"Delicious. I'm gonna have some more. Come with me, Andy." he said, pulling Andy with him back to the trees for more mud. The rest of the group moved on, not really wanting to try mud today.

Ray, Gerard, Frank, Mikey, and Dallon just stood in silence for a good sixty seconds. They all looked at each other, at the wrappers on the sand, at the woods where Joe and Andy went, and at the few drops of mud on the ground. They didn't believe what just happened. Not only did they believe the lamest excuse ever that Ray made up, but Joe actually went and got mud, ate it, and enjoyed it. And went back for seconds with Andy. How could someone be so gullible? Or so stupid? It shocked them.

"Did... Did he really just..." Frank tried his hardest to form a proper sentence but failed. There was nothing he could say.

"Let's all just pretend that never happened okay?" Gerard suggested.

"Fine with me." Dallon said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few hours later
~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was dark. And freezing cold. And wet. The rain still hadn't let up. All eleven people sat crammed together around a tiny fire they had rebuilt. It was under a small tree in the woods, the leaves protected the tiny flames from the raindrops. They put their blood, sweat, and tears into that fire and nothing was going to destroy it now.

Sweat was obviously put in because of the hard physical work it took to make the fire. They knocked some small trees down to make the wood and then had to round up as much kindling as they could find. It took forever, especially because it got darker by the minute after the sun set, and nobody had any energy.

Several tears were also put in. Joe cried the most but that was to be expected. Pete had a screaming fit and produced many tears there. Mikey also had a brief crying meltdown that he was certainly not proud of. Even Gerard lost hope at one point.

Frank was the one who contributed the blood portion of "blood, sweat, and tears." He was helping haul a small tree with Mikey. It was definitely not a two person tree. There should have been at least four people hauling it back to the fire. But of course, the duo were stupid enough to think they could carry it themselves. Both boys stood on the left side of the tree and pulled it up over their right shoulders. Mikey was in the front and thought it was absolutely hilarious to suddenly stop walking, causing Frank to lose his balance and struggle to hold the tree. He did it way too many times and eventually, Frank fell completely and his arm got crushed under the tree. The bark scratched his arm badly and he bled all down his arm to his hand. To get back at Mikey he left a bloody hand print on the back of his white shirt.

Now they sat next to each other around the measly fire, trying hard to retain any left over body heat.

"This is the hardest part we'll have to endure. As soon as we make it through this cold, rainy night, we will have the house Billie Joe, our lord and savior, promised. Then we can be comfy and safe." Gerard said through chattering teeth.

"Yeah but we have no idea how difficult the challenges will be." Ryan said.

"Oh true." Gerard said, frowning.

"Wow, Ryan. Way to kill the mood." Brendon said.

"How come it's so cold on an island with freaking palm trees?" Andy asked, shivering. "Don't all islands with palm trees have warm climates? Where even are we?"

"Who knows. Probably some other universe that we'll never make it out of." Gerard said.

"How about we get our mind off of the situation. Let's tell ghost stories. This is the perfect setting, right? It's literally a dark and stormy night. And we're all alone out here." Dallon said.

"Alright, good idea. Does anyone have any?' Mikey asked.

"Oh! Oh! I do!" Brendon said.

He rubbed his palms together, smirking. "One day I was at home. It was just me and I was-"

"Oh wow. It's about you. Your freaking ghost story has you in it. Main character. Star of the show. One man band. Wow, Brendon. Everything is about you." Ryan said.

Brendon's eyebrows furrowed together. His smile faded and he felt genuinely confused. "Well, who else would they be about, I'm the coolest person out there."

"Never mind! Just finish the story!"

"Anyway, I was alone in my house. I opened the fridge. AND THERE WAS NO BEER!"

Nobody said anything. It was one of the most awkwardest silences ever to exist.

Brendon shifted uncomfortably and cleared his throat. "The end."

More silence. So silent, crickets would have been chirping had there been any crickets on the island.

"OKAY. Moving on. Who else has a real scary story?" Ryan announced loudly, trying to rid the awkwardness.

"I have one." Gerard offered before he began his story. "Long ago."

Joe gasped, clinging to Patrick in fear.

"Just like the hearse. You die to get in again. We are so far from you. Burning on just like a match you strike to incinerate. The lives of everyone you know... and then everyone died. The end." Gerard finished, beaming with pride.

It was quiet for a moment or two while the ending set in. And suddenly, a loud burst of applause was heard. Everyone struggled to stand up all at once, their clapping and cheering becoming louder. He received a standing ovation. Well not from Joe who stayed in a clump on the ground bawling in fear.

"Amazing!"

"So well said!"

"That sent chills down my spine!"

"I was on edge the whole time!"

"Three cheers for a sweet story!"

Soon enough, they sat back down. Dallon agreed to tell his own story. He explained how it wasn't horror, it was a very sad story.

"One day, I was at the zoo. I walked around and looked at many different interesting animals. But I noticed something. Everywhere I went, people ran away from me, screaming in fear." Dallon paused, wiping away a stray tear from his cheek. "It wasn't until I heard a little girl yell out 'look! A giraffe has escaped!' that I knew what happened. They all thought I was a zoo attraction."

He stopped talking, allowing the audience to sigh simultaneously. Frank wiped his running nose. Patrick rubbing a sobbing Joe's back. Pete cried into Patrick's fedora.

"The zookeeper came up to me with a massive butterfly net. Seriously, this thing was giant. She grabbed me and stuffed me in the cage. I lived with giraffes for seven months until I chose to break out. Fortunately, I wasn't alone. A distant cousin of mine, Filippo, is a giraffe and we were reunited. I am 75% giraffe by the way. Anyway the moral of the story is, don't go to zoos."

Dallon bowed. Barely anyone clapped, they were all too busy crying their eyes out from the sadness of the story. It truly was devastating. Twenty minutes later, everyone had calmed down they all decided it was best to move on from stories, it brought out the worst in everyone.

"How about we play a game?" Brendon asked.

"Like pin the tail on Ray's afro!" Frank yelled out. "Or Joe's!"

"Nah, remember what happened last time we played that, Frank?" Gerard asked. "Mikey stabbed Ray in the back of the neck so badly he needed three stitches."

"Yeah! And they had to to shave part of my afro to get the stitches there! It was terrible!" Ray chimed in. "Mikey don't think I have forgiven you for that yet. Because I have not."

"It was an accident!" Mikey yelled out. "I was blindfolded, remember!"

"But you didn't have to stick the needle in my neck so... forcefully!" Ray exclaimed.

"Okay never mind. I forgot about that incident. What else can we play?" Frank asked.

"How about truth or dare?" Ryan suggested.

"Hmm, sounds good to me!" Andy said.

"How do you play?" Patrick asked.

It got quiet.

"What?" Pete asked.

"How do you play truth or dare?" He repeated.

"Patrick, you've never played truth or dare?" Pete asked, stunned.

"Uhh..."

"What did you do all through high school?" Pete asked.

"Um, study, and um, I played guitar a lot. And I liked video games, well I uh, still do now, an-"

"Okay whatever so basically someone will ask you 'truth or dare'. And you'll pick one." Pete explained.

"Okay and then what?"

"You'll see. You'll see. Alright. I will go first." Pete said, before scanning the circle of people. He looked from person to person and his eyes stopped on Mikey. He observed him for a moment. Gorgeous eyes, floppy hair, awkward knees, the kid had everything Pete found attractive.

"Truth or dare?" Pete asked, keeping strong eye contact with him.

"Um... Truth." He said, nervously, staring into Pete's eyes, blushing a bit.

"Mikey Way. Who do you like?" Pete said, smirking.

Mikey paused for a moment, thinking deeply. He suddenly found an answer and shot his head up with a smile. "Arts and crafts! I love arts and crafts. I love building things, uh, putting things together. Furniture and stuff. I like decorating my home."

Patrick, sensing a strange connection between Pete and Mikey, interrupted Mikey, "Okay! I think that's enough there." He felt oddly... jealous.

"Wow that was... something special. Okay Mikey, now you pick somebody." Ray said.

"Uhhhh.. Pete!" Mikey exclaimed.

"Mikey, Pete just went. He picked you." Ray said.

"Well I technically didn't go. I just picked someone." Pete said.

"Okay then. Pete, truth or dare?"

"Um. I guess truth too." Pete said, nervously.

"What's one thing you've always wanted to do but have been too shy to admit?" Mikey asked, grinning.

Pete froze up. He couldn't tell them. No way. They'd all just laugh and judge him. But this was truth or dare. A big deal. He couldn't just lie. Lying in truth or dare was practically a crime! Pete sat, contemplating his options.

After a good minute of mentally debating. Pete came to a conclusion.

He was going to tell one of his biggest secrets.