Serena

Aly and I look at each other in horror.

"Well then," she says quietly. I nod.

"Hey Aly? We are in a plane that's falling out of the sky," I reply.

"Hmm. Well this is fun." Eric runs down the aisle to us. He grabs my face in his hands and kisses me firmly. I'm a little taken aback, but kiss him back. I hold his hand and give it a comforting squeeze. He pulls away after a minute.

"I love you so much, Serena. Please know that. If we die, I want to die by your side." Tears leak out of his eyes and I feel some come to mine.

"That's so sweet and disturbing at the same time," I laugh lightly. Eric hugs Aly.

"You're cool, Aly. I'm honored to finally meet you," he says and she smiles.

"I'm glad you weren't a total idiot blonde like I thought," Aly grins. We all laugh. Trenton turns around and looks at me seriously.

"We aren't going to die," he whispers in my ear. "We can't. He won't kill us all at once. I know that for certain. But he might kill one of us. I don't know who it will be and I'm honestly really scared. I'm sorry for everything I never told you."

"You never told me what?" I whisper back curiously. He sighs then hugs me and I take it in. It might be the last time I ever hug him. I pull away and look out the window. We are close to a thin strip of land in the middle of the churning waves. Aly grips my hand comfortingly. We can't just die. We just can't. Kathryn curls up in her seat and clutches the armrests. Trenton puts his hand lightly on her shoulder and she grabs it gently. Kylie's lip quivers but she holds the sobs in. I see Trenton squeeze her hand. A little girl sits across the aisle from me and I grab her hand. Her big blue eyes are terrified and filled with tears. The lady next to her who is undoubtedly her mother screams and thrashes about. I squeeze her hand. We are about twenty feet off the ground. The planes throws about, air whooshing in. Ten feet. The little girl lets go of me. Five feet. Eric holds me close. Suddenly, the plane jerks forward, and cold water surrounds us, quickly filling up the plane.

"GET OUT!" Trenton yells, but my arm throbs. My shoulder is popped out of its socket due to the rough impact. I wince, take a deep breath, then dive towards the outside of the plane. It's sinking faster and faster so I have to swim up with my bad arm. The salt burns my eyes but I don't care. I whirl around for Eric. He's sinking towards the bottom of the plane. I swim back towards him and grab his arm. He's too heavy for me to carry with one arm. My lungs scream for air. I struggle and kick, but only rise a few feet. Someone swims up behind me and grabs Eric's other arm. It's Aly. She smiles then helps me and we finally make it to the surface. We gasp in the ocean air and search for the land. My arm is completely useless. We paddle slowly to the thin land strip. The others are already there, coughing up water. We lay Eric out on the sand. I press my ear to his heart. A faint beat but nothing much. Aly pushes me out of the way then punches Eric in the stomach. He immediately sits up and vomits up the water.

"That's one way to get the water out," Nathaniel shivers. I nod then clutch my arm. A new wave of pain is sent through it. Trenton and Kylie are locked in a hug and it looked like they weren't going to be done anytime soon. Aly is helping Eric get the water out and Kathryn is curled up in a ball in the sand, shaking like a leaf. Dawson and Nathaniel lay on the sand not moving from relief. I look towards the plane. No other survivors, as usual. Something catches in my throat. The little girl is dead. I don't know why I feel so bad. I didn't even know her name why should I care so much? Eric finishes coughing and turns to me.

"Another island eh?" He asks. I nod then wince. "WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR ARM?!" he yells and crawls over to me. Aly rushes over and holds my arm gently.

"It's just a dislocated shoulder. Easy to set. It might hurt a little. You ready?"

"Now or never," I clench my teeth. She grabs my arm and I bite my lip so hard I taste blood.

"One... two... three!" She pulls my arm away from me and I hear it pop back into place. I scream and tears spring to my eyes.

"OUCH!!"

"I warned you."

"Thanks," I hiss and lay in the sand, clutching my shoulder. Trenton and Kylie finally broke apart, both with messy hair and lopsided grins. I roll my eyes. I've never seen them like that before. I shake it off. I see Aly glaring at them with dagger eyes. What is her problem?

"Watch it," I whisper to her and she snaps out of it. She sticks her tongue out at me and I grin.

"What happened to you?" Trenton asks when he sees my red eyes.

"Oh you were busy, so I’ll update you," I growl and both he and Kylie blush. "Well, our plane just crashed in the middle of the Atlantic. Eric almost drowned and I had a dislocated shoulder. I'm pretty sure Kathryn has gone into shock." Trenton's eyes flick over to Kathryn and she shakes her head ever so slightly. He clears his throat.

"Um...lets starts a shelter again," he suggests.

A couple hours later, we all collapse exhausted in a huddle by the water. Kathryn is already asleep in her tent that she shares with Kylie. Dawson and Nathaniel play a skipping rock game in the waves and Kylie and Trenton sit together hand in hand. I play with my throwing knife, stabbing the target I drew in some wet sand. Aly messes around with my hair and Eric relaxes next to me. About half an hour later, Aly announces that she’s going to sleep and heads of to bed. She glances at Trenton again and waves. He smiles and waves back. Once Aly goes inside, Kylie whacks Trenton's arm. Eric and I fall into the sand with silent laughs.

"You have a girlfriend! She's trying to steal you away!" Kylie growls and clutches his arm.

"Please, she doesn't even know me, let alone like me," Trenton insists. Eric and I burst out laughing.

"Trenton you are so thick sometimes," I giggle and Eric and I collapse again.

"She doesn't!"

"You're an idiot!" Kylie huffs. "Goodnight." Trenton calls after her, but she's already gone. He stands alone, a confused look on his face.

"Yeah I'm checking out too," Eric announces following Nathaniel and Dawson up to the tents. "Night guys!"

"Night!" Trenton and I chorus. After about five minutes of silence, he speaks up.

"Does Aly really like me?"

"By the looks of it, I guess."

"But I have a girlfriend."

"I don't think she knew that when she bumped into you," I reply with a wink. He sighs heavily and stares at the sun peaked low in the sky.

"What's wrong?" I ask him. "You've been acting differently lately."

“I feel really out of the loop.”

“That’s not an excuse.”

"Well, I almost died."

"That's everyday life for us."

"I'm really tired."

"I understand, but that's not it."

"I don't know!" he yells at me. I glare at him.

"Why can't you just be honest with me? Is it really that hard? We probably only have a little while to live, Trenton. Heck we could die right now, but just tell me. Please."  He stares at the setting sun and doesn't reply for a very long time.

"There are some things I can't tell you," he sighs. I clench my fists. He notices and holds my hand in both of his.

"Serena, I'm sorry. I just can't do it. I don't want you hurt."

"I'm not weak! Yes I cry a lot! I know that, but this isn't exactly a perfect situation to be in! I'm not weak and you can tell me anything," I say. He takes another deep breath, but this time it wavers, and I see him shake. He's holding back tears.

"Trenton, I'm sorry I didn't mean t-"

"I CAN'T TELL YOU. IT'S OUR FATE AND I CAN'T SAY!" he snaps and tears roll down his cheeks. I sit in shock. I'm not used to him crying.

"I didn't mean to upset y-"

"This is all my fault!” He jumps up and walks to the shoreline. I follow close behind. “I haven't done anything right!” he continues. “I just want to go home!!" he sobs. I shake my head softly.

"Trenton. This is all we have left. This little group is home. No family left. All we have now is each other. We can't go back."

"Y-yes we-we can!!!"

"Our families are dead! There is nothing to go back to! We are all we have left!" I myself am holding back tears now. He stops and turns slowly to look at me.

"My family is... dead?" he whispers in shock.

"Oh. Oh no. Did you not know?” He looks back out into the ocean and doesn’t move or answer.

"Trenton, we love you and we care about you. If you ever need anything, we’re here. I’m here!" He says nothing, but turns and walks to the tents.

“Trenton! Please listen to me! You can tune out!” He still doesn’t respond, but walks faster. "Send Eric out here at leas," I call after him. A minute after he reaches the tent, Eric stumbles out of his tent. His face lights up when he sees me.

"Well good evening beautiful," he sleepily. I blush but the darkness covers me a little. Only the light of the moon allows us to see.

"I'm sorry for waking you up. I just really need I talk to you."

"Talking is useless. Look where it got us.” He gestures around him. “All we do is talk and now we are on a deserted strip of land in the middle of nowhere. Talking has made us fight, sad, and frustrated. We all just need to shut up sometimes, don't you agree?" he asks, walking closer to me with each word. He finally stops about three inches away from my face. My mouth goes dry and my stomach feels like someone just released a million butterflies in it. I open to mouth to speak, but no words come out. He has officially made me speechless. All I can do is smile stupidly.

"Talking is all we do," he whispers to me. "Humans are so loud. We should all just be quiet and appreciate life. I'm so glad to be right here, right in this moment."

"You're right." I whisper back. "We talk too much. We cry too much. We should just enjoy what we have right now."

"I definitely am."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm on a beautiful beach, under the stars, with the most gorgeous girl I've ever seen in my life. What else could I ask for?" he asks, stroking my hair.

"We could be in a real civilization."

"People are loud."

         "Oh right." We both just stand under the stars grinning at each other. He leans forward and my heart races. His lips touch mine gently and I relax. He wraps his arms around my waist and kisses more firmly. The world has disappeared from around us. It's just him and me. I put my arms around his neck and close my eyes. Time stands still as we remain locked. I remember seeing the popular girls at school messing around with their "boyfriends", always making out behind the lockers obnoxiously. This doesn't feel like that. It's sweet. The other girls never looked like they meant it. Then again they aren't stuck on an island in the middle of the Atlantic waiting for death to find them. I treat every second with Eric like it’s my last. I finally understand what Trenton feels with Kylie, why he didn’t help us earlier. We finally separate and we smile again.

"It's nice to not talk for once isn't it?" he whispers, pressing his forehead to mine.

"I feel better than I have in awhile," I whisper back.  "We are the quiet in the world of loud."

"That was clever," he laughs lightly.

"Thanks, I try," I breathe and we embrace again.