Shut up. I shake my head. I hate this emotional shit.
“And still…” Ty doesn’t let go. “You play cool. Like we are at Deene and we have a lifetime of opportunities to fuck up.”
“Cut it out.”
“But we lost them all. And when something good comes our way, it’s a miracle.”
“Yeah. A miracle,” I echo bitterly.
“Why don’t you pull your sorry head out of your ass for once and tell your girl how you felt years ago?”
“She is not my girl.” But my heart—the motherfucking traitor—starts fluttering in my chest.
“She can be. You don’t think it’s obvious how you two look at each other?”
“Dude.” I turn to look at him and smash the water with my palm, sending splashes into his face. “Fuck off, yeah?”
He shakes his head. “Damn, bro, you need a cross?”
“What?” I frown.
“It’s a good prop for a martyr.” He smiles. “Maybe you can go on a hunger strike to show how misery is your best friend and—”
I kick his board hard and send him into water, but he laughs when he reemerges.
“Cheer up, fool!” he shouts and crawls back onto the board, swinging his head to shake the wet hair off his face.
We sit on the boards, rocking on the waves that are not high enough after the storm for proper surfing and watch the beach.
“How is your angel?” I ask.
My question is not sarcastic, and Ty is too open in his affection. He likes the girl a lot. It’s obvious and cute. I’ve never seen Ty obsess about a girl like that. Not in Deene. Not with anyone, though he is all smiles and bows and winks with everyone, including Kristen, who fucks everyone.
Guys make fun of him and Dani. “Team not getting any” is always bitter about those who get lucky. Ty is not just in for some luck—he is head over heels.
I am “team not getting any” for sure. For over a year now.
We used to go to town and visit Candy and her girls and buy liquor. But the town is miles away. After what happened to Olivia, we only go there for trading. That place took a dip for the worse.
Even the local expat, Bishop, is said to have retired to his cabin in the middle of the jungle, because the town is a shithole. Bishop is a legend. No one bothers him. And what he does up there is a mystery. Maybe he went nuts, who knows.
Anyone can go nuts after the Change.
Even in paradise.
23
KAI
One day,over a week since the boat crash, Maddy takes me aside after dinner.
“So, that girl, Katura, yeah?” she says, narrowing her eyes at me. “You know how you thought it was super weird that she kept studying the coast when you took her fishing?”
“Yeah?”
“She has a satellite phone.”
I stall. “What?”