Disclaimer: No, I do not own any of the characters from Lord Of The Flies, they belong to William Golding. And sometimes I wonder how he'd deal with them if they were real. I only own anyone that doesn't belong in LOtF.

Summary: While the boys are on the island, they discover a time machine which takes them to the present. What does it have in store for them? Read on ...

A/N: Thanks all the reviews ... cool you're still interested. :) Also, hopefully, can you check out my fic Almost An Apology and tell me what you think? I know I sound a bit desperate, but I've just started it and wondered what you might think. Otherwise, just read on. Thank you all for the reviews, I'm keeping your ideas in hand. :)

PS: Don't take this chapter too seriously - I have a feeling you may want to flame me for this 'un. But hopefully, you guys will realise the joke:D

Chapter Five

In One Helluva Conchshell

Ever since that day, school had been a rather unusual experience for the boys. Everything around them was a blur - different clothing, different attitudes, different lifestyles. In the future presence the words "soft, spoken-nice and polite" did not arouse girls - in fact, it seemed fashionable to speak in a erratic type of rude, sloppy slang. In fact, many girls fought on the school grounds over the most superficial habits (''Aye, you was lookin' at me in Chemmy, ya stoopid lezz!'' snapped a female sporting a peroxide mane, as she charged at another almost identical to her), stretched their ties down to their navels and crouched in little tribes

at every opportunity, gossiping, giggling and gorging on foods. However, this contrast to Alicia Decricia Anderson was what made her the flicker of the fog.

She was a fragile girl - she was frail and yet, lean, with flowing, golden locks, which perfectly complimented her heart-shaped face, and sparkling blue eyes. She had a small snub nose, which earned her the nickname ''Little Mouse'' by the locals around her and she sang in the choir. Oh yes, she sang well. Out burst the golden beams of heaven as the voice of an angel crawled from her apple-shaped lips. And the rise of applause overthrowned her entire weight of nine stone and a bit, as men wolf-whistled, boys and girls catcalled and eldery women sobbed into their wrinkled tissues, murmuring, ''She's a right starlet, she really is. She should sing for Gods with such a voice like that ... ''

''Get in,'' Manda grumbled, running her fingers through her greasy dark hair as she reluctantly opened the door for her. As Alicia gently grasped her way to the kitchen, humming sweetly and softly, Manda grumbled, ''Good day, then?''

''Oh, it was fine,'' Alicia smiled serenely, picking up a littlun and then tickling him. ''Who's been a good boy, then? Who's been a good boy?'' she cooed, tickling him.

The littlun screeched with laughter and tried to grasp her hair. Alicia didn't flinch back, but Manda made a grasp for the littlun, and he began to howl.

''Dear me ... don't you think Pe...umm, the little boy likes me?'' Alicia stammered, a flinch of hurt in her icy blue eyes.

''His name's Percival and he likes everyone,'' Manda retorted, her dark, cold eyes flashing, as she pushed Percival. Not too rough, but hard enough. Alicia gasped in shock, but Percival just looked up at them two girls in blatant stupidity.

''Hey, Percival, d'you like me then?'' Manda muttered.

Percival blinked.

''Of course! You're so nice to me! In fact, you're both so nice to me!'' Percival cried, as he jumped from his feet. He looked around, and then gasped. ''Ooooh! It's the boys! It's the boys! Quick - it's the boys!'' He danced, in the most eccentric manner, in the manner of needing a very long-awaited, stingy pee-pee.

Manda sighed, as she moped up to the door. A shock of crimson hair blocked her way from eyesight of the girls as Jack Merridew charged in in a sudden rage, with a flustered Roger moping along.

''Rrrrrrrarrrrrgh!'' he yelled, as he dived onto the staircase. ''Gonna eat 'em all!''

The two girls stared in a rise of shock, as Jack started thrashing himself at the staircase. Kicking repetitively, he glowered and lowered; snarled and spat; roared and raged. Scarlet didn't just drown his hair, but from head to toe the blood pressure had caught up with him. An unkempt eyebrow raised, Manda muttered, ''So I take it things are going spectacular, eh?''

Though still looking flawless, Alicia frowned slightly. ''Bad day, then?''

''I'm gonna get 'em all! I'm gonna eat 'em all! I'm gonna eat 'em when I catch 'em, and I'm gonna catch them all!'' Jack stomped on the floor, as a littlun started to wail a wild, savage roar. Manda groaned, ''Shit!'' as she rushed to find Henry, who appeared to have replaced his vocal chords with the conch Ralph had been clutching onto since they arrived. As he bawled about losing something somewhere, Alicia softly smiled at the group of boys surrounding her.

''So how was school, then?'' she asked, a sugary sweetness dripping from her soft lips.

''These - these - these ... bloody bloody dirty scumbag ... '' Jack kicked the staircase in frustration and howled so loudly even the bleachers by the old, dirty restaurant could hear.

Alicia kneeled down and placed herself by the raging half-savage, and tilted her head ever so slight. A pallid smile spread across her plump lips, as she began to stroke the hairs of his neck. He snapped - and she retreated. He cracked - and she recoiled. He growled and cursed under his breath; she whispered and cooed softly, a bird in a deep passionate embrace. She softly swayed herself against him, giggling as his growls grew from irate to erotic.

The boys looked at her. Skinny girl draped over a feral dictator.

Ralph looked at her. Yes. She was beautiful. And yes ... she was so sweet, but ... even for such a brutal boy like Jack, it all seemed too disturbing. Just not too right. Just not too ... just. No, it could not be. He couldn't let her do this, could he? He wouldn't let her do this ... would he? Was Jack so infatuated to fall into this angel's grasp? Or was he just too ignorant to understand what she was actually doing ... ?

''What is she doing?''

Alicia gently stroked Jack's chin, as she giggled in the manner of a puppet. Then, she turned to Ralph. ''You very well?'' she asked, in a perfectly serene manner.

''Um - umm, yes. Yes,'' Ralph muttered, under his breath, trying not to fix any glare of a sort on her.

''That's good,'' she smiled. As Jack swaggered, drunken in love, Ralph asked her, ''Why was he not too smashing?''

''He's only upset because the more favourable group won't accept him into their circle,'' she sighed, looking down at her feet, and looking up at the boys with her wide, blue eyes. ''They thought he was too ... bestial,'' she whimpered delicately. She sighed again, looking towards the window. ''It's so depressing how everyone is so cruel to one another nowadays.''

Ralph felt a pang in his heart, like the shot of a gun - and the others turned to her with sympathy. Meanwhile, Piggy mimed vomiting in the background.

''I feel sorry for the poor boy,'' she wailed softly. Then she smiled, and turned to Ralph. ''But I know you wouldn't do that, would you?''

Ralph felt an infactuated smirk creep up. Yes, she was beautiful ... yes, she was intelligent ... yes, she was so deep ... and interesting ... and interesting ... and interes-

''Well, if you need to know,'' Piggy snapped, flicking his light curls in aggression, ''I've witnessed Jack being a bit of an isolator 'imself - and I'm the proof to convey this!''

Alicia's eyes widened in shock. ''I don't believe Jack would be such a boy,'' she whispered, her voice thickening with a hint of disapproval.

Piggy gave an accurate imitation of her flaring eyes when her back was turned. ''Stupid girl,'' he muttered, as she daintily drifted towards the kitchen.

Dinner was a blur for the boys as they devoured their "bangers and mash" in a flash. As Alicia watched them chewing and chomping ravenously, she giggled, ''You boys must be hungry.'' Jack turned around and winked at her, smirking, while licking his lips. It would have been innuendo ... if it hadn't been for the lump of mash potato clinging onto his cheek. As Manda rolled her eyes and sighed, Piggy watched Jack cursing under his breath while chewing on his sausages.

''Gonna get those scumbags ... bloody bloody scumbags ... gonna get them, and eat them, but I'm gonna catch 'em all!'' he growled, while receiving funny looks from Joe and Mitchell.

''Pok'emon!'' Piggy squeaked, for humour effect.

The boys, however, only stared at him in confusion.

''Oh, it's just there's the show, the say "gotta catch them all," right, and well, everyone kind of pokes fun at it, it isn't really that bad, it's just a bit batty, but it isn't anything to be embarrassed about if you like it ... it just seems a bit ... oh ... '' Piggy's voice drifted away, as he noticed Pikachu smiling happily on David McGraw's red cap. He decided to remain silent after that humiliation. After all, he didn't want to seem overly conceited.

After tea, the cluster of boys cleaned up. As Manda also dug herself into her work, Simon shuffled towards her to help. ''How was today for you?''

''Pretty awful,'' she laughed, as she ran her fingers through her hair. ''Timothy and Lou wouldn't stop fighting over a ball - I mean, c'mon, it's just a ball - so I told them to calm it down, right? And no, they ignore me and keep nagging each other! ''It's my turn!'' ''No, it's my turn!'' God, it's awful having sibling rivalry in the house. I can deal well with David - he's great, about Jack's age - a bit like him, but with anger management - but Timothy and Lou are like two miniature wrestlers, always fighting! Thank God your Samneric aren't like that. They seem to get on much better ...''

''Oh, yeah.''

Irony to its fullest. Samneric, unfortunately, had not been raising to their high expectations in popularity, looks and intelligence. Instead, their impression from people was awkward, sluggish and pathetic. So both twins had been combing back their dirty blonde hair, been wearing the knots of their ties down to their chests and trying to impress as many girls that surrounded them. But of course, girls wouldn't bat an eyelid if they sauntered up together - in fact, they would scuttle away as quick as possible. They blamed each other for these consequences - and vicious scraps between the boys would arose. This was a major contrast from their double act on the island, but maybe that had been an act to hold onto survival.

''... it's rather annoying, though, but I try to get through,'' Manda laughed, though lacking her humour. ''Anyway, my life's been a bit shit, how's yours?''

Simon smiled. ''Well ... it's been okay. Piggy's made a lot of friends, strangely enough! I'm proud of him for it. And, well ... Jack hasn't been as great as he expected. I think he just wanted to make friends with some older boys in the senior years, but they were very rude to him and yelled abuse ... I know I wouldn't have done that. They also looked rather hard and cold anyway. Ralph's staying with the people he knows, so he hasn't really bothered to make any proper friends yet, and well, Samneric ... they haven't been too fine.''

Just at that cue, the twins barged through the doors, as Sam pushed his brother away. ''Oldest goes first! You should know that, me beating you by three seconds!''

''What are you talking about, you shoved me!'' Eric retorted, as he thumped his older brother by three seconds. ''Now Jennifer won't want you! You fine well know that girls prefer the sensitive type!''

''Ha! Well, Jennifer thinks you're pathetic anyway!'' Sam snapped, as he reached out at Eric's dirty blonde curls and pulled hard. Soon as tension was sensed, Ralph rushed to separate both boys.

''Calm down, both of you!'' he scolded. ''I'm not too sure what you are talking about, but I think we should end this row. If not, we'll end up just like we were on the is-''

''We're not even on the island anymore!'' Jack spat.

''Ha! You're only glad because at least there's girls here! ''

Jack swivelled around immediately, and the two boys glowered. There was a silence thickening the room. Everyone stared, as the boys stood there, their eyes slits, their heads tilted to charge, their mouths curled into sneers. The silence thickened the room. No one moved a single muscle. They just gazed at the two boys, glaring and glowering, sneering and snarling, churning from two posh schoolboys to feral savages once again ...

''Boys! Boys! Calm down!'' squealed Alicia, as she skittled in between them both. ''Can't we all get along?'' Breathing slower, and more quietly, the boys gradually calmed down. A silky smile tickled her cheeks as she grinned at both of them, and slid out the room.

The rest of the evening for the average boy was to flop himself onto the sofa, grab a big packet of crisps and get absorbed in his game console and whether his player shoots a large statistic of demons. The rest of the evening for the average girl was to gossip on the phone to her closest friend, watch the most popular television series on at the period and daydream over the most famous famous celebrity.

For Simon and Manda, that was not.

Whilst Piggy would shade himself in his bedroom and study, Samneric would quarrel over the games console, Ralph would attempt learning about his new environment and Jack would terrorise the littluns into helping him steal food from the kitchen, Simon would lay beneath his own little den ... in the music room. The darkness would smother the whole room, except from the glistening moon beaming down on him, as his coarse, dark hair faded to blue. Softly, and sweetly, he would sing in "C" Sharp, which only he knew, but never told

Jack, in fear that he would see it as competition. His fingers gracefully touched the ends of the piano notes, as he sat on the wooden, crooked chair by it and sang. Sparkles tickled the young boy's cheeks, as he played the same, familiar tune. So sad, yet so serene, almost in vain ...

''Nice tunes. All right if I join you?''

Manda stood by the doorway, a half-smile arosing. Simon nodded softly, as he let her in. The look that she had been wearing for weeks, since the first time he laid his eyes on her, had been a sudden change - when he first noticed her, she had been wearing an unusual, ethnic look that had seemed somewhat attractive on its own terms. Now, she had been rushing around the house - looking after the children; cooking the meals; putting the littluns to bed and cleaning up around the house, she had earned a look that was more similar to a motherly figure than a distorted symbol of beauty with her dark hair greasing, her eyes sinking into exhaustion and her baggy clothes flopping as she continuously ran up and down, up and down, trying to help the others at almost every minute.

''So, I take it you're not too big on socialising, then?'' Manda laughed, as she sank into the colourful bean bag next to him. She yawned lazily, as she continued, ''I can understand. They can be pretty boisterous at times. I mean, they are real hard to deal with at times! Especially Jack ... ''

Simon gazed at her weakly, as he smiled palely. ''They're fine, they're not too bad. They haven't been bothering me as much as they've been bothering Piggy.''

''Piggy? Isn't that ... Carl? Why bother "Piggy" then?'' Two eyebrows raised high in disgust.

''Because, well ... '' Simon's voice was hushed. ''They think he isn't that appealing, with his oversized glasses, and fat, and ... ass-mar.'' His eyes darted around, hoping that there was no sign of his discussion fixation, and continued. ''They've been bothering him even more now ... now that he's earning the respect he didn't have before.''

''Well, he sure deserves it. He's a nice boy - and I wouldn't like to think that jack was bothering him. I've heard some of the things he says, and he can be incredibly cruel at times. Still, anyway ... have you seen Roger's new look?''

''New - new look? What do you mean?''

''I swear, I knew there was such things as "goths." But I never knew you could actually go "uber-goth!" '' She smiled softly. ''He was looking for you by the way.''

Simon ignored this fact. ''Goth? What's goth? What's a goth?'' Although he had been at the school, for at least a month, Simon still wasn't familiar with its unusual slang and was much more interested about finding out why Roger was in need of him. If Piggy had learned it as fast as a blink, couldn't he?

''Well, it started off as German tribe who wrecked down the Roman empire. In the eighties, it was groups of people who liked to listen to the Bauhaus and The Cure, and all that crap. Nowadays, it's just a bunch of teens who like to wear black and white make-up and listen to overly loud, depressing music. But can you believe Roger? He's booted the whole load of looks! Oh, God!''

Simon's eye twitched. He remembered their first meeting.

''Are you a goth, Manda?''

Manda glanced, and said crisply, ''Nope. I'd rather not be - I prefer to lead my own trends than follow!'' Just at that point, Piggy, drenched in long, golden chains and in a baggy vest and tracksuit trouser entered joyfully, and held his finger in acknowledgement as he passed. Thick confusion flooded Simon's face. What had happened to the poor boy? A brain transplant? ''Yo, m'dawgs.''

''Hey, mate,'' Manda nodded, as he flumped beside them. ''How's it hangin'?''

''A li'l on the downside, y'see,'' Piggy murmured, separating his legs far apart sinking. ''I was havin' small talk with MD, right, but then he an' his homies kinda dingied me. So I was dingied with Jack, right, and y'know ... '' Piggy stuck his tongue out and made a face, while mouthing in a rush, and Manda gasped. ''Oh, no!''

''Oh, aye!''

''You're pulling my leg! He couldn't of been that much of an a-hole!''

''Well, he shouldn't of been gratin' on them, deliberately, or else he would'ne of got pure rejected by the lot, and - ''

''What on earth are you bloody talking about!'' Simon had reached to his tether - he needed explination for this scrambled slang, no matter how long it took for him to understand! Breaking out of discussion, Manda and Piggy both stared at Simon.

And stared.

And stared.

''Well, Jack, he, umm ... ''

''These boys were having a laugh as they passed by, and - ''

''Jack kind of went and announced to them the size of Ralph's - Ralph's ... ummm ... ''

''What?''

''The size of his ... umm, conch!''

''For a joke!''

''Although they found it rather rude,'' Piggy said stiffly, reminding Simon of the times when he used to act more realistic.

Simon sighed happily for its sake.

''Then again, when wearing get-up like that, he's not bound to earn any friends.''

Shock flooded Simon like a crashing tidal wave ... no ... what was happening to dear old Piggy? When on the island, Piggy was intelligent, and in control of himself, and determined, and now ... he was just like all the rest ... trying to conform with the favourable groups. He

tried to hold it on with all his might - he greatly did - but Simon fell flat on his face to floor and

fainted.

Manda and Piggy looked at each other. Then at the unconscious boy laying on the ground.

''Well, he needs an early bed ... ''

''I'm sure of it,'' Manda sighed, shaking her head. ''Hey, what do you reckon of Alicia? Do you like her then, too?''

''Omigoodness! She is such a ... batty barmy psycho woman! How can she play with two boys like that, the psychotic little -''

''Thank God you agree with moi! Yeah, she bugs the crap out me. Kind of like those annoyingly perfect characters who get flamed on ... ''

x

That night, the unconscious boy lay in the bed, quietly humming to himself. As the moon faded from white to blue he stirred silently, wondering how Jesus would have reacted to Piggy's transformation from an outsider to a conformist ... but why Piggy, out of all people? Wasn't Piggy proud of who he was at heart? Why couldn't it have been Percival? At least he would develope some type of attire, as he didn't appear to have as much personality.

The small boy groaned quietly, and rolled onto his left side. Hours later, and he lay curled up on a ball, snoring softly. A taller, stockier boy entered the room, with his thick, dark hair glazing sapphire by the moonlight, hanging in his eyes. As he tore his black clothing off casually, he grabbed on a long, greying shirt and coated himself inside the duvet as he cuddled up beside the smaller, bonier boy. The room was no longer silent, but just quiet - there was now a sense of sniffles, as the older boy sobbed beneath the sheets.

And as he placed his wet, rubbery lips against the younger one's cheek, he whispered, ''Simon ... why didn't you come when I asked for you?''

x

A/N: Yay! I finally posted! Glad to have got that out the way. rubs hands And please read my other LotF story. It sounds cocky, but I'm quite proud of it, so if you would like, check it out and tell me what you think. :) And for the whole Alicia thing ... I know what you think of her, and I can clearly understand why. And the fun of it is, it's not gonna stay like that forever ... (evilly grins at Alicia from afar)