I would never have guessed that anything like this would ever happen to me. I thought situations like this only happened in movies. When I was imagining my ideal dream vacation, being stranded on some island was not what I pictured. To explain, maybe I should rewind about seven hours…



“Come on Hailey!” Lidia pulled my arm, practically dragging me across the deck.

I giggled as I walking faster, “I’m coming! I’m coming! Why are you in such a hurry?”
She gave me one of those you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me looks. Obviously, I get the hint. Lidia’s boyfriend, Jake, was going to be there. They had not seen each other for over a month. How do I know this? Well, Lidia’s constant reminders might be the answer.

“I haven’t seen Landon in a month either and you don’t see me freaking out,” I joke as we walk into the party room.

“Oh, shut up Hailey! I know that you’re dying inside just at the thought of finally being reunited with Landon!” she turns to me.

A huge smile crossed my face and we both squeal like little school girls.

The room was full of teenagers. Colorful lights filled the room, casting strange shadows on the passenger’s faces. The music suddenly flooded in like a wave and a multitude of teens ran for the dance floor. Even over the blasting music I heard Lidia squeal. I turned to see Jake giving Lidia one of his bear hugs. I smiled and waited for their moment to pass. Jake saw me and gave me a big hug.

“I can’t believe you two made it!” Jake gleamed.

“I can’t either!” Lidia replied hugging him again.

I nodded smiling, “Is Landon here?”

All I saw were a lot of random kids I didn’t know dancing and talking. My eyes scanned the crowd until I saw him walking our way. My eyes brightened and my stomach turned like it does every time I see him. I ran up to him and he hugged me really tight. He kissed the top of my head softly, bringing back memories and feelings I missed.

“I missed you, Hailey,” he smiled down at me.

“I missed you too,” I grinned back.

Soon, we were all dancing to some rap song. Landon came up behind me and started dancing. I had not danced with him like this since the homecoming dance last year. He pulled me closer and spun me around a couple of times. I laughed when I almost lost my balance. Landon pulled me back into his arms and whispered something but I couldn’t quite make it out over the blaring music.
Suddenly, a circle opened up in the middle of the dance floor. A kid with black hair and pants too big for his body started to dance. We all turn to watch him as everyone in the crowd yelled for him.
“Get out there superstar!” Landon nudged me a little trying to get me to dance.
“Yeah, Hailey! You are ten times the dancer that he is anyway!” Jake shouted. “Get out there before I push you!”
“I don’t know any of these people though! It would be so awkward!” I shout back.
“GO!” Lidia yelled at me.
She pushed me in the middle of the circle which caused me to bump into the kid who was still dancing. He gave me confused look, and all I gave him was a shrug as I started to dance. I danced toward him, challenging his superiority. This apparently came off as a surprise. His eyes got wide as he backed up from me. Once he snapped out of it, he came back at me with his dougie. I laughed to myself as I watched him. When he finished his round I started to pop to the bass of the track. The black haired boy put his hands up and surrendered back into the sea of people.
Thinking I was done, I turned back to Landon. To my surprise he was dancing his way to the middle. Dancing around me in a circle, he smiled his cute smile. I was tempted to kiss him in the middle of the dance battle but I knew I couldn’t do that. As I watched him take his turn, I got nervous. He was bringing everything he had! Luckily, when he finished, the song changed.
Some new Chris Brown song faded in. I got the hang of the beat quickly and started to dance. Landon was watching me with aggressive eyes. He looked so good with the lights gleaming across his face. I finished by coming up close to him with my hair partly covering my face. Close enough to kiss him. He leaned in quickly, but spun around me and entered the middle of the dance floor. Slowly, I turned around to watch him. He was an incredible dancer. The way his body moved seemed to intoxicate my entire body.
It seemed as though I was in a trance, watching my boyfriend closely. I was unable to take my eyes off him. He knew it too. I decided to cut in. I swept my feet across the floor toward him, spun around, and planted on my back foot. Slowly, I taunted him with every move. I rolled my body toward his and he caught me by the waist. We moved in sync with each other, never loosing eye contact. At the end of the song he scooped me up and around his waist like we had practiced before and gracefully caught me in his arms.
Everyone cheered as the song continued. Landon kissed me then put me down. The circle quickly engulfed us. With his hand around my waist, Landon led me through the crowd. Lydia and Jake joined us as we escaped the mass of people.
“That was amazing, Haley!” Lydia screamed as she hugged me.
“Thanks,” I laughed as I hugged her back.
“I’m starving,” Jake said. “Let’s go get some dinner before we have to check in with our parents.”
We all agreed.

“Hey I’ll be right there,” I told Landon.

“Where are you going?” He looked concerned.

“Bathroom,” I reply awkwardly.

He nodded and I reluctantly walked the other way. After about five minutes of searching, I finally found the bathroom and pushed the door open. I walked up to the mirror and began to fix my hair and makeup. Usually, I don’t care what I look like, but I want to make sure that I look my best for Landon. Even though we had texted every day I was gone, seeing him in person was better than I expected. Something about him looked different though. He appeared somewhat older and more sophisticated. I know it sounds strange, but something about him seemed more grown up. Whether it was the way he was dressed or even the way he talked, I am just not sure.

I nearly had a heart attack when a very loud siren suddenly went off. Clenching the sides of the sink, I braced myself. Loud screams came from somewhere outside. There was another girl in the bathroom with me. She tore out of the stall and stared at me with wild eyes.

“Come on! We have to get to the life boats!” she screamed.

I just stared at her blankly. “Why?” I began to freak out.
“They told us that if you hear any sirens like this to move to the life boats as fast as you can! Didn’t you read the safety brochure?” she looked at me like I was some kind of freak.

I just shook my head as my nails dug into the bottom of the porcelain sink. The wild-eyed girl puffed a stressful sigh and sprinted out the door. I turn back to the mirror and stare into my frightened eyes. I looked as though I should have teased my hair and apply a bit more eyeliner to be ready to shoot some horror film. The bathroom door swung open and I saw Landon run in. When he saw me, he rushed to my side.

“Hailey!” he said exasperated. “We need to go right now!”

The look in his eyes actually scared me. I had never seen Landon terrified the way he was. Usually he likes to act all tough and macho, but he looked absolutely panicked.

“Are you okay?” he asked prying my hands away from the sink and pulling me close. The sirens seemed to get louder and he quickly released me. As he lead us out the bathroom, his hand was the only thing that gave me a sense of security. Landon finally got us out of the massive pack of people by pushing his way through.

“What happened?!” I yell over the commotion.

“I’m not entirely sure. All I know is that someone yelled that the boat was sinking and everyone freaked out!” Landon yelled over his shoulder as he swam through the crowd as best he could.

“Landon,” I jerked on his hand to stop him. He quickly looked back. “What about Lidia and Jake?” I asked looking around frantically. All I saw were the faces of the frightened passengers. There was no sign of Lidia or Jake anywhere.

“I don’t know, Hailey…” his voice trailed off as he looked around as well.

“What happens if we can’t find them?” I panicked.

“We don’t need to think about that right now. In fact, we definitely cannot think about things like that. We need to get to the lifeboats,” he insisted pulling me once again through the crowd.

After close to thirty agonizing minutes passed by, we finally were in sight of our destination. I stood on my tip-toes to get a better view. All I managed to see was a large group of people climbing into a lifeboat and descending the side of the ship. While still standing as tall as I could, I scanned the crowd for the thousandth time in search of my best friend and her boyfriend. No luck.
“They will be okay, Hailey. I promise,” Landon reassured me. I know that he was only trying to comfort me, yet I was still afraid.
The lifeboats continued to disappear, and I began to worry if there would be enough lifeboats for everyone. I heard so many things that I wasn’t sure what to believe. Some people said the reason we have to empty the ship was because of some engine failure. Yet, I heard things like a bomb threat, terrorists, a fire, and even that we ran into a glacier. In the Bahamas? That’s unlikely. Numerous questions ran through my head. What if we sink like the Titanic? Who will make it out alive? What if we never even get off this boat? Doubt started to kick in at this point as I reflected on the current situation. Landon, on the other hand, had cooled down. He was somewhat back to his normal state, and proceeded to continually calm me down. We were moving closer to the edge of the ship as time lagged by.
Finally, it was our turn to evacuate. I took one last search of the crowd, and still saw no sign of Jake or Lidia. With an unwilling sigh, I slowly turn and climb into the small boat with Landon right behind me. Hundreds of little life boats floated beneath us. Waves were rocking them back and forth as the passengers inside paddled as far away from the ship as they could. The creaking of the chains that were lowering us made my mood drop even more. The sound was so depressing. It was as if they were announcing our journey to an unwelcoming watery grave.
We settled in the water. Two men who were in our boat unhooked it, sending the chains up for the next batch of passengers. The same two men each picked up a small plastic paddle and stroked silently, following the other boats. Our boat held around twelve passengers in all, the two men paddling, a woman and her older looking daughter, three young boys and their father, a young Hispanic couple, and Landon and I.
Soon, I became tired. The stress of the situation finally caught up with me, and quite frankly, I didn’t want to deal with it. Instead, I laid my head on Landon’s shoulder. He wrapped his comforting arms around me securely. I quickly fell asleep, being completely oblivious as to what was going on around me.


I woke up about thirty minutes ago. The first things I saw were the palm trees. We don’t have many palm trees back in Texas, so my memory came back immediately. I sat up and saw that we were on a beach. After studying the look of the island, I looked out to the waves. They were calm, yet completely deserted. There was no sight of any other life boat either. We were completely alone. How did we get here? What if we are stranded here forever? What happens now? Will we ever get off this island?
Landon and a few others were sleeping around me. I gently shook Landon until his eyes peeled open. He sat up as he rubbed his eyes. Looking from me to the island, his expression changed.
“Where are we?” he breaths out.
I shake my head and look around, still in awe, “I have no idea.”