My hair had started growing in front of my face. It covered my eyes if I didn't push it away.

Lexie kept creeping up to me. What a weirdo! An ugly one too. But I kept her busy with little housewife tasks... And nothing boiled my blood like Ruby! The little jerk... And Jovie was alright. She was just annoying. At least she joined my choir.

I couldn't wait to be rescued and brought to get a haircut.

"Hey, let's play truth or dare," Jovie said, right as we were just getting up for the morning.

In response, Ruby threw herself off the boat. She had been doing that lately. Lexie had sometimes hopped in as well. They didn't know that I had seen sharks before.

"Killian? Lexie? Chad?"

"I'll play..." Chad mumbled. His voice was dry. We had all been drinking from the makeshift water purified Jovie had made. It was a really slow process so we were all somewhat dehydrated.

"I'll join in," I said.

At my words, Lexie instantly joined in. What a weirdo! A desperate weirdo, but do I blame her? The hots for me cannot be cured.

"Truth or dare, Chad," Jovie said.

"Uh, dare."

"Go jump in the water and try to catch a fish!" Jovie's smile was wide.

"Uh... Fine." Chad threw off his shirt, which was already decaying, to reveal his boney rib cage. Kinda pathetic, but who was I to judge him? Chad jumped in the water, his legs resembling those of a daddy long legs as he swam around.

"Should we do a round while wimpy Chad goes around fishing?" I suggested with a laugh. The girls should know I'm the superior option.

"Sure. Truth or dare, Killian," Lexie said, her eyes locked on me.

"Oh. Me? Yeah, I'll have to go with truth."

I doubted Lexie's tiny girl-brain could come with much.

"Who was your first kiss?"

I bit my lip. Why didn't she ask something like what my favorite color was? So unfair, but I kept a poker face. I wouldn't lose to this weirdo!

"There was this girl, Breanna, in sixth grade. We made out under a tree. She thought it was poetic but I broke her heart. Her lips tasted like butt," I lied. It was a pretty good lie.

"That was rude of you," Jovie mumbled.

I waved my hand in the air. "Whatever. She knew she was dating the hottest boy in the school. Lots of girls were after me..." I leaned my head back on my hands and let my eyelids drift. "It was only a matter of time."

Just then, Chad resurfaced and Jovie went to help him up with her good arm. Her bad arm was still wrapped and useless. I think Jovie was too much of a coward to unwrap it. Whenever I got injured on the football field, I would always rip off my bandages to hurry the healing process.

Chad threw a little fish onto the boat. The small thing flapped around helplessly, and I almost laughed.

Ruby threw herself on the boat. Like a sea monster, she snatched up the dying fish and sucked out the eyes. Jamming her fingers into the spine, she sucked out more of the fish. When she was done, she dropped it again and returned to the water.

"That's how she's been getting more water," Jovie marveled. We had all thought she had run out of water for good like us. "We should fish too! We could get food and water all in one scaly bundle!"

"Bad idea," I said.

"Why?" Lexie blinked at me.

Instead of saying that I couldn't swim, I lied. "We don't have much energy. Swimming until we caught a fish would be hard."

"We're wasting away here," Chad said. "It's better than singing all day."

"It's a good idea," Jovie nodded. "Admit it!"

"Fine. But I won't be participating."

"Whatever! No fish for you then!" Jovie, after delivering the words, dived into the water. Chad and Lexie followed her.

I groaned. How could that fat girl even float?

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With the fish in our stomachs, choir resumed better than ever. Jovie even took the time to compose some songs, though we always forgot the rhythm of them after a while since we couldn't write them down.

In the middle of certain practice though, Ruby crawled onto the boat and decided to give a harsh critique followed by an order to shut up.

"Hey!" I shouted. "I'm the leader!"

Ruby slapped me across the face and proceeded to twist my arm until a snap sound crackled out. A wave of pain made me drop to my knees.

I looked around for someone to defend me, but no help came. Chad looked awed at Ruby's raw power and Jovie was clearly shocked.

"Ruby-"

"Shut up, Jovie. Don't make me re-break your healed arm."

Jovie whimpered and clutched her arm to her chest. It was still not healed, but she had unwrapped it so that it wouldn't get infected. Stupid Ruby must have assumed she was all healed up. What a weirdo!

"I'm making a raft," Ruby said. "I'm tired of all this singing and gameplay. You idiots have no idea what you're doing."

"A raft?" Chad asked, he sounded upset for some reason. "Why don't you stay here? C'mon-"

Ruby glared at him and he went silent. A couple moments passed before Ruby started ripping up the boat. Jovie and Chad sat down in shock and I sat on the floor of the boat helplessly.

After she assembled her makeshift raft, she tied it to the back of the boat and pushed away.

A splash sounded from the side of the boat. I turned to find Lexie crawling back on, with the help of Chad who still looked upset.

"What did I miss?"

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Ruby drifted behind us and only left her raft to fish, never to talk with us. I enjoyed her silence, but Chad was heartbroken.

"Why don't you stay and sing with us," Jovie whispered to Chad one day. "She doesn't want you to go to her. She's like a dangerous tiger! It's playing with fire."

"Ruby won't hurt me."

"Why do you even want to talk to her?"

"She's a baddie! You're jealous."

Jovie scoffed. "Yeah... right."

‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

I cried daily. Jovie had gone insane and had stopped bringing me fish. Chad was lovesick. Lexie was always swimming or trying to seduce me. Ruby had basically dissolved into thin air. My arm hurt.

"There is a storm on the horizon," I croaked one day.

"Oh. I guess we should move the tiller," Lexie said. She got up from her place beside me and moved the tiller in the direction of the storm.

"Wrong."

"Oh." She blushed and turned the tiller in the opposite direction. "Where would the world be without men?"

We were the only ones on the boat. Slowly, she crept toward me. The boat felt much smaller than it was before. What a weirdo-

"Kiss me," Lexie said. "I want to be held in your strong arms."

My eyes widened. Lexie had truly jumped off the deep end for me! But I needed a way to pass time, and Lexie would be a good kiss. She was pretty and obedient, just like I liked females.

But something, deep down in the pit of my stomach, told me I shouldn't kiss her. Something told me it wouldn't end well for me.

"Not yet," I said. "Not yet."