"Good, just in time!" Nixie said as one by one, everyone showed up. "It's getting dark. We are not the world's best planners." She smiled and felt a wave of awkwardness surround her. Three out of four of them had grown up together since they were really young, so it was strange they did not know each other better. Oh well, maybe they would have a chance to become friends during the course of their class. She liked making friends, but since she lived in the lighthouse, she did not get the chance to hang out with the neighborhood kids as often because the main housing area on the island was too far to walk. Come to think of it, the other three lived in different parts of the island separate from the housing addition, so they probably understood how she felt.

"No need to apologize." Nixie took one of the offered gummie snakes from Tristan. "Before you got here, Tristan was asking about the project because Mrs. Sarah put her with us at last minute." She glanced over at the new girl. "People on the island are really big into protecting and conserving the waters, animal and plant life. So Mrs. Sarah sends us out on little projects like these so we can learn how to make things better."

"Just be thankful we did not get into the recycle project group." Nixie laughed. "I'm all for recycling but she's having the group go around to all the local residents houses, docks and business, asking them if they can go through their trash and collect all the things that can be recycled." She waved a hand in front of her nose.

"I ramble. Let's hit the road... so to speak, before it gets too dark to see." She glanced over the land toward where the white peak of her lighthouse stood. Her dad had a schedule for when the lights were supposed to be on. All the fishermen knew it and if they went out when it was not scheduled to be on, then they were doing it at their own risk. It had to be on a strict schedule to conserve energy for the island. If it was on all the time, it would likely cause power outages, which is why most of the fisherman did their fishing during the day. The night fishermen had special boats with spotlights to help them complete their jobs. It was not scheduled to be on tonight because of the full moon. Usually, a full moon was light enough, but if it was cloudy, then it could potentially be pitch black out soon.

Nixie turned the key in Jay's boat, frowning when it made a weird clicking sound at first. She ignored the warning voice in the back of her head, thinking nothing could possibly go wrong. This boat was as reliable as most of the big fishing boats. It was Jay's pride and joy. They drove for a few minutes in silence; she enjoyed the spray of ocean mist hitting her pale skin. The dolphin from before was following them.

"Hey Ike!" Nixie pointed out the dolphin to everyone else. "He's so smart. Sometimes I think he understands me."

Mako Island was looming up, bigger and bigger. The volcano was in perfect view. It was impressive and a little intimidating, though it had been inactive for as long as any islander could remember. She could see the stream that trickled out of a little opening in the volcano into a mangrove forest. 

Just as they were 20 feet from the island, the boat started to sputter. Nixie's eyes widened. She looked at the gas gauge, confused because it was still full. She was no mechanic and had no idea how to check what was wrong with the boat. It had completely died.

She looked over at the other girls and bit down on her lower lip. "Now what? We're going to have to paddle the rest of the way to shore." She picked up one of the paddles, handing it to Andrea.