Jump | Zach Mitchell

four

IT'S obviously not my lucky day. How do I come to this conclusion?

To get to Isla Nublar, the island Jurassic World is on, we have to take a ferry.

"Jesus Christ," Zach mumbles.

"I second that." I shuffle closer to him, avoiding a few elbows and rushing families. "What's with all the shitty forms of transportation?"

"Believe it or not, some people actually enjoy boat rides." Zach glances down at me. I just roll my eyes.

Gray bounces on the balls of his feet. At least one of us is excited. "Let's go, let's go! They're boarding!"

"Wonderful." I grip my luggage a little tighter and proceed to begin the hike up the ramp.

"How big is the island?" Gray asks from behind me.

"Big," Zach answers. His breath brushes across the back of my neck. I take an extra step forward to try to put more distance between us.

I don't care how cute he is, I'm still a little miffed about the whole plane thing.

"But how many pounds?" Gray persists.

"That doesn't make sense," Zach deadpans.

I feel bad for the kid. "I'm pretty sure that they weigh islands in tons, Gray." I tuck a fly-away strand of my hair behind my ear. "I'm not sure how many tons it is, though."

Zach doesn't give Gray time to respond. "Doesn't matter. It's a stupid question anyway. Why would you want to know how much an island weighs anyway?"

"Hey." I glance over my shoulder to give him a dirty look. "Don't be a dick."

He jerks his head. "How about you stop trying to tell me what to do and move up?"

Turns out, in the split-second I was getting onto Zach, the people in front of me boarded.

I roll my eyes and step up, trying to ignore Zach's triumphant smirk.

___

WE end up leaning against the railing on one of the upper decks of the ferry. The wind is incredibly strong here; it rips my black hair out of its once neat braid and tosses it all around. Eventually I wrestle it back into a ponytail.

As soon as I feel the first lurch of the ferry, indicating we've started on our journey, I turn to rest my back on the railing. I don't want to see the wide waters lapping against the sides of our mode of transportation, which feels smaller and more overloaded by the second.

Gray is happy to distract me. "When they first opened, Jurassic World had eight species. Now they have fourteen herbivores and six carnivores. That's like fifty tons of food a week!"

"That's a lot," I agree. "But I'm pretty sure Zach consumes twice that in one day." I grin and turn to look at my best friend.

Of course, he's not paying attention. He's gazing down at one of the lower decks, where there are some pretty girls with perfectly straight hair that catches the wind just right.

The girls giggle when they see Zach smiling at them. I know that my best friend is attractive. Hell, I'm attracted to him. But it still sucks to see other girls looking at him.

I don't have the patience to put up with this bullshit.

"Hey, Gray? Stay with Zach. I'm going to go sit inside." I grab the handle of my luggage.

"Wait!" His thick blond curls blow in disarray as he starts to follow me. "Your mom told you to stay with Zach. I heard her."

"Mom's not here right now," I sneer. The words are like poison in my mouth. "And I really want to go inside." I look down pointedly at my wrist, where his little hand is holding me. "Now let go."

I don't have to say much more than that to get Gray to leave me alone. I've always been super nice to him. Just the tone of my voice alone probably made him piss himself.

I feel bad about it, of course. But that's the last thing on my mind right now.

I shove my way inside, murmuring brief apologies as I go.

My first stop is the bathroom. I haul my suitcase into the tiny stall and yank the zipper open. These winter clothes I'm wearing aren't exactly suited for this warm, tropical weather.

I settle for wearing a faded pink top, a black skater skirt, and my beat-up white canvas Vans.

Once I'm comfortable, I head out to the indoor waiting areas. I tell myself that the rocking is all in my head, even though I know it's the boat. I really don't need to think about the fact that I'm on the water right now... with no life jacket... and if this thing sunk, it would probably pull me down with it...

I decide to call my Mom to take my mind off things. Besides, she's always been good at calming me down.

I stumble over to the bar, swinging myself up onto one of the stools. I buy a small bottled water. As I dial Mom's number, I trace the Jurassic World logo – the head of a T-Rex in blue – on the plastic wrapper. The damn insignia is everywhere: on the sides of the ferry, on the doors, on the carpet. Talk about overkill.

Mom picks up on the third ring. "Hi, sweetheart!"

Tears prick at my eyes. I miss her so damn much. "Hey, Mom." My voice wavers slightly.

She picks up on it instantly. She's my Mom, after all. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"It's nothing. It's just..." I bite my lip. I so do not want to start crying in the middle of a public place. "We're on a stupid boat."

Mom doesn't know about my fear of water. Only Zach does, and he's preoccupied at the moment. You know, thinking with the wrong head and all.

"Are there a lot of people?" She asks, trying to figure out my problem with the ferry.

"Yeah..." That's not a lie. The whole place is crawling with people. "Plus, you know, Zach..."

"What's wrong with Zach? Tell me you're with him."

"He's fine. I just..." I choose my words carefully. "I took a bathroom break. I'm going to find him in a second. I just needed a break."

"Why? Are you two fighting again?"

I chew on my lower lip. "Yeah, a little." I unscrew my water bottle, pressing the phone between my ear and my shoulder. "Plus, there's, like, a shi-" I stop myself from using the word and backtrack. "There's a bunch of really pretty girls here."

"You're a really pretty girl."

I sigh and roll my eyes. "Mom-"

"I know; I'm your Mom so I don't count."

I fiddle with the bottle cap.

"Why does it bother you that there are pretty girls? You're there to have fun with your best friend."

"Yeah, but maybe I don't want Zach to be my best friend," I say it all very quickly, tired of keeping it inside.

Mom pauses. "Jonelle, what are you talking about?"

I take a deep breath. "Mom, I like Zach. A lot."

There's a gasp, but it's not from the other end of the phone.

"You like my brother?"