Storyline

Ever since Helmut and Petal died, River and Sky have been living on Island alone. Each day they fish in Ocean, eat at Fire Pit, and sleep back to back in Shelter. Until one day River spots a boat and decides he wants to go with the strange men that come with it. Sky begs him to stay, she knows that nothing good can come from it, but food is growing sparse and River’s conviction is unwavering. If only Sky could have changed his mind.

The strange men, Roger and Jeremy, take River and Sky to a military hospital in California. Sky hates it there, everything is all white and no one will let her see River. There’s an old woman who claims to be her Grandmother, named Alice, but Sky’s never seen her before. Everyone keeps calling her Megan and saying she’s been “rescued” but all Sky wants is to go back to Island with River. The day before she has to leave, she finally finds River’s room. However, her joy is cut short when he tells her that she needs to go with her grandmother and live a good life. He thinks they shouldn’t see each other again.

At her Grandmother's house, Sky quickly finds out that this new world she's never seen before, is much more complicated than Island. The food tastes bad, her shoes hurt her feet, and people still call her Megan. Alice gets together a Team of Specialists to help Sky understand modernity. Sky learns a lot, but finds them annoying as they constantly make her feel like a small child that knows nothing. The only new person who doesn't make her feel inferior is Ben, one of Alice's neighbors. He's around Sky's age and, though he's supposed to make her normal, is very odd. He likes to listen to old music and draw. One day, while at his house, she begs him to tell her the truth about Helmut, why everyone seems to hate him, why she can't see River because of him, and why they were on Island for so many years?

As it turns out, Helmut was the leader of a cult that called themselves the Gardeners. Helmut decided that there were members that had turned evil and poisoned their food. Many of them died, and the rest he took out on a boat into the Pacific. They then crashed into Island and the only survivors left, Helmut, Petal(Angela), River(Lucas), and Sky(Megan) started a family. All over the internet, there was a picture of River as a child handing out poisoned apples, this led everyone to believe he was just like his father, a murderer.

Late that night, Sky can't sleep so she sneaks out her window and onto the beach where she hopes to meet River, like she had once before. She does, and they both decide that they need to find a way back to Island. Sky follows River to where he's been staying this whole time, underneath a dock, and realizes just how much he doesn't know. In the morning, River has a box of strawberries from a kind man who tries to sympathize with River's struggles. However, most people aren't like this. River is constantly yelled at, judged, and discriminated against, yet all he can do is calm himself and take it. Sky hates it that he has no one to stand up for him.

With all of the information River lacks, he has grown very naive. He ended up making a deal that would trade all of their money for a boat the next day. Sky is suspicious at first, but decides to trust River. However, that night, they are robbed at gunpoint. River, not knowing anything about guns, makes the mistake of refusing their demands and reaches for the gun. Sky is grazed on her leg and River is shot in the chest. When she wakes up in the military hospital she learns that River is in a coma and wants to go see him at Camp Solanas. Ben, trying to prove that he's her real friend, drives her there in secret. When they arrive, Sky is led to River's bed and left alone. Everyone told her that this was going to be the last time she'd see him and as she held his hand, the machine next to him started beeping louder and faster. Doctors rushed in and pushed her out of the room. Ben and Sky had no choice but to go back, and Sky was once again at the hospital.

When Sky went back home, she laid in her bed refusing to do anything else. She was no longer Megan, and no longer Sky, she seemed to be nothing, especially without River. All she wanted to do was sleep and get a chance to see Island again in her dreams. One day, while having a wonderful dream about Island, she's woken up by Ben's loud music. He convinces her to get out of bed by telling her why her mother joined the cult. She had been shot at in a cafe and decided she wanted something better from life. Sky realizes that when her mother referred to people in California as "skeletons", she didn't mean them all, she meant those who murdered people. Sky realizes that maybe her Grandmother really does love her and becomes much more understanding.

Sky and Ben were taking a walk out on the beach when suddenly Sky sees something drawn in the sand. Two circles intertwined, how River and Sky had always drawn themselves in the sand as kids. Sky is delighted and reminded that even if River is gone, they are still connected like the circles.

Setting