Brian spat water out of his mouth as he broke through the surface of the sea. “Urgh, fucken’ hell”, he growled, blinking sea water out of his eyes. Another person, the fool who’d pushed Brian into the ocean in the first place, surfaced soon after Brian did. He too spat and sputtered about. “Hey, you moron! What the fuck was that?!” Brian yelled while trying to stay afloat.

Said fool turned around to face a furious Brian. Shit. AGAIN, it was the same blond kid from before! Christ, how many times am I going to literally bump into this kid? Brian thought. Sure, the boy was hotter than hot, but that didn’t change the fact that he was apparently as clumsy as a person can possibly get. “Fuck, you again. You really need to get a set of eyes!”

“I am so fucking sorry, I don’t even know what the hell happened”, the blond rambled as they both made their way over to the dinghy precariously tied to the main boat with a rope. Unbeknownst to either man, the rope was incredibly weak and in danger of snapping at any moment.  

Brian hoisted himself up and climbed into the dinghy first, speaking as he moved. “I’ll tell you what happened; you are a total and complete klutz who needs to think before he moves.” Brian at least was courteous enough to assist the gorgeous ‘airhead’ into the dinghy to sit in front of him. It was more than the kid deserved, in Brian’s eyes.

“Hey, shut up, will you?! I am not a ‘total klutz’! It wasn’t even my fault!” the boy defended himself.

This ought to be good, Brian figured. “Oh it’s not, is it? Well would you mind telling me whose fault it actually was then, huh?” he demanded.

The blond huffed as he shifted in his position in the dinghy. “You saw what was going on. People started moving around like crazy when the police showed up. Some fat lard of a jerk shoved me backwards, and I crashed into you before hitting the water! It wasn’t my fault that an idiot who didn’t even notice who he was bumping into or where he was going, practically threw us in!” One thing was clear to Brian from the boy’s little speech; the kid was angry. Well, so was Brian.

“Yeah, well you’re lucky that this damn dinghy is here, cause there is no way we could climb back onto the boat from here. And if there wasn’t any kind of life boat or anything, you would be so dead. In fact, you’re lucky I don’t have your neck right now, kid”, Brian told him.

The teenager’s expression transformed from frustration to pure anger. Brian watched as his blue eyes darkened and a frown formed on his perfect face. Even though Brian was pissed off to the max, he couldn’t help but notice again just how beautiful the young man was. His wet hair was plastered to his face, water droplets sprinkled his lovely long eyelashes, and water still ran down his porcelain face. Fuck, this boy is damn perfect. Well, aside from being a total imbecile. A slightly raspy tenor voice interrupted Brian’s thoughts. Sure enough, it sounded angry. “Fuck you, you jerk-off! I already told you what happened. We were both just in the wrong place at the wrong time”, the kid said. The boy was so busy telling his accuser off that he completely failed to notice the police boat speeding away. “I didn’t even want to come to this stupid party, anyhow. I was dragged here. And my name’s not kid, by the way. It’s Justin.”

Brian spotted the police boat leaving while the fiery little blond raved on. He returned his eyes to look into the attractive face. “Alright then, Justin. Looks like we’ll be getting out of here soon anyway”, he said.

Justin frowned in confusion. “What the hell are you talking abou-WHA!” The, now shut down, party boat sped away without warning. At least Justin wasn’t expecting it. Brian laughed, watching the boy lose his balance and topple over in the dinghy as the boat took off, pulling them along with it. “Oh what the fuck are you laughing at, you ass?!” Justin growled.

“The name’s Brian, kid”, Brian corrected in a teasing manner, the boy’s snarkiness having no affect on him whatsoever, which only annoyed Justin even further. “Oh, don’t look so livid”, Brian chided. “You won’t have to spend much more time in here with nasty ol' me. We seem to be picking up more speed now.”

“Could this possibly get any worse”, Justin grumbled to himself, but loud enough for Brian to hear. A crack of thunder was heard, causing both men to snap their heads up at the dark sky. Rain began to pore down in torrents, further drenching the already shivering boys. “Fuck.”

Brian moaned in frustration. His clothes were going to be completely ruined. “Looks like you spoke too soon.” Both men were flung about in the dinghy, due to the rough sea the sudden storm was creating. There was a big bump that felt like the dinghy had been pulled back by something…or let go. “Woah!” Brian yelled as he fell onto his back. Justin fell forward, landing right on top of him. Sitting up as best he could, Brian saw the main boat quite far ahead of them. A little too far. “What the?” he said, frowning. He pushed Justin away as the boy struggled to get off of him and sat up straight to see that while the boat was moving, the dinghy was not. “Fuck! Oh no, no, no, no, no…” The man leaned over to confirm what he feared was true; the rope that attached the dinghy to the main boat had snapped!

His eyes wide, Brian sat back into his previous position, even though the sea was still incredibly rocky. He barely took notice of Justin grunting next to him as he pushed himself up into a sitting position as well. The kid looked at Brian and frowned, having a sinking feeling that something was very wrong. “What’s up with you?” he asked cautiously. Brian told him to see for him self, and see Justin did. Sensing already what was wrong, Justin sucked in a breath before slowly turning around to see the main boat getting further and further away. “Fuck”, he said in a strangely calm voice. “Fuck fuck fuck FUCK FUCK!” he yelled, getting more worked up as he spoke. “We are totally fucked!”

“That’s an understatement”, Brian huffed. He shifted, uncomfortably and unhappily in his ‘seat’. “What are we gonna do?”

Justin looked at him blankly. “How the fuck should I know? This is total shit!”

“Well you’re the one that got us in this mess!” Brian accused angrily. It was all this darn kid’s fault in Brian’s eyes. If it weren’t for him, Brian would still be on the party boat, safely on his way back to the dock. Now, he was stranded in the ocean in the middle of a storm with a useless teenage boy.

A frustrated sigh sounded from Justin’s mouth. “I already told you; it was not my fault!” he defended himself, sounding very offended and fed up with Brian’s accusations. “It was that guy!” Brian scoffed and rolled his eyes, not wanting to hear a single word of it. In his mind, this kid was guilty as sin. “Oh, you don’t believe me?! Why the fuck would I throw us both off the boat on purpose, huh? Go on, tell me what you think!” the blond challenged.

While they were quarrelling, the dinghy continued to be tossed and knocked about in the ocean, the boys moving along with it. “Well you have been staring at me at the hotel. And you bumped into me BEFORE as well. Maybe you just wanted an excuse the get close to me, like some kind of freaky stalker”, Brian spat.

A disgusted Justin reached over to angrily shove Brian’s shoulder. “I was staring at you? What the fuck asshole, YOU were the one drooling over me all the time! And why, why, WHY would I scheme to get stranded out in the sea with some total douche-pickle, only to be yelled at, and be accused of being a fucking psycho stalker!?! Trust me bucko, there are a million places I’d rather be right now, than here with you!” Justin shouted indignantly.

The sea became even more rough for a number of seconds, as the rain pouring down got harder. The dinghy was lifted into the air a few times, bouncing off the waves, sending the boys flying about, and struggling to hold on. Justin was unsuccessful in holding on. “Ahhh!” the young blond yelled as he fell backwards, starting to slip out of the side of the dinghy. If it wasn’t for Brian’s quick, strong hands grabbing onto the teen and pulling him safely back into the life boat, Justin would definitely be in the raging sea. If that had happened, he really would be well and truly fucked.

“You okay?” Brian asked as the blond recovered from his near-miss. He was visibly calming himself down, trying to even his breathing. The sight made Brian decide to cut the boy some slack - at least for the time being. He felt a wash of relief when the kid looked up at him and nodded. Justin looked grateful, though he did not voice it. Brian suspected that even though he had just saved the boy’s life, he was not completely trusted yet. He figured that was understandable; Brian didn’t really trust Justin either. Right now, however, they had to work with each other. Whether they liked it or not - which they did not, they were in this together.

A short while later, the sea calmed as the storm cleared and the rain stopped- good news for the boys.

Justin started panicking as soon as he felt himself being flung back into another body and over the back of the boat. It felt like everything was going in slow motion. And shit, the water was freezing! Justin almost didn’t want to surface, knowing that once he did, he was in for a shit storm from whoever it was that he’d taken along with him in his topple overboard. He felt terrible. Not only was he all wet and cold, but he’d made another person experience the same. It wasn’t as if it was his fault exactly. Justin had no intention of going anywhere near the damn water. If only that jerk that bumped into him had been watching where he was going. If Justin ever got his hands on that guy, he’d give him a piece of his mind before crushing him.

Accepting that he couldn’t stay underwater forever, Justin broke through the surface, coughing and sputtering about, spitting water from his mouth and blinking it from his eyes. He heard a familiar voice shouting at him from behind, sounding very, very pissed off. Of course he’s pissed, Justin! You essentially pushed him in! the blond thought. He turned to face the same beautiful man he’d laid his eyes on multiple times. Only this time, he was not greeted with a flirty or friendly smile. This time, Justin saw nothing but pure anger and annoyance, with good reason.

Despite his bitterness, the man at least helped him into the dinghy on the back of the boat. Justin figured that at least counted for something. But then he starting blaming him for causing all this trouble, making all kinds of nasty accusations, after Justin already explained to him what happened. Who the fuck does this jerk think he is?! Justin thought.

The sudden onset of a storm and the rough seas created a rocky, unpleasant ride for both of the unhappy boys. And. Then. It. Happened. The rope connecting the dinghy to the back of the boat snapped, leaving the boys drifting in the Sea. So, we’re basically fucked. No- scratch that, we’re totally, utterly and completely fucked! Justin had no idea what would happen to them, or how long they’d be stuck out there, but he did know that being stranded in a life boat in the Caribbean Sea was NOT a good thing!

He learned the man’s name was Brian, a nice strong, fitting name, Justin thought. They argued a while longer while the lifeboat was tossed about in the sea. Justin nearly jumped right out of his skin when he lost his balance and grip on the side of the dinghy, feeling himself start to fall out. He felt as if he was about to throw up his own heart. But, thankfully he was saved by a pair of strong hands and arms; Brian’s. The man pulled him back into the dinghy before Justin could really fall to what would have been his eventual doom. Brian asked if he was okay while Justin shook with fear at his almost fall and what could have been. Brian was his saviour.

This was the moment Justin realised that no matter how much they disliked each other at the time, they were stuck with each other for who knows how long, meaning that they must work together. It was far too dangerous not to.

The rain and waves calmed down after that. And eventually, the rain stopped completely.

THE NEXT MORNING

“Alright, everyone”, Mr. Christianson began, not at all pleased with the events of the previous night. Half of his students snuck off to a stranger’s boat party that was unwarranted, and ended up being shut down by the police because of this. He was also aware that there was alcohol involved. Truth be told, Mr. Christianson, along with the other teacher’s chaperoning the trip were incredibly disappointed with their students. “Thanks to the rule breakers and subsequent ‘muck ups’, our trip has unfortunately had to come to an early end. I hope everyone’s all packed and ready to go, because we will not be returning for any forgotten items.”

At that moment, the star football player of the school, Chris Hobbs and his friends, as well as Hunter came bounding into the lobby where their school group was situated. “Gentlemen, nice of you to join us”, Mr. Christianson remarked lamely as the trouble making students entered. With that, the teacher began to call out the names on the roll-call to make sure that every student was accounted for. When he got to Justin Taylor’s name, there was no answer. “Justin Taylor?” he repeated, looking around the group.

Daphne and Hunter shared a worried look. “He’s not here, Sir”, Daphne spoke up.

The teacher raised his eyebrows at the girl. “Oh? Then, please, Miss Chanders, can you tell me where he is and why he’s not right here where he should be?”

These were questions that neither Daphne, nor Hunter, had answers to. They both gulped, real concern for the whereabouts of their friend growing. “Actually, Sir”, Hunter began, causing everyone present to turn their heads towards him. His cheeks warmed slightly at the attention. “Justin uh…h-he never made it home last night. I mean, it looked that way.”

Daphne raised both her eyebrows in surprise. "He didn't?" she asked him, Hunter shaking his head 'no' in response. She and Hunter hadn't seen Justin since the party boat, but Daphne had thought that her clever, responsible friend would make it back to the hotel safely. It worried her to know that he hadn't. Where in the heck could he possibly be? she wondered.  

"Mr. Montgomery, what do you mean he never made it home?" Their beyond pissed off teacher demanded impatiently. These kids better not be dicking me around, he thought grumpily.

Hunter gulped loudly before answering the intimidating man. "Um...well...w-we kinda lost track of him on that boat last night and...well, we figured he's clever enough to find his way back, so we...uh...came back without him..."

A deafening silence was birthed after Hunter's confession, the teachers glaring at him and the students placidly quiet. "So you mean to tell me that you went to this party AGAINST the rules like the others...and then LEFT Mr. Taylor there?!" Mr. Christianson growled, most unimpressed.

"I-I thought at first that maybe...he was with someone, but h-he's not here, and now I'm not so sure..." Hunter stuttered.

"Perhaps you were right, Hunter. Justin may just be with someone and is late getting back", another teacher, Ms. Ackard suggested. Mr. Christianson nodded, thinking her idea plausible.

Hunter and Daphne again shared a look. "No, Ms. Ackard", Daphne piped up. "Justin wouldn't do that. He couldn't have just run off with a total stranger and not come back. You know him, Mr. Christianson. Justin is never happy unless he's right where he's supposed to be. He would not have just bailed", she explained. Hunter nodded in total agreement.

"Well then where in the world is the boy?!" Mr. Christianson demanded, a throbbing headache beginning to form.

"I...I don't know. I don't know where he is..." Daphne answered lamely in a small voice. The usually confident, fiery girl was truly afraid for her missing friend.   

TO BE CONTINUED...