1

My head slams against the desk as sleep starts twitching

my eyes again. I sigh. It’s almost seventh period; I’ll get to
go home in less than an hour. My friend Elaine, sitting
behind me, kicks at my legs. “Wake up!” she whispers. I
rub my eyes and nod as my teacher explains diverse plant
life. Finally, sixth period is over and I just have one more.
Elaine and I walk with my other friend Julian to seventh
period where we’ve been guaranteed big news all week.
We get to the room and sit at our desks. The murmurs
start until Mr. Peyton turns around. “So, as you all know,
we’ll be skipping social studies today, and in its place, we
will be discussing your upcoming trip.” He says tiredly.
Upcoming trip? On Monday, (if your parents sign your
consent forms) you will embark on a trip by plane to Paris,
France, where you’ll get to learn about the French
requisition, among other things.” Oh. France. I’d like to
go, but my mother probably won’t let me. “You will need
your uniforms and a pair of pajamas. We will be there for
three days.” He snatches a sheaf of papers from his desk
and divides them into stacks to be passed around. “These
are your consent forms. Have your parents sign them.
Don’t worry about the money for tickets, as the school
donors offered to pay completely for this trip.” He sighs. I
get my copy of the form and skim it. Nothing too bad. Mr.
Peyton glances at his watch and says, “You know what,
1
we’re done early, so class is dismissed early. Shoo, shoo.”
He waves us kids off as we start walking down the hall.
“Thank god we’re beating the hallway traffic,” I say. “Oh,
I prefer hallway traffic because usually I get to go crowd
surfing.” Julian says. “You’re not very funny.” I say to him.
“I’m not trying to be funny. I’m just telling the truth.” We
make it to the end of the hall and disperse on the
sidewalk, waving goodbye. I start walking home in the
heat. I do want to go on the trip, but mom letting me go
would be rare. Safety reasons or something. Maybe I’ll
convince her, though. I stop at the front of my house to
observe my mother, dripping sweat, ripping weeds out of
her garden beds. “Oh, Hi, Honey.” She drops her pruners.
“How was school?” “Good.” I say. “So, mom, on Monday a
school donor paid for our grade level to go on a three-day
trip to Paris. Everything is paid for, I promise.” I plead.
“No, Paris is too far. If you get into trouble, I won’t be
able to help you.” “I’ll be there with like, thirty other
kids.” I say. “Please! I’ll take my phone and call you every
day. Please let me go.” I beg. “No means no. I can’t have
anything happening to you.” I sigh sharply and stomp
inside. I drop my bag in the middle of the floor, exactly
how my mom tells me not to, and run upstairs. I get to
room and flop onto my bed and just lay there for a few
seconds. My room is a total mess, with clothes on the floor
and plates on the desk. What happens to kids who aren’t
allowed to go on school trips? Do they just learn in
school? Do they even have to go to school? I pull out the
trip form. It reads in fine print, “If parent consent is not
provided, the student will come to the school and learn as
normal.” Sigh. I have to go on this trip. It’d be perfect. I’d
get away from my mom for three days and get to see the
Eiffel tower. I drop the consent form and pull out my
2
phone. After unlocking it, I get on messages. I have 132
unread ones, so I start checking. They are mainly from the
class group chat. “Are you going on the trip?” Elaine
asked everyone. After various other responses, the subject
changed to the winter dance. “I don’t have anyone to go
with!” Whines a boy named Carlos. “I’m sure everyone
will find someone.” I type carefully. “Oh, Max has joined,”
Julian notifies everyone. There are only six people on right
now, including me. “No, I’m leaving, I was just checking
in.” I respond. A chorus of ‘byes’ makes my phone ding. I
turn it off and put my face into my hands. I sit up and
push myself onto my feet. Something moving in the
window catches my eyes. I pull apart the blinds and look.
There’s a group of teens walking to the park, and I
recognize them. Elaine and Julian are in the group. I grab
my phone and text them. “What are you guys doing?” they
both respond, “Nothing.” Something is suspicious, but
before I can investigate, I hear clomping towards my
room. I shove all the clothes under my bed as my door
opens. “Ever heard of knocking, mom?” I ask. “No, I
haven’t. Listen, I’m leaving to go get a few things for
dinner, but I’ll be back soon.” She says. “Ok.” She leaves
me in the house alone. I head downstairs, to the living
room, and sit down on the couch. It’s an ugly couch, heck,
it’s an ugly living room. Our giant husky named Shaggy
hops up next to me and sits in my lap as if she were a
puppy. “Aw, who’s the cutest little shag? Who’s the cutest
little shaggy waggy?” I coo. She wags her tail and licks
me. I turn on a movie and we sit and watch until Mom
gets back. She walks in, hands full of groceries, and plops
them on the counters. “Max, come and help me with
dinner.” “Yes ma’am.” I turn off my movie and start dicing
onions. “Do you have any plans for the weekend?” Mom
3
asks me. I hate it when she pries like that. “It’s not really
your business, but no.” We continue chopping and
cooking, and finally plating and setting the table. That
night, I stare at my phone. I watch Stranger Things on it
and wish I had a reasonable mother. But then it hits me.
She can’t stop me from leaving if she doesn’t know I left. I
quietly grab my rolling suitcase and unlock it. I find my
two spare uniforms and my fanciest pj’s and stuff them
into my bag alongside undergarments. I hold off on
toiletries until Sunday night. I’ll still take my phone, for
pictures, but ill pack it with my hairbrush. I start forming
a plan. The following Saturday morning, I make myself a
bowl of cereal and watch some more tv. My mom finally
comes out of her room after having slept in and yawns.
“Hey mom. Good morning.” “Good morning.” We watch
the tv for a few minutes before she says, “Are you sure
you don’t have somewhere to be tonight?” she says.
“Nothing tonight, but I got invited to a mall outing with
Elaine on Sunday. She has to get new clothes for her trip
to Paris.” I glare at her. “Ok, well, I want you to stay in
your room and eat dinner then.” “Why, do you have
company?” I ask. “Yes, I have a friend coming over.” She
twirls her hair absentmindedly. “Alright.” I say and turn
my attention back to the tv. Later, I eat lunch and check
my phone until it’s time to go upstairs while mom has her
friend over. I turn on Stranger Things on my laptop and
settle. Soon the doorbell rings and my mom answers.
There is whispering and hushed laughter. Once they start
talking, they get louder, and I hear that she is with a man.
Oh! How could she and not even tell me! I pause my show
and tip toe out of my room and down the stairs. I get a
glimpse of the man she is with and it is Julian’s father,
who is married. I appear at the banister and say, “What is
4
going on here?” My mom looks at me. “Max?” Julian’s dad
says. “What are you doing?” I shout. “It’s not what it looks
like.” Mom’s friend goes. “You’re married! You should be
ashamed of yourself.” My mom gasps. “You’re married?!
You told me you were ‘single and ready to mingle’!” “I
told you, I—” He tries to defend himself but eventually
runs out of the front door. “Go to your room.” Mom says
darkly. “But I—” “Go to your room!” she slams the front
door closed. “Argh!” I scream and stomp every step of the
stairs. I slam every door I encounter as I grab my
toiletries and phone and shove them into my bag. That
wasn’t fair. I was protecting her for the hurt she would
feel later on when she learned he was a cheater! I tie a
piece of nylon jump rope to the handle of the suitcase and
lower it down to the ground. Before leaving my room, I
tuck a pen in my pocket. Since mom is already asleep, I
just creep down the stairs and leave out of the back door.
I find my bag, still tied with the jump rope. I untie it and
go to the mailbox. My mom taught me when I was
younger that, if you don’t want to walk all the way to the
post office, you can just stick a stamp on what you want to
mail and put it in your own mailbox with the red flag up.
Our flag was up meaning my mom was trying to mail
something. I opened the mail box and started opening the
letters until I found her signature. It was on the last
document. I put the consent form on the car, (the only
smooth surface I could find) and put the document on top.
I trace mom’s signature to make an indent on the page
below it. I keep applying pressure until there is a clear
impression on the consent form. Then I very carefully
trace the indention and now I have a signed consent form.
I stuff mom’s document back in the mailbox and start
walking. Our neighborhood is impossibly small, only forty
5
houses whereas other neighborhoods have about two
hundred. Right behind our neighborhood is a coyote
infested forest but once you break through, there is a
clearing there known as Blondie’s meadow, named after a
beautiful brown duck. Right past blondie’s meadow is the
city. if I can just break past the forest and the meadow
then I should be able to get to the city. It’s already dark
out, so I grab my phone and turn on the flash light. The
forest is a mere ten feet away, but I have to cross a dark,
busy road that doesn’t have any intersections. I make it
past the first lane easy, but the road is wide. I take a step,
the another, looking both ways. I sprint as headlights
speed toward me. I’m not gonna make it. The car
screeches on its breaks and stops. “Max?” I hear a voice
from inside the car. It’s Julian. “Hi,” I squeak. “Here, I’ll
give you a ride to where ever you’re trying to go.” “Oh,
thank you. Well, I just need a place to stay for the night.
Me and mom got into a fight.” Julian nods
understandingly. “My ma and pops too. That’s why I’m
even out here right now.” We continue to drive into the
night. Suddenly he said, “You can stay at my place if you
want.” We used to have sleepovers all the time, but that
was when we were kids. “Ok.” We go back to his house
and, since it is a one-story, I sneak in through his window
and leave my bag outside. “You can have the bed.” He
says awkwardly. “No.” I say simply. I grab a sleeping bag
from the place he has always stored them. “Go ahead, I’m
serious.” “I’d rather not.” “Well, I don’t think it’s fair that
you have to sleep on the floor.” “I’m not touching that
bed.” I say. I climb into the sleeping bag and get comfy.
He lays down on the other side of his bed in another
sleeping bag and grins at me from the space underneath
his bed. We fall asleep like that, on the floor. The next
6
morning, he’s up first. He nudges me with his foot from
atop the bed. “I gotta go to church,” He whispers. I nod.
“Stay as long as you like.” He leaves and I get up and put
away the sleeping bags. Then I find where he keeps his
journals. Unfortunately, the first one I grabbed, he had
written entries like a diary in.

April 14, 2029

This morning at school I made a fool of myself like an idiot

in front of a group of girls including Max, Elaine, and
Kara. Darn. I tripped on my own shoe and spilled my food
everywhere. It makes me so mad that I’m such a klutz.
None of the other guys are clumsy.

I flip ahead to the most recent entry. It is almost on the

last page.

November 5, 2030

Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I just made the biggest mistake

of my life. I found Max walking in the middle of the road
in the middle of the night and so I offered to have her stay
at my place and the tension is so awkward and I hate it
very badly. Why did I

Then the writing just stops. He had to have written that

last night while I was asleep. Kind of creepy. I find a
different notebook containing class notes and I tear a
page out of it. I write;

Went to go see Elaine, see you tomorrow. Thanks for

letting me stay.
7
 Max

I leave out of the window with my bag in hand and I head

to a convenience store and I buy some chips. I eat them
on a bench while thinking. Of course, Julian goes to
church. He’s such a good Samaritan. I call Elaine and ask
if she’s free. “Yeah, dummy I’m waiting for you at the
mall. We made plans, right?” her voice is muffled by other
sounds coming from the most crowded mall in Texas.
“Yes, I’ll be right there.” I say bye and hang up while
walking. I sprint to the mall a few blocks away. I finally
get there and Elaine is waiting for me. “Took you long
enough.” She says. “Sorry, I was walking here.” “It’s ok. I
have all day.” We walk in the mall, which is partly
crowded since it is the weekend. We do a little shopping
around before I remember. “Oh! Elaine.” She turns to
look at me, holding a sweater vest. “What?” “My mom
said yes about Paris.” “Awesome! Why aren’t you
shopping too?” I laugh and we start picking out vests and
skirts for me as well. We leave the mall four hours later
after going to more stores and getting something to eat.
It’s early afternoon by now and we are sitting on a bench
near the parking lot and sipping our hot chocolates. “So,
what now?” She asks me. “Guess what.” I interrupt her. I
probably shouldn’t be telling her but it is in my nature.
Elaine turns to look at me. “After I got my form signed,
my mom and I got into a fight and I snuck out and spent
the night at Julian’s place.” “What were you fighting
about?” “Really? That’s your question?” “What would you
rather I ask?” “I don’t know maybe something like, where
did you sleep?” “Ok, where did you sleep?” “On the floor.”
“And what were you and your mom fighting about?” I
8
scoff. “It’s not that important.” “If it’s not that important
then why did you sneak out?” “You know what? Never
mind, I shouldn’t have told you.” “Aw, that isn’t fair.” She
gets up. “Well, it’s not really my business to share.” I
explain. “Then why did you tell me?” she cocks her head
at me like a sad poodle. As she looks at me that way, I feel
a flash of hatred and jealousy. What happened between
my mother and I have been happening for so long. She’ll
find someone who isn’t good enough for her and when I
try to help her, she gets upset. Elaine would ever
understand. Her parents have been happily married since
Elaine was born. “Just stop asking questions. I just
wanted someone to talk to, but you don’t understand.”
Her expression changes from confused to hurt. “It’s
always me who can’t understand. Well, maybe now I do.”
She turns and starts walking away. I get up so fast that I
spill my hot chocolate all over my outfit. “Fudge! Elaine,
wait!” She throws one last glance at me before getting in
her car and driving away. Ugh, I hate not having a car. I
start cleaning myself up before calling Elaine. One ring,
two rings, three, and voicemail. Oh, come on! She’s just
being a snowflake. Then I hear a shout across the lot.
“Max!” It’s my mother in her car. When I start to run
through the field that separates the mall and the hot
cocoa place, she accelerates, still screaming my name,
and making a screech against the asphalt. I run behind
the cocoa place and wait for her to drive away, but she
parks her car and gets out. She starts running to the
cocoa place and I run farther away from it. If she catches
me, she’ll stop me from leaving tomorrow. I run until
there is no air in my lungs, just. Burning sensation. I am
right next to the forest that divides the city and my
neighborhood catching my breath, so I shuffle a few feet
9
before I am hidden by the trees, breathing freely. I start
climbing up one, using the limbs. If I climb far enough, I’ll
be completely hidden. As I am climbing, I grab onto a
skinny limb, and it makes a snap noise, but I keep on
going, putting mor and more of my weight on it. Snap!
The branch splits beneath me, leaving me hanging onto
one branch above me. I hear my mom calling me from
yards away. I start slipping as a pain sends shocks
through my hands. Tree bark is not soft. I swing myself
from side to side until I can grab the thick trunk with my
legs. I let out a few breaths until I see my mother running
in the direction of the forest. I keep climbing, being more
careful, until I get to the core of the tree, where I can sit
with limbs branching out in all different directions. I lay
down over the thickest branch and wait. My mother
doubts I would go deep in the forest, but she also doubts I
would climb a tree just to avoid her. She enters the forest,
staying in the shallow part and I watch her from in
between the lush branches as she calls my name. I stay
silent until she leaves. A few minutes later, I see her car
speeding away. I climb down from the tree and head back
to civilization. It’s almost four, so I start wandering
around. I’ll need a place to stay. I sit down on the cocoa
stained bench and I start scrolling through my contacts
hoping to find a girl who’d be willing to have a sleepover.
I find one soon enough. Kara Kensington. I hesitate for a
second. I press the call button and it rings twice before
she picks up. “Hello?” “Hey, its Max—” “I know.” “I
wanted to know if you want to have a sleepover.” “With
who?” “Me?” “Ok.” She hangs up first and I start walking
with my bag. She lives in the neighborhood next to mine,
so I have to be careful since I’m avoiding my mom. It’s
starting to get cold, so I try to hurry. I enter her
10
neighborhood. Her houses are all the same. I find her
address and walk up the front steps. I ring the bell and
she answers after a few seconds. “Hi!” I say. She says
nothing and opens the door. I’ve always been jealous of
Kara. She has beautiful blonde-brunette hair that is
completely natural. She’s impossibly small, shorter than
me. Adorable really, but she is feisty. She closes the door
behind me and silently leads me to her room. When she
closes her room door, she corners me. “What do you
want? You wouldn’t ask me for help if you didn’t
absolutely need it.” “I just don’t have anywhere to stay for
tonight.” I stammer. “Fine, don’t tell me anything. But
don’t expect me to offer you the bed.” I nod. She plops
down on her bed, television remote in hand. Her bedroom
is aesthetically pleasing but she’s not trying too hard. She
has red led lights and Stranger Things posters lining the
purple walls and red bedsheets. “You like Stranger
Things?” I ask. She nods and turns on the show to an
episode I’ve already watched. She pulls a bowl out from
under her bed. It is filled with candy. “My secret stash,”
She says without looking away from the tv. She offers it to
me and I take a box of Reese’s pieces. We watch the show
in silence until almost midnight. I look over and see she
has fallen asleep, so I slide the remote out of her hands
and turn off the television. I get comfy on the floor and
wake up to Kara saying sleepily, “Max, what time is it?” I
check my phone. “Crap,” I say, shooting up. “It’s eight.
The plane leaves in thirty minutes.” We rush to get
dressed in her bathroom and we walk to the school
together. We barely make it in time before the buses filled
with the tenth- grade leave. We show the bus driver our
consent forms and climb into the last one which is
completely full except Julian at the back, sprawled out
11
and taking up three other seats. We go to the back and we
are followed by Carlos, another late boy. I wake Julian up
and tell him to move. He sits up and slides to the window.
Carlos, Kara, and I all squeeze in next to him. The bus
starts moving and we are jumbled around. “So, what are
yall’s names?” Julian asks Carlos and Kara. “Carlos and
Kara.” Carlos says for Kara. She elbows him in the ribs. “I
can tell him myself.” She grumbles. “I’m Julian. Nice to
meet you.” Julian says happily. “You too,” Kara says. A few
minutes of awkward silence later, we arrive at the airport.
Mr. Peyton gets up from the first row and addresses our
class. “There are four kids in every row, correct? Your
row is your group. Make sure to stay with your group on
this trip or you will be sent home.” He says. All four of us
in the back look at each other. We start getting out and
heading to the checking area. The airport staff check our
bags and bodies, then we head to the waiting area. I don’t
even get to sit down before we are called to the gate to
board the plane. Kara, Carlos, Julian and I have all been
together in a line through the process of passport
checking and all, so when we board the plane, we get the
four middle seats in one of the rows. Finally, we get ready
to take off.

12
 2
The plane rumbles as it takes to the air in the direction of
Paris. Carlos shows us how to operate the little televisions
on the back of the seats in front of us. We watch old
movies, like The Parent Trap and Mrs. Doubtfire. It’s a
nine-hour flight, so by four, no one is paying any attention
to the movies. We can look out the window and see
France, so everyone is talking and laughing and annoying
the citizens who just so happened to get on a plane filled
with a bunch of seventeen-year-olds. An hour and a half
later, at five-thirty, we hear the announcement to buckle
up because we are about to land. No one can sit still as
we smoothly touch down and we all clap. Mr. Peyton looks
dreadful as he gets up and instructs us to calmly get up
and get our bags. We exit the plane and marvel at our
surroundings. “Look! The tower!” One of my classmates
calls out and points East. Everyone turns and shouts and
we get in trouble with Mr. Peyton. Thankfully, the hotel
that we are staying at is only a block from the airport and
we are able to walk there without having to spend any
more money to get a ride. We step in the lobby and check
in. It takes thirty minutes to get all of us set up, but
13
because a lot of classes come and visit, last year the hotel
added another floor up top that consists of two large
rooms and a kitchen. Peyton separates the girls from the
boys and leads us to our rooms. “Each of you try to stick
with your gender in your group!” He shouts over the
excited squeals coming from the girl group. He lets us in
the rooms where small air mattresses line the floors
leaving about a foots walking space between them.
Overhead there are cubbies for our bags. Kara and I call
beds next to each other in the corner before gazing out
the window in amazement. The Eiffel tower is about a
thousand yards away, but we can see its twinkling lights
as it gets dark. One of the teachers, Ms. Jones, comes in
and announces, “Hi, girls. I will be your night chaperone,
so no funny business.” We nod in unision and proceed to
get our stuff settled. A few minutes later one of the
teavhers starts makinf dinner for the rest of us, eight
boxes of pasta that the PTA funded. It is served in
Styrofoam bowls, and then we wash our bowls and brush
our teeth before heading to bed. As we tuck edges of
blankets under the mattresses, I whisper to Kara
“Goodnight,” and I climb into my small bed. The mattress
is big enough for Kara, since she is short and cute, but my
feet stick out, and if I move, my head will slam into the
wall that my bed is pushed up against. As the girls all
climb into bed, the lights flick off without a word, and we
start to sleep.

14
 3
I wake up to my teacher clapping and shouting, “Rise and
shine! We have a busy day today! Let’s go!” I mumble
something like “Ok, ok,” and I pull the sheets off me. My
hair is a bird’s nest yet Kara’s is beautiful and shiny. I
take it personally. I grab some clothes from my bag over
my head and since everyone else is changing in the open,
I take off my shirt. After I finish changing, I follow a group
of girls to the bathroom where I “freshen up” and head
back to the room to find out that they are giving out bowls
of oatmeal. “so how did you sleep?” I ask Kara. She
shrugs. We clean up again and start lining up by the door.
Girls talking is quite loud, but we can hear the boys in the
other room. Our chaperone, Ms. Jones, starts handing out
brochures. “Remember, no one really speaks English, so
make sure at least one of you in your groups studied
15
French. If no one did, well, that’s on you. After we exit the
hotel, get your four-person group together and find out
where you want to go first.” There are squeals of
excitement and all brochures are open. “Hold on.” Ms.
Jones raises her hand and has our attention now. “As it
said on the consent form, If you commit a crime in this
country, you will be held in custody in this country, so
don’t do anything stupid. If you get hurt, it is up to you to
find medical attention. If you get mugged, not on us. That
is why we stuck you in groups of four. Alright. Off you
guys go!” She opened the door and the girls flooded out.
The boys got out of their small lecture first and the
classes merge into a tidal wave racing down steps and
elevators to the lobby where they burst through the
double doors and spread out to try and find the other
members of their group. Somehow I stick with Kara after
being pushed through the entire hotel, but I realise she
has a vice grip on my wrist. She lets go after we hit the
concrete. We hear a “Hey!” And turn to see Julian jogging
toward us. “That was crazy,” He said. “Look! I got a
bruise that looks like a smurf!” He shows us his upper
arm where there is a purple bruise that does, indeed, look
like a smurf. “We just have to find Carlos,” Says Kara. We
see him looking around in the crowd like a lost puppy so
we call his name and wave our arms. His eyes find us and
he sprints over. “Sup, ya’ll.” “Where should we go first?”
Kara asks. “I think we should start with an art museum
and then go to lunch and then find another museum to go
to.” I say. “Quite the planner,” Julian says. “We have to be
back to the hotel by seven thirty, so that should give us
enough time to go up the Eiffel tower and see the sunset.”
Carlos says. “Alright!” Kara says. We open our brocheres.
“The nearest art museum is over in that direction.” I say.
16
Carlos starts walking without a word and we have to
sprint to catch up with him. “So…are you guys happy with
this group or would you rather be with someone else?”
Julian asks. “We only got to be a group because every
single one of us was late.” Carlos replies. “I’m pretty
happy with our group, but I wonder where Elaine is.” I
say. “Who is Elaine?” Kara asks. “She’s one of our friends
who wasn’t late.” Julian says. We approach what should
be the louvre museum but there are no entrances. “C’mon
let’s just walk around.” Carlos says. We round the corner
following the side walk and we can see into this giant
open space. First there is a field of freshly mowed grass,
with bushes placed to make a V going inwards toward this
small temple. Beyond that is a giant pyramid made
entirely out of glass and iron supports. What I think is the
museum incases the whole shebang. “Woah,” I gasp. The
sight is stunning. We start walking through the field in
silent amazement. Then we go past the temple to the
pyramid. We can slightly see inside but between the
glares and iron supports everywhere, it is pretty much
impossible. We find a man walking around who looks like
a tourist and ask him how to get into the museum. He
points us to where a stream of tourists are entering,
archways along the encasing structures. We follow the
stream excitedly and finally get inside. The ceilings are
covered in heavenly images that are lined with gold. Art is
everywhere and art is beautiful. Every doorway is an arch,
every room is filled with ancient art. “I wanna go to the
pyramid and see what’s inside,” Kara demands. I check a
map given to me at the entrance. “We have to go through
the entire museum to get to an underground tunnel
leading to the pyramid.” I say. We keep going. Sometimes
we will pass a room with artifacts covered in plastic
17
sheeting and pieces of art being authenticated. Finally we
find a hallway that leads to double doors. We open them
and see an upside down pyramid extending all the way to
the floor. “It’s inverted,” Carlos says. There are many
tourists just standing there in shock and awe while
Frenchmen walk through on important business. My
group and I are silent and breathless, but Kara manages
to get out her phone and snap pictures. A few minuted
later, Carlos asks, “Are we ready to go?” I nod but Kara
and Julian say nothing. We drag them to the exit, stairs
that lead up out of the pyramid. I check my watch. It is
eleven-thirty. “Here.” I thrust the map at Carlos, who
seems to be the leader of the group. “Find lunch. Can
anyone speak French?” ask Julian, Carlos, and Kara. “I
can.” She says proudly. “Found a place. It is right by the
tower and another history museum.” Perfect. “It’ll be a
super long walk, though. Maybe we can hitch a ride on
the trolley buses.” Julian says. “You are thinking of
London. They have a subway here.” Kara says. “Does
anyone have any money?” Carlos asks. “I brought fifty
bucks.” I say. We all nod and head to the nearest station.
We pay five bucks a person to get to the station nearest
the tower. The subway itself is dingy and kind of ghetto,
and the stations smell like crap. On the subway, Carlos
makes some conversation. “You wanna know why it smells
like that here?” We all nod. “Subways are extremely close
to sewers, and the French sewers aren’t very effective, so
the sewage just leaks into the ground and causes a poop
smell.” “Why do you know that?” Kara says disgustedly.
He just shrugs and we share a good chuckle. A few
minutes later we arrive at out station and walk back up
the steps to see where we are. The Eiffel tower is a few
hundred yards away, and next to the road is the cutest
18
café. “Oy, I might not have enough money for four people
to eat.” I say. Carlos fishes around in his pocket and finds
a small plastic card. “This is an assigned restaurant. It
measns that the school contacted a few restaurants and
had them be placed on the map for students to come here
to grab a bite. These cards pay for everything.” We walk
inside. “How come you got one and we didn’t?” kara asks
him. “While you guys were ‘reuniting’ I was getting our
group registered at the little stand by the door.” “I didn’t
notice any stands by the door.” I say suspiciously. “There
were two and everything.” He says. I shrug as we find a
table. “What are you guys gonna get?” Kara asks. “I’m
going with the macaronis au fromage,” I say in completely
broken French. “the plat de saumon,” Carlos says in
slightly better French. “I’ll have the pizza.” Julian says.
“You didn’t even try to say it in French!” I laugh. “pizza is
pizza in French.” Kara says. “Oh.” Then everyone laughs
at me and my face gets all red. A waiter comes and says,
“Bonjour juene femme. Que puis-je obtenir pour la table à
boire?” and Kara says, “De l’eau pour la table.” Perfect
French. The waiter nods and runs off. “That was very
cool. Where did you learn to speak French?” Julian asks.
“You took French, same as me. How do you not remember
two years of French, you idiot?” “French is first period,
duh. I sleep during first period.” Julian says. We all share
a chuckle. “I’m serious!” the server comes back holding
an enormous pitcher and he uses it to fill our glasses.
“Merci,” Kara says. “Vous avez choisi?” the man asks.
“Mesa mis auront le macaroni au fromage le plat de
saumon et la pizza, et j’aurai le sandwich français.” The
waiter nods and leaves. He comes back a few minutes
later and we eat before leaving for the history museum a
block away. “What time is it?” I ask. Carlos looks at his
19
watch. “two o’clock,” We reach the history museum and
leave it three hours later. “So, what now?” Julian asks.
“It’s already almost sunset, so let’s get to the tower.”
Carlos says. “You’re very bossy.” Kara says. “Well, I figure
someone has to be in charge.” We approach the tower and
buy tickets for a stair guide. A few minutes later we are
climbing up the stairs of the Eiffel tower. We only bought
half-way up the tower, but the sight is beautiful. The
pinks, oranges, and deep purples all blend together into a
stunning portrait of glory. I hear sniffling beside me and
see that Kara is crying. “I-It’s so p-pretty.” She laughs a
little as the sun dips below the horizon. “We should
probably be heading back.” Carlos says. We nod and
begin the trek down the stairs and back to the hotel. Kara
and I enter our class’s room at exactly seven-twenty-nine.
All the other girls are already there, burshing their hair
and changing into sleepclothes. “Where have you been?”
Ms. Jones asks. “We got back before curfew,” I say. She
looks at her phone and makes a little tsk sound with her
tongue and says, “To bed.” “Without dinner?” Kara asks.
“You missed dinner.” We head to our corner and change.
A few minutes later, the lights are off, and we end our
first day in Paris. The next morning, we wake up the same
as yesterday. We eat, get dressed, and head downstairs
with the boys. The whole time, Kara has been very… I
don’t know how to describe it… cheerful. Last night she
was texting someone for hours and giggling like a little
girl while the rest of us had to keep telling her to shut it.
When we get to the ground floor outside the hotel, Kara
keeps acting very suspiciously. Throwing winks around
and whatnot. While we wait for Julian to catch up, she
whispers something in his ear and he looks at her coldly.
“No.” She looks hurt. “alrighty then.” Julian finally find us
20
in the crowd and cracks a joke first thing. “Why do the
french eat snails?” he asks. “Ugh, he told this one last
night.” Carlos groans. “Because they don’t like fast food!”
He guffaws like an idiot while I tell him, “That was the
worst joke I have ever heard.” “What is the plan for
today?” Kara asks. “there’s a French amusement park a
few minutes away,” I say. “To the ‘musement park!” Julian
says and starts skipping to the nearest ferris wheel. “You
can really be a little girl sometimes.” Kara says. We get to
the amusement park and pay for some wrist bands that
will get us on all the rides. “Let’s do le geant first!” I say.
It is the biggest ride in the park. We show the scanner our
wristbands and, thank god its Tuesday, because there is
no line. We hop onto the cart, but it is a circle. “Does this
spin?” I ask. The man operating the ride doesn’t hear me.
“Wait! Nonononono-“ The ride starts. Our cart is like a
bowl with a top that has closed and we slowly start
spinning. “Ugh why did the entire thing have to be clear?”
I ask. The ride spins for a moment before stopping, and
we rocket forward. We all screech our heads off. It
pummels up this steep incline and makes a loud grinding
noise at the top before nosediving forward so fast that,
despite my seatbelt, I fly backwards. “owwww,” everyone
tries to laugh but we can’t because of the sheer speed of
the ride. The cart slows down and stops completely.
Julian, who hasn’t said or screamed anything throughout
the duration. Of the ride tumbles out and throws up in the
nearest garbage can. “Ew, gross.” Carlos says, gagging.
We ride a couple more rides before Kara drags Carlos to
the love ride and carlos and I ride the ferris wheel. After
that we get together for lunch, a corndog stand in the
middle of the park. As it gets later in the day, it also gets
more crowded, but it wasn’t like the amusement parks
21
back home. “We have time for one last ride before we
should start heading back.” Carlos says. “We should do a
boys-girls ride. I’ll go with Carlos and you two can go with
eachother.” Julian suggests. Kara nods and pulls me to the
ferris wheel. “I haven’t ridden it yet.” She says and pays
for our tickets. There are a few other people getting on. I
pull the bar ver our thighs. “Is there something going on
between you and Carlos?” I ask. She doesn’t say anything.
“I thought that maybe you had a fight.” “I can’t imagine
why you would think that.” “You are very pretty. I don’t
know why you wouldn’t go out.” She doesn’t reply to that
remark either. “Or maybe you tried and he rejected you.”
She crosses her arms. “You were probably texting him
last night, weren’t you?” “When did you get so nosy?” The
ride goes on it’s last round. “If you were texting him last
night, why would he be so mean to you this morning?”
“Shut up.” She stomps on my toe. “I’m just curious. You
probably like him, but he might not like you back.” I say.
The ride stops and I get out. “He would have a lot of
reasons to not like you.” I don’t see her fist, but I feel
something punch me in the face so hard that I fall
backwards. My vision is blurry as I walk her golden brown
curls bounce while she walks away and I black out.

22
 4
I wake up back at the hotel. The girls and boys are all in
this room, crowded around a single laptop. “What’s going
on?” I ask, my voice weak. I hear a shush, and I listen to
what they are watching. “-knows what is going on, but
military is urging everyone get to the nearest emergency
bunker. Make sure everyone in your family is accounted
for. Prepare yourselves for a major disaster.” The
broadcast ends with an ear piercing siren. “Hey!” I yell.
“What the heck is going on?” Elaine comes over to me,
having forgot our fight. “There was a huge natural
disaster back home and we should be expecting more,”
She says, crying. Multiple girls hopelessly have their
phones out calling their family. “When did whatever it
was hit?” I ask her. “Hours after we boarded the plane.”
She says, breath shaking and sobbing. Tears come to my
23
eyes. That was why my mom hadn’t called me at all. “Oh
my god,” I mumble. and snatch my phone with shaking
hands. I call my mom’s contact and listen to the ring. An
alert pops up saying, “Contact unavailable, try again
later,” And I collapse in my sobs. Ms. Jones is frantically
trying to contact the airport to find out when the next
flight is. I put my head in my hands and feel a searing
pain. Did Kara break my nose? I check my reflection with
my phone and see that my nose is crooked. Elaine hugs
me as Jones announces that we all have to get ready to
leave first thing tomorrow morning. The lights flicker off.
“Go to bed!” she yells over the cries of the girls. Carlos
lays down next to Kara on her matress and she is sitting
still next to him. I pack up my stuff in the dark and try to
drift off with the sting of Kara’s punch burning my face.
Kara wakes me up before it is even light outside. All my
stuff is already in my roller bag. “Time to go?” I ask. She
nods. My face is completely stiff, and my nose still feels
like it is broken while the rest of my face feels like I got
stomped on. We stampede down to a pair of buses right
outside the lobby. Julian grabs my hand and we board a
bus. We drive off quickly and I see a girl sprint out of the
hotel wailing, “Wait!” “Hey! We left someone!” I shout,
but my voice isn’t heard above the cries. I try to get up,
but Julian holds me down. “if we stop, none of us will even
make the flight.” “Who knows how many kids we left,” I
say. I collapse into my seat and cry into his shoulder. We
get to the airport and rush through the metal detectors
and bag checkers and rush to the gate. An attendant
opens the doors that lead to the plane and we rush to the
plane. Julian notices something and holds us all back from
getting on. It is the water. The water by the landing strip
is skaing. I hear a low groaning noise as I see elaine get
24
on the plane and an attendant closes the door. The plane
starts to move down the air strip and Carlos drags us
inside the airport to the waiting area. He shoves us down
and shouts, “Under the chairs!” These chairs are bolted
down. We slide underneath them as the ground begins to
pitch and toss everything from side to side. I watch from
the open door as the airstrip starts crumbling into the
water and Elaine’s plane can’t get into the air fast
enough. It is tossed into the ocean and I feel the airport
moving too far to the left. A corner of the airport crumbles
down revealing the open ocean waves crashing into the
airport. There are people screaming, but as the floor stops
moving, so the screaming stops too. Elaine’s plane has
been swallowed by the water. I hear kara screaming
behind me. But not screaming in terror, screaming in
pain. I turn myself around under the chairs and start
pulling on Kara’s arms, trying to get her out, but she
screams, “Stop! Stop, I’m pinned.” I let go of her and pull
myself out from under the chairs and I sprint to her row
where the boys are already trying to lift a piece of
concrete off of her. I help them lift it up off of her and
watch it crash into the next row. I notice blood on Kara’s
sweater. “Oh my god, Kara are you ok?” She nods and lifts
her sweater. “It is just a scratch.” She says. “You had to
have broken some bones!” carlos says. “Probably just a
rib or two. Pull me out.” She says. We pull her by her feet
and she stands up. “How are you not dead?” Julian asks.
“I the concrete had already fallen when I slid under there.
It was being held up by someone’s bags, plus my chest.
When they grabbed their bags it just put more weight on
me.” She explains. We nod and then start looking around.
The damage is severe, and we see a few crushed
attendants. We hear a child screaming in French a few
25
yards away and Carlos sprints to him. His parents can’t
lift the concrete off him, so Carlos and Julian help them
and they cry, “Merci, Merci,” and hug their kid. “What do
we do now?” Kara asks. Carlos runs to the vending
machine in the waiting area. “Get food and water.” He
commands. The machine has toppled and the glass has
been broken. Carlos dumps his clothes out of his bag and
fills it with food. I run to the other vending machine in the
entrance while Kara and Julian raid the gift shop. I dump
my stuff out of my bag and that’s when I hear the ringing.
I pick up the phone and answer immediately. “Mom?” I
ask. “Oh sweetie! Max! Where are you?” “Mom, I’m in
paris. I love you. I love you so much! I thought you were
dead!” I sob. “I’m not, honey. But I will be, and you will
be, too, if you don’t find a way to get yourselves to
Iceland. They are holding evac there. Honey, listen.
Listen. My phone is about to die. I love you.” She say. “I
love you too! I love you.” She hangs up. I cry with relief.
She’s alive. I rush over to the others to tell them about
Iceland. “Listen, they are evacuating in Iceland,” I say.
“Well, we have to find a way to get to Iceland. Keep
loading up,” Carlos says. I finish emptying the vending
machines. We meet up in the middle of the airport. “I
found the stockroom and got these,” Kara says. She
dumps a bag of mini first aid kits to the floor. We all put
one in our bag. I tell Julian and Kara about Iceland.
“Maybe we could fly a plane,” Julian suggests. I point
outside. “They are submarines now.” I say. A loud beeping
noise conquers all our phones. Its an alert that reads,
“Tsunami warning in all continents. Evacuation being held
in Iceland, Japan, and Mexico.” “Let’s go to the evac in
Japan!” kara says and runs to the window. Her face falls.
“Hey.” She says. “Hey!” we run and join her at the
26
windows. We’ve been separated from the mainland. The
mainland isn’t even one piece anymore. All the small
islands are crumbling away from eachother. “Iceland it
is.” “We have to build a raft,” Carlos says suddenly. “It
has to be hollow inside.” He says. “Find bins. Find
anything that will float and bring it here. We are going to
build a raft.”

5
I find a stack of large bins used for putting clothes and
things in and I drag them to Carlos. Kara finds inflatable
couches that a family leaving Paris left there. Julian finds
zip-up suitcases and he somehow detaches the leathery
seperators for the lines so that we have rope-like material.
We bring it all back to Carlos, who starts with my tubs.
“These are perfect. Kara, get in one.” Kara climbs into
one and she actually fits with room to spare. “Awesome.”
He uses a swiss army knife to punch holes at the very tops
of the bins and uses Julian’s straps to knot them together.
He repeats for six of the tubs. “Did these have lids?” He
asks. I go run to look for lids and find none. “No,” I say.
“Everyone, go look for paintings or other flat things that
look about this size that aren’t too heavy.” Carlos
27
commands again. I don’t find anything, but Kara finds a
menu board in the airport’s restaurant. When she brings
it to Carlos, his eyes literally twinkle. “This is WPC, wood
plastic composite, in essence, fake wood. It will be
perfect. It is light enough for the raft but strong enough
to hold us.” He lays it atop the tubs but it is too big. He
gets to work adding more tubs. Finally it is almost the
perfect size. We all get to work with Carlos carving holes
in the fake wood and us using the straps to fasten the
WPC to the tubs. “We are almost out of rope!” Kara calls
and I sprint to find more. I yank the strap out of the
clicking fasteners to get it all out and I bring it back to the
raft. We get the WPC completely fastened as Carlos cuts
out rectangles in the WPC above some bins. “This is for
storage.” He says. He finishes, dripping sweat and
panting. “Are we done?” Julian asks. Carlos shakes his
head and starts blowing up the inflatable couches. “No,
that will take too long.” Kara says and searches the
airport for the air pump that goes with the couches. She
sprints back with it. The sky is getting grayer by the
second. Carlos starts pumping with the step and giving us
orders. “Wrap all the food up in plastic wrap from the
restaurant and move the food into the suitcases and put
the suitcases in storage. Kara, find some big bottle or bag
or something and fill it with clean water. Everyone, don’t
forget to find a water bottle or something and put in two
per suitcase.” “Where did you learn all this stuff?” I ask
Carlos while transferring my wrapped food into a maroon
suitcase. “it’s just common sense.” He replies. He finishes
one couch and starts work on the other. Kara finds giant
twelve liter bottles of soda and empties them out to fill
with water. When we go back to Carlos with all our stuff
he has fastened both couches to either side of the raft.
28
While the others load up the raft, I am put in charge of
finding five paddles, one per person, one extra. I only find
four identical paintings that are long and stacked
together. I bring them to Carlos and he cuts them down
shorter. “We are ready.” He says. “To leave?” Julian asks.
“yes. We all help push the raft into the water that is
slowly swallowing the airport. Carlos grabbes lots and lots
of those portable chargers so that he could use the map
on his phone, but he also drew one up using his phone in
case something happened to it. One by one we get on the
raft and it somehow stays afloat. Carlos checks his watch.
“It’s eleven thirty,” Carlos says. “We need to go that way,”
Carlos says, pointing North-East. We all start paddling,
but soon, I lose motivation. I can see Elaine’s plane
sinking ever so slowly, the bodies of my classmates
trapped inside. I start paddling shortly after the wreckage
is out of sight. It would seem that we are going to sail to
Iceland.

29
 6
Soon, we decide that taking shifts is the best way to
paddle. All of our arms hurt and even though we move
faster, we have to take longer breaks. Me and Carlos will
paddle for an hour, then Julian and Kara will paddle for an
hour. It is about to rain, we can all see that from the dark
gray sky. So far the raft has been holding up extremely
well though we have been on the water for three hours.
Carlos has been tracking our location with his phone, and
we have only made it two miles. “at this rate,” he says, “it
will take ten days of nonstop paddling to make it to
Iceland.” “Maybe we could stop in London to see if they
have any motor boats,” Kara says. “I doubt it.” Carlos
says. Suddenly it is my turn to paddle, so me and julian
work hard for the hour. “Oh, my arms are so sore.” Kara
complains. Even though we are hungry, now that we know
it will take eighteen plus days on the water, we are bent
on conserving as much food as possible. When the hour is
finally up, I rest for a while. While kara is rowing, she
says, “you know how I don’t weigh as much as the rest of
you?” we nod. “I brought a few books to make up for it.”
“How? There weren’t any books in English at the airport
or back in paris.” I ask. “I brought them from home. But
I’m just saying, if you wanna read them, I brought six.”
“Six?! Where are you keeping them? She points to the
orange suitcase. Julian unzips it a little and pulls two
books out and hands one to me. The title says Where the
30
Red Fern Grows. “Hey, I remember this book from the
fifth grade.” I start reading it immediately. It is a perfect
resting activity and a book like this should take hours to
read. When it is my shift, the motivation of getting back to
the hounds gives me more strength to paddle. “Carlos,
you should check where we are,” I say when my shift is
almost over. “We made it another three and a half more
miles.” “and how many more miles?” I ask. “Well, it used
to be a thousand, but since the tidal wave in ‘21 it is more
like a hundred fifty.” I nod and we change shifts. I get
back to Where the Red Fern Grows. For my next few
break shifts, I nap because I’m tired and I don’t want to
finish the book too fast. Conversation on the raft is scarce,
but we are moving fast. By midnight we have made it nine
miles. It starts sprinkling, and then it starts to rain. We
put the books away so they don’t get wet. Eventually we
are all so tired that we decide for one hour we will all chill
out to regain our energy before resuming the paddling.
An hour later we have drifted a bit off course but Carlos
helps us get back in the right direction. After a few more
shifts, everyone just gives up. Carlos sets an alarm for
eight in the morning and we all doze off together. The
next morning, we are feeling better, but we are
desperately hungry, so Carlos gives us half an apple each
to try to give us the energy to stay strong in terms of
paddling. But I’m still so hungry. And I can barely stay
awake for my life. But we are making heavy progress. By
noon, the sun is finally back and we have made it five
more miles, making our total twenty miles out. Our raft is
still slick from rain water, but we are able to paddle, rest,
and read in peace. A mile later, I watch Carlos dig around
in the food suitcase and grab out eight bags of peanuts
and our bottles of water and he hands them out. “Oh,
31
thank god!” I say, and savor my peanuts one by one. I
take a small sip of my water and get back to rowing. I am
in the middle of paddling when I notice a gleam from a
few yards away poking out of the water. “Carlos,” I say.
He turns his head. “What is that?” He gets out his phone
and checks our location. “We are still in the middle of
nowhere. Maybe a periscope?” He uses his camera
application to zoom into the object. “There’s more,” He
says. “It’s airplane wreckage.” I sigh heavily. “Rust on the
plane puts the wreck four days ago.” “How do you know
all this stuff? I swear you are hiding something.” Kara
says. “What? I have read a few survival books, because
my dad is a doomsday prepper.” Carlos says and
scratches the back of his neck. “You’re lying,” I say
breathlessly, straining against the water. He shakes his
head. “I just like to be prepared.” We switch the paddler
and we get closer to the wreckage. There are floating
suitcases and a few bodies. I gag as we pass and grab
another of the paddles to help us get away faster. Julian
drops his book and does the same. As the day goes on the
sky gets grayer and we keep eating up our rations for fear
of becoming too weak to keep going. A few miles later the
sky starts trickling before going into a heavy rain. We all
get soaked again but we keep rowing. Under his clothes,
Carlos checks our location and we are a quarter of the
way finished. “So, it is day two on the water, and this
means we should make it in eight days!” Carlos shouts
above the whoosh-ing noise of the rain. We switch shifts
again, share some bread and water, and keep rowing.
Suddenly I get an idea. “What if one of us who is resting
reads a book aloud while the rest of us listens. That way,
we are all entertained and more likely to work without
complaining. The others shout in agreement. Too bored to
32
acknowledge the water-logged book rule, Kara gets a
book out and starts reading out loud. When my shift ends,
I take over. It’s a bit hard to read the letters because of
the rain, especially because it’s night now, we only have
the light of a camping light to read by. But we make it
work. We share a round of granola bars before doing a
few more shifts. The light of the moon grows brighter, but
the rain doesn’t let up a bit. Julian does a few book shifts,
then Carlos. We finish Where the Red Fern Grows
together in tears and start The Willoughbys with Kara
reading again. We don’t come across any more wreckage
that is visible, but Kara stops reading for a minute.
“Carlos. Guys, what is that?” She says, pointing to the
water. We all look over the edge of the raft. There is a
light under the water emiting a yellow glow and
brightening up a beautiful ocean scene. “No idea. It could
be dangerous, though, so we should probably row faster.”
He picks up a paddle and starts helping me and julian.
Suddenly, muffled by the rush of rain berating the sea, we
hear the wails of a woman in pain.

33
 7
“Do you guys hear that?” Julian asks. “Yes.” I say. The
screaming gets louder, along with the sound of splashing.
Julian stands on the raft. “Careful!” Kara shouts. “Hey! Do
you need help?!” he shouts into the open air, his hair
dripping on us along with the rain. The screaming gets
louder and doesn’t stop. The sun is just rising as Julian
dives into the water and vanishes into the falling water.
“Julian!” I scream. I hear splashing as the screams stop
and a hand grips the side of our boat. I think it is Julian,
so I grab their hand and pull them onto the boat. But a
girl younger than me was attached to the hand I grabbed.
I leave her sobbing on all fours on the raft while I search
for my best friend. Almost like a sign, the sun brightens
and the rains stops, giving us enough light to see that
Julian has not come to the surface. All his layers would be
dragging him down, down. I rip off my layers and jump
into the water. It is deathly freezing, but I can make out
the shape of Julian sinking towards the glowing yellow
light from before. It is like it is pulling him as he
struggles. I try to swim down to him and pull him, but
someone has the back of my coat. Julian’s eyes lock on
34
mine and I scream his name under the water. The cold
water has no effect as my adrenaline pumps through me,
giing me the strength to use my feet to push away from
the raft and free myself. But Julian is too far. If I go down
to him, I will drown as well as him. I find the raft and I
grip the side as the drowning girl did and, without waiting
for someone to pull me up, I pull myself. Everyone just
watches me as I cry for the loss of my friend. I knew
Julian since Kindergarten when he was sitting by himself I
went over to talk to him. We’ve been best friends since.
First I lost Elaine, and now Julian. I can’t take it. I can’t
breathe. I can’t see because of how heavily my tears are
falling. No one tries to comfort me. They just stare at me
in uncomfortable silence as I wail. It’s the girl’s fault. That
is the first thing my mind comes to. If Julian hadn’t
jumped into the freezing water to save her, he wouldn’t
have…He wouldn’t be gone! Its like there is a hole in my
heart and I can feel the physical pain. It is like a longing,
but worse. A desperate longing, but worse. I can’t imagine
Julian’s cheerful, childish monologue and his mile a
minute thinking wasted on this stupid girl. Now, I don’t
cry in grief for losing my dearest friend. I cry in rage.
Kara lifts me up by my arms and hugs me. She gives me a
shoulder to cry on, and I hug her back and try to collect
myself. Now, even though I’ve stopped crying, I am
shivering terribly. I take off all my wet layers and find dry
ones under the suitcases and I change. Carlos turns to
the random girl. “What is your name?” She doesn’t
answer. “What is your name?” He asks more insistently.
She shakes her head, indicating that she isn’t telling him
a thing. “Fine.” He says. “Where did you come from?” She
just points to the right, into the open ocean, to a light far,
far away. Carlos zooms into the light with his phone. “It’s
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a boat. It’s a motor boat!” He says. He picks up a paddle
and starts working. Kara joins him. I thrust our extra at
the little girl before I get to work paddling in the direction
of the light. Its hard work, and as the sun gets brighter
over the horizon, the light begins to dim, but we work
hard. The girl is helping, probably for selfish reasons. Can
I say I don’t hate and blame her? No. No, I can’t. But if
she proves to me that she was worth the life of my best
friend, then I will forgive her, but that won’t happen any
time soon. We reach the boat a few minutes later. Kara
has out one of the first aid kits that contains a whistle.
There is no on on the deck, but when she blows it, a
family swarms to the side. “Look! Ma, look! It’s Amy!”
One of the younger sons shouted. Ignoring us, the family
helps her up onto the boat. “Oh, sweetie. Je t’aime
tellement.” She hugs her and says in a heavy French
accent. The son who yelled for his mother creeps to the
side of the boat suspiciously. “Who are you?” “We found
her in the water splashing around and she said she came
from this boat,” Carlos explained. “You’re lying.” He said.
“She doesn’t talk.” Carlos looked at him like, No duh, and
said, “She pointed.” The boy runs back to his parents,
asks them a question in french, and comes back to the
side of the boat. “Ma says you can get on and join us.
We’re going to Iceland.” Kara and Carlos cheer. I do
nothing, say nothing. We would have made it in time on
our raft. “The final lift-off is in three days,” The boy says.
Oh, nevermind then. It is still not worth losing my best
friend. I still want to murder that girl. I still want to trade
with him. He didn’t deserve what he got. Carlos is
explaining our journey to the middle of the ocean to the
son while he translates for his parents. At the end of the
story, the mother, who doesn’t even know any of us,
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brings Carlos into a hug and murmurs something French
that Kara translates. “she said, ‘You poor child, let me
help you.’” Kara has tears in her eyes, as the mother hugs
her as well. She hugs me, too, but I stay lifeless and still
in her arms. We show them our food and say we will
share, but the son tells us there is no need before leading
us down to their storage. They have enough food down
there to last them a year. Literally wall to wall non-
perishables. They get the motor of the boat going now
that they have their daughter. The whole time, I stay at
the nose of the ship. Sometimes crying. Sometimes just
sitting there. I learn the family’s names at one point, but I
am lost in the memories. A whole sixteen years, just gone,
like that. Who will tell his parents? If we don’t make it , If
they don’t make it, who will tell them? Why did he have to
be so selfless. Why couldn’t he have let carlos or me go?
Why couldn’t he have let the girl drown, however she
ended up in the water? Perhaps she saved someone, like
Julian, but she didn’t sink. No, someone saved her and
now he’s gone. Why? Why did he make such a sacrifice for
someone he didn’t know? Why did he let himself die! I
collapse agains the inside of the hull and just cry. I don’t
know what else to do. Up to now, I have always known
what to do, but now…but now, all I can do is cry. Kara
joins me, on the floor of the boat. She sits down next to
me, and cradles me like a baby. She sheds tears with me,
but she is too strong to let herself loose like me. I have no
doubt that we will make it to Iceland, but do I want to
leave Earth without Julian? Who could live without his
bubbly spirit, his kind eyes, his childish sense of humor.
No. I don’t want to leave him. I don’t want to. I don’t. I get
up out of Kara’s arms. I don’t want to live without him,
because he’s dead. He’s dead and I love him. He was
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always there for me, and now he’s gone, and I love him. I
escape Kara’s grasp and climb to the other side of the
hull, to where the water is at my feet. “Max? Max! What
are you doing?” Kara’s short arms swing at me, before she
shrieks, “Carlos!” But Carlos is too late. I take a calm step
into the water and let myself peacefully drift below the
surface. The air escapes my mouth as I watch from below.
Carlos scrambles to tie a rope around his waist. I spin
around to this yellow light glowing a few feet below me. It
is just like the yellow orbs from before. My lungs
screaming for air, I swim down to the object. As I get
closer, I realise, its pulsing, like a heartbeat. It’s a
machine that has grown roots to part of the seafloor. And
on the side it reads, C. Antonio industries. Then
everything makes sense.

CHAPTER 8
Carlos is swimming after me, trying to pull me up to the
surface. But, I kick him as hard as I can to push myself up
to the surface. I pull myself up the small grooves of the
boat to where all of the faces are staring at me. “He
knew.” I explode, my words bursting with rage. I climb
into the boat, dripping water. “HE KNEW! None of these
disasters were natural. Remember how his dad named his
company ‘C. Antonio’ after Carlos? That was the logo on
the glowing things in the water. They are machines!”
Carlos’s strangled voice escapes the water. “wait!” He
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pulls himself into the boat as I did. “yes. Yes, I knew. I
knew the whole time. My father knew as well. But my
father is dead! You want to know why? You really want to
know why?" He is shaking with rage, and crying while he
speaks. “His company is an engineering branch of Nasa!
They are the ones hiding something, and when my father
finished the project that meant we were going to get a
seat on the escape ships out of here, they killed him and
launched the project.” He collapses to his knees, sobbing.
The whole time, they didn’t know he had a son.” “what did
you mean when you said that you were guaranteed seats
on the escape ship?” I ask. “None of us are getting out of
here on that ship! They left us here to die.” His voice is
unwavering. Kara collapses to the ground and just wails.
She cries and cries while we do nothing. This means, this
whole voyage was for nothing. The panic earlier was for
nothing. Julian’s death was for nothing. And you know
what? I really wished I had died earlier when I had the
chance because now the pain is unbearable. The son,
Frank, is speaking rapid French, explaining our whole
conversation to his parents. “W-we’re never gonna g-get
home,” kara whimpers. Carlos nods. “Julian’s death…was
because of you.” I say lowly, shaking with rage. I lunge at
him and just hit him over and over. He takes a few hits
and then he grabs me by the wrist and easily holds me to
the side, away from him. “Listen, yes, I knew, but I know
another way.” I stop wrangling against his grip. There is
an agency called AEL that is a branch of nasa that is only
a few miles inland of Iceland’s liftoff. They are also taking
passengers.” Hope fills my heart. “But there’s no
guarantee.” He says. “We have to try!” Kara says, her
voice cracking. Carlos nods. The French family watches
us in silence.
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