THANK GOODNESS for summer because that's exactly what Raven needed to find her sanity.

But that summer hadn't revealed anything new to the girl.

That was she told herself anyway.

Raven sighed as she stepped out of the and onto the dock, she took a deep breath, feeling both excited and nervous. She hadn't hated the boat as much as she would've thought.

If she had, she might've not returned for her next school year.

She threw her backpack over her shoulder and made her way towards the deck of the boat.

And to no surprise, Zack Martin was awaiting her arrival.

To Raven, Zack had appeared out of nowhere, as he always did it seemed and a sly smile was placed on his face.

"Well, well, well, look who decided to grace us with her presence." He said, his voice noticeably deeper than before.

"And look who decided to disgrace us with his." Raven rolled her eyes, but a small smile tugged at the corner of her lips, "Don't act like you weren't counting down the days until I returned." She retorted.

Zack raised an eyebrow, intrigued by her response. This was new for the both of them, but he didn't know that Raven had discovered her feelings over the summer.

"Oh, you know me too well, St. James." He smirked, "So, how was your summer? Maybe you finally realized how irresistible I am."

Raven laughed, shaking her head. "You wish, Martin. But who knows? Maybe you'll surprise me this year." She replied.

Zack's grin widened, "I knew it," He said, leaning in closer, "You can't resist me."

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Zack."

Raven soon heard her name being called and saw her bunk mate, Cassie, calling out and waving towards her.

The duo turned and the both waved at the girl.

"Well." Raven sighed, "See you around."

Zack watched as Raven walked away. This new Raven was fun. She seemed to be more free with her responses with him, not as... mean as before. He really liked that.

Soon, Cassie dragged Raven over by her arm and smiled.

"How was it?" Cassie asked.

"It was normal."

"Come on, you were smiling. Showing your teeth, type of smile. You've never done that with him."

"Is it that serious?" Raven asked.

Cassie nodded, "You can't hide that smile, Raven. You like him."

Raven scoffed, "Okay, maybe I do, but I'm not going to be another girl on his list. So, forget it."

Cassie put a hand on Raven's shoulder, "Maybe he's not as bad as what he use to be. People can change, you know. You did in those two months I see."

Raven shrugged Cassie's shoulder off, "Come on, let's go see our room."

"Don't think those changed in two months."

Raven deeply sighed. A new school year and new feelings wasn't something she'd planned on, but Cassie was right, things do change.

NIGHTFALL SOON peered its head around and every single teen had found themselves waking on the sky deck that night.

First it was London. Cody and Bailey followed, Woody and Zack, and finally, Cassie and Raven.

They all had different reason of being out that late, but that would cost them their lives essentially; because one by one, each teen found themselves entering a life boat.

And with all the commotion, Woody had accidentally bumped into the button that dropped the life boat.

And just like that, seven teenagers were now lost at sea.

And nothing could be worst than seven different teenagers trying to navigate on how to get back on a boat that was sailing further and further away.

They declared they needed a leader and Bailey voted on Cody. They hadn't argued with the girl.

And by literally seconds matters seemed to grow worse and worse. They were out of food because London had throw it over to stop the sharks and they had no water because London decided that they needed to send a message in bottle.

Hours passed and Cody and Bailey began arguing which didn't help.

They had fallen asleep, Cody changed the path of direction, but by dawn they were able to find land, but boat had crash once it hit land.

And because Cody had gone out of his way to prove Bailey wrong with their directions, she'd broken up with him.

What a day to start the new school year.

THE SUN had fully risen that day. The teens laying down in the sand waiting for Bailey's return of what they hoped would be good.

"Hey, guys, I found some edible berries."

The teens quickly stood and grabbed whatever Bailey had brought to them and eat it without caution.

"Okay, now we need to find water." Zack declared.

"Oh, oh, oh!" London exclaimed and rushed towards the shore, "Found it, found it! What do I win?"

"Nothing. I meant water we can drink." Zack said, "The trick is to find the highest point on the island and below it there may be a freshwater stream."

"How do you know that?" Bailey questioned.

"I was the top wilderness scout in my troop." Zack beamed, "I got badges for fishing, knot-tying, and saving someone's life."

"Let's hope you can put those badges to use." Raven said.

"Would you be impressed?"

"No, especially if we die out here."

Cody scoffed, "Mr. Hero here will take care of the water, Bailey will find food and I'll tart roughing out a constitution. We might be here for a long time."

Cody went on his way with Bailey following behind.

"Looks like we're going to have to live off grubs and wild berries for a while." Zack sighed.

He turned his attention towards Raven, "Want to come with me to find some water?"

"I literally have nothing better to do."

She stood from the rock and followed behind Zack into a place of nowhere.

As they walked, the silence between them was deafening, broken only by the sound of leaves crunching under their feet.

Zack finally broke the silence, "You know, I never thought I'd end up on a deserted island with you."

Raven rolled her eyes, "Don't get too excited. It's not like we're stranded in paradise."

"I know," Zack said with a chuckle, "but it's still an adventure, right?"

"Yeah, it's definitely an adventure."

Zack glanced at Raven and noticed the slight hesitation in her voice, "You don't sound too thrilled."

"I'm just trying to stay realistic," Raven replied, "We're stuck here with limited resources and no way to call for help. It's not exactly a situation to be excited about."

Zack nodded, "You have a point, but we have each other. We'll figure it out together."

Raven wouldn't have pictured herself in a situation like this whatsoever and the idea of her being worried was on full display. She had never really shown that side of herself ever and the fact that she was sharing that side of her with Zack was definitely different.

But his words brought some form of comfort because they were true. She wasn't alone.

Raven let out a small sigh of relief, "Thanks, Zack. It's just... this isn't exactly what I had planned for the rest of my life."

Zack smiled, "Yeah, me neither. But hey, we'll have plenty of time to bond over our survival skills."

Raven chuckled, "Yeah, because bonding over being stranded on a deserted island is exactly what I wanted to do with my time."

Zack laughed, "Who knows? Maybe we'll even become best friends by the time we're rescued."

Raven raised an eyebrow, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Zack."

"Hey, you never know." He shrugged, "Stranger things have happened."

The two continued to walk in comfortable silence, the tension between them growing with every step.

The whole "nice girl" act was new to the both of them, but it was nice, she still kept her same energy as she once had when they met, but something new came along with it.

Raven and Zack sonic found hefty bamboo and began to carry it back towards the others.

"Hey, Bailey, nice-looking frame." Zack said.

"Hey, thanks, Zack." She smiled, "Wow, I thought bamboo was heavy. How'd you carry it all?"

"Carting it was easy. Cutting down the tress with my bare hands was tough."

"It's not like he was alone through." Raven grunted and dropped the rest of the bamboo towards the ground.

The group, besides London, were trying figure out how to make life out of what they found. Which was much, just bamboo and grass.

But they eventually saved themselves by making a hot air balloon out of grass and London's clothes which oddly worked.

Cody and Bailey had gotten back together with no shock from the others and they safely made found their way back onto the boat.

From near death experiences to sudden realization of feelings... this could be an interesting start to a brand new year.

— lucy has something to say !!

confession: me and my ai wrote this chapter 😝 can you tell that an ai helped me write this 🤨

anyway: "there are no trees!" london is so funny

bye :))))