Chapter 12-What to Do?

No one responded to Mitch's question for a few minutes. We sat in silence. It was a lot to think about. Just what did we think? There was a lot to think about.

"Well.." began Kat. "That was extremely scary." We all chuckled a bit. It was quite a statement of the obvious but no one made fun of her for it.

"When I saw them rushing at us," said Mitch, his voice grave. "I freaked. I so freaked. If Kyle hadn't grabbed me in fright I would have run the you-know-where out of there."

"Yeah, my arm still smarts where you grabbed me Kyle," said Joseph.

Kyle had turned a little red and he mumbled, "I'm sorry. I just, as you put it Mitch, 'freaked.'"

I was the only one who hadn't said anything and they looked over at me. I sighed. "It just seems like we have been extremely ignorant, well, naïve if you want to put it nicely. We seemed to have been thinking that we're invincible," I said. "I realized I haven't even called my mom. I promised her I would every day but it was a shallow promise to get her to leave me alone. Now I really want to call her but I'm too ashamed." I finished and everyone seemed to draw into his or herself. I think I had shocked them. I had shocked myself.

"I guess the real question that everyone wants to ask," said Joseph after a few moments. "Is do we want to go on?" No one responded.

Finally, Kyle ventured, "Well, I don't know that I want to go all the way home. I mean, we spent so much money and this could be a one-time thing."

The guys had really had a tougher time of it than Kat and I had, so it shocked me that Kyle would be the first to say he wanted to stay. He seemed to have taken it the least badly.

"What if it isn't though?" asked Joseph. Kyle didn't have anything to say. "Not to say that I entirely disagree with you. But what if tomorrow or the next day it happens again and Kios and his band aren't around?" he continued.

"But it won't," protested Kyle. "Because they'll guard us to town and tomorrow we'll be off this island. What do you think Mel?" He had turned his eyes to me and there they stayed. His gaze was intense.

"Well," I said. "That sounds logical. They're here and we'll be far away." It didn't seem that logical but I said it anyway.

Joseph had turned to me and he seemed to be frowning. "I guess," he said, there was displeasure in his voice. Mitch and Kat had been silent. Their eyes going quickly from one person to the next who spoke.

"You guys know," Mitch said softly. "That my brother disappeared on his senior trip." We all knew of course. Who could forget? Mitch's brother, Luke, had been one of Brimmingham's prides because of his football talents. Three years ago, he had been in Hawaii on his senior trip and never returned. It was whispered that Luke had run away because his dad was so hard on him. I didn't like he and Mitch's dad. I don't think Mitch did either. He had probably used The Bowl to stay in more than the rest of us. Next to Kyle, whose mother was emotionally unbalanced and really difficult to deal with. He loved her dearly but couldn't be blamed for wanting to get away sometimes. When Luke disappeared, Mitch didn't show up in public for a few days. Then, he arrived and acted as though nothing had happened. He had always been goofy but after that he was downright wild. I suspected that it was to mask

whatever he really felt. He wouldn't even speak about it, which is why it shocked me that he talked about it now.

"If anything happens to me," Mitch continued. "I don't know what it will do to my parents. It's why they didn't want me to go. I understand your guilty feelings Mel. I suspect even dad would be upset." He said the last part with a nervous chuckle.

I suspected it would be quiet for a few minutes after that but Kyle soon spoke, his tone was changed considerably. "If you guys want to go," he said. "I won't argue. I understand."

"No," said Mitch purposefully, his moment of weakness had passed. Small gasps could be heard around the room. "We've survived this once and, like Mel said, we'll be far away from them." His words betrayed trust and he looked at me with his former weakness for a moment, then quickly hardened again.

"Mitch," said Kat. "Please, if you want to go, just tell us." He shook his head and turned it to a window.

I realized Joseph probably didn't know about what happened with Luke and I turned my head toward him. His face was confused and he turned to me. "What happened?" he mouthed. I just shook my head sadly and signaled, "Later."

"Well," said Kat. "I guess Mel is right as well. I'd like to continue on. We could be throwing away what could be great." Why did they keep referring to me? Kyle had presented most of the argument. In fact, I had presented a lot of the reason not to. I guess that was before I had agreed with Kyle. Perhaps it seemed if I could be brought to the other side of thinking, than it must be okay. I suddenly felt guilty.

"Have you all forgotten what just happened to us?" demanded Joseph.

"We haven't forgotten," said Kyle. "And I think we've all given what should be enough reason for you. Right?"

"Yeah," said Kat.

"Right," I choked out. Joseph looked at me when I spoke. His eyes looked at me with what almost seemed like betrayal. Then they were blank, devoid of emotion. I felt my stomach tighten. It was awful, I couldn't bear him looking at me like that and I looked at him pleadingly.

He simply turned away though. "Alright," he conceded. "Let's move faster though. Please? It won't cost much to get our plane reservations moved up and we can still have fun if we get there in less time."

"That sounds good to me," said Kyle.

"A wonderful suggestion," I said to Joseph but he didn't look at me. We all agreed that we would take direct routes and not go out in the wilderness as much. When we were finished Joseph went outside. I waited and waited for him to come back in but he stayed out there. After awhile I gave up and tears rolled down my cheeks as I cried myself to sleep.