" I got those from a fall while pursuing the chipmunks yesterday, OK!"

Ezekiel knew she was lying. Her beryl eyes, which looked so radiant just a few hours ago, betrayed the diffidence within. Being homeschooled for most of his life, Ezekiel was equipped with knowledge about various injuries. Even the most terrible of falls from a tree couldn't have resulted in those cuts.

"Don't touch Izzy," Izzy warned, a distinct austerity in her voice. "And don't probe."

"But Izzy you're hurt, eh! Good friends should help one another!"

"SHUT UP!" The usually carefree and energetic psycho snapped, surprisingly not at Justin or Heather, but at the socially inept prairie boy.

"Izzy was never your friend, and will never be!"

With a solitary tear trickling down her cheek, she left a shell-shocked Ezekiel to his own devices. Soon the tawny-haired redneck found his eyes watering too.

After that outburst, Izzy became more aloof. When the toque wearer met the stunning psycho, no words were shared between them. Inside, Ezekiel felt his heart crumbling, the acrid feeling accompanying his heartbreak lingering. He was the key bearer to Izzy's lost, much-tormented soul inside but yet his friend…

Friend.

He shouldn't have termed her that, it was established a few hours ago that their friendship had ceased to exist. Yet the throbbing pain in his heart still tormented him. When Izzy forgave and befriended him, he was always going to be the moth to her flame. Yet something seemed to connect these two misfits. Homeschool learnt this mere hours ago: the feeling of desolation. It was too little, too late however, as Izzy was not known for needing assistance. The idea of him counseling someone would only induce mirth from onlookers. Now he could have lost one of his soul mates on the island for eternity.

The mere thought of this caused his vision to blur once more. Why did he feel so aggrieved? Of course the violent rant doled out crushed him like a ton of bricks.

Crush was a lucid word, of course, but like most other terms it had multiple permutations. It described a comprehensive rout or utter annihilation. It even made its way onto an album cover as a song. But above all, crush meant a strong affection for a member of the opposite gender. Unknowingly, the prairie boy had grown to like the psycho as more than just a friend. This more than explained his malaise as teardrops continued to trail from his bloodshot eyes.

Izzy had soon returned to her comfort zone. With her angst under wraps, the redhead unveiled the switchblade that had given her so many reprieves. In seconds, the knife would have merrily capered across her derma. It was a different story today, however. After deliberating, the orange-haired girl just let out a frustrated bawl and hurled the knife in question against the wall. Agonized wailing followed as the poor girl buried her face in her hands in another un-Izzylike reaction.

Ezekiel's face was scrunched up as he mustered all of his courage to walk towards the hot tub. In what had become a daily ritual, the party boy was caressing his surfer girlfriend, their lips stuck together like honey. There was no doubt this was going to be awkward. Even though Geoff and Bridgette were his friends, he was seen as the third wheel in their relationship.

"Uhhh… Geoff, I need to speak to Bridgette for a moment. Really important, eh."

"Sweetie, I will get back to you in a minute, after I speak to Ezekiel."

Thus under the wary eyes of Geoff, the lazy-eyed surfer left her position. After the homeschooled boy had whispered something into her ear, the surfer's olive eyes almost bulged out of their sockets.

Izzy was now lying on her bunk, having recovered from her earlier breakdown. There was a terse knock on the door.

"Izzy, may I enter?"

"Well I heard from Ezekiel you hurt yourself, could I see the injury?"

The oddball's face contorted to reveal fear; an emotion the surfer girl last saw when Owen abandoned her during the psycho killer challenge.

"No, no, no! Not the arms! Explosivo does not like amigos to touch his arms." Izzy flailed her arms around like a flopping fish.

Bridgette calmly grabbed the redhead's limbs. "Izzy, if you want me to help, you have to sit still."

Nevertheless, the tree-green attired teenager was not one to listen, and tried to get Bridgette's hands off her top. The constant tugging at the fabric caused the blonde to rip off Izzy's top, revealing what the psychopath had valiantly attempted to conceal.

"Hehe, surfer girl, if you wanted me so badly, you could have told me earlier." Izzy grinned sheepishly. However the wide grin was soon wiped off when Izzy saw that

Bridgette was not at all interested in her chest, but she was surveying the scarred arms.

Izzy screamed furiously and soon enough the surfer girl was locked out of her room, leaving more questions unanswered than before. Shaking her head, Bridgette sadly walked back to the hot tub.

"It was a conspiracy!" Izzy fumed as she thought of her two friends.

For the third time today, tears, or whatever liquid remained in her eyes, began to stream down, staining the paper she was writing on.

"Dear Zeke,

Contrary to popular belief, you are one of the kindest campers around. When everyone said Izzy was insane, only you, Noah and Eva continued to befriend me. Izzy's thankful for that and I relish the brief time spent with you. Now I will join Mom in paradise. Goodbye!

Love, Izzy"

Clenched tightly in her hands was a bottle. It contained hydrogen cyanide gas. Slowly but surely, she uncorked the vial…

Meanwhile, Ezekiel was already on the move towards Izzy's room, worried that something ominous could have happened. Upon reaching there, the homeschooled boy defied all logic and started punting at the door. It left shoe marks but still the door was obstinate and refused to fall.

Ezekiel was sweating bullets as he capered towards the pool area.

"Help! I think Izzy is in trouble! I can't get into her room, eh!"

Soon, several campers congregated around the door, and it took the combined efforts of Eva, Owen, DJ and Duncan to fell the sturdy door. Inside, Ezekiel's face turned as white as the sheet of paper he found.

"Izzy!" The prairie boy clamored, struggling to hold back tears as the once-lively girl was being carried out in a state of half-consciousness.

Ezekiel's mind was in six and sevens as he paced up and down the corridor, along with Izzy's siblings. The cause of his troubles lay in a hospital bed, still delirious from the cyanide poisoning. Finally, after a long wait the doctor exited the room.

"Doctor Hennigan how's the patient, eh?" Ezekiel rushed up anxiously as soon as the white-robed physician came out.

"This amount of hydrogen cyanide would have eliminated someone quickly." An apocalyptic silence almost immediately enveloped the area. "However, our patient seems to have built up immunity against such lethal toxins, so I'm glad to announce that she's out of danger."

Ezekiel was so exuberant that he almost glomped the doctor, having learnt well from his crush. He managed to compose himself though, but still pranced in delight when it was his turn to visit Izzy.

"So I see you've taken my place as the kid in a candy store, from the way you tried to hug the doctor."

"I must have looked so foolish when I tried to embrace Dr. Hennigan!"

"Guess what," the redhead said. "Izzy loves your new attitude. And I will give you a hug that you truly deserve for all your troubles." With that, Izzy wrapped her arms around the confused prairie boy and pulled him into a deep, passionate kiss.

As they made out on the bed, they did not give a hoot about what the hospital personnel thought of them. The relationship between this pair was never perfect, but flawless was never the word to describe it. It was imperfection, and they preferred it that way.

THE END