Sink or Swim

The waves bring me up and down, up and down, up and down in the water. That is the last time I'm going on a scuba diving trip. Let me explain:

There I was, sitting on the deck of the boat, when a storm rolls in. I guess I should've seen it coming, considering it was a giant dark cloud coming closer and closer to us every second, but I was too busy eating. Next thing I know, I'm in the ocean with three other people, having been thrown off of the boat by a wave.

When the storm passed, I had let go of my piece of wreckage and started looking to see if anyone had survived. Three other people were swimming around. We were able to find one of those float-up rafts and get on quickly.

Now you're all caught up. So, here we are, sitting on the raft, trying not to get sun burn. We were able to take off some of our clothing and make a sort of roof over our head. Still, bits of my shoulders are still exposed, and I feel the skin peeling.

"Jaimie," one of the people says. I look around at him. He has dark hair, pale skin, and brown eyes. I remember his name, something like, Brent. He looks a little like me, only my eyes are grey.

"What's up?" I say, sitting up a little more.

"Rylee just said we should go through our pockets and see what we have that could help us," Brent says. I nod, and empty out my shorts pockets. Rylee, the girl who said we should be doing this, has flaming red hair and lightly tanned skin. She's wearing shorts like mine and a black tank top. I have on a white tank top instead. Brent is wearing gym shorts and a white tank top. The other boy on board, Liam, is wearing a green shirt and black workout shorts.

Everyone empty's out their pockets. We don't have much. There's an emergency kit in the raft, filled with jerky, water, and dried apples. We pile up everything we have in the center. There's four keys, one from each of us for our rooms, a half eaten sandwich, some coins, floss (we all gave Liam a weird look, and he just shook his blonde head) there's also a paperclip, a scrap of paper, and a pocket knife.

"There's nothing good here!" Rylee says, but I just shake my head, my face breaking out into a smile.

"We could fish. The floss doesn't seem really strong, but we could definitely use some string from my sweater. I got it at goodwill, it was, like, five dollars." Everyone seems to go along with it, except for Rylee.

"Still, what are we going to do about bait? A sinker? A hook?" She is crossing her arms, looking smugly at me. My answer shuts her up.

"The paperclip, the sandwich, and the coins," I say, and the boys nod at me. Rylee looks pissed, but she gives a slight nod of her head.

"I can do the fishing," Brent says.

"I can make the line," Liam says.

"I can get the food set up. Brent, when you fish, use your shirt wrapped around your hands, that way the string and floss doesn't cut your hands. Trust me, it'll hurt." Brent takes off his shirt, revealing his skin. There's a scar on his chest, long reaching from his throat down to just above the belt on his jeans. I don't realize that I'm staring until he clears his throat. I snap out of it, and start breaking off little pieces of the sandwich. Liam hands over a decent looking fishing line. Rylee isn't doing anything. She's laying in the boat, groaning about how hungry she is.

"Look, if you're so hungry, then do something!" I say, and Rylee glares at me.

"I've done plenty!" She says, and I roll my eyes.

"Really? Name three things that you've done so far that has contributed to everyone," I say, and Rylee goes silent.

"Well... I just...," it looks like she's trying to burn my eyes her glare is so strong, "I came up with the idea of taking everything out! I helped to... um... set up the raft... and... I...," she can't think of anything else.

"That's what I thought," I say, and she lays down again.

***

"I GOT SOMETHING!" Brent says, and I jump up, making the raft move around a little. It's been five minutes, and Brent is yanking at the string. My sweater lays next to him, torn up a little. I grab the string closer to the water, tugging at it with all my might. Eventually, a fish pops out of the water. It looks fine.

"It's not poisonous," a voice says, and we all turn and look at Rylee.

"How do you know?" I say, and she shrugs.

"I read a lot of marine biology books. Why do you think I came on this trip? Duh, to check out more fish and animals," She says, and I smile at her.

"Huh. I guess you could come in handy. Does everyone still have their wetsuits?" I ask, and Brent and Rylee nod, but Liam shakes his head, his tan skin sparkling in the sun.

"It was torn up in the wreckage. I checked," But it's fine. We only need at least two people.

***

The sun is setting. We've fished for hours and gotten lots of different fish. We're storing them in an extra box we found in the raft. Liam and Rylee are asleep, slowly breathing and shifting around every once in a while. I'm sitting up, a few different jackets wrapped around my shoulders. It was boiling hot during the day, but the temperature plummeted during the night.

I sigh, my breath becoming a white mist in front of my face.

"Can't sleep?" Brent says. He's wearing his shirt again, plus an extra jacket. I nod my head. He sits down next to me, and I feel his arm brush mine. His skin is warm, so I can only imagine how cold mine is.

"Why did you come on the trip?" I ask him, and he shrugs.

"I guess I just needed to get away from... everything. I needed a break." I get how he feels.

"What about you?" He says, and I look up at him. His eyes might be dark, but there's a certain light in them.

"I... I guess I just... I've always loved the ocean. It's a lot better than the stupid Starbucks job that I have back in Florida- I mean!" I bring my hands up to my face, and I feel the blood rush to my cheeks, "I'm sorry, that was rude. I guess I'm out here for the same reason as you. I'm 19 years old, in college, and work at a Starbucks just so I can afford school supplies." I bring my hands down from my face and set them next to my feet. I'm curled up slightly to where my feet are touching my butt. It's keeping me a little warmer, but I seem to almost unfold. My legs come down, my body relaxes. This is the most I've told anyone in a while.

"Well, I guess this 'stranded on a raft' thing isn't too bad," Brent says and he wraps and arm around my shoulders. I lean into him, his warmth moving quickly to me. I look around. There is nothing but ocean for miles around. I feel my eyes flutter shut, and I fall asleep.

***

I jolt awake. The sun is slowly rising, and there is a steady sound around me. The waves hitting the side of the boat, the shifting of the plastic of the raft, and the breathing of the other people on the raft. I sit up some, and Brent wakes up with me, feeling the absence of my weight on his arm.

"Where are you going?" He asks, and I look over at him. Bits of ocean water splatter his hair, shimmering in the small amount of sunlight. His eyes look tired, and his body is relaxed. This is much better than the mid-day Brent that I knew before.

"I'm not going anywhere, just... looking." I say, and I point at the sunrise. The sky is a light pink color, and the ocean is calm. I move my brown hair out of my face, and look at Brent again. He's staring at me, smiling a small, almost unnoticeable smile. He's getting closer. I can feel his breaths on my skin.

There's a sudden stirring. I pull away from him, and feel suddenly cold.

"Hey, what's up with your faces?" Rylee says, and she points at our faces. I feel it, and I feel the familiar warmth of blood. I look at Brent. His cheeks are as red as mine.

"Nothing," we say together, and Rylee gets a look of comprehension on her face.

"Oh!" She says, "Sorry," she really does look sorry.

"It's nothing," I say, and I smile. But on the inside, I'm a bit angered.

"What did I miss?" Liam says, and we all shake our heads.

"Oh well," He says, "Should we start looking for land?"

"Yeah, sure!" I say, and I grab a broken piece of wood that was left, sticking it in the water, and pushing the raft forward some. Liam grabs a piece of wood, too. The raft started moving around a bit more. The knowledge that we will eventually get to land keeps me going. We are all rowing for at least six hours, nothing coming up to us. Until eventually...

"Look!" Brent says. I whip my head around, bits of my hair smacking me in the face. There is a small bump in the ocean. Tree's can be seen, too. It looks small and deserted. We all push the boat closer to land until...

"Sand! Oh my gosh, this is amazing!" Rylee says, and she collapses onto the land. I do the same, taking deep breaths. The boat rowing was tiring.

"Start building a shelter," Liam says to Brent, and they go to collect wood. I stand up and help Rylee up. We run off to look for water and find some in a small pit. Rylee dips down to drink some, but I grab her arm.

"What?" She says. I shake my head.

"There could be bacteria. You could die." That definitely makes her step back. When we come back, we have berries (they are all safe, I read up about them before we left for the trip), some different kinds of nuts, and even some coconuts. The boys have set up a few different little tents made out of wood and leaves. There's four, one for each, but a little extra room in case a few more people need to come in. Liam is weaving baskets for each of us (he has a knack for crafting), Brent is cutting up firewood, and Rylee is going to start fishing. I scoop up some ocean water with a pot I found littered on the beach and, once Brent starts the fire, I intend to boil it.

"Boiling salt water isn't going to get you fresh water," Brent says as he lights the fire using a stick and shoelace, "You're just going to be left with a bunch of salt."

"I know. But if you want to keep eating just normal plain fish, that's fine with me. I'll stick to my fish with salt." He laughs, and continues cutting up firewood with the pocketknife.

***

After what feels like hours, we're all sitting around the fire, smiles on our faces and our stomachs full. We're now eating some sort of coconut berry mix out of the coconut shell. It's thickened a little bit because of the meat of the coconut, and it's shockingly good. We're all congratulating Rylee on her job with the fish and desert.

The fire is the main source of light for us, other than the moon and starlight. We're drinking coconut water and boiled water from the pit. If we aren't found soon, at least we know that we have things that we can live off of.

I take off my shirt. Underneath is a bathing suit top, but the fire has warmed me up so much that I need to take off the shirt. Rylee does the same, and the boys remove their shirts. I sigh and hang my head backwards.

"I'm heading to bed," Liam says, and he walks over to his tent. Rylee follows him soon after, going to her tent instead. I tell Brent that I'm going to bed, and he follows me back to my tent. I lay down. There is a little bit of firelight shining through the opening, and I shift myself with my back to Brent's chest. He wraps his arms around me, cocooning my body in his.

"How did you get it? The scar?" I ask Brent, and he sighs.

"I was swimming once and the current pushed me up against a rock. It cut me open. Nothing too crazy." He shrugs. I can feel his shoulders move.

"That's not nothing though," I say, and I turn to face him, "I would've died."

"I highly doubt that," he says, and he kisses me. There's warmth throughout my chest, spreading through the rest of my body. I pull away, and he gets a worried look in his face.

"oh... um... sor..." but he doesn't finish. I'm kissing him now, and I'm pushing myself into him. This may seem like a really rushed, out of the blue kiss, but we met on the boat. We became close, and the ship wreck seemed to mess with my head a little, but it's all coming back now.

His heart is racing, I can feel it through his chest. My heart is racing, too. Can he feel it? I don't care. He pulls away from me this time.

"I want to go outside," he says, and we leave the tent. We lie down, facing the sky, my hand in his. He pulls me close, and I fall asleep.

***

"Hello? Can you hear me?" a voice above me is talking. My eyes flutter open. A man is standing above me, holding a flashlight. It's still night, but the area has been lighten up. People stand all around, holding lights, torches, things like that. The motor of a boat is nearby, and I shake Brent awake. He looks at me, confused, then he catches on.

"We're getting out of here?" He asks, and I nod. He grabs me and pulls me in. I'm hugging him tightly, and I don't realize just how strong my hold is until,

"Jaimie, you're crushing my lungs!" I pull away, and He lifts me up off the ground, carrying me to the boat. When we get on, he puts on a life jacket, then puts on mine. He lays me down on his lap, and I look up at the stars. Forever, they will remind me of the stars I saw when I was rescued from an island that I had to survive on.