The Missing - Kiersten Modglin (the reading strategies book TXT) 📗

it didn’t go unnoticed. “What?” he asked, steadying me before taking his shirt from my arms and lifting it above my head. “Here, let’s get this on you before you burn even more.”

“You’d better be careful, Noah,” I said as he slid the white T-shirt over my body. “Someone might actually think you’re a good guy or something.”

He smirked again, his cool eyes meeting mine. I watched his gaze fall to my lips, the moment frozen between us so quickly I forgot to breathe. He leaned in, and I felt my heart flutter. I should’ve stopped it, but I was exhausted, dehydrated, and delirious. I felt powerless to do or say anything as his lips inched toward mine. My eyes closed, waiting for the connection.

“Maybe that’s exactly what I want them to think.” I felt his breath on my lips, suddenly chilled by his words. When I opened my eyes, he’d backed up again, his lips upturned with amusement.

My face burned with outright embarrassment as I bent to grab the coconuts from the ground, unable to say a word about what had happened. To my relief, Noah didn’t either. Instead, we loaded our arms with the coconuts, and I waited for him to lead the way back to camp.

Most of the way, we didn’t speak, and I didn’t bother trying to keep up with him as my legs burned from the snail’s pace I seemed barely able to maintain. When we’d been walking so long I was half sure he’d changed his mind about leaving me on the forest floor and was just waiting for me to collapse again, I began hearing the roar of the ocean waves and feeling the warm, salty breeze that could only come from being near the shore.

Noah turned to me, one brow raised, his voice low. “Tell them what I showed you if you want, I won’t stop you, but hear me out first: if anyone does decide they want to take the rest of us out, that place is ours. Yours and mine. It’s safe. We have shelter there, water, food. I’m not proposing we let anyone dehydrate, but what I’m saying is that we keep our secret for a while until we get our bearings. Until we figure out who’s on whose side here. We don’t really know these people. We don’t know that we can trust them.”

“I don’t know if I can trust you either.”

“Fair enough,” he said with the bow of his head, “but I did show you the place to save your life. I protected you when I could’ve easily not. Would you bet your life on the fact that they’d do the same?”

I paused, thinking through what he’d said, but eventually I shook my head. “I’d want them to tell me if the situation were reversed. It’s not fair. We have to be honest with each other.”

He scoffed. “Do you really believe everyone here is being honest with each other?”

I nodded, but it was halfhearted. “Whatever. It’s your funeral… All I’m saying is once that secret’s out, we no longer have the upper hand. We have nothing to bargain with. Nothing to ensure our survival. They might find it on their own, sure. They might find coconuts, too. But right now, we’re the only two who know a direct path to water. That gives us some immunity.” He paused. “Just…think about it, okay? Anyone out there could be the person who brought us here. Anyone out there could know exactly why we’re here. You just don’t know.” With that final, solemn phrase, he turned away from me and headed forward, moments later pulling a branch back to reveal our small, boulder encampment.

I tried to force his words from my mind. They meant nothing. I wasn’t Noah. I didn’t want to behave like him… But was he right somehow? Did our secret make me more powerful? I wanted to go home more than anything, but did I honestly believe someone on the island could have something to do with why we were there?

The thought sent chills down my spine. He was wrong…

He had to be.

Chapter Eleven

I don’t know why I didn’t tell them about the waterfall. Maybe Noah had gotten in my head about it, maybe I had my own reasons, but as we made our way back to the camp, seeing the makeshift hut Harry, Ava, and James had crafted, I didn’t breathe a word about our discovery, and neither did Noah.

This only made me feel guiltier when, upon seeing me, Harry rushed toward us with his arms outstretched. When he reached me, his hands gripped my biceps. “Thank God.” He looked at Noah. “You were gone a long time.”

“It’s far away,” he said simply. “And I think what you mean is thank you, Noah, for hand-delivering the only thing keeping us alive right now.” He placed every coconut but two down, offering a slight bow. “To which I say, you’re welcome, Your Majesty. I am but a humble servant, after all.”

Harry scowled slightly but didn’t reply. “You okay?” he asked me, looking down at the oversized shirt. “Why are you wearing his shirt?”

“I’m okay…” I almost told him the truth about what had happened, but something stopped me. I hated how much I’d allowed Noah to cause me to doubt the people I wanted so desperately to trust. “He gave it to me so I wouldn’t burn anymore.”

Harry’s expression appeared taken aback. “Oh, good. That’s a good idea.”

I nodded toward the shelter. “That looks great. You’ve been working hard.”

He shrugged one shoulder, looking away from me. “It’ll do for now. I’m not sure how long it’ll hold up, but for a day or two at least we’ll have somewhere dry to sleep.”

“Here.” A coconut was thrust into my face, and I followed the length of the outstretched arm that held it to meet Noah’s eye. He had one coconut held up to his mouth and the other was, apparently, mine. “You should lie down.”

“I’m fine,” I