Stranded/Episode 6

This is the sixth episode of Stranded, entitled, Hall of Fame.

Episode 6; Hall of Fame
November 16th, 2014

It was the morning of the junior trip to Gio Hill and the sun shined bright upon the Len-Henderson household. A bluejay chirped as it flew through the bright blue sky, before landing on a branch in front of the two-story house. After last week had been so rainy, it was a relief for the people of Young Mountain to get some sunshine in their lives...and it was right on time!

Kenton sat in his living room with Elizabeth and another boy -- a friend from their literature class -- whose name was Craig. Kenton sported a plain black t-shirt and tight black jeans, while Elizabeth wore a pink sundress (which Kenton found just adorable, and he didn’t even bother holding back his opinion when Elizabeth first got there). The three sat on Kenton’s couch, their respective traveling bags next to their feet, and were in the middle of their card game -- courtesy of Elizabeth.

“Do you have any threes?” Kenton sighed, his head tilted toward Craig.

“Go fish.” he smiled, before looking past Kenton’s head to Lizzie. “Any queens?”

Elizabeth nodded her head, and with that, handed two cards over to Craig.

“By the way, are the girls almost ready?” Craig asked.

Kenton shrugged his shoulders. “Who knows...?”

“I-I can check if you want.” Elizabeth quickly spat out -- to which Kenton only smiled and nodded -- prompting Elizabeth to quickly leave the room.

Elizabeth walked up the stairs rather quickly, making her way to the pink bedroom door, where inside resided Miranda.

Elizabeth didn’t hesitate to knock on the door, and only three seconds later, did the door crack open and Emma peeked her head through. “Oh, it’s just you.” Emma -- who was wearing blue short shorts and a Carolina Panthers jersey -- sighed, before opening the door fully.

“Just me?” Elizabeth asked, before Emma shrugged her off.

“I just thought it might’ve been a pervert, trying to watch a couple of girls changed.” she smirked, before moving out of the doorway and permitting Elizabeth entrance to the room.

“You’re not done yet? We have to be at the school in twenty, you know.”

Emma closed the door behind Elizabeth and, inside the room, Miranda and Rachel were packing away Miranda’s stuff into her bags. “Do you know how hard it is to wake Miri up?” Rachel asked, throwing Miranda’s light green tanktop into the bag. “She’s a handful, let me tell you…”

Miranda, who was wearing a pink hoodie and pink jeans, shrugged her shoulders. “I warned you I wasn’t a morning person…”

“But I couldn’t resist this opportunity to look at your cute little sleeping face…” Rachel winked, zippering up Miranda’s bag. Rachel wore an All Time Low t-shirt and dark blue jeans. “This should be everything you’ll need for the week.”

“Thanks…” Miranda smiled, putting the bag around her shoulder.

Can she ple--

“Can you guys stop flirting already?” Emma asked, folding her arms. “You’ll have plenty of alone time on the trip.”

It-It’s not like that…

Emma put her arm around Elizabeth and chuckled, while Elizabeth giggled to herself as well. “Look at how red you two both got!” Emma spat out.

“Oh shut it, bitch.” Rachel smiled, before nudging the flustered Miranda. “Earth to Miranda, you ready?”

Thank you, Rachel…

Miranda nodded her head quickly, before grabbing her polaroid camera that lied on her bed, and placing the strap around her neck. “Yeah, let’s go.”

The two large light blue coach buses sped down the mostly empty highway. With comfortable seating, free wifi, and the A/C blasting, this five hour road trip was going by in a blink of an eye. Of course, they still had an estimated three hours granted the road continues to stay clear of any cars, but it wasn’t all bad.

In the back left corner of the bus, Joshua, Samantha, and Jennifer all sat together, while in the back right corner, Miranda, Emma, and Rachel sat with each other as well.

In the middle of the pack sat the groups of Oliver, Tyler, Duane, & Jordana, as well as the five-man group of Alexis, Jenny, Jerri, Bradley, and Mackenzie, who were all chatting happily with one another.

And in the front of the bus, toward the chaperones, Kenton, Elizabeth, and Craig sat together, playing the same card game they were playing before they got to the school.

“So,” Samantha smirked, tilting Joshua’s face in her direction -- to which he quickly tried pulling away, however her grip was surprisingly strong. “How excited are you to be in the co-ed dorms with us two lovely ladies?”

Jennifer smirked as well, before crossing her arms as Joshua gently responded. “Well, isn’t it just like any other day? You two sleep over almost everyday.” He then sighed. “Besides, I’m sharing a room with satan.”

“Satan?” Samantha repeated, before releasing her grip on his face. “Who are you with?”

“I’m stuck with Mackenzie.”

“Oh my god, you really are stuck with satan.” Jennifer remarked, nudging his shoulder. “Who else?”

“Oliver, Kenton, Tyler, and Duane are there too, as well as a Bradley Nicks and some redshirt named Craig Robinson.”

“Redshirt?” Samantha questioned.

“N-Nevermind.” Joshua sighed again, before turning to Jennifer. “Who are you two going with?”

Jennifer shrugged her shoulders. “Those three lovely ladies over there.” she said, pointing to Miranda’s group. “Also, Jordana, Lizzie, and the she-devil trio.”

“You mean Jerri’s crew?” Joshua asked.

“Sucks to be you~!” a high-pitched voice called out from in front of them. The three quickly turned their heads in front of them, where they saw two girls poking their heads out above the seats.

One belonged to a small blonde with fair skin and blue eyes -- the source of the high-pitched voice -- whose eyes were switching between the three in front of her rapidly. She seemed very jittery, almost to Samantha’s level. Her name was Elaine Anthony.

The other head belonged to a girl who seemed much more calm and relaxed then her partner, instead just opting to look at Joshua methodically. She was a brunette and had blue eyes as well. She was Lyndsey Hoying.

“You guys definitely got the short end of the stick.” Lyndsey said monotonously, continuing where her partner left off. Unlike Elaine, Lyndsey was much more formal, opting to make eye contact only with Joshua, who her comment was directed at.

“Where are you guys staying?” Jennifer asked, resting her head back in her seat.

“We’re right next door...” Lyndsey trailed off, and -- like clockwork -- Elaine continued her sentence. “But still, our group of girls is a lot more friendly than Jerri and Jenny, are you kidding?”

“Now, now ladies, no need to be so rude.” another voice interrupts, and this time, it’s a dark-skinned girl taking the seat next to Samantha. “Last thing we need is for Medusa to give us that famous stare of hers that could kill a hundred newborns.”

Latasha Goore, the captain of the school volleyball team and the student council vice-president, smiled as both Samantha and Elaine giggled at her little jab at Jerri, before adjusting her earrings.

Joshua was quick to notice just how perfect this girl was; from her body posture, her bright smile, her witty sense of humor…

... and the list could go on.

Elaine was the first to greet her. “Heyy, Tasha~!”

The other four quickly gave their greetings too before Latasha continued. “I mean, it could always be worse.”

“We could be in the same-sex dorms.” Elaine said. “How boring would that be?”

“Beyond boring!” Samantha exclaimed, nearly jumping out of her seat as she did so. She then abruptly pointed her finger at Joshua’s face. “How else am I gonna be able to keep my eye on this kid? Do you know how much trouble he gets into when I leave him alone?”

“Trouble?” Elaine asked, leaning in closer to the group of four. “What kind of trouble?”

“Nothing too embarrassing please…” Joshua sighed -- but, Samantha barely heard him and a smirk formed across her face.

March 23rd, 2010

“Tell them, Baylor.”

“A-Are you sure I should? What if--”

“They’re our friends. Something like this won’t come between us.”

Silence.

“I’m scared, Josh.”

“...Me too.”

November 16th, 2014

Mackenzie casually sat in between Jenny and Bradley, his hands tucked deep into his pockets as the bus marched forward down the highway.

Mackenzie always had a certain kind of energy about him, Miranda felt it, Jordana felt it, and Duane most definitely felt it. Opposed to Duane, Mackenzie’s air just felt dirty. It was like he was so caught up in his ‘delinquent’ role that he even pushed away the people he once attracted with this attitude. In fact, that was exactly the case. Even Jerri was starting to distance herself from him. The only person who had no plans on leaving his side was Jenny, and well, there’s a specific reason for that...

From the leather jacket and plain white tee to the ripped jeans and Timberland shoes, he had the bad boy look down pat; he even had a gold necklace hanging around his neck that even Oliver said looked corny.

“At least this fucking bus isn’t as ghetto as the normal school buses.” Mackenzie smiled, looking from the duo of Jenny and Jerri to his left, to the duo of Bradley and Alexis on his right (who he just missed rolling their eyes at his statement). “Like, that shit woulda sucked.”

“Yeah, that would’ve been way too hot.” Jerri added. “Crowded plus no A/C equals death.”

“Wow, a real mathematician.” Alexis whispered, only loud enough for Bradley to barely hear it.

“Soooo, are we gonna get some time later to chill, Mack?” Jenny slyly asked, grabbing onto Mackenzie’s left arm. Mackenzie only smiled as Jenny innocently looked up at him. But, this was a bit different, Mackenzie’s smile seemed strained...like, it pained him to smile at this brunette who dreamily stared into his eyes.

“Of course.” he said, taking his right hand out of his pocket and rubbing her head. “I’ve always got time for you.”

As Jenny continued to beam, Alexis’ eyes were now glued to her phone. She smiled to herself as she read a text message from none other than the young man who sat a mere four seats away from her, Duane.

I swear yo, Jerri by the end of the night gonna have you crawlin’ into the boys room with Oliver and I. Mack told me she snores really loudly and moans the names of all of her exes.

Alexis lightly giggled before responding with a quick:

All eighteen?

“You suck at texting.” Bradley chuckled, peering over Alexis’ shoulder. “Only two words? Poor Duane.”

“I know, I know.” she lightly smiled. “I just get so nervous I don’t know what to say.”

Bradley smiled, putting his arm around Alexis’ shoulders. “Sounds like you need guy advice from Big Bro Bradley.”

“It’s just...he’s so cute, you know?” she sighed, her face beginning to turn a bright red. “I just don’t know what to do most of the time!”

“He’s definitely adorable…” Bradley trailed off, looking out the window as did so.

“Oh no…” Alexis mumbled, drawing Bradley’s attention back to her. “...you love him too!”

Bradley almost immediately let go of his grip on Alexis, turning his head away from her. “This is the last time I try to console you.”

Alexis giggled to herself as the bus continued to fly down the highway…

...which arrived at its stop, shortly after noon.

The bedrooms were on the upper area of the lodge, and were, of course, separated by gender. Boys on one end of the hallway, girls on the other. And, aside from that, there were two rooms per gender.

In one of the boys’ room, Kenton, Tyler, & Craig unpack their clothes quietly in one corner of the room, while Mackenzie, Oliver, do the same in another corner.

In the middle of the room, Duane and Bradley talk about Alexis and whatever sightseeing they were doing today, while Joshua only stays to drop off his luggage, before exiting the room.

“He does not like us…” Mackenzie sighed, putting his hands behind his head. “...oh well.”

“And whose fault is that.” Oliver mumbled.

“The answer to that is…” Mackenzie paused, looking to the ceiling. “...me!”

“You’re such a tool.” Duane chimed in.

Mackenzie only rolled his eyes, before continuing to unpack. “Whatever, dude. I don’t know where your sense of justice is coming from all of a sudden.”

Kenton simply sighed at the remark and Craig kept his head low to his bed. Tyler spun around to watch, but not for fun. He looked worried. He knew exactly what was coming…

“What do you mean, ‘sense of justice’?” Duane asked, turning to Mackenzie. “You know exactly what you and I did.”

“The past is the past, Duane.” Mackenzie yawned. “He needs to get over it.”

This time, it was Kenton. “Get over it? Dude she’s--”

March 25th, 2010

A petite girl stands before a group of her friends. She has bright blonde hair she keeps in ponytails, bright blue eyes, and sports a gray sweatshirt and black sweatpants. She’s twelve years of age; she stands nervously, constantly shaking. She’s only supported by a boy with black hair and glasses, a boy named Joshua.

“So, whatcha call us out here for?” a young brunette said -- Mackenzie. He held hands with a girl with bright brown hair and hazel eyes named Miranda. “Is something the matter? Are you okay?”

A ginger speaks next, a girl named Jordana. “Is it serious?”

“Is anyone picking on you?” an African-American boy rises. “Who do I need to beat up?”

“It’s nothing like that!” she exclaimed, her small fingers gripping Joshua’s white collared-shirt. “I just...need to get something off my chest.”

“Then do it already, Baylor.” a young Oliver mumbles. He props his head with his palm, rolling his eyes as he did so.

Baylor takes a deep breath before she continues. “W-Well, when I moved here a couple of months ago, you guys really took me in and made me special, but I have to be honest about something...”

“...which is?” a blonde Jennifer asked.

Samantha listens intently, twisting her hair in her finger.

Baylor had tears in her eyes at this point, but she took another deep breath, and spat it out. “I’m not biologically a girl.”

There was an awkward silence. Baylor was now sobbing into Joshua’s shirt, and he held the back of her head close to his.

Miranda and Samantha were both confused; they didn’t quite understand what Baylor meant, but the others sure did.

Tyler looked just as emotional as Baylor was, clutching his own heart and letting a few tears down his face.

Jordana looked indifferent. She didn’t quite understand what the big deal was, but whatever…

...Kenton’s mouth was ajar. He wasn’t sure what to make of it, but it’s not like he cared all that much.

Elizabeth just tilted her head and shrugged her shoulders.

It was the three alpha males, that looked to be the most shocked -- and, not just shocked, but disgusted.

Duane was the first one to leave the bedroom of Joshua that the group of twelve were staying in. He just...left. No words, no emotions, he was just gone.

Oliver now. He had a look of disgust on his face as he stormed past Baylor and Joshua, shaking his head.

“...how gross.”

Mackenzie was the last one to leave. Unlike the other boys who left before him, his face was one of awkwardness. He didn’t harbor any bad feelings for Baylor, but, he just didn’t know what to do.

Baylor continued to cry into Joshua’s arms. He gently rubbed her head, whispering sweet-nothings into her ear.

April 2nd, 2010

The three alpha males never came around. Duane ignored her, Oliver poked fun at her, Mackenzie stuttered and was nothing but awkward with her.

Samantha and Joshua stayed by her side through it all, telling her every little thing was gonna be alright. Ever since Baylor came out as transgender to the group, Joshua and Samantha slept over her house night after night, playing games, trying to let her forget about all of the sadness in her life.

Tyler and Jennifer would visit once a day, Elizabeth and Kenton three times that week. Miranda and Jordana only visited once, on that last day...

Miranda, Tyler, Jennifer, and Jordana play Super Smash Bros. Brawl on the Wii in Baylor’s basement, while Kenton, Elizabeth, Joshua, Jordana, and Baylor sit in a circle and play Monopoly.

It was a rather tame day, the group of nine played and spoke like they normally would, but there was no denying the tension. There was a big ol’ elephant in the room, and it was in the form of Baylor.

Physically, she seemed fine. Samantha did a good job on keeping her showered looking like she did sleep at all these past few days.

Emotionally, she was recovering. Joshua would play her covers of Train’s “Hey, Soul Sister”, and acoustic versions of “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay to calm her mind -- and it worked. Baylor (and Samantha too!) could get lost in Joshua’s singing, and just be free.

Mentally, she was losing it however. With barely any sleep in the past seven or eight days, she was just exhausted. She wouldn’t mind just falling over in front of everyone and just...wither away.

In fact, about two hours after Elizabeth, Tyler, Jordana, Jennifer, Miranda, and Kenton left, that’s almost what happened.

Joshua, Baylor, and Samantha shared a large blanket that night, with Baylor sandwiched in between the two. Joshua’ was turned away from the two girls, and Samantha had Baylor wrapped in her arms as they slept, but Baylor was wide awake.

Her head was in the crease of Samantha’s warm neck, her face covered in Samantha’s light brown hair. She could feel Joshua’s cold foot wrapped in between her thighs...

Baylor felt home here.

But, it couldn’t last.

Of course not.

Why would it?

November 16th, 2014

Samantha, Joshua, Jennifer, Lyndsey, Latasha, and Elaine sit together in the common area of the lodge, talking and waiting for their chaperone to go show them their first sightseeing locations.

There were three dark green couches, and the group of six took up only two. Joshua sat in the middle of Samantha and Jennifer, the former of which played with her phone, while the latter is engaged in conversation with Latasha about some band that has been picking up steam lately called 5 Seconds of Summer. Lyndsey sat next to Latasha, and Elaine next to her. Lyndsey was asleep, her head resting on Elaine’s shoulder, who peacefully watched her.

“...Amnesia is soooo good!” Jennifer exclaimed. “Like, Joshie and I were considering covering it for our YouTube channel.”

“You totally should.” Latasha countered, offering a slight grin. “It’s emotional, I think you two do that well.” she turns to Joshua, who had his eyes shut while Samantha started to play with his hair. “Especially Joshie with those falsettos of his.”

Joshua smiles while Samantha continues to run her finger through his hair. “So fluffy…” she mumbled.

Jennifer looks back at the two and offers her strained smile to the two, while Latasha herself smirked.

She leaned forward toward Jennifer, putting her mouth close to her ear before whispering, “Jealous, are we…?”

Jennifer only sighed, which, confirmed Latasha’s belief. “...adorable…” she whispered as she pulled her head back, before turning to Elaine and the half-awake Lyndsey, who is just opening her eyes.

“Are we ready to go yet?” she yawned, stretching out her arms.

“Not yet, sweetie.” Latasha smiled. “Do you wanna sleep some more so you don’t go out during our trip?”

“No,” she responded. “If I start going out just catch me or slap me, whatever you think will work best.”

Joshua and Samantha both smiled as the guide interrupted their conversation to let them know it was time to go.

April 3rd, 2010

When Joshua and Samantha woke up that morning, there was something missing. A big empty space in between them where Baylor once lied.

The panic was immediate.

Every single night that week, the two would wake up to Baylor’s sweet, soft smile, and a kiss on the forehead from their troubled friend. But this morning...where did she go?

After Joshua and Samantha rose from their sleeping spots, they didn’t have any words for each other. The nerves took over, and they dashed up the basement stairs, into the kitchen, where Baylor’s dad waited.

He softly smiled as he sipped his coffee and greeted the two. “Why hello there, Joshie, Sammi,” he said. “What’s the rush?”

The two looked at each other, their eyes were wide, their breaths were rapid and heavy.

“Where’s Baylor?” Joshua asked.

Her dad looked baffled for a moment, but recovered quickly. “She went to sleep with the two of you, didn’t she?”

And, that’s when it happened. Almost like it was scheduled to happen just to toy with the two children and her poor father, there was a knock on the door. Her dad smiled and put his coffee mug on the table, giving the two a confused and now worried look, as he briskly walked to the door. He answered it and was met by a police officer, who looked about as remorseful as they come.

Only five seconds later did Baylor’s dad break out into tears, and, not long afterwards, did Joshua and Samantha too. They didn’t have to hear what the officer had said to no what happened. The only question on their minds were: Why?

“I love you.” Her voice echoed throughout Joshua’s mind. The way that the second he opened his eyes her lips met his forehead, almost as if she was waiting for him to wake just so she could do that and watch him get flustered. Why? Why did it have to happen to her?

As the official story goes, in the middle of the night, Baylor had gone for a walk in the park to get some fresh air when she was hit by a drunk driver. After going into surgery, Baylor died at 3:24 A.M., and was survived by her widowed dad and her broken friends.