Miranda returned to her room, shutting the door behind her with a soft click. She slumped onto her bed; the weight of her father’s stern lecture still heavy on her chest. Her phone buzzed on the nightstand, the screen lighting up with Beyoncé calling.
She took a deep breath and picked up.
“hey, Miranda! How’re you holding up? Tell me your dad didn’t go full disciplinarian mode on you again,” Beyonce chirped, her voice light and carefree.
Miranda smiled faintly despite herself. Beyoncé’s energy was infectious, as always. “he did. I’m grounded again. No outings, no fun. Just me and my textbooks for company.”
“Typical Dr. Mack,” Beyonce sighed dramatically. “I swear, you live in a different world. My Dad would probably hand me a smoothie and tell me to relax.”
Miranda chuckled. “Must be nice. Your Dad is too cool,”
“Well, it has its perks,” Beyonce admitted. “But hey, listen. When we were looking for a signal on the island… do you remember anything strange happening? Like, anything at all?”
Miranda hesitated. “Not really. It’s all kind of…blank. Why?”
“I don’t know. Something about it feels off,” Beyonce said, her usual carefree tone faltering.
Miranda frowned. “off how?”
“There’s this video I think I made on my phone…forget it,” Beyonce said quickly. “maybe I’m overthinking. Anyway, schools resuming soon. Let’s plan something before we get buried in homework.”
“sure. Do you have Clara’s contact?” Miranda asked.
“Nope. Just Monica. I added her on Camchat yesterday, but don’t stress much, I’ll get her contact from Monica” Beyoncé replied.
“Okay, thanks babe” Miranda replied.
They hung up, and Miranda stared at her phone, her worry for Clara deepening.
Beyoncé’s room was a masterpiece of elegance and whimsy. Butterfly designs adorned the walls, and soft natural tones gave the space an airy, dreamlike quality. She flopped onto her plush bed, grabbing her laptop.
Opening Facetime, she dialed Monica.
“Hey, gorgeous!” Beyonce greeted as Monica's face appeared on the screen.
“Hi! Beyonce!” What’s up?” Monica greeted as Monica's face appeared on the screen.
“just checking in, how are you holding up?” Beyonce asked.
“better than yesterday,” Monica admitted. "I feel terrible about missing my date with my boyfriend. He came looking for me today, and I avoided him. I told my sister to say I was sick”
Beyonce raised an eyebrow. “Girl, you can’t keep running. You need to fix this.”
Monica groaned. “I know. I just don’t know how.”
“Good thing you’ve got me,” Beyonce said, her tone brightening.
Monica blinked. “Oh my gosh, I almost forgot! Maxwell’s birthday is April 10th”
“wow, and yours is four days later, what a perfection,” Beyonce said with a wink.
“wait how did you know mine is April 14th?” Monica asked.
“it is on your Camchat profile honey,” Beyonce said giggling.
“Oh, I forgot I added it there. Now, Let’s add the others Miranda, Annalise, and maybe Clara! Clara’s not really into this internet stuff,” Monica said. “But I’ll add Annalise.”
Moments later, the screen spilled into multiple frames as Miranda and Annalise’s sharp features filled the screen. Her confident smile added a spark to the conversation.
“What’s going on?” Annalise asked, settling into view.
“Girl talk, obviously,” Beyonce said with a grin.
“Where’s Clara and Elina?” Miranda asked.
“Clara is barely online; I think Elina might be” Annalise replied.
“Fine, add her!” Beyonce said with a shrug.
Elina finally joins the group, her quiet demeanor balancing the chat. She looked nervous, her gaze darting between the others.
“Elina!” Beyonce greeted warmly. “Glad you could join us.”
“Thanks,” Elina said softly. “This is…new for me. I’ve never done a Group Facetime before. Or had this many people to talk to.”
“Well, you’ve got us now,” Monica said.
“Exactly,” Annalise added. “we’re all in this together”
“Speaking of which,” Miranda cut in, “has anyone heard from Clara? I’m worried about her”
“Nothing,” Monica said.
“She hasn’t responded to any calls or messages,” Annalise added.
Miranda signed. “I’d loved to visit her if I wasn’t grounded.”
“Your parents are that strict?” Annalise asked.
“I ignored my Dad’s warning, so I can’t complain,” Miranda admitted.
“Lucky you,” Monica muttered. “As long as my parents knew it was Zayan’s fault, they didn’t care.”
“How did your Dad take it, by the way? Since you stole Zayan’s boat?” Annalise asked Elina.
Elina looked down. “I don’t know yet. Your uncle probably would be harassing my Dad.”
The group fell silent, the weight of the previous day settling over them.
Beyonce broke the silence. “So…does anyone else feel like something happened to us at the island? Something we can’t explain?”
“What do you mean?” Annalise asked.
“I found this video on my phone,” Beyonce said, her tone dropping. “it’s us by a pool. Then there’s a glow of light, and the recording just stops.”
“that’s strange,” Monica said, her brow furrowing.
“yeah,” Miranda agreed. “send it to us.”
“I’ll create a group chat and forward it,” Beyonce said. “we need to figure this out together and keep it a secret. I believe we saw something we shouldn’t have seen on that island and whatever it is, our memory must have been wiped off to protect the Island’s secret.”
“Wait… is this even real? I thought this happens in movies” Monica asked.
“Well, we can’t know if it's real, and it looks like it is, because it is dated March 31st and I recorded it, and many other videos that are blank which is enough reason to believe something is wrong with our memory” Beyonce explained.
“so, what are suggesting we do?” Elina asked.
“We go back to the Island” Miranda replied.
"After what just happened, if any of this is true, then we were just fortunate. I suggest we maintain that luck and avoid returning to an island we know nothing about. If no one goes there, it must be for a good reason. You just got grounded for disobeying your father because you've always wanted to visit that island. If we hadn't gone there, what would have happened to you? Or would you have put Elina at risk of having her father suspended because she stole Zayan's... boat? or Clara who is most likely to get affected.” Annalise replied angrily.
The silence from everyone was enough to understand Annalise was making a lot of sense.
“I’m so sorry if I sounded selfish” Miranda apologized.
“It's fine, as for the video I suggest we delete it, no one should see it or know about it” Annalise suggested.
“And Clara?” Monica asked.
“She doesn’t have to know; it might make her worry” Annalise replied. “Monica and I are participating in a swimming competition next week and you’re all invited”
“we’ll be there,” Beyonce promised.
“I will be there to support you all” Elina assured.
“I guess my Dad might give me the grace to attend since it is school-related” Miranda replied the uncertainty was obvious in her voice.
“if you don’t attend, I won’t be mad, I understand” Monica replied.
Beyonce leaned back against the pillows, her face glowing with excitement.
“Okay, I just want to say this, I’m so excited about all of this,” She began, her voice light and bubbly. “I had such a great time talking to all of you. I know we’re all still getting to know each other and this is the start of something amazing”
Monica smiled, though her expression was tinged with exhaustion.
“I mean, as long as we are still figuring things out from inside the house,” Miranda joked, her lips quirking up in a teasing smile. “You know, since I’m grounded.”
The girls laughed lightly, the tension from earlier lifting just a bit.
“Well,” Monica said, “Thanks for the pep talk, though.”
Beyonce chimed in “No excuses, Monica!”
“I got it, I got it,” Monica replied, rolling her eyes playfully.
“I’ll try to reach Clara tomorrow,” Annalise said, her tone growing softer. “I just…hope she’s okay.”
“Let us know if you hear from her,” Miranda said, her voice carrying a hint of worry.
“We’ll all keep in touch,” Beyonce said confidently. “And don’t forget next time, we're doing something for fun, not solving mysteries, okay?”
Everyone chuckled in agreement, and one by one began to say their goodbyes.
“Goodbye, everyone,” Elina said softly, her voice the last to fade as the call ended, leaving them all with a sense of connection and lingering questions about what had happened on the island.
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