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Adam and I ran down the hallway and jump into a boat. “Forget about the rubbish bags!” I screamed as Adam threw the rubbish bags away.
As our boat slid into the sea, I thought about what just happened. Mira ran towards the end of the ship. “Don’t bother. They’ll die.” Abigale said. She laughed and ordered Mira back to work.
Adam let me rest as he paddled us out into the sea.
I woke to the bright sun blinding my eyes. A shirt was wrapped around my arm. I stared at the shirtless Adam. He was sitting beside me on the golden sand. “Look!” he said, pointing at the map. “It says we’ve made it to paradise.” I jumped up, staring out at the ocean, which now looked innocent and friendly. “Shall we look around?” Adam asked.
We walked around the beach, finding palm trees and coconuts. “Hello! Welcome to paradise!” squealed a voice behind us. Adam and I spun around and stared at a tanned woman with big, red lips. She was wearing a long, beautiful rainforest dress. The woman motioned for us to follow her, and without thinking, we did.
“My name is Avalonia. This is the island of paradise. We invite you to stay forever.” Avalonia smiled, opening a bamboo gate and showing us the resort. Thousands of people were swimming and sliding down slides or relaxing by the pool.
Up on the mountain, there were hundreds of hotels and cafes. “Wow!” Adam yelled, running into the crowd. I followed, hesitantly. I felt unsure of the place, everything felt so easy—a bit like during a math test when you get an easy question and know that there’s a trick in it.
“Let’s go on the slide,” called Adam, running towards a twirling, flowing waterslide.
“Okay … but don’t you think this place is a bit sketchy, I mean it’s a paradise resort in the middle of nowhere … Violet!” I screamed in excitement. Adam turned around in surprise. We both stared at two girls relaxing on beach hammocks. They were reading a magazine while drinking smoothies.
Violet looked up from her magazine. “Flint! Adam!” she yelled, jumping up and running into a hug.
Charlotte jumped up, but then fell back down. “Sorry, I feel really tired. But I’m so happy to see you!” she squealed, breathing like she’d been running a marathon even though she just stood up. Violet seemed tired too, her pale face looked even whiter than usual, like a ghost.
“How long have you been here?” Adam cried, tears running down his face in joy.
“Like, well I don’t know!” Violet laughed, falling back into her hammock. “Are you going to ride a slide?” she said, going back to her magazine.
Adam nodded, but I cut in: “We have to go on our adventure.”
Violet looked worried. “I’m not going,” she said.
Adam shrugged. “Okay,” he said, and then he ran off to the slide.
Charlotte’s eyes were droopy but her little, plump face stayed awake.
“Charlotte?” I asked. She could barely look up but tilted her head to show she was listening. “Who are you?” I tested her.
“Flint, I know who I am, I’m …” she stopped and thought. “I’m … Charlotte?” She nodded and went back to her magazine.