Part 2
"I'm just saying that you could've been less--well you." Rayne
patiently explained over the phone to Trey. Frustrated, she turned down
the radio, which her boyfriend Mark had blaring, and tried to sort out
the problem at hand. "I don't know. She hasn't called. Maybe she went
home with Fiona. You know how Serena can be." Mark poked his head out
from the ticket counter.
"Any news?"
She shook her head. "Anyways, school starts in a week. Are we still
havin' the beach party? Uh huh. Okay. Bye!" She hung up the phone and sat
down.
"What's up?" asked Mark sitting down next to her.
"Oh...nothing," she sighed. He gently stroked her long blond hair and
she placed her head on his shoulder. "Mark, this whole Serena thing....I
guess it's just kinda reminding me of this coming year. Everything's
going to change. This is our last year as kids. We have to go away next
year and....." She stared at him. "I don't know if I can bear to leave you...this behind."
"Hey," said Mark, as she brushed a stray tear from her eye. "Hey, don't
worry. C'mon Rayne." He held her close. But as held her in his arms, he
couldn't help wondering if she was right.
* * * *
Fiona was a nervous wreck. She ran along the ocean shore,
screaming out her sister's name.
"Serena! SERENA!"
She collapesed onto her knees, and caught her breath. "How does Rayne do
this every morning?" she wondered. She stood again, and glanced out to
see if Serena was anywhere around. After last night's disaster, she hadn't
come home again, and Fiona was worried. She had woken Christian up at the
crack of dawn, and he was searching with her along the opposite side of
the beach.
"Serena where are you?" asked Fiona. Then she heard her own name being
called down the beach.
"I got her!"
"Oh God!" cried Fiona, as she ran faster down the beach. She skidded to
a stop, and the troubled young girl Christian was kneeling next to.
Serena had been beaten up, and badly so. Her face was bloodied to the
extreme, and there was a long huge gash on the right side of her face.
She seemed to be intact other then that.
"Oww," she complained. Fiona
threw her arms around her sister, crying with relief and fear at the same
time.
"Serena! Wh-wh-what-who?-"
"Ele," Serena said simply. "She came from behind me-ooooooh." Serena
winced in pain, and gently touched the side of her head. "Major ouch."
"C'mon, let's get you to the hospital," said Christian, lifting her to
her feet. Fiona stood, and glanced out at the sea. Her face was solemn,
angry, but still. She turned to glare back towards the mainland. Ele had
wanted a war with the kids.
She was going to get one.
* * * *
Rayne sped faster and faster down the small dirt road, and screeched to
a halt in front of the ferry. "Mark!" she called, as she climbed towards
the dock. "Fiona said that she and Chris were taking Serena to the
mainland, so that they could go to the real hosptial. Not just Dr.
Baker!"
"Okay," said Mark, not really knowing what Rayne was getting at.
"So! That's like a huge deal. Serena must be pretty bad."
"C'mon Rayne." he said, paying the toll, and climbing aboard the small
boat. "She's going to be fine-Fiona even said so."
"Still," said Rayne, sitting down nervously, "I can't believe that
someone would want to beat Serena like that."
Mark hugged her around her stomach, and held her close, gently bumping
up and down to the rythmic ocean waves. Rayne held on close. Serena
wasn't the only thing that was bothering her. Where was she going? Who
was she going to be once school was over? The island was all she knew.
Mark was this huge part of her life. Could she let that go?
Would she?
* * * * *
Azure sat next to Serena on her bed, and turned the TV up
louder. "I love this part."
Serena nodded. "Oh yeah. Although, it is a whole new expereince
only seeing it from one eye," she said, patting the huge white bandage
that entended down the right side of her face.
"Did you guys tell the cops?" asked Madison, from her seat on the other
side of Serena.
"Yup. But becuase Ele's a "minor without a previous record" they let her
go with bail," Serena said. Then she smiled. "But she has to do communtiy
service work!"
"Wow. Ele in soup kitchens."
"Is anyone else going to a scary visual place?" Madison laughed. Then
she sighed, and sat back on Serena's bed. "Man, I cannot believe school
is starting in two days."
"I know."added Serena, groaning. "And I get to go back looking like
Atilla the Hun."
"Oh it's not so bad." said Azure brightly, as she stuffed some Doritos
down her throat. "It adds ........character."
"Right," laughed Serena.
"Aren't you mad about what happened?" asked Madison.
"Oh yeah. Furious," Serena said. "But there's not much I can do like
this. I'm waiting for the perfect moment.......and then *snap*! I'll go
pyscho on her."
"Very cool plan," said Azure approvingly. "Just make sure I get to snap
her neck."
"Hey! Don't take all the fun away from lil' ol' me," said Madison. Then
she turned over onto her stomach, and sighed. "I miss Gabe."
"Yeah. I miss Dave," pouted Azure.
"Oh shut up!' said Serena. "Okay, so I'm the boyfriendless one, let's
not flaunt it."
"Oh Serena, we're just kidding. And you won't be boyfriendless for
long," said Azure.
"Right," Serena quipped. "With my new cool mutation the boys will come
a'runnin."
The girls laughed, and retunred their attention to their movie.
But all the while, Serena couldn't help thnking about Trey.
* * * *
"MAX! WHERE IS MY CIVIC"S BOOK!!??" Madison screamed from her room. If
you could call it that. The Casella house was a palatial Victorian
mansion, refinished courtesy of their talented mother, and Madison's
room was near the top. She had a huge balcony which streached across one
side of the house, and adjoined her brother's room. However, while
Max prefered to be neat, Maddie tended to side with that of messiness.
Clothes, cds, several plates, and various sheet music was strewn across
the floor, and on her bed and desks. Now the first day of school, and
she'd already lost two of her text books.
"Ms. Jenkins is going to kill me," she muttered as she ventured beneath
her bed.
"Madison!" Max called, entering her room.
"Whooooo?" she called from beneath.
"Uh it's your lovely and talented brother," Max replied.
"I do not know such a person."
"Haha," he said sarcastically. "C'mon, I promised Chris that I'd meet him
there."
"Well I promised Azure that we'd pick her up," she said, sliding out
from beneath the bed. "Dammit where did I put that book?"
"You mean this?" he said, handing the book to her from her desk.
She glowered at him, and shoved it in her bag.
"What classes did you sign up for?" Max asked, leafing through a Spin
magazine from her desk.
"Uhhhh American History , Algebra II..."
"AGAIN!" Max laughed. His sister was no math genius.
"AND-" she interjected. "Advanced English 4, Chorale, Theatre, and
American Justice something or other-"
"American Justice aka Civics 101?" Max gasped. "Madison tell me you did
not."
"Yeah, I did. They say it's going to be really interesting, court
procedures and everything!"
"NOOOO!! That's supposed to be a senior class."
"Uh-uh. It's an elective," Madison said, smiling. "I think most juniors
did sign up, in fact."
"We'll see about that." He glanced at his watch. "Holy God! We're going
to be late." With that, they took off down the stairs, kissed their mom
goodbye and ran down the winding dirth path to the docks.
"WAAAAIIITTT!" they screamed, jumping onto the ferry after paying their
tolls.
They collapsed onto the rail, gasping for breath.
Gabe and Trey noticed, and wandered over.
"Mornin' Max. Madison." Gabe
kissed her on the cheek.
"No.....(gasp)
...time....(gasp)...for...(gasp)...talk...(gasp)...Must...(gasp)......eat
," Madison choked out, as she headed down to the small "coffee" bar they
had down on the bottom of the ship. It was really just a place with a
whole bunch of vending machines, and a counter where you could drink
coffee.
"Wow, you guys just made it," said Trey, sitting back on one of the
benches.
"Ya think?" asked Max, catching his breath. "Where's Christian?"
"Oh, he, Fiona, Serena, Dom, and Ivan and Holly caught the first ferry.
They said we'd meet at the caf."
"Hey Trey," said Gabe, trying not to sound obvious. "Have you...y'know
talked to Serena?"
"Um..." Trey said trying to avoid the question.
"You haven't?" asked Max.
"Well no," Trey said lamely. "I've kinda put it off."
"Now, I mean this with the upmost respect, but are you a complete
moron?" Max asked. "I mean, the girl is crazy for you, and now she's all
beat up, and you're just like 'Oh I put it off.'"
"That's on the empty side," Gabe added.
"What am I supposed to say? I hate to admit it, but-" he paused and
looked at the sea. "I don't love her. I don't even really like her. She's
a nice kid-"
"Trey she's older then you," Gabe interjected, putting his head in his
hands.
"By three months!" Trey looked back at them. "I can't go into that. I
can't, pretend I love her."
"You are a putz," said Max, and then walked off to find Mark and Davey.
Trey watched him go, and then turned to Gabe. "Am I?" he asked.
Gabe leaned back on the bench, and looked at the dark ocean. The day had
only begun, but it was already stormy. "I remeber, when I first liked
Madison, I was like 'Wow, she's incredible.' But when she didn't even
look my way, or say anything...I remember how much it hurt. But then--she
told me this later--she realized that someone was interested in her, and
it became this thing. Like, the idea that she was special to someone, it
really mattered to her." Gabe paused, and looked Trey in the eye. "I
guess what I'm saying is, you really don't know what you have, until
it's taken from you. So, just be aware. Maybe you should try and get to
know Serena. You might be suprised at what you find."
He noticed Madison coming up with a coffee, and waved. "That's my cue.
Think about it man." With that, he got up, and followed her to another
bench.
Trey nodded, and stared back at the now black ocean.
"I'd be suprised," he murmered to himself. "Maybe." He stopped for a
moment, and continued staring at the ocean. Then he rose. "Maybe," he
said. "But maybe I don't want to be."
Part 3 Coming Soon!
Island Life (c)1998-1999 Katie Higgins
Newsboy Junkies