I scrunch my nose. “A week. No, a month.”
Colton eyes me. “Don’t push it.”
“Fine. Deal. For a week. I expect your car in my driveway the day we arrive home.”
We forgo the awkwardness that would be a handshake with two opposite hands. Colton nods at me instead, sealing our deal, and I zip my lips together to signify that his little attendance lie is still safe with me. I watch his tight features sag with relief.
It’s kind of sad how he still frets over a high school attendance record. While other people couldn’t care less about something so small, I doubt his dad would see it that way. A Downing, lying as a teenager. Why, that was grounds for impeachment from the family line. And Colton couldn’t stand for that. Disappointing Daddy is a big no-no.
“Colton.”
Colton and I both pivot toward the voice and see two people in familiar black-and-lime outfits crest a nearby hill.
“Colton,” Tyrone shouts again as he traverses the slight decline, his dad, Joseph, following in his wake.
Without forewarning, I get pulled through leafy bushes and over snaking roots as Colton rushes forward to meet his man crush. Tyrone and Colton do a little handshake thing with two fingers and some snaps; all the while, my hand sags between me and Colton like a lazy dog on a leash. Two nights ago, Tyrone and Colton discovered that they used to attend the same summer camp when they were kids, and now they’re in the honeymoon stages of their bromance.
While Tyrone and Colton gab like two matrons at a hair salon, I turn to Joseph. His dimpled smile is a welcome reprieve from the stress of the game. He has a fatherly air about him, not only because he is Tyrone’s dad, but because he’s pretty much been the father at base camp. From day one, he’s run the place like a tight ship, giving us all chores to accomplish morning, evening, and night—firewood collecting, utensil making, fish trap setting.I doubt a base camp has ever been as put together as it is this season.
“Hey, just a warning,” Joseph says. “We saw Heartbreaker and Legend shoving other teams’ coconuts into bushes. Make sure you’re looking high and low.”
“So Team Ruby and Fuchsiaareworking together,” I say, recalling the conversation Colton, Team Lime, Team Amber, and I had around the firepit last night, speculating if Team Fuchsia and Team Ruby had formed some sort of alliance.
“I think so.” Joseph nods.
“Well, thanks for the info.”
“Sure.” Joseph turns and pats his son on the back. “Tyrone, let’s get going. One more to find.”
One more? One more! I nearly double over with panic. Tyrone and Joseph have only one more coconut to find? I glance at the sack of coconuts slung over Colton’s shoulder. Between our two net bags, we are four coconuts short of what we need to write out our S.O.S on the beach.
Tyrone and Joseph are just walking away when I tug at the bungee cuff, pulling Colton farther down the trail, eager to get moving. That’s when a large drop of water lands on my nose and drips down my chin, followed by another. I stop and look up, wondering if it’s dew from a tree, but instead, I find raindrops falling from the sky at an ever-increasing pace.
Colton clears his throat, looking at me with those stupid blueberry eyes. “Told you.”
“Now is not the time, Colton. We’ve got to move,” I shout, trying to be heard over the rain that’s making a drum set out of every leaf, branch, and surface of the jungle.
Suddenly, there’s a small pop, and a bright flare streams through the rain-saturated sky, lighting up our surroundings in a brief explosion of ruby red.
“No.” The word bursts from me. I immediately slip between two trees and start running, Colton following behind me. My mind races, imagining the sands of a timer reaching its last few grains, when another shot sounds. This time, fuchsia lights the sky.
Panic overtakes me. At this rate, the game could be over in a matter of minutes, and we’d be done. Sent to an elimination. One step closer to going home without funds for The Red Curtain or the means to start a nonprofit.
Suddenly, it’s all too real. This isn’t just about collecting coconuts. It’s about helping my community in the best way I know how. It’s about Izzy and Mama and making sure that kids like my fourteen-year-old self never have to feel alone or worthless.
“Colton, hurry,” I say as we run side by side.
Then it happens again. A bang, followed by a burst of amber yellow. Bill and Maria? I’d just seen one of their coconuts at the base of the tree we recently scavenged. They couldn’t possibly have found it and made it to the beach that fast. Unless … They found a game booster.
Game boosters have been used since Season Five, allowing teams to get some sort of advantage in the heat of a challenge. Maybe Bill and Maria found a booster that made it so they didn’t need all of their coconuts to complete the challenge.
The thought makes me speed up as we start down a hill that cakes my shoes in layers of mud. Colton descends the slope too carefully, making me feel antsy the farther behind he lags. Three of six teams have finished, and we still have four coconuts to find. I feel the weight of my dreams collapsing on me. How could I’ve let this …
“Oof.” A grunt escapes my lungs as Colton slams against my back, causing both of our feet to slip beneath us. Colton’s right arm swiftly wraps around my waist as we, our backpacks, andour bags full of coconuts go tumbling down the remainder of the hill, skidding to a stop just before ramming into the trunk of a bay-rum.
“Are you okay?” Colton lets go of my waist, allowing me to roll from his grasp. I slowly get to my knees and pull at my muddy T-shirt that makes a slurping sound as I peel it away from my body.
“I’m sorry. The ground was slick and …” Colton stops and stares as I pull a chunk of slimy hair from my face, smearing mud all along my cheek. His lips wobble, and I can tell he’s trying not to laugh.
