Author's Notes: Hello, my wonderful readers. Thank you so much for your wonderful and encouraging reviews. I'm honored that you like my story. : ) Sorry this is such a short chapter. But to make up for its shortness, I will post the next chapter either later tonight or early tomorrow. Promise!

Annie, Ralph, and Jack walked through the thick growth into the woods in search of food and the others. They got deeper in the woods and could hear the playful yelling of little boys. They were getting close. As they walked, Jack and Ralph were behind Annie, silently admiring her legs. Jack was glad that he had cut her skirt short and privileged them to this view.

Soon all around them in the high trees were the older boys. They were high up, clinging to branches and throwing different fruit back and forth. The littleuns were on the ground reaching their hands up to the older boys and calling for fruit. All except for the boy called Simon, who was tossing them and Piggy generous amounts of fruit, were ignoring them.

Ralph quickly climbed one of the trees and grabbed some cocoanuts. He dropped some down to the littleuns and carried two as he climbed back down the tall tree. He hit the ground with cat-like grace and began walking towards Annie who was a good 20 feet away. Jack saw him as soon as he hit the ground and thought quickly.

"Roger!" Jack yelled with authority. "Throw me a pineapple!" Roger obliged and threw him a large, ripe pineapple. He looked at it and turned to Annie who was right beside him. "Want it?" He asked, while holding it out to her.

"Sure." She answered. "But I don't think that I could eat that much pineapple."

"We'll share it." He said as he drew out his knife and cut the pineapple in half.

"All right." She said happily as he handed her half. "Thanks."

"No problem."

She didn't notice the disappointed look on Ralph's face as he looked at her and Jack, stopped walking, and tossed one of the cocoanuts to Piggy. She was too busy eating the pineapple with Jack. He began walking again and approached them.

"Hey," he said, while masking his disappointment.

"Hey Ralph." Annie greeted happily.

"Hey," Jack said coolly.

"Oh," Annie said, "some of the little ones still don't have food, and the ones that do can't crack their cocoanuts or slice their pineapple."

In his disappointment Ralph hadn't noticed, and Jack, frankly, didn't care.

To anyone else he would have said 'and why should I give a shit?' but for some reason he didn't want to say this to Annie, especially when he had just one-upped Ralph.

"I didn't even notice." They both answered at the same time with the same amount of earnestness, even though Jack was lying.

"Anyone with a knife," Ralph yelled, "come down here!" Almost all of the boys in the choir ended up on the forest floor, and they all, Annie included, made sure that the littleuns had enough to eat.

After they all ate they were pretty thirsty despite the juices from the fruit. It didn't take long for Maurice of the choir to find a stream and they all gathered around it.

"Wait!" Piggy yelled as they all got ready to drink. "You have to boil it or you'll get sick!"

Yells of "will not!" and "shut the hell up, fatty!" Rang through the air and people began to drink right from the stream, despite Piggy's protests.

"I'm serious guys, you'll get really sick!" He screamed. But his screams fell on death ears.

Annie didn't drink right away like the others did. Instead, she approached Piggy and Simon where they were sitting on rocks a little ways away. "Why would it make you sick?" She asked suspiciously.

"There are things in the water." Piggy explained dejectedly. "Living things. And if you don't boil it and kill them, they'll make you sick."

"Oh," she said. She took his warning to heart and looked for a place to sit down.

"Here." The boy called Simon said as saw her searching and got off of his rock.

"I don't wanna take your seat." She said truthfully.

"It's ok." He said like a real gentleman. He was 12, she remembered, and small for his age. Yet he showed more true kindness, gentleness, and gentlemanly characteristics, than anybody else on the island. There didn't seem to be a selfish bone in his body. He had fed all of the little children before he had allowed himself any food, and here he was now, offering his seat in entirety to a lady, even though there was plenty of room for both of them to sit on it.

"Sit with me Simon?" She asked as she sat on the rock and he accepted by sitting beside her.

"They're all going to get sick." Piggy said knowledgably. "And we're going to have to take care of them."

"Then I guess we'll have to take care of them." Said Annie, resigned to what was in store for them.

Author's Notes: Ooooh, what will happen next? I know, I know, this was a short chapter. But this was the perfect place to cut it off. The rivalry between Jack and Ralph is starting to appear. This really sets the stage for the next chapter, which I promise will be up later tonight or before five eastern tomorrow. Please! Review.