When I entered the common room, I heard everyone making small comments on Darius' incomplete story. "Darius, it wasn't that great of a story," Ben said, squirting hand sanitiser on his hands and rubbing it thoroughly. "I wasn't engrossed or anything," Kenji told Darius thought it was an obvious lie, walking towards the foosball table and calling Brooklynn to join him. "My Abuela could probably tell a better story," Sammy sighed, moving over to Yaz and sitting beside her. "What are you guys on about? His story was great!" I exclaimed. "Well, atleast the part we heard was..."

Kenji was about to snatch Brooklynn's phone from her when she hissed, "Just don't touch my phone. How does that sound?" He scoffed and readied himself. "Let's decide this with a game of Foose," He said, smirking as Brooklynn accepted his challenge. Darius looked around at the other campers then walked over to me with a look of doubt. "Did you mean that? When you said my story was great?" He asked quietly, the hopefulness in his voice clear. I nodded. If I didn't think that, I wouldn't have said anything. His expression brightened and he beamed. "Do you want to hear the rest of it?" He excitedly asked, the negativity slipping away from him. 

"Sure!" I replied, glad that he wasn't upset anymore. He took my hand and grabbed his flashlight, then pulled me to the boys' dorm. When we entered, I sat down on the couch and he flicked the switch, the lights turning off. He switched on his flashlight then sat beside me, pulling his hood up and continuing his story. "We thought it'd be fun. We thought we'd be safe, but... We didn't realise the horror waiting for us on the island," he said, his voice sounding cold and spooky. "Claws, teeth, screaming... So much screaming. The Trex stalked closer... Her jaws opened wide... And she lunged! She lunged at the group of helpless children. They screamed and tried to run but failed. The Trex was ravenous. She scooped up one child and crushed them in her jaws..." I shivered. I never thought Darius could tell such a frightening story. He went on.

"The other children watched, frozen in place as the remains of their friend dripped from the teeth of the Trex. The Trex turned to them, ready for more, so the children ran, one of them leading them to what they hoped was shelter. They soon came to realize, it was a dead-end... The children looked around, worried and fearful but froze once more as warm, rotten breath touched their necks. They could hear snarling. They turned around and came face to face with the Trex who had her teeth bared, staring them down. She lunged at the screaming, petrified children and devoured them one by one... The end!"

I stared at Darius, my mouth hanging open. I took his shoulders and began to shake him. "That was terrifying!" I exclaimed, Darius, laughing. "Did you like it?" He asked, tilting his head to the side. I smiled weakly. "Of course I did. But I swear, I'm going to have nightmares tonight," I said. I moved closer and asked, "Are Tyrannosaurs your favourite dinosaur, then?" He shook his head as I eagerly awaited his response. "My favourite would be the Gallimimus! It was my fathers favourite before..." His voice faltered and his expression darkened. "Before?" I said, encouraging him to continue. "Before he died..." Darius whispered, his body tensing. The room was deadly silent as I stared at him, wide-eyed. "I'm so sorr-"

"It's fine," Darius interjected, giving me a small smile. "Let's talk about something else like, what's your favourite dinosaur?" He asked, desperate for a change of subjects. I should go along with this, I have no intention of making him feel worse. "Well, I have two! Dilophosaurus and velociraptors!" I answered, his expression turning to one filled with confusion. "Raptors? Don't you remember our run-in with them from before?" He said, reminding me of the unnerving incident. I nodded. "Sure I do, but they are just so agile and smart! I can't help but like that about them although it does make them slightly worse... I read about them in Dinosaur Detectives by Alan Grant."

He gasped and his eyes began to sparkle. "I've read the book too! I even brought it with me!" He exclaimed, standing up and switching the light on before walking over to his bag. "We can read it together!" I grinned, making myself more comfortable on the couch. Darius sat down beside me and opened the book, the both of us taking turns to read each page. After a while, when Darius and I were about to finish reading the tenth chapter, someone knocked on the door. They then opened it and popped their head around the edge. It was Sammy. "Hi Darius, Kiara!" She said cheerfully. "Hi Sammy," Darius and I said in unison.

"Roxie told me to tell you, that we have five more minutes until curfew so you need to leave the boys dorm and go to bed!" She explained, pushing the door so it opened wider. "Oh, then I'm coming then," I replied, standing up from the couch and making my way over to her. I can't believe it has already been that long! "Out of the way!" Kenji suddenly said, barging past me and entering the boys' dorm. Then I realised exactly what I was looking at. He was dragging a snoring Ben on the ground! "Kenji, you could have at least carried him here!" I whispered, careful not to wake Ben.

"Why would I do that if I could take the easy route?" Kenji scoffed, picking up Ben and dropping him onto one of the bottom bunks. I sighed and shook my head, smiling. As infuriating as Kenji could be, I can't bring myself to be mad at him for long. I said goodnight to Kenji and Darius, giving both of them tight hugs before walking with Sammy to the girls' dorm. I stopped by the bathroom to change into my pyjamas then got out my headphones before climbing into bed. As I was putting my headphones on, Brooklynn said, "So, you and Darius, huh?" I felt heat rising to my cheeks in embarrassment.

"Why do you say that?" I asked, pulling up my covers. "You'll realise later," She replied quietly as snores were heard from Sammy and Yaz. What does she mean I'll realise later? Darius and I haven't even been friends for that long! She must be confused. I clicked a button on the side of my headphones and closed my eyes as the sound of the ocean began to play. And then, I fell asleep...