Homesick

She went to a Catholic school.

I remember, we used to go to her school in the early morning together. We'd stand behind this tree in the front lawn of the school – I don't know what type of tree it was, but it was big and old and gnarly.

We'd just stand there for a minute or two. She would sometimes mumble something about how school sucked, and she hated it, and she wished she could to my school. Then I would smile and say, "You don't mean that."

I would kiss her softly, once or twice, then she would start wriggling and say, "The bell's about to ring."

Then I would let her go, but before we walked separate ways, my lips would brush against her ear as I whispered, "I love you, Emma."

She would blush and reply, "I love you too, Cody."

I could hear the others arguing about some unimportant thing back at the camp, but I just ignored it, choosing instead to lie on the beach and enjoy it for once, rather than constantly worrying about whether or not we'd be rescued.

The sound of crunching sand alerted me that someone was coming. I opened my eyes to see Melissa sitting down next to me. Of course.

"Hey Jackson," she said.

I nodded to acknowledge her.

"Daley and Nathan are fighting again," she said.

"I heard," I replied.

"I think Lex is crying."

"So?"

"Maybe you could go talk to him."

"Why can't Daley do it?"

"Well…she's fighting with Nathan."

I was silent for a moment, weighing my options. To lie here a little longer would be heaven, but Lex was just a kid – he was, what, twelve years old? – and if his sister wasn't going to help him out, then someone needed to…

"Alright," I said, getting up. "I'll talk to him."

The way Melissa looked at me as I walked away could've killed me. It was that admiring smile that reminded me so much of Emma. Sometimes, we used to sit around at her parent's house, and I'd explain something about math or science to her, and I'd be so wrapped up in it I wouldn't notice that she had stopped listening and was just looking at me, smiling, a dimple in her left cheek, with that look in her eye that made me shut up.

I hated Melissa for it.

Lex was in one of the tents, as far away from Nathan and Daley as possible. I could hear him. It wasn't those baby sobs you hear little kids cry when they don't get what they want – no, Lex was trying to make sure none of us could hear him. He wasn't doing very well.

When I started to unzip the tent, Lex said, "Go away, Daley!"

I peeled the tent flap away and looked in. He looked back at me with red eyes. "It's not Daley."

He did something that looked like it might have been an eye-roll, except for the fact that this was Lex; rolling his eyes at someone was something he just didn't do.

"Go away," he said.

"No," I said, zipping the tent up again and sitting down. "What's up?" I asked.

He didn't move. His face was buried in a sleeping bag.

Daley shouted, "WELL WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE?"

I was silent for a second, then said, "They're pretty annoying, aren't they?"

Lex looked up slightly. "You have no idea. I have to live with her."

I smiled. "Did they always used to fight like that?"

"Sometimes," he replied, his voice muffled by the sleeping bag. "But they're so obvious."

I raised an eyebrow. "Obvious?"

"Just listen to them!" said Lex loudly, sitting up straight. "They argue like a married couple! They're obviously perfect for each other, they obviously both like each other, but Daley's just too stubborn to admit it! It's so irritating!"

I looked at him for a second. "I didn't know you had such a strong opinion."

He sighed. "Daley's taught me well."

There was another silence. Then I said, "It must be tough for you. You're the youngest one on the island by far, and when everybody else is caught up in the drama…"

He finished my sentence for me. "I'm just sent inside a tent so I don't get in anybody's way."

"Exactly." After a minute or two, I was about to say something else, but Lex beat me to it.

"Jackson?"

"Yeah?"

He paused, biting his fingernails, then said, "I want to go home."

I thought of Emma, with her eyes and her hair and her painted fingernails and stupid drawings of hearts and stars and other girly things I always just shook my head at…

"Yeah," I said. "Me too."

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I was flipping through channels the other day, and I stopped on Discovery Kids.

Flight 29 Down was on.

Holy crap I had forgotten how awesome that show is.

I used to watch it every day, then I decided there were cooler things like Avatar and Harry Potter... but I just love Jackson so much I couldn't stand not writing anything. Plus, Jackson TOTALLY needed a romantic past. Unless he already has one that I'm just not aware of... anyone know?

By the way, in case any of you didn't know: Jackson's real name is Cody Jackson. He just goes by his last name. LOL I didn't find that out until the other day, when my sister pointed it out... haha.

As usual, review, and tell me whether or not I should just throw my computer out now and live on the streets as a hobo in shame. Thanks so much for reading, and why don't you check out my other stories while you're at it? 3