The door slams open, interrupting our conversation. Xavier and I come out of the room and into the living area. The captain is standing there with his goons. He looks in my direction and smiles at me.
"There you are. I've been looking for you everywhere." He goes to grab me, but before he can I push him hard enough to make him stumble backward. The goons react and go for their guns. The captain motions for them to heel. "No matter. It's time for the next challenge. A little game of Russian roulette." He tells us to stand across from one another and we wait for him to tell us what to do next. "Let me add one more person to the group." Another goon appears and throws Hazel into the room. A weight lifts off my shoulders in the realization that she's alive. We're all waiting patiently for him to say something. "This is going to work like spin the bottle. I'll put this bottle in the middle and whoever's turn it is will spin it. Who it lands on is who you must shoot. Camila, how about you start?" He says with a smile. Of course, I had to be chosen to go first.
I walk to the middle and spin the bottle. It lands on Bryson. My hands are shaking once again as I aim. I wrap my finger around the trigger and it clicks. I let out a sigh of relief.
"Bryson since you were the person the bottle landed on, it's your turn." I handed the gun to Bryson as he spins the bottle it stops on Xavier. Without hesitation he aims and pulls the trigger, it clicks again. Thank god! Xavier yanks the gun from Bryson's hand and spins the bottle. It lands on me. Xavier looks at his hands, then back at me. He rubs the back of his neck.
"Do I have to do this?"
"Don't and I'll kill everyone in here instead." He looks serious. Xavier aims the gun at me and shoots, it clicks. He lets out a relieved breath and hands me the gun. I spin the bottle and it lands on Hazel. My heart rate speeds up faster and faster as I wrap my fingers around the trigger. I aim and shoot. This time there's a kickback and Hazel falls to the ground. I drop the gun as tears fill my eyes. I rush over to her and so does Ariel.
"Hazel. I'm so sorry, I'm sorry." I continue to repeat it to her as she's barely clinging to life. Hazel gaps for air. She places her hand on my cheek and starts to mutter something that I can't hear. Her hand falls to the ground. The captain's goons pick up Hazel's body and take her out of the room. I go into the other bedroom and put my face in my hands. The tears fall down my cheek. I just killed one of my best friends. Sure we weren't as close as me and Ariel, but I've still known her forever. Ariel and Xavier come into the room and sit down attempting to comfort me. Bryson is just staring at me. I wish he would buzz off honestly.
"If you're just gonna stare you can leave," Ariel says before I can.
Bryson doesn't budge, he just continues to stand there.
"Eleven contestants have fallen... 3,316 remain." The captain surprisingly didn't add any sick twist to his announcement. Ha, that's the first.
"I think it would be best if we all went to sleep right now," Ruby says walking into the room. We all nod in agreement and head to bed. Or at least I try to, but can't. I'm sitting up on the couch hugging my legs. I miss Hazel so much already, and she hasn't even been gone for that long. My eyes are glued to a spot on the floor.
"Hey, what are you still doing up?" I jump at the sound of his voice. I didn't hear him come out of the room. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He takes a seat next to me on the couch. "I figured you would've been the first one asleep. Considering past events." I don't say anything. I resumed staring at the same spot on the floor. My mind flashes with pictures of Hazel from when we were younger. All of the memories flood me at once. The tears begin to stream down my face before I can stop them. Xavier notices but says nothing. Instead, he pulls me into his arms while trying to wipe some of the tears from my face. I know so many people have died, I know Hazel dying is just another number to people like the captain, but she's one of my closest friends. I'm gonna miss her.
"I'm sorry I'm such a mess," I say with a small chuckle.
"I don't mind." I look up at him and for the first time, I notice he actually seems to be taking this seriously. I think the weight of everything finally set in. I sit up and slowly move out of his grasp.
"We should play truth or dare," I say.
"Where did that come from?" I shrug my shoulders.
"I don't know. Do you want to play or not?" He thinks about it for a second and then agrees. "Okay, I'll go first."142Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5nFIygO4n8
"Truth or dare?" He asks
"Truth."
"You're so lame, you can't start off with truth. That's no fun." I roll my eyes
"Fine then, I choose dare. You happy?"
"I dare you to..." He trails off for a second as if to think. "I dare you to kiss me." I let out a nervous laugh.
"Kiss you? Where did that-"
"Scared?" He interrupts.
"Of course, I'm not sc-" I don't get the chance to finish my sentence before his lips touch mine. He places his hand on my cheek and kisses me. But not a regular "just a dare" kind of kiss. It felt different, it was passionate. It meant something. I don't know what, but something. The intensity between the two of us is new to me.
"Ooooo get it, Cam!" We stop kissing and my face turns bright red. I turn my head and see Ariel and Ruby standing in the doorway. Ariel is giving me that "go get 'em tiger" look.
"I know we just met, but I think we skipped a few chapters?" Ruby says. I look at Xavier for help, but he gives away nothing.
"Can we just pretend like you didn't see that?" I say nervously.
"I don't know, seemed pretty intense." Ruby sits on the floor in front of us. Ariel follows. "But, how did we get here? Did you guys know each other before the cruise?"
"Oh no, they met on the cruise. They just decided to wait until now to play tonsil hockey." I chuck the pillow at Ariel's head and she giggles.
"Lighten up Camila." Xavier finally speaks. I begin to protest, but stop when I notice he put his arm around me.
"I wonder what would have happened if we hadn't walked in here." Ruby chimes. Ariel bursts out in a fit of laughter. I can feel Xavier chuckling beside me. This is embarrassing.
For the next couple of hours, we stay up laughing at each other and sharing stories from our lives. Eventually, Ariel and Ruby leave the room and head back into their beds. Leaving me and Xavier alone again.
"I think we should get some sleep too," I say. Xavier nods his head in agreement. Xavier stands up first and then helps me to my feet.
"Goodnight Cam," He lifts up my chin and kisses me. It only lasts for a moment and then he walks away into his room, closing the door behind him. I stand there for a minute, dumbfounded. I shake it off and go into the room where Ariel and Ruby are sleeping. Quietly I climb into bed next to Airel. Sleep washes over me soon. 142Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3j9rpHVJW7
