You all know the drill by now…I don't own anything except for my character :)
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Kathryn was definitely the center of attention on the plane and she wasn't comfortable with it at all.
The other passengers on the small plane were boys of all different ages, each dressed in crisp dress pants, a white cotton shirt, and a stiff black blazer with an emblazoned crest of one private school or another. And it wasn't lost on these boys, most of whom hadn't seen a female in a few years (minus the burly lunch woman at the Academy), that there was a very beautiful girl that had just boarded their plane.
Kathryn clutched her handbag tightly to her body, wishing she had been booked on another flight. But this one had been cheap, and considering how angry Mother and Father were, it made sense that they'd choose the cheapest flight to send her away in disgrace on.
"Miss, there's an empty seat here!" A boy called out, and Kathryn winced. She'd seen the seat already, but had been desperately combing the aisles for an isolated one rather than be sandwiched between all these boys – of which the oldest ones were looking at her almost…hungrily.
"Miss, please take a seat." the stuartess instructed, a fake smile plastered over her face. Obviously Kathryn would find no pity from the only other woman on board.
Slightly frowning, Kathryn slid herself daintily into the empty seat, giving the boy who had informed her of the spot a small smile. He returned it, and Kathryn almost felt her breath hitch in her chest. He was gorgeous.
Stop it, Kathryn chastised herself. It's because of good-looking bastards like this that you're here in the first place.
"What's your name, beautiful?" the boy asked, leaning forward intimately to talk to her. His English accent was smooth and musical.
Kathryn backed up until she was pressed uncomfortably against the back of the seat. "Kathryn." she whispered, averting her eyes from his almost black ones.
"Can I call you Kathy?"
Kathryn hated that nickname, but to avoid any further conversation, she nodded and turned her head to the side.
All you have to do is survive this plane ride. You'll be in London in seven hours…seven hours isn't really that long. You can do it.
"Good. So Kathy, why are you flying to England?" He asked, running a hand through his dark brown hair that glinted auburn in the overhead light.
"Why are you?" Kathryn snapped back. Maybe, she figured, if I'm as rude as possible he'll just leave me alone.
"We're from there –"
"Obviously." Kathryn interrupted. The boy raised his eyebrows questioningly but chose not to acknowledge her comment.
"We went over to America during the war when the bombs started dropping on England, but now that things have cooled down back home, our headmaster thinks it's okay to return."
"Well that's good then."
"So now it's your turn." he prodded.
Kathryn rubbed her temple with one hand lightly. "I…uh, my parents just want me to go to some finishing school in London." she said quickly, unable to hide her scramble for a vague cover story.
The boy nodded, not looking satisfied, but willing to drop the matter, leaning back again in his seat. Underneath them, the plane began to roll forward.
Kathryn gritted her teeth at the movement and grasped the arm rests with her hands, her knuckles turning white with pressure.
"Don't like to fly?"
Kathryn shook her head, the blonde waves in her hair bouncing around her face. "It's my first time."
"It's not that bad after the first few minutes. It's actually kind of fun. And you'll never forget your first time."
Kathryn peeked open an emerald-colored eye and saw the boy giving her a devilish smirk along with his racy innuendo. She reached over and playfully smacked him on the shoulder. "You are a foul boy!"
He laughed, showing a row of sparkling white, even teeth. Kathryn almost forgave him for being so handsome, but at that moment the plane slanted up into the air, and the wave of nausea that hit her only reinforced her idea that she wanted nothing more to do with good-looking boys.
"Oh, dear sweet Lord…" Kathryn whispered under her breath, hoping that she'd get down from this flying deathtrap as soon as possible.
The Lord doesn't care about sinners like you. Kathryn shook her mother's stern voice out of her mind. How long would it be before she wasn't haunted by that disappointed tone?
On her other side, another boy woke up as the plane pitched into motion. He'd previously been sleeping, and his eyes widened with shock when he saw the pretty girl delicately sitting next to him.
"H-hi there." he stammered. He took his glasses off his pudgy face and polished them on his cotton shirt.
"Hi." Kathryn said sweetly, not taking the chubby, socially awkward boy as a threat.
"M-my name's –"
"His name's Piggy." A younger boy cut in from behind them. He laughed and pushed his nose up like a pig's snout. "Oink!"
"That's not my n-name. My name is –"
"Oink! Oink!"
The boy lowered his head disgracefully. Kathryn almost sniggered at his misfortune…growing up with only brothers had given her an admiration for teases and insults, and gifted her with a tongue that wasn't shy to deliver the same.
"Some lads are just born unlucky." the boy whispered from her left, motioning towards poor Piggy. He turned back to talk to the boy on his other side, a broad teenager with jet black hair. From their whispers and occasional glimpses in her direction, Kathryn figured she was the subject of their conversation.
Kathryn smiled and leaned back in her seat, well aware of the looks she was receiving from all angles. It seemed that even the boys that were too young to supposed to care were nonetheless enthralled by her dress, a pretty white with red-polka-dot frock that nipped in at her teensy waist, hung a few centimeters lower than was proper at her neckline, and a hem that rose a little farther than it really should have when she sat down.
It's not your dress they're looking at, silly, she chastised herself. Self-consciously she tugged at the fabric, covering up more skin. What she wanted was a blanket, but unfortunately this wasn't a night-flight, and blankets weren't provided.
Eventually she'd drifted off into a nap.
She woke up to a steep drop.
"What the hell?" she mumbled, as she came back to consciousness. Her stomach felt like it had been dropped several stories.
"Morning Princess." she heard a familiar voice say jokingly, and she instantly realized she was lying up against the boy next to her. "I have to admit your language is appalling for a lady."
Kathryn sprung back upright, rigid with embarrassment. "I'm so sorry." she apologized, feeling her cheeks flush.
The boy grinned again at her visible discomfort, a dimple appearing in his cheek. "No need to apologize, I rather liked it." He tossed a look at his dark-haired friend. "In fact," he continued, goaded on by his friend's silent encouragement, "if you wanted to lay back down that'd be fine. Hell, I'd even let you lay full on my lap." He patted his lap good-naturedly.
Kathryn curled her lip in disgust, finding no humor in his words now. "What's going on?" she asked tightly, changing the subject, as the plane dipped lower and jeered off towards the right and then the left.
"Just turbulence." he answered dismissively, pulling at an auburn lock. It was obvious on his face that he was trying to figure out where he'd overstepped the line to insult her so. Kathryn swept her gaze across the plane, and realized that the other boys didn't seem bothered by the rickety motion at all.
You're overreacting, she scolded herself. But no amount of thoughts could quell the worry in her stomach. Her eyes sought for the stuartess, but she was nowhere to be found.
"Turbulence is common on all flights." Piggy added, leaning into the conversation despite the annoyed look on Kathryn's face. "You see," he continued, pushing his glasses farther back on his face, "it's caused by the chaotic, random motion of air from changing air currents—"
"Hey, do me a favor." Kathryn interrupted, gritting her white teeth as the plane dropped downward again.
"What?"
"Shut up." Hoots and hollers and teasing noises exploded from the boys around them, all witnesses to her snappy retort.
"Damn." the boy next to her hissed, his eyes a little wider now. "She's got an attitude, doesn't she?"
Kathryn's fingers gripped the armrest hard, and she whipped around to give the cocky handsome boy a piece of her mind, but saw in his almost black eyes that he was only fooling with her. She relaxed a little, exhaling.
"You better watch out there, she might beat you up." His friend, the one with greasy, black hair hanging in his eyes, commented dryly. His voice was rough and gravelly, and it almost sent chills down Kathryn's back, although she couldn't explain why.
"Oh, piss off, Roger." the boy retorted back, punching his friend in the shoulder. "She knows my face is too pretty to hurt. She wouldn't dare."
"That's it, you know what?" Kathryn hissed, trying not to lose the contents of her stomach as the plane rolled with the turbulence.
'What?" the boy challenged her. The way that his dark, rusty-red hair stuck up at odd angles and his dark eyes glinted made him look almost impish. Although, Kathryn had to admit, it was a very attractive sort of impishness.
God, I need off this plane.
"You are the most –"
CRACK!
The insult she'd been about to fire back died on her red-painted lips. The crack echoed around the cabin, louder than a gunshot, and her heart seized up in her chest.
"The wing!" A scream sounded out from the back of the plane. A little boy had his faced pressed against the window, staring outside with tears running down his little face. "The wing is gone!"
Kathryn's mouth dropped open.
This can't be happening. What do I do?
The plane jeered off to the left, much, much more violently now. The younger boys screamed, and although her own fear wanted her to do the same, Kathryn couldn't get the noise to leave her throat.
"Take your seatbelt off!" the boy next to her hissed, clawing at his belt. When she didn't move, petrified with fear, he took matters into his own hands and grabbed her buckle himself. She was shaking too badly to care that his hands were far too deep into her lap, and only felt the rush of relief when it sprung open, releasing her.
"Where's the stuartess?" she managed to call out. All she could see were boys, all dressed in their identical uniforms.
He shrugged, concentrating more on undoing the seat belts of the little boys behind them then to actually scan the aisles.
"Germans!" Piggy hissed next to her, looking out of the window by him. Sure enough, Kathryn glimpsed the rear of a fighter plane disappearing into the clouds.
"They shoot and then run away." Roger huffed, as he followed his friend's example by unbuckling the children. "Typical Germans."
"But Germans aren't shooting down civilian planes anymore!" Kathryn protested dully, not wanting this to be true.
"How about you try telling them that, Kathy." the boy shot back, lifting a young boy with a mulberry colored splotch on his face over the seats.
"Hey, over here!" A voice called, and Kathryn turned to see a blonde boy, apparently one of the oldest, straining against the wheel on the door of the emergency exit. With a grunt and a final shove it gave way, and he easily swung the door open.
On the other side, gray clouds whipped by as the plane began plummeting. Freezing winds from the high altitude whipped throughout the cabin, and Kathryn hugged herself with her arms as tendrils of her golden hair stung her face.
"We have to jump!" the blonde yelled into the cabin. "Or else this plane will go down and we'll all drown with it!"
Kathryn's heart hammered in her chest. The world was in slow motion. The plane falling, the blonde boy yelling, the little boys crying…it all slowed down to a terrifying pace for a few seconds.
"Kathy! You heard him! We have to get these kids out of here!" the boy called, snapping her out of her trance. He shoved a little boy of about seven years old into her arms, picked up another boy himself, and joined the blonde boy by the open door. Kathryn timidly followed, scared to be sucked out by the wild winds along with the child in her arms.
"What? We just…" She was aware of the little boy's face buried in the crook of her neck so chose to mouth the next part "…throw them out?"
"We have to." the blonde boy said, and she could see that the decision as killing him inside too. "If we don't they'll definitely die. At least this way they'll have a chance."
"You can't expect a child to survive that fall! They'll drown!" Kathryn whispered, loudly enough to be heard over the childrens' cries and the fierce winds.
"All Academy boys know how to swim." the boy she'd sat next to argued.
"There's a blow-up raft down there too." the blonde added. "I just threw it out. If we get them out now they'll be close enough to swim to it and hold on."
"But…but…" Kathryn faltered.
"For God's sake, Kathy! No one is coming to save us right now!" the rusty-haired boy hissed. He stepped forward and tossed the boy he was holding out the emergency exit.
Kathryn looked away as the boy's screams disappeared as he fell. Before she could react, the child in her own arms was ripped away and tossed out.
"Go get more kids!" Roger ordered, and Kathryn nodded dumbly. The children had already crowded around the opening, well aware that it was the way out of the doomed plane. Most jumped of their own free will, but a few had to be coaxed or tossed.
"Is that all the kids?" the blonde asked, looking around the cabin.
"Yeah." Kathryn answered, breathing heavily.
The blonde nodded. "Good. I'll see you down there then." He gave Kathryn a sly wink before jumping backwards out of the plane.
"Cocky bastard." The rusty-haired boy cursed. He motioned for Roger to jump, and after his friend had done so, turned to Kathryn.
"What about the pilot?" she asked worriedly.
"Dammit." the boy cursed. "Forgot about him." He ran to the cockpit and tried to open the door. "It's locked!" he called back, joining her by the exit. "We have to go, we don't have time to get him out of there."
Kathryn nodded, looking over the edge to the waves below. The plane continued to sway with the wind, its lost wing causing it to buck and tumble with every air current.
"Can you swim?"
Kathryn almost laughed. "I'm from Louisiana." she answered. "Trust me, I can swim." She looked down again. "But I can't do this. I can't jump." Panic rose up in the back of her throat.
"Hey, hey, Kathy, look at me, gorgeous." the boy instructed, cupping her face in his hand.
What the hell is he doing? The plane is going down!
"I need you to calm down." he said slowly. "Okay?"
Kathryn nodded, but it was hard to be calm when his cool, smooth hand was basically caressing her face.
Bewildered, Kathryn's eyes went wide as his arm wrapped around her waist. She hadn't allowed a man to hold her like this since…
Stop it, she instructed herself.
The boy leaned in closer, and her heart quickened to a dangerously fast pace. He closed his enchanting, dark eyes and…
..jumped.
"Is she okay?" The voice of a young British boy reached Kathryn's ears as she came back to consciousness.
"I think so." a familiar deep, smooth voice followed.
Groaning, Kathryn blinked open her jewel-green eyes to the group of boys clustered around her. "Where am I?" she rasped, her throat raw. The sun glared down ferociously and she felt the sensation of rough sand scraping the back of her arms and legs.
"On an island." the rusty-haired boy answered, smoothing down her hair. Kathryn realized she didn't have a clue what his name was. "Pretty bloody lucky, isn't it?"
Kathryn smiled.
I can't believe I survived.
"Thank you, God." she said dutifully, looking upwards into the too-blue sky.
"You know what I find amazing?" the boy asked, his eyes glinting playfully.
"What?" she croaked. Was it the salt water that was causing her throat to burn so badly?
"That you managed to not smear your lipstick through all that." he joked. "Now that is talent."
"You're ridiculous." Kathryn sighed, fighting to keep the smile off her lips. She slowly sat up, her head a little light.
"Here, try to stand up." he instructed, rising to his own feet and dusting the sand off his clothes. They were ret and rumpled, but she had to admit it did nothing to detract from his appearance. He had thrown off his jacket in the heat somewhere, and his damp white shirt clung to his athletic, muscular frame. He reached down and grasped her hands, pulling her to her feet easily.
"Are you gon' be okay now?" one of the little boys asked, tugging innocently on the skirt of her dress. Kathryn smiled, finding his Cockney accent just adorable.
"Yeah, I am –"
That's when the wave of nausea hit her. She clamped a hand over her mouth as she swayed. The little boy leapt backwards as she fell to her knees.
"Whoa, Kathy!" the rusty-haired boy exclaimed, dropping down to her. "What's wrong?"
Kathryn answered his question by releasing her lunch into the sand.
"Eww!" the little boys shrieked, running away.
Kathryn's cheeks flamed scarlet with embarrassment. "This…is so…humiliating." she groaned as the tremors left her body. She dry heaved over the sand, vaguely aware of the boy's hands tracing patterns on her back to comfort her.
"It's fine. We've all done it before." he laughed lightly. "Are you ill?"
"No…" Kathryn said, breathing heavily. "It must have just been the shock or something. Maybe delayed airsickness. I feel better now, though."
"Well, do you want to rinse your mouth out?" She heard true concern in his deep voice.
"Yeah." Kathryn agreed, crawling closer to the surf. She dipped her hands in the water and splashed her face. Then she cupped her hands, filled her palms with the briny water, and swished the salty liquid throughout her mouth, removing all traces of her earlier sickness.
"Good?" he asked. Kathryn nodded.
"Well than Kathy, let's go join the others. Blondie boy is attempting to take control here…he's got some system planned with a ridiculous shell or something. But we might as well go join them so we know what's going on." He once again pulled Kathryn to her feet, and after making sure she wouldn't collapse again, started walking towards the group of boys on the other end of the shore.
"Hey, wait!" Kathryn called, wiping her wet hands off on her dress and jogging a few steps to catch up with him.
"Hmm?"
"I-I have a confession to make." Kathryn said sheepishly. "I hate the name Kathy."
The boy laughed, a deep, rich sound. "Good, so do I." he admitted when his laughter died down. "What do you go by then?"
Kathryn shrugged. "Just Kathryn…or Kat. Occasionally Kitty."
"Kitty?" he asked sarcastically.
"Well, that was only by my parents." Kathryn smiled, remembering how her father used to call her Kitty and spin her around the room to sit on his lap. But that had been so long ago, before she'd grown up, before…
I thought you weren't going to think about that anymore.
"Well, Kathryn…let's head on over to the others then."
Kathryn smiled and nodded. "Okay." She walked beside him, admiring the way that the sun reflected off the auburn strands in his messy, dark brown hair. Surely it was the strangest hair she'd ever seen…like molten copper had been poured over black hair, dark and shiny and bright all at the same time.
"Oh!" she said again, as another thought hit her. She stopped walking and tugged gently on his shirt to get his attention. "All this talk about my name," she started, "but I realize that I never got yours."
He smirked happily. "I thought you'd never ask." he said, his dark eyes glimmering. "It's Jack."
AUTHOR'S NOTE (PLEASE READ) – Thanks for reading this fanfic so much! I put out a long first chapter to kick things off, but be warned, my other chappies won't be this long. But I hate tiny chapters, so they won't be short either :) Now that you've read, you might have some questions, so I'll cover a few points.
-Pretty much the same time period, but Ralph, Jack, Simon, Piggy, and Kathryn are all seventeen. Or around that age. I might tweak the ages later, but right now they're all around 17.
-I know what you're thinking. "Why is Jack being nice? Isn't he a savage? According to every other fanfic he should want to rape her by now!" Well the way I figure it, is that in a real life situation, someone would need to develop into a savage monster, they wouldn't just be one over a few power struggles. So yeah, there's a lot of character development in store for Jacky boy :)
-I'm not a slash fan…like at all. So even if I decided to put in a gay relationship, I won't go in depth on any intimate parts since I'm pretty sure I'd suck at writing those anyway.
-I'm not a lemon writer, but I definitely deal with mature themes, so you've been warned. It might not be explicit, but there will be some sexual themes and situations…but y'all wouldn't be here if you didn't want some of that, and you know it ;)
Thanks for reading, and please REVIEW! I swear, those are the only things that keep me motivated to write!
-I love, love, love critiques since it improves me as a writer, but please don't flame. (a nice pro/con list would be good :p) -