Never Ever (16 page)

“I know I'm the new girl on the island,” Wylie said. “And I realize I haven't had a chance to get to know all of you, but I do know something we all have in common. Even you, Tinka.”

Some of the girls snickered at Tinka as she raised one eyebrow.

“What could we possibly have in common?” Tinka asked. It seemed that without Micah around, she forgot to be nice to Wylie.

“We all hate being treated like fragile creatures who need to hide away in the basement the second something goes wrong. The guys think we're arthritic, but we're not.”

“Obviously.” Tinka relented. “None of us likes being treated like we're weak and useless. What's your point?”

“My point is we don't have to agree to go along with it.”

“I second that,” Lola added. “We have every right to be on the front lines like the guys.”

Some girls nodded their heads in agreement, while a few retreated to the back of the dining room.

“We're as strong as they are,” Wylie continued. “And we don't need boys to protect us from everything. I'd like to play a part in changing the way we're treated, and I invite you to join me.”

Wylie opened a small box filled with metal brackets. She placed a wooden slab over the entrance to the basement and hammered a nail into it. Some of the girls gasped in
response, others cheered, and a small faction hustled out of the room.

“Is Phinn okay with this?” Bailey asked.

“Don't worry about Phinn,” Wylie said. “Now, I could use a little help here.”

The girls edged toward the stage with their hammers and nails. Wylie assumed there'd be some reluctance, but she didn't expect they'd be practically terrified to join in. Nadia nervously glanced toward the entrance of the dining room and then handed her tools back to Lola.

“Sorry, guys,” she said as she walked out. “I can't do this.”

“I can,” Tinka announced. She was the first to join Wylie onstage and hammer a nail into the slab. Lola joined them next. After a few minutes, no one could hear each other talking over the sound of the pounding. They hammered away and cheered each other on until the floorboards that opened up to the basement were nearly sealed shut.

“What's going on in here?” Phinn's voice bellowed through the dining room, loud enough to cut through the hammering. The girls instantly dropped their tools.

“Busted . . .” Tinka said under her breath.

“What does it look like?” Wylie turned, answering Phinn with a smile as he approached. Maz, Bandit, and Joshua trailed behind him. “We're closing up the basement. The girls and I don't want to hide down there anymore.”

“I never approved this,” Phinn replied. His tone was so serious that Wylie stumbled over her response.

“It wasn't, um, it wasn't up for debate.”

“This was your idea, Wylie?” Phinn asked.

“Don't be mad at her,” Lola quickly jumped in. “It's my fault. I'm the one who told her it was a good idea. We should have talked to you about it.”

“We're so sorry, Phinn,” Bailey explained. “We'll take out all the nails right now.”

“Like hell we will,” Wylie said. “Last night was terrifying. We're not going to stand back and let you guys fight our battles.”

“That's not up to you. I make those decisions.” Phinn was addressing her like a child and yet Wylie could tell he was struggling not to completely blow up at her.

“My mistake,” Wylie replied. “I didn't realize we were living under the rule of a dictator.”

Joshua gave Wylie a look that said “Please shut up,” but she just glared back at him. If there was one person in the room she expected to defend her, it was her own brother.

“Can you all give me and Wylie some alone time?” Phinn phrased the question less like a request and more like an order. The girls quickly made their way out of the room. Tinka brushed close to Wylie.

“Just because he gave you his mom's necklace doesn't mean he'll do what you want,” she whispered as she followed the rest of the girls out of the room.

Phinn's expression was cold and aloof as he approached her. What happened to the guy who'd covered her with kisses that morning?

“Don't ever talk to me like that in front of anyone again,”
Phinn snapped. “You did it last night and I gave you a pass, but now you're making a habit out of it.”

“This isn't about you, Phinn. This is about the girls on the island. I don't agree with the way we're being treated. We have every right to stand up for ourselves. You don't have to be such an elder about it.”

“I can't give you special treatment because you're my girlfriend. Lola should have told you this was a bad idea. I don't know what she's trying to prove—”

“She's not trying to prove anything,” Wylie said, cutting him off. “Let's just start over. The girls and I don't want to hide in the basement anymore. Can we have your approval on that?”

“No. I don't know how much more clearly I can spell this out for you, Wylie. Hopper's dangerous. It's safer to keep you girls hidden.”

“It doesn't feel safe down there.”

“Wylie, enough!” Phinn yelled. “I've lost a lot of people in my life. I won't lose you! End of story!”

Phinn left without so much as a hug or a handshake. Once he was gone, Wylie tried to take out the nails, but her hands were shaking. She didn't mean to upset Phinn, and she didn't want the other girls to think she believed she deserved special treatment from him.
This is what happens when you get political,
Wylie thought.
You just end up ruffling feathers and pissing people off.

“Trouble in paradise?” Tinka walked back into the dining room and handed Wylie her hammer.

“Phinn was right. It was a bad idea,” Wylie replied.

Tinka shook her head. “For a second there, I thought Phinn liked you because you were different, but you're not. You're just like every other girl he's dated . . . doing everything he wants.”

“I made a mistake. I'm fixing it. That's all.”

“Right. Just sweep all your problems under the rug.”

“That's not what I'm doing!” Wylie retorted sharply.

“Careful. The more you tell yourself that, the more you'll start to believe it.”

disappearing act

a
rough
patch. That's what Vanessa always said when her relationship of the moment was headed for disaster. Wylie, dubious, would nod in agreement, even though she knew a breakup was imminent and she'd have to drop everything to cheer up her best friend once again. And now here she was in the throes of her very own rough patch, and Vanessa wasn't at the ready to make her feel better.

It had been six agonizing days of kill-me-now awkwardness between her and Phinn. They continued to kiss and hold hands when they were together, but something felt
different.
The kisses were shorter and his hands didn't hold on to her quite as tightly anymore. Phinn had thanked her for pulling every last nail out of the floorboards, but Wylie couldn't shake the feeling that he still expected her to grovel for forgiveness.

“He's busy. Don't take it so personally,” Lola said, trying to comfort her.

“He was busy before and he didn't act like this. Next time I come up with an idea so stupid, will you just slap me repeatedly until I get over it?”

“It wasn't a stupid idea.”

Wylie and Lola had spent the better part of the morning planting seeds and watering the vegetables in the garden. Access was limited to only a few locals, so it was always quiet and peaceful. Even the chickens seemed to be shrieking less. Maybe Wylie's nonstop chatter about Phinn had put them straight to sleep.

To be fair, Phinn
was
busier than usual. He had called together a group of residents to form an unofficial army. They would use all five of the island's sailboats and spread out over the ocean in search of Hopper. Since they would all technically be aging as they sailed in the waters off the island, they would have to do it in brief shifts. Wylie noted that none of the girls had been asked to volunteer, but if anyone was opposed to Phinn's plan, they kept their concerns to themselves.

Wylie couldn't decide what was more upsetting—the events of prom, or Phinn's icing her out. Never in her life had she lost sleep over a guy, but for the past week, all her fears about Phinn kept her mind racing. It didn't help that the sudden awkwardness had started right after they'd slept together for the first time.

“Maybe I was just really bad in bed,” Wylie blurted.

“I didn't want to tell you, but that's actually the word on the street,” Lola said sarcastically. “I can't go anywhere without hearing everyone say ‘Wylie Dalton has no idea what she's doing in the bedroom.' You're probably never going to have sex again.”

Wylie splashed Lola with water playfully. “That's just evil.”

“More evil than spending the entire day talking about Phinn when you promised you'd teach me more about Austin, Texas? Maybe I should revoke your kitchen privileges.”

“You wouldn't dare!” Wylie said.

“Try me. Now, where did we leave off? You said Austin was a liberal city, even though Texas was a red state. I can't remember what any of that means. How many colors do states come in?”

But Wylie couldn't get into a lengthy political discussion. She had become a girl possessed.

“Are you sure Phinn's never exiled an ex-girlfriend?” Wylie asked as she walked into the coop to collect eggs.

“I'm positive.”

“Ugh. I'm sorry. I can barely stand myself right now. Thanks for listening to me. I don't know what I would do without you,” Wylie admitted. “Tonight we'll talk about nothing but Texas. And as a token of my love and affection, I'll take care of dinner. You go spend the day with Maz.”

“Now
that's
the spirit!” Lola replied, never one to turn down time off from the kitchen. “What's on the menu, Chef Wylie?”

“One of my favorite family recipes. A hearty stew of pickled turnips, a handful of basil, fried eggplant, and a big spoonful of honey to balance the sour ingredients. It's called Sweet Honey Stew. My dad taught me how to make it.”

Lola's smile faded. Wylie walked out of the coop with a basket full of eggs.

“I know it sounds gross, but I swear, everyone will be like, ‘Please sir, I want some more.'” Wylie said it with a British accent, mimicking the famous line from
Oliver!,
but the reference was lost on Lola.

“I'm sure it's delicious,” Lola replied, “but we're low on turnips, and a few people are allergic to eggplant. How about that seafood stew I taught you a few weeks ago?”

“Sure. No problem,” Wylie said, trying not to sound disappointed. She had thought of Sweet Honey Stew because she was feeling a little homesick, but the familiar taste would have probably left her in a sadder state of affairs.

“I'm gonna go find Maz,” Lola said. “Thanks for making dinner. And try not to obsess over Phinn. No guy is worth driving yourself crazy over.”

It took nearly three hours to water the rest of the plants, pull all the weeds from the garden, and prep the seafood stew, but Wylie stayed focused and barely thought about Phinn. Once all her tasks were completed, she grabbed a basket from the kitchen and stocked it with plantain and pame butter sandwiches, along with a jug of lemon sugar root juice filled with sprigs of rosemary.

She passed through the Clearing and watched as residents took turns jumping off the waterfall. Tinka and Micah were also there, painting still lifes from the lagoon, but there was no sign of Phinn. She knocked on his bungalow door, but he wasn't there either. She finally found him in the clinic, where Aldo was bandaging his hand.

“Are you okay?” she asked as she walked in.

“I'll be fine. Just a little cut from a loose nail on one of the sailboats,” Phinn replied.

“Have you had time to eat lunch? I brought food.”

“You must have heard my stomach growling all the way from the dining room.”

“It
is
freakishly loud,” Wylie joked. “I thought maybe we could go to the beach.”

They took the same trail they'd walked the first day Phinn had brought Wylie to the island. As they made the trek toward the dock and the ocean, past the yellow ladybugs and the stalks of bamboo, Wylie thought of the girl who had entered the island not too long before, all suspicious and confrontational. Phinn must have found her attitude amusing, knowing in just a day she'd happily agree to stay forever. So much had changed in such a short time.

“Are you going to dump me?” Wylie asked point-blank as they laid a blanket out on the sand and opened the picnic basket.

“No, I've just been distracted.”

“There's this word we have on the mainland: ‘bullshit.' Maybe you've heard of it? It's what you say when someone's not telling you how they really feel.”

Phinn silently contemplated his next move, then spoke up. “Fair enough. I'm still mad about our fight.”

Wylie nodded. “I appreciate your honesty. But I've already apologized. I don't know what else I can do.”

“And I forgive you. It's just hard to forget when your girlfriend calls you a dictator.”

Wylie cringed. “I didn't mean it. All the girls were
finally starting to warm up to me and I felt humiliated in front of them.”

Phinn sighed.

“I hate fighting,” Wylie continued. “It reminds me of my parents.”

“Look, Wylie, relationships aren't perfect. Sometimes we're going to fight. It doesn't mean we're turning into your parents.”

“Famous last words,” Wylie mumbled.

Phinn took a long chug of the lemon sugar root juice, then wiped his mouth and raised the jug to Wylie. He pointed to the remaining liquid.

“Half full. That's the way I try to see the world,” he said.

“Wow. You just blew my mind,” Wylie deadpanned.

Phinn smiled sheepishly. “My point is, it's all about perspective.”

“Right, except the stakes in this relationship are a lot higher for me than they are for you,” Wylie said, turning serious. “Your life hasn't changed much since I came here. My life has changed completely. Yeah, I stayed here because I wanted to be seventeen forever, but I also stayed here for you. My mom did the same thing for my dad. She gave up all her dreams so she could be with him. She ended up miserable, and he ended up leaving her for another woman.”

“I didn't know that.”

“It's a topic I prefer to avoid. So, I
can't
end up like them. I
can't
look at you in ten years and see the losses. I have to see everything I've gained by being here.”

“You will.”

“Then don't pull away from me every time we don't see eye to eye. You can't punish me if this is going to work.”

She wasn't sure how well Phinn would handle her honesty, but if she wasn't truthful with him, she'd be planting the first seed of resentment in the pit of her stomach.

“I screwed up. It won't happen again,” Phinn confessed. “I love you.”

Wylie felt the knot in her belly loosen as her appetite finally returned after its weeklong absence. Now they could simply enjoy each other's company.

“I love you, too.”

Wylie took a big bite of the plantain and pame butter sandwich. If she could sell them on a food truck back home, she'd make a quick million.

“When does Operation Hopper get under way?” she asked.

“In a few days, hopefully. We're not ready quite yet.”

The sun was hotter than normal today. Wylie felt her skin heat up and knew she'd get a nasty sunburn if she wasn't careful. The waves of the ocean crashed against the sand, and the cool, foamy water stopped short at her bare feet.

“It's hot,” Wylie said as sweat began to drip down her forehead. “Let's go for a swim in the ocean.”

“We can't,” Phinn replied. “Being off the periphery of the island makes us age—that's why we save all our swimming for the lagoon.”

“Come on!” Wylie said. “Just ten minutes.”

“It's against the rules.”

“But
you
make the rules. You can choose to break them.
No one's around. Everyone's been too scared to come out here since the explosion on prom night. We'll have complete privacy.”

“I don't know.”

“We'll have to strip to our underwear,” Wylie said flirtatiously.

“I can't.”

“Do I have to get down on my hands and knees to beg? Because I'll do it.”

Phinn dug his fingers into the sand, then said under his breath, “I don't know how to . . . swim.”

“Are you serious?”

“My parents died before they got a chance to show me how. The lagoon is shallow enough that it doesn't matter, but I'll drown in the ocean.”

“Not if I teach you to swim. You'll be safe with me. There's just one rule to remember: never turn your back on the ocean.”

Wylie pulled off her shirt and pants, keeping only her bra and underwear on. Phinn stripped down to his boxers, and they linked arms as they walked toward the water. In the time they'd known each other, Wylie had never witnessed Phinn's confidence wavering. He was always self-assured and cocky, even arrogant at times. But as they stepped knee-deep into the water, she could almost hear his heart beating out of his chest. A wave crashed against them, knocking them off-balance.

“I've got you. Don't worry,” Wylie told him.

“I don't want to go out much further. My feet won't reach the ground.”

“You're tall. You'll be fine. Don't you trust me?”

Until now, Wylie thought the question of trust was an issue only for her. She had to decide if Phinn could be trusted after the way he'd brought her to the island and his decision not to tell her about the lost kids. It had never occurred to her that he had to learn to trust her, too.

“Phinn, do you trust me?” she asked again.

“I don't know,” he answered.

“Well, right now, you're going to have to,” Wylie responded.

They waded into the ocean until the water reached their chests and the waves grew still.

“It's a lot like flying,” Wylie explained. “Only you're in the water.”

Wylie flipped onto her back and let her arms and legs splay out as she floated on the surface of the ocean. The clouds rolled in, shielding them from the relentless heat of the sun. They looked almost gray and ominous and Wylie wondered if it was going to rain for the first time since she'd come here.

“You try it now. Just float on your back the same way you would in the air.”

“I'll sink.”

“No, you won't.” Wylie maneuvered back to her feet, placed her hand on Phinn's back, and held him as he floated faceup.

“Now put your hands out,” Wylie instructed.

“Don't let go,” Phinn begged.

“You're doing great. A few more lessons and we'll have you swimming in no time.”

She knew if she let go, Phinn would float on his own, and he'd leave the water feeling proud and giddy. But he'd asked her not to, and she didn't want to betray his trust. If keeping her hands propped under him made him feel safe, then that's where she'd leave them. Phinn closed his eyes and Wylie let herself count the freckles scattered across his nose.