“Come mess with Texas,” Taylor said.
The snake obeyed. It lunged for her and Taylor dodged with acrobatic grace.
“Miss Teen Dream is a bright light in the world,” she said with prayerlike intensity. From the makeshift bandolier, she removed a small can of hair spray, thumbing off the top. “Long-lasting hold!” she yelled. “Never let your ’do droop!” She pressed the nozzle on the spray can and lit a match, igniting a huge fireball that engulfed the snake. It screamed and fled into the trees like a wounded comet. Taylor shoved the can back into the unicorn wallet on the bandolier. She blew on the end of the hair dryer and shoved it nozzle-down into her rope belt.
“Whoa,” Petra said. “Toto, I don’t think Taylor’s in it for Miss Congeniality anymore.”
Adina called the meeting, having everyone sit in the same horseshoe formation that Taylor had. “Now that Taylor’s incapacitated —”
“What?” Tiara asked.
“Gone nuts,” Petra explained.
“Now that Taylor’s gone nuts, I am assuming the duties of team leader. After all, I am first runner-up, and you know what that means. I can’t help feeling that something’s not right about this whole thing. Taylor was clearly trying to warn us about something. She said ‘Danger.’”
“There were all those weird things in the old temple where I found Sosie,” Jennifer remembered. “Ration kits. The machete. Candy bars.”
Tiara eyed Sosie and shook her head. “It’s always the handicapped ones you have to watch out for.”
“What?” Jennifer said.
Sosie tugged on Jennifer’s ragged outfit. “What is she saying about me?”
“Maybe she’s some kind of spy. For all we know, she may not really be deaf,” Miss Ohio said.
“That’s crazy!”
“Right! How many fingers am I holding up?” Tiara thrust three raised fingers near Sosie’s face.
“Get your fingers out of my face!”
Tiara smiled triumphantly. “I knew it!”
“Uh, Tiara?” Petra said. “Sosie can see just fine.”
“I think we just proved that.”
“What’s going on?” Sosie demanded.
“Well, if we’re talking about suspects, one of us was found in the jungle, far away from any wreckage.” Miss Montana flicked a glance at Nicole.
“Oh, right. Let’s suspect the black girl right off the bat.”
“How do we know you didn’t steal that sash from the real Miss Colorado?” Miss New Mexico said.
“How do we know that tray in your head isn’t a recording device?” Nicole shot back.
“Nicole is no traitor,” Shanti growled. “Or are you going to profile me next?”
“Knew you’d have my back.” Nicole stood with Shanti.
“What’s she saying? Don’t leave me out!” Sosie yelled.
“I’m sorry. I feel really bad that I don’t speak deaf,” Tiara said.
Adina banged the baton against the nearest tree. “Okay, everybody. Cut it out. I can’t believe I’m about to do this, but do you know what Taylor would say right now if she weren’t off licking trees in the jungle? She’d say, ‘I am really disappointed in you, Teen Dreamers. We are supposed to be sisters. Sisters who love and trust one another, who work together until it’s clear that there is a favorite sister chosen to be the best and wear a pretty crown. So let’s cut the crap.’” Adina shrugged. “And then she’d probably make us pray and practice our circle-turns.”
“Whoa,” Petra said. “That was kinda scary.”
Mary Lou raised her hand and waited to be recognized. “I need to tell y’all something. There is somebody else on the island. A guy named Tane Ngata.”
“What?” Miss Montana said. “Have you been hitting the plant juice?”
“Listen! I didn’t know how to tell you this. He’s an eco-warrior and an ornithologist.”
Brittani gasped. “Ohmigosh. You’re into the freaky stuff, aren’t you?”
“An ornithologist is a bird-watcher,” Mary Lou explained.
Brittani recoiled. “That’s just sick.”
“If there is a guy on the island, why didn’t you tell us before?” Adina asked.
“I don’t know! Because I was scared. And then I wanted something that was all mine. And I just … I don’t know.” Mary Lou told them everything — about her nights with Tane, how special he was, about his theory that The Corporation had a secret compound on the island.
“Are you sure you didn’t just imagine it?” Nicole asked. “I mean, I’ve read about people getting kind of island-crazy after a while.”
“He’s real, I swear! We had awesome almost-sex,” Mary Lou insisted.
Petra put a hand on her shoulder. “Sweetie, sometimes I like to think that Heathcliff is waiting for me at Thrushcross Grange in tight breeches and leather boots. Doesn’t make it true.”
“Weren’t you wearing a purity ring when we got here? Aren’t you supposed to be saving yourself?” Shanti asked.
“Yeah,” Mary Lou answered. “And then I thought, for what? You save leftovers. My sex is not a leftover, and it is not a Christmas present.”
“See, now I don’t know whether to be all ‘Yay!’ because you’re empowered or sad because you’re having delusional almost-sex with an imaginary boyfriend,” Adina said.
“If you were my best friend, you’d trust me.”
Adina took a step back. She’d never been anybody’s best friend before.
“Okay, Mary Lou, I got your back. Show us.”
The girls trekked through the jungle over the path Mary Lou had traveled each night. They passed the waterfall and lagoon where she and Tane had gone swimming and she showed them the broken hammock trap where Tane had freed her when she was stuck.
“He held me by one hand!”
Finally, she reached the cove and the caves where Tane had held her sweetly, where he’d kissed her and helped her come to understand that there was no shame in her body or her desires. Tane’s boat was nowhere in sight. She didn’t see his lantern or bedroll. There wasn’t even evidence of a fire. It was as if he’d never existed.
“I don’t understand. He was here. This was his camp. He left his things because he was coming back.”
“Okaaay,” Shanti said. She widened her eyes at Petra, who nodded knowingly.
“I know you don’t believe me, but I’m telling the truth. Something must have happened to him. He would never just go off without telling me.”
“I get so mad when my imaginary boyfriend does that,” Miss Ohio snarked.
“Stop it!” Mary Lou growled.
“Okay, down, Cujo. Let me get this straight: You met some hot guy and your priority was getting down with him, not rescuing us?” Miss Ohio said.
Mary Lou’s cheeks reddened. “He only had his small boat. He promised to come back for us. Adina — help me out. You have to believe me.”
Adina shrugged. “I really want to, ML, but …”
The wind picked up sharply and clouds rolled in.
“Looks like we’re about to get a heck of a storm,” Nicole said.
High winds whipped through the trees, shaking free leaves and fruit. The air had the iron-tang smell of coming rain. The first time a storm had blown through, the girls had been at its mercy. This time, they were prepared. They headed back to camp immediately.
“Stations,” Shanti yelled once they got there, and the girls threw their supplies into the evening gown hammocks. Using a pulley system of airplane seat belts, they hoisted the hammock-bags high into the trees, free from the surging tide.
“Higher ground, y’all!” Tiara shouted. The girls fell in behind her as she led them up into the hills.
“What about Taylor?” Nicole asked.
“She’s protected where she is,” Adina answered. “Let’s get moving.”
Rain lashed their faces, but the girls kept climbing. When they reached the top of the hill they’d named Mount Awesome, Nicole pointed to the ocean.
“Hey, do you see that?”
“Ship!” Mary Lou shouted. “Ship!”
The girls screeched and hugged. Oh, salvation at last!37
“Come on!” Petra raced down the hill toward the shore.
When the girls reached the beach, the tide was high, and the ship — a magnificent reproduction of an eighteenth-century sloop built on a studio lot in Hollywood — listed and limped in the high winds.
“Oh my gosh! They’re going to crash!” Nicole shouted.
As if it were a tale of Greek myth and the gods had heard the cry, the ship banged against the skull-shaped jetty. A large hole could be seen in the starboard side. The boat took on water.
“We have to help them!” Nicole yelled.
“Wait!” Adina shouted over the wind and rain. “Look at the flag. The Jolly Roger.”
“Like the candy,” Tiara said. “I hope they have watermelon. It’s my favorite.”
“That’s Jolly Rancher,” Petra said.
“See that skull and crossbones? That’s the universal symbol for not good,” Adina explained. “We’re talking pirates!”
The girls looked out to sea where the ship was taking on water. Now they could see guys running along the deck, climbing up the mast and wrestling with sails. Most were shirtless.
“Pirates?” Tiara repeated.
“Pirates!” Nicole said in awe.
“Pirates,” Petra murmured, and her lips curved into a smile.
“Pirates,” Mary Lou squeaked. She felt a warning quiver in her belly. “Oh, no.”
“Oh, hell’s yes,” Miss Ohio said, lowering the neckline on her ratty dress. “Guys!” She ran toward the ship.