Stranded 10

Tyler replaced Dylan as my tour guide.
I don’t really have much to say about it. 
Because that night, only Hayden was there.
Paul was still out hunting or searching and Ian took Zooey and Dylan off somewhere that Tyler wasn’t aware of.
I don’t know what I was so worried about.  There wasn’t really that many people and it wasn’t awkward to meet Hayden.
That night was quiet and calm. 
It was enjoyable, but nothing like the previous night with Dylan.
I remember being extremely tired, but for some reason I didn’t want to go to sleep.  I wanted to stay up and continue listening to Tyler’s stories.
But eventually he insisted I go to sleep, because I kept dozing and then pretending I wasn’t tired.
He said I was still recovering and needed to take it easy.
Which was bogus, because I spent the previous few days walking up and down the shoreline.
But somewhere along the line, I did drift off.

My name is Luke Gray and this was the start of my new family.

759 days before being rescued.

This was the first day I didn’t wake up next to Dylan.
I didn’t have to wait around for him to wake up.
I didn’t have to pretend I was still asleep to avoid meeting someone.
It didn’t matter.
So when my eyes opened, I sat up and observed what was around me.
I thought Tyler slept near me or maybe he was already awake.
Either way, he wasn’t there.
Hayden was asleep the same way Dylan was.
But I had no interest in waiting for her.
I had no connection, no feelings.
And it’s not like she was some cute guy there for me to stare at.
Well it’s not like I was thinking that then.
I had no interest in anyone else.
I was happy with what I had.
So I stood up and walked just out to where the ocean waves couldn’t reach. 
I didn’t feel dirty or a desire to take a swim and there was certainly no chance of me risking myself exposed to some strange girl I only just met.
So I slowly strolled up and down the beach, waiting for someone to come back.

Tyler – Hey dude, good your up.
Tyler casually walked up to me with the same accepting smile he always had.
Luke – Yeah, I have been for a little bit.
Tyler – Great, well do you want to help us?
Luke – Sure, with what?
Tyler – We are trying to gather logs to make a signal fire.
Luke – Sounds like a good idea.
Tyler – Yeah, I figured we make at least two.  Hopefully one we can light immediately and just keep it going as long as possible.  Because who knows if they are searching for us.  But, we should give them at bit of help.
Luke – Yeah, definitely.
Tyler – And then the second one will be a back up so that in the future anytime we see something, we can light it right away.
Luke – Cool, so what do you want me to do?
Tyler – Let’s go meet up with the others and see what the status is.
The “others” meant only one thing.
Ian and Dylan.
Neither of which I was all too thrilled about seeing.
At the time, Ian scared me.  Especially because the only time I’d ever met him was during his freak out at Dylan.  Which made me not want to confront Dylan because I had no idea what to say.
Luke – Alright, I guess I’ll follow you.
I stayed close to him.
It’s not that I was scared of the place.  I was on my own plenty of times, but people were what intimidated me.

We walked a bit up the beach around a bend and I saw a bunch of large logs already gathered and laid out in line.

Tyler – So this is where we are gonna set up the fire.
He turned towards me and opened his arms like he was showing me some massive project he has been working on for ages.
Luke – Okay, cool.
Tyler – Isn’t this awesome here?  I’m voting we set up camp in this bay.
He was right.  It was a cove with smaller waves, which protected us.  The mountain on the island was clearly visible, so from all sides it was very scenic.
Luke – It’s great. 
Tyler – So that’s two votes?
Luke – Uh yeah, sure. 
Tyler was always big on democracy.  He thought everyone should be happy.
Tyler – Well it looks Dylan and Ian are out searching for more good wood, so we might as well form our own search party.
Luke – Okay.
I had no problem with that.  Tyler was the one that scared me the least at this point.  So I wasn’t leaving his side.
Tyler – The logs can get pretty big, so we’ll both carry a side when we find a fallen tree, but for now, let’s split up and survey the area for where some decent ones are.
That was not exactly what I wanted to hear, but there was no sign anyone else was near.
So I did what I was told.  I searched the grounds for fallen logs.
I think this was the first time I was really on my own.  Every other time, I was only waiting for someone else. 
I remember feeling very useful, that Tyler trusted me and treated me like I was just some normal guy.

We both found logs and spent the next few hours hauling them back.
Eventually Tyler had us stop and rest.

Okay, let’s talk some.
Crushes.
We all have them.
They do some weird things to our minds.
They distract us.  They make us shy.  They make us awkward.
And they us make hard.
Well not always.
Sometimes we don’t even know we have one.
And this was one of those times.
Tyler.
You and I both know I developed a major crush on him.
But one thing I always wondered is when it started.
Was it when I first opened my eyes and saw his face?
Was it when he walked all the way up the beach to “rescue” me?
Or was it some other time?
It probably doesn’t matter, but it has always left me curious.
After a lot of debate, I think it was this point in time, right here, when it first started.
And I didn’t realize it, because I didn’t want it to happen.
I didn’t think I could like anyone else.

I sat on one of the logs after Tyler decided to take a break.
Tyler stretched out his back and arms so he flexed and unintentionally showed off his muscles in front of me.
And he had no shirt on.
Now as a shy 14 year old, I didn’t really know what the heck I liked in a guy, but it got my attention.
It’s hard to explain to you what I was thinking at the time.
Because now I know.  I was getting turned on.
And then Tyler sat right next to me, so our bodies were inches away.
It made my body tingle.
He was so casual about it.  There were tons of other places to sit.
We had about a dozen logs all spread out ready to be stacked, but he chose to sit right next to me.
And he just carried on a normal conversation, like sitting so close to me was no big deal.
It was very distracting, but I was my normal shy self, so he probably didn’t notice anything from me.

Zooey – Have you seen Dylan or Ian at all today?
Zooey broke our conversation.
Tyler – Yeah, they were helping find logs for the fire.  They went off somewhere a couple hours ago.
Zooey – Oh, well I woke up and both were gone.
Tyler – Hmm, that weird.
Zooey – Oh, Hi, I’m Zooey.
She put her hand out and officially introduced herself to me.
Luke – I’m Luke.
Zooey – Sorry about yesterday if we frightened you, but I was afraid Dylan was lost.
Luke – It’s okay.
It was a lie, it wasn’t okay.  My mind was scared from it.  But she didn’t need to know about it.  And it didn’t take me that long to get over it anyway.
Zooey – You know what else?  Where is Paul?  I haven’t seen him since the first day.
Tyler – That’s an interesting point.  I thought he was just out exploring, so I didn’t think much of it.
Zooey – When was the last time you talked to him?
Tyler – I dunno, I mean he was friendly and helpful that first day, but we were all so frantic, I didn’t take note of what he was saying.
Zooey – Do you think we should be out looking for him?
Tyler – Uh, well at this point, I think we really need to get this fire going.
Zooey – Yeah, that makes sense.  I guess I can look for him along with my guys.
Tyler – Sounds good.
Zooey – Good work, you two.
She smiled at both of us as she made individual eye contact.  This definitely made me feel better about her.
Zooey – Well it was nice to officially meet you, Luke.
Luke – Likewise.

Tyler – There is something about Ian that makes me nervous.
At least we were both thinking the same thing.
Tyler – I saw it in Dylan’s face that he didn’t like him.  It showed me I should be cautious of the guy.  And then he disappears like this away from his girlfriend or wife.  You know, I have no idea the dynamics of them.
Luke – Yeah, I didn’t even know Dylan was with anyone while we were looking for my brother.  He never mentioned it.
Tyler – That’s really weird.  Well, I guess we should get back to work.  How about we just get started on stacking these logs since it seems our help is not around.
Luke – Sure.
Tyler stood up and offered his hand to help me up.