A/N: I cannot thank you enough for your fabulous reviews! They seriously made my day. You guys are so funny and supportive! Anyway, I survived my exams with this story always in the corner of my mind. As I labored for long hours at my dining room table, committing months upon months of information to memory, I kept pushing myself toward the finish line just so I could go back to writing fanfiction. It's little things like this that make it all worth it in the end.

++ CHAPTER THREE

If it weren't for the conch, Arianna would never have made it back to the beach before nightfall. She realized a few minutes after she left Jack and Roger behind that the path she'd originally taken was nowhere in sight and that she was absolutely clueless as to where she was going. Thankfully, she'd heard the conch before she started screaming for help in her panic. Just another helpless princess, she thought with a rueful sigh, following the source of the noise.

Ralph was waiting at the beach where they'd slept the previous night. He was holding the conch to his lips and blowing into it forcefully. Arianna noticed how the boys, just like herself, had all stumbled out of the water or the jungle, dropping whatever they had been doing to join Ralph. It was like they were programmed to answer his call, as if it were a school bell or a whistle.

As she was one of the first to arrive, Arianna situated herself on a low-lying tree branch that gave her a decent view of the boy with the conch. She smiled appreciatively to herself, her gaze wandering up and down his shirtless body. She would definitely admit to having a tiny crush on Ralph, although she knew she was one of many other girls who did. It was not long after he'd first enrolled at the Academy when he began surpassing everyone's expectations. Now, he was only fifteen, already a Colonel and at the top of his class. Ralph was one of her father's prized students, and she knew that he would never object to her dating him. But all she and Ralph had shared in the past were a few polite and impersonal conversations because she'd been too timid to say anything else. Maybe she could change that.

"Hi Arianna," said the bespectacled boy she'd seen on the plane. He had stepped abruptly in front of her, unintentionally shielding Ralph from her with his rotund body.

"Hello," she said, forcing a small grin. She felt a twinge of annoyance, as he was taking away an important part of her 'Ralph time.'

"You're the Dean's daughter, right?" he asked, and she nodded weakly, not sure where this was going. "That's good. I've heard a lot about you," he continued in somewhat pedantic tone. "When they told me, I didn't believe them at first because you don't resemble Lovejoy at all."

"Yes, well, my mother was from the Philippines," Arianna answered as pleasantly as possibly, already bored of this conversation.

He nodded enthusiastically. "I know, Jack was telling us the other day –"

"Wait," she said suddenly. "Jack told you that?" If Jack was telling tales about her, chances were that he put his own spin on things. He wouldn't have portrayed her in a good light, that's for sure.

"Yeah, he told us all about how your dad was stationed in the Philippines and he met your mother and brought her to America," the boy went on, as if practicing for an oral presentation. "Then after your mother died, he had to take care of you so he quit the army and since then, he's been working at the Academy. How did your mom die, anyway?" he asked casually, completely unaware of the topic's sensitivity.

"In childbirth," Arianna said, the shock evident in her voice, which was just barely above a whisper. She hadn't expected what he said to be the truth, but there it was, dangling right in front of her face. And Jack had told them. He'd known practically everything! How he knew, she couldn't be sure. But now, she felt humiliated. Her family's history was private – separate from school, separate from the Academy. Now that Jack had told all the others, Arianna would never become someone apart from who she was at the Academy, never be someone other than the Dean's daughter. Jack had invaded her past and brought it to her present. He'd robbed her of her one secret and she hated him for it. She hated him more than she had ever hated anyone in her life.

Once all of the children were present, Ralph lowered the shell from his lips, giving Arianna another chance to admire his good looks, although she was far too shaken to fully appreciate it. "Whoever holds the conch gets to speak – that's the rule," he began in a calm, authoritative voice.

"Is this like assembly, sir?" one of the boys piped up from the crowd.

"Yeah, like assembly," Ralph replied. "Only that everyone who wants to speak gets to."

"But not before you get the conch," interjected the boy with the glasses. He stood and walked away from Arianna. She was glad because no longer had to answer his probing questions. The meeting continued but she was no longer listening. Her thoughts were too clouded with the same questions and feelings of guilt that often plagued her at night. Her father had never said outright that her mother had been too weak to have children, but Arianna knew. She'd had some condition and the doctors told her that if she went through with the pregnancy, she would probably die. But she'd wanted children so badly and she couldn't bear the thought of losing a baby. So she'd sacrificed her life for Arianna's, leaving a gaping hole in Warren B. Lovejoy's heart that their daughter could never replace.

As the assembly went on, Arianna tuned out the boys' laughter. In her head, she tried to imagine her mother's voice, which she had heard from a video that was recorded long before her birth. She knew her father had filmed the video. It was nothing special, really. They had been in the kitchen of their apartment. Her mother was sitting at the table, reading a magazine, when her father had practically shoved the camera in front of her face. He'd been making corny jokes and teasing her and acting completely different from the man Arianna now knew. And her mother had laughed at everything he'd said. Her laughter, so beautiful and far away – she could almost hear it.

A strangled noise escaped from her as she struggled not to cry. Clearing her throat suddenly, she tried to pass it off as a cough. Looking around, though, she realized no one had noticed; they were too busy discussing what were probably important matters and she hadn't even been paying attention.

"Can I speak?" the bespectacled boy said, taking the conch from Ralph. With his usual bluntness, he said, "The most important thing is: who knows we're here? Nobody knows we're here. They know where we were going but we never got where we were going."

"Where were we going?" one of the younger boys asked.

"That depends," Arianna chimed in suddenly, receiving a few looks of shock. She'd been quiet for so long that they probably forgot she was even there.

"What do you mean, Arianna?" Ralph asked, eying her curiously.

She blushed slightly, embarrassed at being directly addressed by the handsome, dark-haired Colonel. "I mean, the reason we were evacuated was because there could have been a bomb in Los Angeles, and if that's the case, we don't know whether or not anyone survived."

"So you're saying that we could be the last people on Earth?" Roger asked from where he stood beside Jack.

His one comment sparked several anxious murmurs and a few expressions of excitement. One of the littluns looked like he was about to start crying, while Samneric looked at each other and said, "Awesome!" The boy with the glasses looked absolutely infuriated. "That's scientifically impossible!" he exclaimed, and began to embark on a lengthy dissertation to prove his point.

"Well, Arianna, seeing as there's no one out there but us," drawled Jack, his voice carrying loudly over everyone else's, "it's your duty as the only girl to save the human race. I'm not lying when I say it would be my pleasure to assist you." He wagged his eyebrows at her suggestively.

Those who were old enough to understand the joke roared with laughter. Horrified, Arianna could only send Jack her deadliest glare. Hadn't he humiliated her enough?

"Calm down, cadets," Ralph raised his voice, restoring order once again. Once he got everyone's full attention, he went on as if nothing had happened. "I'm sure they're out looking for us. We should have a steady signal, like a fire, and we're going to have to keep it going all the time. And we're going to have rules."

"Can I have the conch," Jack asked, getting up to stand beside him. Arianna stared daggers at his back the entire time but he didn't once look at her. "Ralph's right. We've got to have a fire."

"Sir, are you the leader?" the littlun with the ash-blond hair asked.

"Jack's the oldest," stated Luke decisively.

"But Ralph's the Colonel!" said Pablo.

Most of the others voiced their agreement, effectively granting Ralph the leadership. "I guess you just won the election," Jack replied in a seemingly casual manner. But Arianna could sense the anger seething below the surface. This wasn't the first time Ralph had beaten out Jack for the top slot, and Arianna felt a sick sort of pleasure from seeing Jack fail.

"It doesn't matter who's in charge. We've just got to work together," said Ralph, his humbleness only increasing her admiration of him. "First things first, we have to build a camp." And he began directing everyone to a certain job. How he managed to keep in control the entire time amazed her. He was just so perfect, Arianna realized. These kids respected him and as long as Jack was around, they would never view her in the same light. All she could hear were her titles of "the girl" and "the Dean's daughter," echoing in her mind and it was driving her crazy.

While Ralph was busy giving orders, Arianna stood awkwardly to the side, unsure what to do. When he turned to her, she noticed him hesitate. "Why don't you help Simon gather branches that we can use to build shelters, Arianna?" he said in an obviously gentler tone than the one he used with the cadets.

She nodded gratefully because he'd given her an easy job that didn't make her feel entirely useless – a tedious sort of job that would help take her mind off of things. "Sure thing, Colonel," she said, giving him a playful salute.

He chuckled and patted her on the arm before moving on to oversee everyone else's activities. Arianna felt her cheeks grow warm but forced herself not to stare at him as he walked away. She turned around only to find Simon standing behind her.

"Ready, Arianna?" he asked, smiling shyly.

"Lead the way," she replied cheerfully, glad that she could always count on Simon to show her kindness. She rarely came across nice people these days, especially since she spent most of her schooldays in the company of pretentious teenage girls. And Arianna was well aware that she was giving herself too much credit. Deep down, she knew that she was no different from the lot of them.

Simon didn't take her too far into the jungle. There were plenty of fallen branches around that they didn't have to search very hard. It was simple, tedious work befitting the two outliers of their motley crew – Arianna, who was a girl; and Simon, who didn't seem to fit in anywhere. She'd often heard the teachers at the Academy discussing the young oddity, unsure of what to make of him. Her own father once mentioned that the boy had neither the right constitution nor temperament for military school but the board voted to admit Simon anyway. He was too quiet, the Dean had said, too weak-willed. Arianna disagreed. She saw something in Simon right away – a certain goodness that the other cadets hopelessly lacked. But there was little her father understood of goodness, since all the optimism seemed to have seeped out of him after her mother had died. Her relationship with him had been fine when she'd been too young to notice his emptiness. As she grew older, it became harder and harder for him to pretend that everything was alright. Arianna realized that her father was nothing but a hollowed-out shell, and for that, she pitied him.

It took her by surprise to see that the number of branches she and Simon gathered had grown quickly, for she'd been moving to and from their pile as a robot, focused by her function yet consumed by her thoughts. Simon hadn't said anything to distract her, and Arianna guessed that he was probably lost in his thoughts as well. She watched him fling another thin branch onto the ground, before looking up at her with a small grin.

"Hello," he said quietly.

"Hey, Simon," she answered, smiling in spite of herself. They must have been out here for a good ten minutes and neither of them had spoken a single word.

"It sure is hot," he noted, glancing up at the cloudless sky.

"Well, it is the tropics," Arianna said, laughing awkwardly. There had been something else lingering on her tongue and he sensed it right away.

Simon paused then, as if debating whether or not to ask her a question. "Is there something on your mind?" he said a little hesitantly.

"I suppose there is," she said, slightly taken aback. She stood there for a moment, wondering how to word what she was about to say. "Uh, Simon, do the other boys… talk about me, by any chance?" she finished haltingly.

"Sometimes they do," Simon replied unblinkingly. He had stopped collecting branches by then and looked at her thoughtfully.

"What do they say?" Arianna asked, intrigued.

"It depends. Most of them say that you're pretty," he said with a shrug. "Jack's the one who talks about you the most though, however, a lot of the things he says aren't very nice. He and Roger stare at you a lot. I've noticed them looking."

Arianna gagged visibly, not wanting to think about those two idiots watching her every move. Besides, most of what Simon said she knew already. There was one more thing she needed to ask. "What about Ralph?" she said as nonchalantly as possible. "Does he ever talk about me?"

Simon frowned, trying to remember. "No, not really," he said honestly. "He never talks about girls a lot, but he's always writing to this one girl in his hometown. He hasn't really said much, but I think he really likes her." Then he looked at her curiously. "Why? Do you like Ralph?"

Blushing, she shook her head forcefully. "No, I don't. I was just wondering that's all." She smiled unconvincingly, knowing full well that Simon didn't believe her.

"Come on," he said, wrapping his arms around one end of the pile and gesturing for Arianna to do the same. "Let's bring this back to camp."

Arianna obliged and together, they stumbled their way back to the beach. "Listen," she said, struggling to maintain her grip on the branches. "Don't tell the others about what I asked you, okay? I'm embarrassed enough as it is."

"I wouldn't ever, Arianna," Simon told her sincerely. "I swear it."

They shared a secret grin before reaching the patch of sand on the edge of the woods they designated as their campsite. Several boys were already starting to pound sticks into the ground to form tents and one of them motioned for them to place the set of branches in a corner.

"…Or it won't matter," Arianna heard the blunt, bespectacled boy from earlier say as she and Simon laid down their gatherings.

"What won't matter?" demanded Jack as Roger let him climb down from atop his shoulders; they'd been setting up the frame for the shelters. Neither of them had caught sight of her just yet and she planned to keep it that way, no longer in the mood for confrontation.

"Whether or not we get rescued," replied the boy with a shrug of his heavy shoulders.

"You better learn to live with it yourself," started Jack matter-of-factly, "because we ain't gonna get rescued."

This had caught the attention of the boys around them, whose heads perked up in interest. Even Arianna couldn't pretend to remain indifferent. "What are you talking about?" the fat boy stiffened every so slightly as he said this.

"Just being logical," said Jack, getting back to work. "A plane goes down in the middle of the ocean, there's no wreckage – who's gonna find us?"

The fat boy's beady eyes narrowed even further from behind his glasses. "Why don't you just shut up?" he retorted, and Arianna smiled in spite of herself. He was the only one who had stood up to Jack so far, and that earned him points in her book.

Jack raised his eyebrows as he resumed a challenging stance. "Are you telling me to shut up?" he asked sharply. There was a hush among the younger boys as they watched to see what happened next.

"What we need around here is positive people," answered the boy bravely. "Not people who are trying to scare people."

"What we don't need around here is you – shitbrain!" Jack countered, earning several laughs and a frown from Arianna.

"His name's not shitbrain," piped up the twins from off to the side. "It's Piggy!"

Jack roared with laughter and hi-fived either Sam or Eric – she wasn't sure. It didn't matter, for Arianna could not maintain her silence any longer. But before she could say anything, Ralph emerged from the woods and glared at all of them.

"Shut up," he ordered harshly as he led Piggy away. "Everyone just shut up."

Jack and his minions only smiled smugly, not looking the least bit apologetic. Arianna thought they were deserving of a greater punishment than just a biting remark from their leader. "You're a downright asshole, Jack, you know that?" she spoke up suddenly from behind the group.

They all turned around and snickered at Jack's new challenger. "So the princess has a dirty mouth after all," he drawled as he slowly approached her. Arianna didn't back away and forced herself not to divert her gaze. He stopped when he was only inches away from her face, so that all she could see was his eyes. She'd always thought he had blue eyes but she realized now that they were a dark, stormy gray.

"And all this time," he continued, "I thought you didn't have the capability to curse." There it was, that mischievous glint in his stormy eyes. He was so close to her; she feared that he could hear her heart hammering loudly in her chest.

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me, Jack," she whispered. He recognized this phrase from earlier and it further sparked his interest.

"You'd be surprised," he answered slyly, and this time, Arianna knew exactly what he was talking about.

"I know. You've already told them – you've told everyone, haven't you?" she hissed, so that only he could hear her.

His eyes widened in surprise at her scathing accusation. "What the hell are you talking about?" he demanded, and it was he who stepped away this time.

"Don't act as if you don't know," replied Arianna stonily as she pushed past the bewildered-looking boys in the background. She preferred to deal with her fury in private, thank you very much.

The following morning, they lit the signal fire atop the highest hill on the island. It was Ralph's idea to use Piggy's glasses and the plan worked marvelously well – too well, in fact. They could have burned down the entire place, having allowed the fire to engulf an entire tree in their stupidity. And while the boys scampered to confine the flames, Arianna could only stare from a distance, relishing in the heat she felt on her face.

Jobs were being passed around as well. Some boys attempted to spear fish, others tended to the shelters, and Jack insisted on being in charge of the hunt. Arianna was given the tedious task of collecting firewood, which she hardly minded. It was an easy job, and one she could do on her own, for she was losing her patience with the military boys already.

She'd been familiarizing herself with the geography of the jungle until dusk, picking up a few branches and such along the way. Part of her knew that she was stalling as she passed through the same clearing for the third time that day. She should have brought the wood to the top of the hill hours ago but kept searching for distractions. It was getting dark, which meant that it was Jack's turn to keep the fire watch, and Arianna was not ready to see him just yet. But as the sky grew darker, she was started to run out of distractions. Reluctantly, she made her own way up the grassy hill to where the fire sat, immersing the surrounding boys in an orange glow.

Jack, of course, was the first to see her. Being a boy as well as an idiot (to Arianna, those words were practically synonymous to each other), he had no idea what he'd done wrong and gave her the usual smirk. "Everything alright, Princess?" he greeted, only to be met with the bundle of twigs she had unceremoniously thrown at his face.

"Don't talk to me," she snapped and crossed her arms in front of her chest. She looked rather formidable indeed, with her face illuminated by the crackling flames.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" asked Jack angrily as he brushed himself off.

"Oh, leave her alone, Jack," said Piggy, who was frowning miserably into the fire.

"No one asked you, fatass," he snapped back.

"Jack's right," piped up Roger, who eyed the girl with interest. "Arianna could tell us why she's acting like an uptight bitch."

"I am not an uptight bitch!" she exclaimed, not even hesitating on the curse word. She found that it was getting easier to swear now that there was no one around to reprimand her. It was a tiny freedom, but a freedom nonetheless; it felt good, even if she didn't care to admit it.

"Prove it," answered Jack evenly. Her lack of hesitation was not lost on him, and this little factor sparked his curiosity even more. But Arianna was not going to afford him the small satisfaction of responding and instead threw the rest of the firewood to the ground, then briskly retreating down the hillside with an audible groan.

She had scarcely reentered the jungle when she realized Jack had caught up with her. His hand enclosed around her elbow as he steered her to a stop. "Let go of me!" she demanded, her dark eyes flashing dangerously.

"Not until you tell me what's wrong," he shot back, tightening his grip.

Arianna winced and tried to push him away, but he held on fast. "I'm serious, Jack," she said, although with less conviction than the last time.

"So am I," he returned and turned her around to face him, forcing her to meet his steady gaze. And for the first time in his life, it seemed as though he wasn't joking, as though he really was serious. As though he genuinely cared. But Arianna wasn't going to give in that easily.

"Nothing's wrong," she told him impatiently. "Now let me go before I start screaming."

To this, Jack could only let out a bitter laugh. "Why, so Ralph could run in and save the day? That's what you want, isn't it? To be rescued by your knight in shining armor?" The concern was gone from his eyes, replaced with blazing anger.

"No," she sputtered, blinking furiously. "Of course not! Ralph's not – I'm not – I don't want a knight in shining armor!" Good thing it was dark, because Arianna was blushing shamelessly.

Jack looked at her in surprise, loosening his hold on her elbow. "What do you want then, Arianna?" he asked as gently as he possibly could. A smirk was tugging at the edge of his mouth and Arianna couldn't help but notice it.

Truth be told, she didn't want a knight in shining armor. She didn't want the usual storybook romance. Deep down, she knew that she didn't truly want Ralph and was only attracted to him by his looks, and because that was what was expected of her. What she wanted was adventure, a reason for her to abandon familiarity. All her life, she played it safe and so far, she was sick of it. No, Arianna did not want to be rescued from danger – she wanted someone to drag her right into the thick of it.

But instead of explaining all of this to Jack, Arianna choked out a feeble, "I don't know," and hoped that he would let her be. Of course, she should have known that Jack would never let her be. After all those years, he had never once given her peace. He always made it a point to infuriate her and she would always, always respond to his provocation. Why, though? Why couldn't they ignore each other and, for once, leave each other alone?

At that moment, Jack could have accepted her answer and moved on. Arianna could have slapped him across the cheek again and walked away. But as was their habit, they forgot about all things sensible and stayed put. Then for no apparent reason, he dragged her closer and to both of their amazement, she no longer fought him.

"Jack…" she began, but for once, she no longer had anything left to say to him. No words at all. She was frozen with anticipation, and so was he.

"I think I know what you want," Jack murmured huskily as he drew her toward him, his gray eyes clouding with an emotion she couldn't place. "I think I know what we both want."

Without warning, his head dipped down and he engaged her in a heated kiss. Arianna was caught off guard so that for several seconds, she had no idea how to react. His lips felt so warm and foreign on hers, and yet, she found herself kissing him back. Her mind was screaming a million different things at once, this is wrong and what the hell do you think you're doing? were among them. But when Jack relinquished his hold on her elbow and moved his hand to cup the base of her head, the voices were silenced entirely, chased away by the desire to get closer, to deepen the kiss.

Overwhelmed by her desire, Arianna wrapped her arms around his neck to minimize the distance between them. Encouraged by her response, Jack backed her into a nearby tree; the impact momentarily stunned her, allowing her to regain her senses. The action was so smooth and well executed, making Arianna wonder if he'd planning to do this for a long time. With her trapped between his body and the tree, Jack took this opportunity to lower his head even further, planting kisses along her neck. She felt him tug at the sleeve of her dress so that it slipped off over her shoulder. The panic set in the moment she felt his teeth scrape her collarbone. No, her mind was telling her. No, no, no, no, no.

"Jack," she whispered urgently. "Please, I – I need a break." And Jack quickly obliged, although he did not step away. Instead, he brushed her hair away from her face, chuckling deeply.

"Well, well, Princess," he said as she caught her breath. "Didn't know you had it in you."

"Am I still an uptight bitch?" she asked, hoping that talking would help her get over the bizarreness of the situation.

"No, but you can't blame me for thinking you were a prude," Jack told her honestly. Arianna stared up at him, at the moonlight reflecting off of his blond hair, and looked him straight in the eye. It was in that moment that she reached a decision about him, though it was questionable whether or not she was aware of it.

"I'm no prude," she stated firmly, as if she were daring him to claim otherwise.

Still unsatisfied by her reply, Jack leaned down so that she felt the warmth of his breath on her ear. "Prove it," he whispered, and Arianna smiled into their kiss, knowing full well that she would spend a good portion of the night proving him wrong.

A/N: Kinda juicy, eh? I've already started writing the next chapter so hopefully, I'll have it posted soon. Tell me what you think! Thanks again for reading and don't forget to review.