"Come on, let's go to bed. He's nervous; he's not going to eat in front of us. Leave him down here on the ground and we'll check on him in the morning," said Jonathan, yawning for effect.

"Okay, everybody up, so I can get the ladder secured." Kevin waited until they were all in and then climbed up himself. He muscled the ladder up onto the rope loops attached to the side of the treehouse that caught the poles on each end, securing the ladder sideways against the side of the treehouse.

The breeze made their new home cool and comfortable. Sarah and Candi had done their best to clean the one sheet they had. They placed it over a pile of cushioning fronds and palm canvas for the guys' bed. The girls had their bamboo cots, which for now they had put next to each other in their room, sharing a poncho as a cover to keep warm.

"G'night, Sarah ... g'night boys," called out Candi.

"Night, Candi and Sarah," said Jonathan.

"Ditto," said Kevin.

"Good night, subjects; Queen Candi," said Sarah.

Candi snickered.

Sarah giggled.

Candi felt an uncontrollable urge to laugh out loud and gave in to it. It was infectious. Sarah started laughing too softly at first and then more loudly. Soon they were both hysterical, their laughs quickly degenerating into snorts and cackles.

"They're nuts," said Jonathan.

"You don't have to tell me that," responded Kevin.

The guys fell asleep before the girls had quieted down. Soon a light snoring could be heard coming from their end of the treehouse.

Candi slowly calmed down, now completely out of energy and slightly dizzy from all the deep breaths she'd been taking. Sarah sighed long and loud, as if trying to calm herself down.

"Man, I needed that," said Sarah.

"Yeah, I guess I did, too. I feel like I just drank one of those margaritas again."

Sarah was quiet for a minute, thinking about that fateful night. "Remember that? The night we had margaritas and then went dancing? That was fun."

"Yep," said Candi. "That was the last day of our lives as normal teenagers."

"Do you miss it? Being a normal teenager?" Sarah asked in a more subdued tone.

"Actually, no." Candi was surprised at her own answer, but it was true. She didn't miss being unsure of herself. She didn't miss constantly trying to impress some nameless, faceless person or group. She didn't miss always trying to reach some unattainable goal to be accepted by the people who she thought were better than her. Just acknowledging that this was something that used to be important to her was kind of embarra.s.sing.

"Me neither. I was just thinking about how much easier life on this island is which is kinda effed up when you think about how every day here it's pretty much life and death. I mean, it's not 'am I going to win homecoming queen' or something empty like that ... you know what I mean?"

"Yeah, in a way. I mean, whether I was going to be homecoming queen was obviously not on my list of worries, but there were other things. Like how can I start hanging around with the cool people? How can I improve my social status?"

"Who are the cool people at our school, anyway?" asked Sarah.

"Are you being obtuse?"

"No, I'm serious. I mean, all the people I knew were pretty fake. I thought Gretchen was my friend and then she went and slept with my boyfriend who I also thought was a good guy. Seriously, when I think about it, the only cool people that I knew at our school were you guys and I didn't even really know you."

"That is so sad," said Candi.

"Why is that sad?"

"Because to me, the cool people were you and Gretchen and Barry and all those people who you now tell me are fake a-holes. I've spent I don't know how much of my time obsessing over or worrying about how I was going to get those jerks to like me. And now you're telling me that I never should have bothered in the first place, and that apparently, I'm the coolest girl in school."

"Well, yeah, except for me of course. I'm maybe just a little bit cooler than you, but you're pretty cool too."

Candi reached over and smacked Sarah on the arm.

"Ouch, what'd ya do that for?"

Candi could hear the smile in Sarah's voice.

The conversation stopped, but the contemplation didn't. Each girl was lost in her own world, thinking about the fundamental shift they'd come to make when it had happened and how it had happened, neither of them knew. But that it did happen was certain. The question was, what were they going to do with this newfound knowledge? And would it last when they got back to the 'real world'?

"Son of a b.i.t.c.h!" yelled Kevin. He could hear the almost instantaneous response to his frustration coming from the treehouse above his head.

Candi called out, "Kevin? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm down here with our rat cage."

"Is there something wrong with it?"

"Well, only that it apparently doesn't really make sense to design a rat cage that's held together with something a rat can chew through in about five seconds."

"Dammit," said Sarah. "Now I don't know if we can eat those stupid berries or not."

"Back to the drawing board," said Jonathan as he climbed down the ladder. "If any of you has any ideas for a new design on our cage, let me know. I'm tapped out right now."

"I'm not going to worry about it," said Kevin. "I think we need to get going on those platforms. Maybe there are some other fruits or nuts or something over on other parts of the island. We need to start doing some exploring."

"Yeah. Why don't we all gather together this morning over breakfast and talk about our plans. We have lots to do, but I want to make sure we're all in agreement on priorities and stuff," said Jonathan.

"Priority one," announced Candi, "is Sarah dread-locking my hair."

Kevin could hear Sarah scrambling around above. "Really?! Yay! I'll go get my stuff right now." She was going into the bathroom area where she kept her makeup case. He could tell by the banging of her feet on the floor.

Kevin looked over at Candi, watching her reach up to feel her hair.

"Nervous?" he asked, smiling.

"Maybe a little. But it needs to happen. Goodbye frizz-head. h.e.l.lo Rasta girl."

"It'll look great," he encouraged. He knew now that Candi could look beautiful not matter what she did with her hair. None of them had access to shampoo or brushes, but it didn't stop her from being one of the most attractive girls he'd ever seen. His thoughts were interrupted by Sarah coming down the ladder and grabbing Candi's hand.

"Sit." She pushed Candi down onto a chunk of palm tree that they used as a seat near the fire.

Kevin sat back on his heels, watching his sister take charge of Candi's hair.

"Now, we have to first try and get the existing knots out. It's going to hurt, but trust me, when I'm done, you're going to look awesome. Seriously. You have the face for this, and now with your tan and those adorable freckles ... you are gonna have the boys all over you."

Candi didn't say anything, but Kevin caught her looking over at him. It made him feel warm inside to think that maybe she was trying to be pretty for him.

"Ouch!"

"I'm trying to be as gentle as possible, but getting the matted knots out is hard. Please don't cry!" Sarah begged.

"I'm not." She sniffed.

"I'm sorry I'm almost done," promised Sarah. A few more rips of the comb, and she was ready.

"There! Now I'm going to section it off and start dreading it. That won't be as painful. It will be a little, but not as much, okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine, I can take it. Just get it over with."

Kevin was totally engrossed in his sister's hairstyling process. He'd never thought about what went into making those hair rope things before. It was actually pretty cool. And he could see now, as they started to appears, why Sarah had suggested it. Not only was it going to be perfect for life on the island, but it really suited Candi's face.

An hour later, Candi's hair was carefully divided into even chunks around her head. Sarah had carefully tied each chunk at the roots with the plant rope and then back combed them until each of them turned into a tight dreadlock. She tied off the ends with more plant rope to keep her handiwork from coming out.

"Now, you have to keep the rope ties in for a while until we're sure the dreads are staying, but don't worry, it won't be long. I'll have to make sure they stay tight for you, but not having any conditioner and all this salt everywhere will help the dreads get solid pretty quick. Now turn around so I can see my finished product."

Candi did as she was told. Her eyes were red-rimmed from crying but that didn't keep Kevin from seeing how amazing she looked.

"Holy s.h.i.t, Candi," said Sarah, "I knew this was going to look good on you. Man, if the people back at school could see you now, you'd be in the running for homecoming queen."

Candi gave her a critical look.

"I am dead serious, Candi. Here, look." She handed Candi the mirror that had been hanging in the bathroom.

Candi took the mirror from her and held it up so she could get a full view. She moved the mirror from side to side, trying to get a full reflection.

Sarah was right. It did look good. Kevin had never considered himself a dreadlock lover before, but he was definitely liking them on Candi. They made her look a little rebellious and a little bit wild.

"Oh, this feels so much better than all those matted clumps. I can feel a breeze on my scalp for the first time in ... well ... ever!" She smiled and grabbed Sarah in a big hug. "Thank you so much! I love it. I wasn't sure if I was going to, but you were right; it's cool."

"Okay, girls, breakfast is served!" said Kevin, grinning mischievously.

Candi and Sarah looked at each other with question marks on their faces.

He pulled out two bananas from behind his back.

Sarah and Candi rolled their eyes.

"I should have known," said Sarah.

Candi stuck her tongue out at him as she took her banana and said, "Tease."

He raised an eyebrow at her. Apparently her new hairdo made her not only s.e.xier, but bolder too.

"Okay, we have to decide what we're going to focus on next," said Jonathan. "It was the treehouse. It still needs a lot of work, but we can focus on other things if we want now since it's livable at least. I would suggest we walk through the middle of the island to see if there's any reason to install some platforms in the trees."

"I agree, it's worth a shot. What do you girls think?"

"Sure."

"Yeah, I'm game. Maybe we'll find some other food we can add to our menu," said Candi.

"Okay, so that's settled. What else do we need to get done in the next week or so?"

"Well, I'd like to finish the walls for the treehouse because if there's some sort of major rainy season here, I don't want to be trying to build stuff when it's pouring; and I don't want to sleep with rain going all over my bed," said Sarah.

"Yeah," agreed Candi. "I think that makes sense for sure. I'd also like to find something to use as blankets or covers ... something other than that plastic poncho."

"What I wouldn't give for a Pottery Barn right now," said Sarah wistfully.

Candi nodded her head vigorously in complete agreement. "I totally love Pottery Barn sheets. They are the softest ever."

Kevin thought about it for a second and then said, "I don't know about Pottery Barn, but I'm kinda thinking I'd like one of those cots like you girls have."

Sarah smiled. "Yeah, I had a feeling you'd say that. Cut the bamboo for me, and I'll make you both one. I already have the sling parts done."

"Okay, so we have to finish the treehouse and explore the option of platforms. What else?"

"I want to start a band."

Everyone stopped chewing their bananas and just looked at Candi like she was nuts.

"What? I'm serious. I miss music and I'm tired of Sarah's banana song. I think we should each make some sort of musical instrument and one night a week we can sit around the campfire at night and make some music. I always wanted to be in a band," she confessed.

Kevin got a big grin on his face. "I get to play the drums."

"I can make a sh.e.l.l shakey thing with little sh.e.l.ls and coconuts tied together," said Sarah gamely.

"Well, if you want to do it and everyone else is on board with it, I can probably figure something out for myself. I'm in," said Jonathan.

Candi smiled. "Great. This is going to be fun!"

The others just looked around at each other and shrugged their shoulders. If it made her happy ...

"You know what?" asked Jonathan.

"What?" answered the other three in unison.

"We never just go in the water for fun. I mean, why don't we? When we went to the beach for vacation and stuff, we spent the entire day in the ocean. Now we live at the ocean and we never go in. Seems stupid. I vote that we have a picnic at the beach before the weather changes."

"Works for me," said Kevin, shrugging.