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  Emily gave him a look of disgust. “What is your problem, Mark? Why do you always have to be so nasty? David’s done nothing but help our group. What have you done except for make snide comments and glower at everyone? Seriously, get over yourself!” she fired back at him.

  He snarled at her, “You little…” but Mason jumped in before he could finish the sentence.

  “Man, chill out! Lay off a bit. You have been snarly and you need to remember we’re in this together.”

  Mark just stared at Mason with a flat expression until finally he nodded and muttered, “Together…right.” And he went back to packing.

  There was a tense silence as they went about their work until David came back down the stairs.

  “Hey, good news! Tim says that the lifeboat he has comes with a weather shield. Sort of like a tent so we will have protection from the sun. He said it also has some survival supplies in it already so that will help. He’s going to pack his own bag and will attach them all to the capsule himself. Even if nothing happens, this will help us be ready when we get to shore,” he told everyone and settled down beside Mason to fill his own pack.

  It wasn’t long before they were done and the bags were ready. David took one last look around the cabin and asked, “Is that everything?” His eyes landed on the huge bottle of multivitamins that was on the kitchen counter. He jumped up and grabbed it. He pulled the last of the Ziploc bags out of the now empty box and started to fill them with the pills. He left some in the bottle and handed out the rest. After they were packed away he handed out black garbage bags and everyone dropped their backpacks into them and tied them tightly. Emily finished Lisa’s bag and handed it to Mason. The boys carried all the bags up on deck and Emily went in to see what Lisa was doing.

  Lisa was lying on the bed staring up at the ceiling. “I packed your backpack up and it’s on deck with the others,” Emily told her curtly.

  Lisa glanced at her and gave a faint smile. “Thank you, Emily. I’m sorry I didn’t help. I have a huge headache.”

  Emily softened at the apology. “Do you want me to get you a Tylenol?” she asked.

  “Maybe later. I just want to lie down and close my eyes but thanks. Emily - do you think we’ll get home?”

  Emily sighed and lay down next to her. “Yes. It’s going to be brutal once we start going overland but I think we’ll make it if we use our heads. I’m worried about what’s happening at home, though. What about you, are you worried about your family?”

  Lisa didn’t reply for a while. Emily didn’t think she was going to answer when she finally started to speak.

  “I don’t think my mom will be doing very well. She’s, well, let’s just say high maintenance. Appearances mean a lot to her. She’s not going to be very happy with no power or running water. I don’t even know if my dad will be there. He spends a lot of time in the city so he might not have even been there when this all started.” She started to giggle. “Sorry, just trying to picture my mother cooking food over a campfire in the backyard while wearing high heels!”

  Emily laughed. “I’m sure she’ll figure it out.”

  Lisa snorted. “Yeah, or find a big strong man to do it for her!”

  Emily and Lisa stared up at the ceiling and thought about home until they both drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter Nine

  Emily counted the days since her world had changed. Ten days had passed since they had sailed away from the burning city and four days since they had sailed through the cemetery of lifeboats. Tim had said that the lifeboats they had seen were old and out of date, probably coming from some poor country’s frigate. He said that all modern lifeboats came with weather shields and supplies. That didn’t help the sadness Emily felt when she thought of all those dead men dying so far from their homes and families. Sitting out on the deck in the bright sunshine, she glanced at the pile of black garbage bags beside the Lawless’ lifeboat capsule. Tim said they were making great time and he thought it would only be another five or six days until they arrived at the Washington coast.

  She tipped her head back and soaked up the warm sun. They had been lucky with the weather so far but Tim expected rain anytime. Looking over at Lisa, she shook her head at the bikini-wearing girl. She wished they were friends. Emily missed Alex so much and it would have made things easier if she and Lisa were closer. Lisa kept to herself, either sun tanning or lying in bed. She never joined them to play cards or the few board games that were aboard. Mark also kept to himself and seemed to brood more and more as the days passed. Mason helped Tim and seemed to really enjoy all he was learning about sailing. That left Emily and David to play cards, read the few books onboard and study the maps for the journey ahead. Time seemed to crawl and Emily just wanted to get to land and get moving.

  The sun was slowly sinking into the horizon behind them and the breeze had cooled enough that Lisa shivered. She got up and grabbed her towel and headed down into the cabin. Dinner had been a simple dish of pasta with some canned ham in it. With nothing fresh on board, Emily was surprised at how much she craved fresh vegetables. She reminded herself that she was lucky and there were a lot of people who were probably starving right now, but she still thought a nice fresh tossed salad would be worth killing for.

  Well, maybe not quite yet, but maybe not that far in the future either, she thought to herself. With nothing else to do until bedtime, she stayed out on deck watching the waves, thinking about home and trying to guess where Alex and the others were right now.

  When it was too dark to see anything, she got up and stretched her stiff legs. For one moment, she had the wild urge to dive off the side of the boat and swim as hard as she could. This had been the longest she had ever gone without swimming since she had started competing four years ago. Her body ached to move and stretch the way it was used to.

  Mason was at the wheel when she headed towards the stairs and he waved her over to him. When she stepped up beside him, he put his arm around her and pulled her close. They were alone on the deck and Emily realized that this was probably the first time they had been alone together for more than a couple of minutes since it had all began. She still didn’t know how to tell him that she didn’t want to be his girlfriend anymore. It wasn’t that she had hard feelings towards Mason, more that she had lost her feelings for him. What she did know was that she didn’t want to cause any drama while they were stuck on the boat together.

  Mason dipped his head down and started to kiss Emily’s neck causing her to tense up. She tried to move away from him but he tightened his arm around her and held her close.

  “Mason, please stop. This isn’t the time or place for this,” she told him gently.

  He huffed out a breath of frustration. “Then when, Emily, once we are on land? At least here we have a comfy bed. Come on, don’t worry so much. I have condoms. It’ll be fine,” he tried to convince her.

  Emily was about to tell him that they wouldn’t ever be together like that when his condom comment rocked her back. She shoved his arm off of her and turned to him. “Condoms? Where did you get condoms from?”

  With a secretive grin, he told her, “I grabbed some at that convenience store we first stopped at. I wanted to be prepared.” He leaned in to try to kiss her again. She shoved him back and shook her head at him in disbelief.

  “Are you telling me that after all we had seen that morning, all the death and destruction, all you really cared about was making sure you could get laid?!” Shaking her head at him, she backed away towards the stairs. “What is wrong with you?” Before he could reply, she thumped down the stairs and headed into the bedroom, passing Lisa who was sitting at the dinette painting her nails.

  Lisa’s eyes followed Emily to the bedroom and watched her shut the door. She glanced at Tim who was snoring on the couch and then looked towards the stairs. She finished her nails and waited a few minutes for them to dry, then quietly got up and went up the stairs.

  Emily had thrown herself onto the bed and stared moodily up
at the ceiling. She wasn’t even mad at Mason. He was who he was and she had known that when she first started tutoring him. She was the one who had thought there was more to him. God, she felt like such an idiot. Did she really think that they had anything in common? She slammed her fists down onto the bed in self-reproach. All the time she spent with him and his jerk friends, the damage she had done to her and Alex’s friendship and being stuck on this boat with them was all her fault.

  After a few more minutes of mentally yelling at herself, she sat up and took a deep breath. She wasn’t going to hide in this room. She was going to go and tell Mason how she felt and hope he didn’t take it too badly. She got up and left the bedroom. Tim’s soft snores drew her eyes to him, and she stopped briefly to throw a blanket over him. This distracted her enough that she didn’t even stop to wonder where Lisa had gone. Standing at the bottom of the stairs, she took a deep fortifying breath and hoped Mason didn’t flip out.

  The sun was all the way down and it was dark on deck as she came up the stairs. She could just make out Mason’s outline behind the wheel. Leaving the stairs and moving to the side let enough light from the cabin shine through the opening so she could clearly see that he wasn’t alone. Mason and Lisa were lip locked and he had his hand up her shirt. Emily’s mouth dropped open at the shocking sight. She had to stifle a laugh when the first thought that popped into her head was, Thank God! and she must have made a noise because Mason lifted his head and looked towards her. His eyes got huge at the sight of Emily standing there and he quickly removed his hand from Lisa’s shirt and shoved her away from him.

  “Emily! Emily, it’s not what you think. I can explain!” he pleaded.

  Emily had to try hard not to smile when she glanced at Lisa and saw her rubbing her bruised butt from where she had fallen and the scowl that she was directing at Mason.

  “No, no, it’s okay. Really! Carry on. Sorry to interrupt!”

  She turned around and fled back down the stairs with her hand covering her mouth so she wouldn’t burst out laughing. Emily took a few steps towards her room and stopped. She knew that Mason couldn’t come after her because he had to stay on deck while Tim was asleep, but - she also had no desire to talk to Lisa who would be returning to their room at some point. So instead of going to the main bedroom, she went to David’s room and knocked softly on his door.

  David opened the door quickly but it was clear to Emily that he had been sleeping. His soft brown hair was rumpled and his eyes were blurry with sleep and confusion.

  “Em…what’s wrong?”

  “Can I come in? I just need to lie low tonight.”

  David nodded and backed up so she could squeeze past him in the small and narrow room. The two bedrooms in the front of the boat followed the contour of the hull, making the rooms wide at the entrance and narrowing towards the bow. The beds mimicked the room, being wide near the door where the pillows were and narrowing towards the feet.

  Emily pushed into the room and settled onto the unmade bed. David shut the door and turned to her with a question on his face. She had to cover her mouth to contain the laughter that wanted to spill out. David settled down beside her and she shifted to face him.

  “Well, it’s safe to say that Mason and I have broken up! I was going up on deck to break up with him and I was so worried he was going to make a scene or cause drama. Turns out he had his hands full…of Lisa! They were up there making out. This makes things so much better. Now he and Lisa can be together and I don’t have to worry about him making things difficult. It’s just really funny to me because I was so worried about hurting his feelings,” she explained to him.

  David shook his head. “You’re not upset? I mean, about him cheating on you with Lisa?”

  “Not at all, I was going to break up with him anyway. I’ve been an idiot all these months dating him. We really have nothing in common and his cheating on me just goes to show how different we are. Anyway, all I really feel is relief. Do you mind if I bunk in here with you tonight? I really don’t want to deal with either of them until tomorrow.”

  “Yeah, of course, you take the bed and I’ll take the floor.” David stood up and grabbed a blanket.

  Emily laughed, “David, don’t be silly. We can share the bed. We’ve been camping together for years. Sleeping together in a bed is no different than that.” She scooted over close to the wall and patted the space beside her on the bed.

  David stood clutching the blanket in front of himself for a moment before giving his head a quick shake. “Yeah, you’re right.”

  He settled into the bed with his back turned towards Emily. As he listened to her soft breathing, he wondered if he would ever have the courage to tell her how he felt.

  ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

  When Emily woke up the next morning, she was stretched out across the bed and David was gone. She stayed nestled in the warmth of the blankets and thought about what was to come that day. Dealing with Mason and Lisa wouldn’t be fun but she was determined to keep things calm. She had no hard feelings toward either of them and if they were happy together it would only make the rest of their trip home easier. Stretching out, she decided there was no point in prolonging it so she got out of bed and slipped on her shoes. What she didn’t expect was to come face to face with Mason the minute she opened the door. The intense expression on his face made her back up and he followed her into the room and shut the door behind him.

  “Emily, you have to let me explain,” he said before she could even open her mouth. “What you saw doesn’t mean anything. I was frustrated because you keep putting me off. I just had a moment of weakness. Lisa threw herself at me and I got caught up. It didn’t mean anything! I love you and we can put this behind us!”

  Emily’s mind was blank for a minute before anger flooded her. Damn it! Now I have to break up with him anyway! she thought.

  “Mason, it’s you that doesn’t understand! I was coming up on deck to break up with you. You and Lisa would make a way better couple than us. I decided days ago that we shouldn’t be together. We have nothing in common and we don’t even think the same way about things. I was fooling myself these past few months. It’s better this way. We just don’t fit!” At his thunderous expression, she rushed on. “Please, Mason, you know that we don’t make a very good couple! We need to work together to get home, but I can’t be your girlfriend. Can we just be friends…please?” she begged him.

  His face had gone blank. “Friends…you want to be friends.”

  Emily stepped forward and took his hand. “Mason, we don’t need to fight or be angry. We can work together without tension. If I can manage to not be bitter about you and Lisa, you can be okay with this. Please, Mason, this boat isn’t big enough for us to be at odds with each other and we still have a long way to go together to get home.”

  Mason studied her face and then pulled his hand away from her. “You’re right, Emily, we don’t make a good couple. At least Lisa puts out whenever I want it. I was getting tired of your little girl virgin issues anyway,” he said before turning and walking out.

  Emily sighed in frustration and shook her head in disbelief. What an asshole! How did she ever think he was something more?

  I’m going to have to talk to David, she thought. It might be smarter to go our own way when we hit land.

  She left the bedroom and went into the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. The cabin was empty when she came out and she was grateful she didn’t have to talk to anyone in her current state of mind. Emily grabbed a bottle of water and a granola bar out of the kitchen and carried it into the main bedroom that she had been sharing with Lisa. She was looking down when she entered the room so she didn’t see Lisa sitting on the bed waiting for her.

  It was the exasperated tone when Lisa muttered “Finally” that alerted her and she almost dropped her water bottle.

  Emily couldn’t muffle the groan at the sight of the girl. First Mason and now Lisa! Fine, better to get the whole thing over wi
th and then they could all move on. She straightened her shoulders and faced Lisa with an expectant expression.

  Lisa had her regular haughty look on her face but her eyes seemed to have a hard time meeting Emily’s and when they did it seemed to her that there was something almost like shame in them.

  Lisa took a deep breath and blurted, “You need to let Mason go! You’re not the right girlfriend for him. Last night wasn’t the first time we’ve been together. We’ve been hooking up for longer than you guys have been dating. You need to let him go so we can be together!” she stated defiantly.

  Emily studied Lisa in silence. Lisa seemed almost desperate. Emily thought about the nasty things Mason had said about Lisa putting out and she shook her head. She just couldn’t understand how Lisa could let that jerk use her in that way. Her shoulders slumped and she sat down on the bed facing Lisa.

  She tilted her head to the side and looked at Lisa with compassion. “Who lied to you? Who told you that you aren’t worth more?” she asked softly.

  “What the hell are you talking about!” Lisa stormed.

  Emily held her hand up in a stopping gesture. “No, really, Lisa, I’m not being mean. I used to think that you were this shallow, selfish, empty girl but I’ve seen that there is more to you on this trip. I mean, think about it. You know you’re gorgeous and I know you’re smart or you wouldn’t have had the grades to win a spot on the field trip to California. I’ve seen you be thoughtful and funny too. So with all that going for you, why would you want that jerk to be your boyfriend when you deserve so much more?”

  Lisa opened and closed her mouth half in anger and half in confusion. “I…you…if you just let him go, we can be together!” she finally said in desperation.

  Emily shook her head, “You know that’s not true, Lisa. If you’ve been “hooking up” since before we started dating then why weren’t you guys a couple?” When Lisa didn’t answer her, Emily went on. “I did break up with Mason. I was actually going to do it when I came upstairs last night and found you guys together. This morning he tried to get me to forgive him and stay his girlfriend. He told me that you didn’t mean anything to him and when he saw that I wouldn’t change my mind, he told me that at least he could get you to put out! I’m really not trying to be mean. I just want to understand why you would let him treat you like that. He’s using you like…like…Kleenex! Every time he needs one, he uses it and then throws it away. You’re worth more than that!”