The Island

Breakfast is served starting at eight a.m. this weekend, but I’ve been up since six a.m., excited for a full day in the park.

I’m not leaving this island until I’ve ridden everything at least twenty times.

So far, I’ve edited five TikToks ready to post throughout the day, recorded a short vlog, and started making voice notes for my next podcast. I’ve also made notes on the sixteenth-century Gothic era Malcolm is obsessed with and the weapons in his little chest of horrors.

Were they used for torture and murder? I mean, what else would you need a mace for?

There are lists for days in my notebooks, and as long as I take enough footage and pictures, I’ll have content for weeks.

I’m not even tired after being up until one a.m. That might also be because I’ve had two coffees from the Nespresso machine in my room already.

I’m anxious to see Will. I need to know if he was following me to freak me out last night. At the moment, he’s a frenemy. I flit between thinking he fell asleep and being sure that he was outside.

Why, though?

It’s not like we’ve known each other for that long. In my experience, a prank like that is something you save for a good friend. Or a sibling.

Since it’s morning and I don’t need to sneak around, I take the elevator and head to the restaurant. I can smell the food before I even get inside and almost drool.

Everyone besides Will is drinking coffee and helping themselves to an array of colorful food laid out on the table. The room smells like coffee and cinnamon.

Actually, I wouldn’t mind the storm hitting now. I could eat this food all day long.

Kenna has outdone herself again.

“Morning,” I say, taking a seat next to Harper.

She smiles brightly and puts a slice of cantaloupe on her plate. “How cozy are those beds? It was like sleeping on a cloud. What ride are we hitting first?” she asks.

It would seem I’m not the only one making use of the Nespresso pods this morning.

“How many cups of coffee have you had?”

“Oh, I don’t drink coffee, but today I’ve had three.”

Her dark eyes are wide. She’s rebelling against her parents with copious amounts of caffeine. Today her hair is bound in a tight bun on the top of her head and she’s wearing matching sage joggers and a T-shirt.

I’d look like a toddler in that, but she’s flawless.

“Maybe make that the last one for a while. We can start on whatever you want today.”

Liam did ask if I wanted to hang out with him, but I’m not going to ditch Harper.

She rolls her eyes. “James and Ava have already made their own group and we’re not invited.”

After the way they were flirting yesterday, I’m not at all surprised. What I am surprised by is the fact that in her more recent videos, Ava has a boyfriend.

But that’s none of my business.

“Anyone seen Will?” I ask.

“He hasn’t come down yet.”

“I heard him moving about in his room around midnight,” Liam says. “Real loud. I was trying to record. Rude.” He takes a large bite of toast, ripping it like a lion shredding flesh.

Well, there’s my answer. Will wasn’t asleep. He was getting ready to spook me.

He is so dead.

“He’s probably trying on his outfits to get the perfect Saturday look,” James says.

It isn’t funny, but Ava still laughs.

Harper, Liam, and I ignore them. “Looks like it’s us and Will today,” Harper says more to Liam, who’s scowling a little behind his smile. “Is that okay?”

“Yeah, sounds great,” Liam replies. He sounds like it’s anything but great.

Harper grabs another cinnamon roll, determined to make the most of her sugar-fueled weekend. “Whenever Will gets his ass down here. I can’t believe he’s missing these pastries. And the coffee. Have some coffee, Paisley.”

“I will,” I say, laughing at her caffeine buzz.

Will was up right before he was supposed to meet me, according to Liam. I can’t believe he didn’t message me to gloat about scaring me outside.

I would have.

Malcolm, who’s been floating around the lobby and restaurant since I came down, finally sits with us. Camilla closely follows him and puts a cup of coffee and bowl of oatmeal in front of him.

I guess he’s too rich to get his own breakfast.

Despite the money I’m now making, which isn’t billions like Malcolm, my parents would never let my ego inflate that much. They would tease the crap out of me if my head grew by even a millimeter.

Blaine would probably throw things at me.

“Good morning. I hope you’re all rested?” Malcolm’s voice is silky smooth. Dark shadows hang under his eyes, like he didn’t sleep well.

It makes me wonder if he heard or saw me.

When he barely glances in my direction, I figure I’m probably okay.

Ava and James laugh at Malcolm’s question. Did they not sleep well?

Ew, I do not want to know.

“The bed is amazing,” Harper offers. “And huge. I could fit all of my paperbacks lined up on there with me.”

I love this girl.

“How many did you bring with you?” Liam asks.

“Eleven.”

“Eleven!”

She scowls. “What? I don’t always know what I’ll be in the mood for, and I had plenty of room in my suitcase. I’ve been up since five, sitting in the lobby reading.”

I’m half listening to the conversation and half watching the door for Will.

I take a hair tie off my wrist and make a high ponytail. My long, black hair hangs down the middle of my back.

“No one’s seen Will. I thought he would be down here by now.”

“Not yet,” Malcolm replies. “He’s a seventeen-year-old boy. As I recall, we didn’t used to rise so early. Your posts yesterday drove up traffic to the website by three hundred percent. Do eat up, all. We’re getting started in twenty minutes.”

His eyes are glowing with dollar signs.

“Would we leave without Will?” I ask.

Ava scoffs. “As if I’m wasting this weekend waiting around for him.”

How nice.

“Will can join us whenever he likes. The whole day is yours to explore the park and hotel. I recommend the hot beds in the spa after a long day of rides.” Malcolm grins wide at the mention of the spa.

Once I’ve finished eating, I’ll go to Will’s room and knock. He won’t want to miss anything.

I settle on a cinnamon bun and almond croissant with a large coffee since those are the smells that are making me drool most.

Harper grabs a helping of fruit in what feels like a futile attempt to balance good and bad, so I pop a slice of melon onto my plate. It’ll help with the guilt I have for eating only sugar.

“Kenna and her team are the best in the world, as you tasted last night,” Malcolm says.

The jerk chicken yesterday was out of this world.

“She was born in the Caribbean and came to the US with her family when she was three. She learned how to make those during a year studying pastry in France,” Camilla adds as she picks up a croissant.

That must be why they’re so good.

I finish eating fast and put my silverware and napkin on my plate. “I’m going to go wake up Will.”

Malcolm waves a hand. “All right, but be quick. We leave in five!”

He says we leave as if we have to catch a bus to the park. There’s only us on the island, so it’s not like we couldn’t catch up. Reeve and Gibson are going to split between both groups again.

I’d like to come back when the park is fully functioning.

I take the elevator and it’s only when I reach our floor that my stomach drops with unease.

There’s something wrong here. Will was so excited for this weekend. He wouldn’t just sleep in and miss everything. And he didn’t mention feeling sick yesterday.

Liam catches up to me halfway along the corridor. “Hey, are you worried about Will or something?”

I stop. “Well…kind of.”

“Why?”

Can I trust him? I don’t think he’d tell on me. “Okay, you can’t tell anyone this. I mean anyone. Promise me.”

He shrugs, only looking half interested, and holds up one hand. “On my life.”

“Last night Will and I were supposed to sneak into the park. It was his idea. He told me to meet him by the fireplace at midnight but didn’t show. I figured he just fell asleep, but when you said you heard him last night…”

Liam nods once. “Whoa. Okay. You think he ditched you?”

The words sting. I bite my lip and avert my eyes. Will ditched me.

“Yeah, I guess he did.”

Maybe I should just leave him the way he left me last night.

There’s more to this story, like me going out there alone and getting freaked out. I don’t tell Liam that part because he might think I’m a massive baby.

The crime reporter scared of the dark.

Yeah, no. I’m not owning up to that one.

“You really think he just wouldn’t show? It’s not like he’d never see you again,” Liam asks. When did he join team Will?

We start walking again. “I’ve known the guy a day, I get that. He doesn’t seem like he’d do that, but I guess…he did.”

Liam shrugs. “Will’s decent. It was late and we’d had a long day. He probably fell asleep.”

That’s what I hope.

I’m not going to admit this to Liam, but it wouldn’t be the first time someone has ditched me. My best friends in junior high did the same thing. One day we were meeting outside the cafeteria to go in for lunch and the next they went in without me.

They never said one word to me again.

It still hurts, as much as I pretend it doesn’t.

I hope Will’s different.

Liam knocks on Will’s door, and we wait.

For a second at least, and then Liam gets impatient. “Open up, Will! Come on, we’ve gotta roll.”

I knock too. “Will, it’s Paisley. Are you okay?”

I press my ear to the door, but I’m met with silence on the other end.

“Could he really be sleeping in?” I ask.

“A seventeen-year-old guy?” Liam asks with a hint of sarcasm. “Like Malcolm said, yeah, he really could be.”

“Yes, but here? And you and James managed to get up fine.”

Liam knocks again. “I never sleep for long.”

“That sounds awful.”

“I’m used to it. I get a lot more done. My coach loves the extra training I can get in before sunrise.”

I knew he played sports.

“How much sleep do you get?”

“Six hours if I’m lucky. Usually five. I’m used to it now. My mom wouldn’t survive with anything less than eight.”

“Is it just you two?”

He does a double take, and I’m sure I’ve put my foot in it.

“I’m sorry. That was a pretty invasive question.”

His dad might have died. I’m such an idiot.

“No, it’s okay. It’s only ever been us. My grandparents are selfish assholes, and my uncle has his own life. My mom’s done everything for me. What about you?”

“My parents are together, have been since they were in college. I have an older brother. He’s at Princeton.”

I can never say that without sounding like I’m gloating. I’m not. I’m just so proud of him and hoping Ivy League genes run in the family.

“Wow. Princeton.”

“He’s annoying as hell but he’s also my best friend. That probably sounds lame.”

He shakes his head. “It doesn’t.”

We smile at each other. Him casually, me like an absolute fool.

I should come with a warning.

Liam nods toward Will’s door. “He’s going to be pissed at us if we wake him. We’ve got the next two days here, so he’s not going to miss anything. Let’s come back in an hour if his lazy ass still hasn’t surfaced.”

I bite my lip, not loving that idea but not really able to do much else. When people—my mom—wake me up, I want to scream. “Okay.”

If he was running around scaring me last night, then he likely didn’t get much sleep either. He’s been quite vocal about getting his eight hours in. Something to do with his skin care.

“Come on.” Liam nudges me and laughs. “Race you to the lobby.”

Are we seven? “Race you?”

Liam bolts. It takes me a second to make up my mind. I’m on the track team at school. I catch up to him quickly and he shouts “Hey!” as I dash past.

Will is momentarily forgotten.