LVIII. life's better on Saturn

      "It's been ten days since we became stranded on the island. JJ named it Poguelandia, which was funny at first but now I don't know how to feel about it. I just feel kind of. . . lost. Literally. I can't stop thinking about what happened on that ship, or how my family probably thinks I'm dead. I'll forever hate myself for that. My poor father, he's lost so much already. What if this kills him? I feel sick just thinking about it.

"The only thing that keeps me from going crazy is the ocean. I can swim for hours. Days, even. I help the others get fish to eat. I swim to keep calm. Pope worries about me sometimes but I always tell him that I'm okay. I have the Pogues. We only have each other. We have to be okay. Y'know?

"I just wonder how much longer it'll be before somebody tries to come and rescue us. I know JJ doesn't want to leave. Kiara, either. I don't think any of them do, actually. But me? I just miss my family."

Dylan didn't have a diary so she spoke out loud. She sat on the edge of the cliff and watched the waves or the clouds move in the sky. She didn't know who she was talking to, maybe herself, but she just needed to talk.

"Think you can scoot back a little? You're scaring me." She heard Pope say when he climbed up the cliff.

Dylan laughed. "Don't be scared." She said and scooted back, keeping her legs crossed. "Where've you been?"

Cleo and I were looking for fruit on the trees. Collected a lot. I think I saw JJ and Kiara catch a fish."

"Fish for dinner again? Yay."

Noting her sarcasm, Pope went and sat beside her, crossing his legs. "I'm worried about you, D."

"You keep saying that—"

"But I am." He emphasized, and she looked his way. "It's been days and you're starting to space out. Like you're someplace else."

"I don't mean to," Dylan told him. "But I keep thinking about how we're stuck here, Pope. Our families. Have you thought about them?"

"Of course I have—"

"Look at everything we've put them through." She interrupted him, her voice turning sad. "I-I can't sleep at night thinking about it."

"Hey," Pope quickly said and grabbed her hand, holding it tightly. "Us ending up here isn't our fault. They're going to come find us, okay? I know it. It just might take time. I know my parents and your parents are probably doing everything to find a way to bring us home. I just need you to stay positive. We have each other. That's all we need, right?"

Dylan always knew how she felt about Pope, and she was certain that she was in love with him, but there was something so captivating about him when the ocean was around him. His hair was growing out, the hot sun tinted his skin darker, and Dylan thought he was beautiful. "Yeah, that's all I need."

Pope smiled and kissed the side of her head. "What do you want to do? Y'know, seeing as we can do whatever the hell we want."

She cracked a smile. Dylan looked out to the water again and her sunburnt skin started to feel hot again. "I haven't been for a swim yet."

He smiled. "Let's go then."

They climbed down the cliff and hand holding hold, they raced to the ocean. Dylan laughed while the water slashed around her legs and she fell in, letting her body submerge completely. She watched all the fish swim around her and she came up for air. Pope swam next to her and she smiled, feeling happy. "Ahh, there's that smile." He said to her, water dripping from his curls.

"Please, I'm always smiling around you." She swam to him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Pope grinned and she felt his hands touch her waist. They kissed, both of them tasting salt on each other's lips. Dylan pulled away, smiled again, and dunked him under the water, giggling loudly.

"It's been thirteen days and we're still on Poguelandia. Pope's been doing a good job at helping me not panic. I've been helping everybody make sure we don't die, but I don't know how much longer I can survive on fish."

"DJ, darlingggg!" John B sang and ran over to where Dylan thing leaves together to drink water out of. "I need your help."

"With what?" She asked without looking up.

He turned around and pointed upwards at the trees. "I need you to get the coconuts." He explained.

Dylan paused and looked at him, her eyes narrowed. "Why do I have to do it? You do it."

"I'm helping Kiara make the spears."

She groaned. "John B—"

"You'll be fine." John B insisted and grabbed her wrist,, dragging her away from the leaves. "You love climbing trees. You're basically a spider monkey."

"I don't know if I find that offensive or not."

He gave her a look. "You know what I mean."

She looked up at the tree and saw a batch of coconuts. "I hate you for this."

John B grinned and patted her on the back. "I know. Go ahead, mama."

Dylan rolled his eyes and stepped up to the tree. The only bad thing about there trees on the island was that they didn't have any leverage to climb, so she would have to slide up using all the strength she had. Wrapping her arms around the base, Dylan lifted herself and started slowly scooting up the tree. "This is what I get for not saying not." She grumbled to herself.

From down below, John B smiled. "You're doing great, Dyl!"

She flipped him off. Dylan grunted and kept herself steady until she was able to reach the coconut pile. She could feel her skin burning from the tree bark. "Okay Dylan, don't be scared. Just keep going." She encouraged herself. When she reached the cluster of coconuts, she straddled the base of the tree and plucked one from the branch. "Okay, I got one!" She yelled at John B.

"Okay, send 'er down!" He yelled back. She threw one of them down and John B quickly moved when it almost hit him on the head. "Maybe not so aggressive, please?"

"That wasn't aggressive. Trust me." Dylan told him and plucked another coconut. She continued throwing them down to him until all of the ones in the cluster were gone. "Okay, that's all of them."

"Alright, come on down. I'll catch you if you fall!" John B yelled and she could practically hear his smirk.

"Oh, my hero." Another sarcastic quip slipped past her lips. Dylan looked down and saw him holding out his arms. Slowly, she began to backtrack down the tree base, holding on as tight as she could. When she was half way down, Dylan unhooked her legs and jumped down, John B catching her with ease. "I can officially add professional coconut grabber to my resume."

"Be sure to mention that I got you there." John B said and rubbed the top of her head.

Dylan laughed and wanted his hand away.

"It's been fifteen days on Poguelandia and I'm really trying not to lose my mind. I've made the decision that if we ever do get off the island that I'll resort to becoming a carnitarian. All the fish in my system makes me feel nauseous. And poor Kiara. JJ's corrupted her into killing them with him. Though I'm sure she's only doing it to get closer to him, if you know what I mean."

"So how'd you end up being a Pogue?" Cleo asked her, the two of them gathering wood from an abandoned shack they found on the island.

"I've known John B my whole life. Our fathers were pretty much like brothers," Dylan explained to her. She took a bunch of seaweed she grabbed from the bottom of the ocean and carefully tied them around the wood. "We met JJ in third grade. For a while, it was the three us. Then Pope came along and fit right in," she grew a smile, "and then we met Kiara. We all just kind of make sense to each other, y'know?"

Cleo half smiled. "Yeah, I guess so."

Dylan looked up with squinted eyes and she pushed her hair out of her face. "What about you? How'd you come across John B and Sarah?"

"Ahh, that's a complicated story," she replied and threw her pile of wood onto the sand. "Started with them two being a fish out of water, yeah. Then it became a high speed chase. Then I started taking a liking to Miss Sarah and, well, John B came with her, so, I decided to help them get out." Cleo explained. "I honestly didn't think I'd see either of them again until Mr. Cameron's boat. Guess I gotta think your boyfriend for that."

Dylan cracked a smile. "Yeah?"

"Ah yeah. Nearly beat him to a pulp before I realized what was going on."

"Sounds about right," she giggled and stood to her feet. "Ready to haul these back?"

"Guess we don't really got a choice," Cleo declared and they picked up the tied piles of wood. "So, Pope tells me you're pretty smart.

Dylan looked at her with a grin. "Yeah?"

She nodded. "Yup. He says it in a more dreamy, twinkly-eyed sorta way, but, yep. He told me all about that pretty brain of yours."

Dylan felt her insides warm up at the words. "Aww," she said to herself, smiling bigger. "Yeah, I'm pretty smart. It's probably one of my best qualities."

Cleo nodded her head. "It's a good quality to have. I guess I can count on you and the smart boyfriend to one day get us off this island?" She guessed.

"Maybe," she answered with a chuckle. "If not us, maybe something better. Like an airplane. . .or a submarine."

Cleo laughed. "Ehhh, doesn't seem like we're the luckiest of bunches for that to happen."

They two of them laughed.

The sun had startled to settle that night which Dylan had grown thankful for, seeing as her skin was burnt red. She rubbed a stick against one of the wooden planks she gathered with Cleo to make a fire while JJ and John B carried over the fish. "Bon Appetite, mademoiselle." The blonde spoke with a horrible French accent.

Dylan breathed out a laugh through her nose. "You know I'm not French, right?" She asked rhetorically and sparks started to come from the stick and wood.

"Yeah, that sucks. French girls are sexy."

"At least we know he can accurately speak the language," said John B and this time, Dylan laughed out loud.

JJ sarcastically mocked them. "Ha ha, very funny."

"What funny?" Pope questioned and the rest of the group came over to the now fully lit fire.

"JJ doesn't think I'm sexy because I'm not French."

JJ's jaw dropped while John B brushed out laughing. "I didn't say that!"

"I think you're very sexy, DJ," said Sarah and she smirked.

"I second that!" Kiara agreed and the two of them sat on the sand.

"I gotta agree," said Pope and he sat with Dylan in front of the fire. He instinctively wrapped his arm around her.

JJ scoffed. "Oh come on, like anyone's gonna disagree that Dylan's sexy." He and John B started hanging the fish above the fire.

"He's not wrong."

Dylan's face went red. "Jesus, I've never heard my name and sexy so much in the same sentence." She laughed.

"Your parents did good, DJ." JJ winked at her.

They all groaned. "Gross, JJ," said Kiara with a scrunched up face.

"Dude, really?" Pope scoffed.

He threw up his hands. "What?"

Dylan only chuckled. She leaned into Pope and brushed her hand along his arm. "Cleo and I were talking earlier," she spoke to him quietly so only they could hear each other.

Pope turned his head to look at her. "Oh yeah?"

She hummed. "She told me some things. Like you calling me smart," she told him with a growing smile.

His dark eyes grew wide a little. "Oh that?" He used his other hand to scratch behind his head, and he chuckled a little. "Yeah, yeah, that might have came out."

"Pretty brain, she said actually," Dylan continue, making him laugh.

"Well, she's not wrong."

"She also said you talk with a dreamy, twinkly-eyed look," she added in, messing with him at that point.

Pope rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. I'm in love with you. It's not really a secret."

Dylan giggled. "Well, you wanna know how I know I'm start?"

He hummed and tightened his arm around her. "Tell me."

"I'm start because I've always known it's you I'd end up with," she declared, her own eyes becoming twinkly.

Pope felt his lips twitch into a smile. He scratched the back of his head again. "Well," he spoke and looked at her again like she was heaven sent, "I guess that's another thing we have in common."

Dylan's gaze lifted to a blissful expression and she smiled again. She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek, her nose pressed to his cheek and she felt him smile.

"It's been almost a month since we've been on this island. I'm starting to give you hope that someone is coming to rescue us, or that there's somebody looking for us at all. I never thought this is how my life was going to turn out. I should be in school, working on college applications, figuring out the next step in my life. But instead I'm here on this island, eating fish for the 20th time, growing more sunburnt by the day, she missing my family. But then I remember I have another family. I have the Pogues. I have Pope. I have a new friend. I have an entire ocean next to me. Whatever happens to me, whatever my fate is, as long as I'm surrounded by what I have now, I would say it's a pretty good way to go."