoenix! You made it! That’s great!” His smile was wide, and he motioned for me to sit down.

“Have you seen Pippa?” His eyes were full of hope, and I felt awful when I told him the truth.

“I haven’t seen anyone. You’re the first person I’ve come across.”

His face fell, but quickly cheered up.

“If you made it, that means she should have, too.”

I nodded. “Avery as well.”

I saw his face harden.

“He’s a good guy, Jazz. I know he may come off as bad, but you have to know that he’s been through-”

My defense of Avery was cut short by a loud, piercing sound.

It made my blood run cold, and my skin turn pale.

I looked over at Jazz, and he knew that sound.

It was a scream.

The scream of my new best friend, Pippa.