“Well, I asked that question during Would You Rather about surviving the end of the world, and that’s because given everything that’s happening these days I feel like maybe we don’t have that much time left. Like, as a species, you know?” He looked nervous, like he was worried we’d think he was a freak. “My family’s always been . . . um . . . concerned about end times and that kind of stuff, but it feels more . . . real now.” I wondered whether his commune had been more like a cult, but now definitely did not seem like the time to bring that up. “We could always talk about that sort of thing, if you all were interested.”
“You’re serious,” Chloe said. “Are you one of those prepper types?”
Wyatt shrugged. He wasn’t saying no, I noticed. I bet I was right about that cult. “I am serious, but that doesn’t mean we have to do it. We could just talk about it. As a group. If we wanted.”
“Like how?” I was starting to get excited, despite myself. Maybe I really had found my people. My parents had sent me here so I’d stop thinking about the terrible stuff going on in the world, but there was no getting away from it. And I hadn’t wanted to get away from it in the first place.
Wyatt jumped out of his chair and started to pace, except there wasn’t really room to pace, so he ended up taking two steps forward, spinning around, and then taking two steps back. I hoped he didn’t get dizzy. “There are just so many things! We could think about all the ways things could go wrong, and what we’d have to do to survive, and we could learn what to do to help ourselves.”
“This is all sounding really intense,” Chloe said. “What happened to the whole we-could-all-just-hang-out-and-play-games part? Maybe we could get to know each other a little before we start officially packing for the end of the world? I don’t know about you people, but I haven’t spent a ton of time away from home, much as I’ve wanted to, and I’m a little freaked out. We all have to survive here before we can think about surviving the apocalypse, so maybe we could strategize that?”
I wanted to learn how to survive the apocalypse, but she had a point. “I wouldn’t mind a little help surviving here.”
“I don’t know,” Jo said. “I came here to get a diploma, not to make friends.”
Chloe giggled. “You literally sound like you’re on one of those survivalist reality TV shows.”
“They’re hardly reality,” Jo said, but she was trying not to laugh herself. “You must know the producers of Survivor got busted for cheating the very first season. They kicked off the girl who ate bugs because they wanted to keep the senior citizen.”
“I remember that!” Wyatt was bouncing up and down again. “The eating bugs part. I didn’t know about the cheating. That sucks.”
“Aw, he thought it was all real,” Jo said. “Poor thing.”
Wyatt was sweet, but he did seem a little sheltered. I hoped we’d learn more about what his life had been like before he got here. It wouldn’t be boring, that was for sure.
“I’m not that naive,” he said. “I just haven’t watched all that much TV.” He was starting to look a little dejected. Even his curls were drooping. I felt the impulse to cheer him up.
“I think we should make this a survival club,” I said. “It can be about surviving school or surviving the apocalypse, I don’t care. I just like the idea of having some people to talk to, and the college app thing can’t hurt. If you all are up for it, I’m in.” I looked around the group to see how everyone was reacting, and I was relieved to see mostly nods.
“Here for the friends, at least,” Chloe said.
“Me too,” Hunter said.
That left Jo. She was the person I’d most wanted to get to know that first night, and I found myself holding my breath waiting for her to say something. Finally, she sighed. “I guess it can’t hurt to try.”
Wyatt had gotten so excited he’d started bouncing again, making his way over to the shelf of bottled water and grabbing a handful to pass around. I was relieved to see that they appeared to be newer than some of the other bottles; Wyatt must have brought these himself. “I’m so happy everyone is into this! We’re going to have so much fun!”
“Cool it, Twitchy,” Jo said. “You sold us, okay? Now chill with the exclamation marks. I can practically see them.”
Wyatt calmed himself down and sat in his chair. He uncapped his water bottle and held it in the air. “To survival!” he said.
“Man, you really need to calm down,” Jo muttered, but she held out her bottle anyway, as did the rest of us.
“To survival!” we all repeated.
4.
The survival meeting had completely energized me. I couldn’t believe I’d actually found a potential group of friends, two of whom already seemed to like me and one who clearly shared my obsession with the imminent demise of society. Not to mention that Jo had joined too—I was getting everything I wanted, all in one place. True, I’d be feeding the fixation that had gotten me sent here, which was definitely not what my parents had in mind, but I didn’t care. For the first time in forever I wasn’t afraid to go to sleep. I skipped my Ambien and was fine, and I woke up feeling rested and happy.
Chloe and Hunter weren’t quite as enthused as I was. “That Wyatt is kind of off the wall,” Chloe said. “Maybe it’s just that I’ve never met any homeschooled kids, but he is extra.”
“He’s just excited,” I said. “You’re still going to be in the club, right? We’ll make it fun, I promise.”
“Oh, it’s we now, is it?” Chloe smirked. “You and Wyatt start doing some planning without the rest of us?”
My face got hot. I hoped Hunter didn’t notice. “Not at all. I just want this to happen. It’s not like I’ve joined any other groups, and Wyatt’s right—we’ll have to do that eventually, even just to fill up our résumés.”
“My résumé’s doing just fine,” Chloe said.
“We know,” Hunter and I both said at the same time. Chloe never let a chance go by to remind us how internet-famous she was.
“What would make it worthwhile for you guys?” I asked. It was so weird how quickly I’d become invested in the success of this group.
“I like you both, and I definitely need to hang out with people who care about more than fashion,” Chloe said. “But I don’t want to spend all my free time talking about the apocalypse. If you can keep that from happening, I’m good.”
Not exactly the answer I wanted to hear, but I understood. I didn’t want to lose any more friends to my own single-mindedness, either. Back in Brooksby it had gotten so bad the only person I hung out with regularly was Shana. And she was five years younger than me. I reminded myself to send her an email—she didn’t have her own phone yet.
“I wouldn’t mind talking about some of the things we’re afraid of,” Hunter said. “I went to one of the Environmentalist Club meetings and I don’t know if I can spend three years hanging out with those people, but I can’t just pretend I’m not scared we’ve all but screwed up the planet.”