“Can you breathe?”

I nodded.

“Anything broken?”

I shook my head.

“Anything hurt?”

Another shake. Though that wasn’t true. My head was pounding, my lungs burned, my throat felt raw.

“Can you speak?”

“What happened to your face?” I croaked.

“You kicked it.”

“Sorry.”

We’d reached the boat by then, and Poe pulled me beneath a fiberglass ladder built into the side of the hull. Hands were already reaching out over the edge, but I couldn’t tell who they belonged to. Somehow, I pulled myself up onto the rungs. Somehow, I got over the side and onto the deck, trailing water, coughing and spluttering the whole time. Clarissa wrapped me in a towel. I could see vomit drying on the front of her shirt.

“Amy, I’m so sorry,” she said. “I didn’t realize you were standing so close to me. I feel awful—”

“It’s not your fault,” George said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “It was an accident.”

“Where’s Darren?” I asked. “Is he all right?”

“Fine. Seasick.” Clarissa pulled her shirt away from her chest. “I’m going to go change.”

Jenny took her place at my side. “You caught your life vest on that chain and it ripped right off,” she reported. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Harun stood above us. “When you went down again, we figured you’d hit your head or something. You just…sank.”

Yeah, dude. That happens when one doesn’t swim. But I didn’t say that. I just hugged the towel more tightly around myself and prayed that this boat ride would be over soon. But how was I supposed to get off the island once I was on it? Another boat? Was there any chance I could be airlifted off?

My Capri pants and T-shirt stuck to my body, my hair hung on my face in clammy tangles. The right side of my head throbbed where it had smacked against the water, and I could feel bruises forming on my right shoulder and the top of my foot where (I suppose) I’d hit it against Poe’s face.

Poe. Where had he gone? I looked around the deck for him, but he hadn’t joined the others in seeing I was okay.

“When will we get to the island?” I rasped.

“Soon, Amy,” Jenny said. She leaned in and dropped her voice to a whisper. “You don’t swim, do you?”

I put my head down on my knees.

I heard her voice overhead. “Come on, guys, let’s give her some space.”

That’s the last thing I noticed until the boat engines ground to a halt.

“We’re here.” Demetria’s voice was gentler than I’d ever heard it. She touched my shoulder. “Wake up, Amy.”

My clothes had dried somewhat, but were still damp and clingy in the back, under my arms, and, of course, near my crotch. Lovely. I pushed my tangled hair out of my face. “Thank God. Dry land.”

“Well, come on, Kevin Costner, and enjoy it.”

I looked up. Ugh. This was a mistake. I needed to get off the island, go someplace where there was no water for miles. I wondered if there were any interesting Spring Break trips through Death Valley.

“There’s supposed to be some sort of tour for the neophytes,” Clarissa said, crouching down to join us. I’d been huddling on a bench near the control panel, too afraid to go into the cabin but not wanting to get anywhere near the edge of the deck. Demetria and Jenny also stooped over me.

“So we’re neophytes again?” Demetria asked.

“Well, it is our first time here.” Clarissa looked at me. “But I bet we can take you straight to your room instead. I’m sure the last thing you want to do is spend time walking around, until you’ve gotten a chance to—”

“Change,” Demetria cut in.

“Rest, I was going to say.”

Hide out would probably be better.

Jenny appeared at the door. “Seems this is going to be more complicated than we thought.”

“What do you mean?” Clarissa asked.

“There’s some sort of issue with the sleeping arrangements.”

“What?” Demetria said. “What issue?”

“Well, the island caretaker is what some would term a tad old-school. He says that he won’t put us girls in the same building as the other knights. We have to sleep elsewhere.”

“What?” Clarissa asked.

At this, I seriously considered staying on the boat.

Demetria frowned. “Are you sure it’s Victorian sensibilities? Maybe there’s something else going on here.”

“What?” Clarissa asked. “Are you taking up the mantle of Amy’s conspiracy theories?”

“Well, she’s hardly in any shape to do so!” Demetria replied. She turned to Jenny. “Go back and tell this guy that Eli dorms went co-ed ages ago. We have gender-free bathrooms and everything.”

“You do it,” Jenny said. “Or am I the only one expected to get treated like a second-class citizen around here?”

“If the shoe fits,” Demetria muttered. She’d never really forgiven Jenny for the whole website fiasco last semester.

“Guys,” I said through my sore throat, “what’s the problem here? Where exactly do they propose to put us?”

“Just another cabin. But it’s kind of on the far side of the island. A bit out of the way.”

“So what?” Clarissa said. “It’s not like the island is that big to start with.”

“It’s the principle of the thing,” Demetria said. “Why do we have to be the ones to go away? Put the boys there if he insists on separating us.”

“And where’s the principle of that thing?” Clarissa replied. Demetria appeared to concede the point.

“Also,” Jenny said, “it doesn’t have its own bathroom. We’d have to hike back to use the shower house near the kitchens.”

“What?” I asked, while Clarissa shrugged and Demetria’s expression grew mildly less combative. “What do you mean, no bathrooms? What kind of luxury resort is this?”

All three of them blinked at me. “What do you mean?” Clarissa asked. “It’s our own private island. How much more luxurious can it get?”

And that was Miss Park Avenue talking. I instantly felt foolish.

“Yeah,” Jenny said. “No other club on campus has an island to call their own.”

What could I say to that? That I’d been expecting a fair approximation of the Ritz, on top of my own private island? I sank even farther into the bench cushions. Spring Break Score: so far, so crappy.

“Poor Amy,” Clarissa said, sitting by my side and putting a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry. If I’d been through what you had today, I’d be looking for some creature comforts as well. It’s okay. As soon as this tour is over, we’ll get you all settled in.”

“I’ll skip the tour,” Jenny offered, crouching on my other side. “I’ll find my way around later. Like Clarissa said, it’s not like Cavador Key is that big to start with. Besides,” she added. “I owe you one.” True. I’d stood by Jenny during her nervous breakdown last semester.

“What about George?” Clarissa asked. “He’s been here before. He can take her to her cabin.”

“I’m sure the last thing Amy wants is to have George tuck her into bed,” Demetria said.

“Maybe the last thing you would want,” Clarissa said under her breath, but I heard it nonetheless.

Before I had a chance to react, I heard someone clear his throat, and then Poe was standing there, still sopping. His black hair was swept back from his face, except for a few lone strands that hung over his forehead like slash marks and left trails of water sliding over his cheekbones.

Had no one given him a towel?

“I came to see if you were all right,” he said, as if the others weren’t standing between us.

“She’s fine, just shaken,” Jenny said, her voice cold.

I opened my mouth to thank him for saving my life, but once again, my sore throat refused to perform.

“I’m taking Darren to his cabin,” Poe continued before I had a chance to choke out my gratitude. “And I’ll help get you to yours if you want. Let our brothers”—his eyes flickered momentarily in Jenny’s direction—“go on the introductory tour.”

“What about you?” Demetria asked.