Basic Character Introductions (No Spoilers):

Annabelle: The de facto leader of the survivors. She takes charge of everyone and her main goal is survival until rescue. Her personality is caring, but serious. Annabelle represents Ralph in the story.

Jack: Annabelle's rival and leader of the hunters. He is envious of how the others naturally follow her.

Roger: A seemingly dark and aloof boy, he has an aura around him that keeps others away. But is he really a cold-hearted person, or is there more to him?

Caitlin: The wise and innocent one who can keep everyone calm. She represents Simon in the story. (The name Caitlin means "pure.")

Lucy: The knowledgeable and sensible one on the island, but also gets temperamental and has anger management issues. She represents Piggy in the story.

And another, mysterious character who will be introduced shortly…

PART 1

Chapter 1

24 people. 24 students had been on that plane. How every one of them managed to survive that crash was beyond her mind.

She had been in the back rows, the tail section of the plane. It wasn't big, enough to fit 50 people, maybe. A small jet airplane, taking the entire school on a trip to Washington. It was a big school, and they had been categorized by last name. She didn't know anyone on her flight. Much less what their names were. She had no way of calling to them, or finding them. She stood alone on the hot, grainy sand, tattered and worn-out; she felt, however, that she had suffered a good fate. Other than the fact that her clothes had soaked for a couple of hours, and her hair was a tangled mess, she was fine. She had managed to salvage her backpack during the chaos, which held a water bottle now empty, an extra sweater, and notebooks drenched beyond hope. The seawater had ruined her black iPod, which had been in her pocket when the plane began to plummet down towards the ground. Tossing it into the sand and burying it slowly with her toes, she remembered others, other students from the plane, panting for breath and crying for help in the water. But they had survived; she remembered they had all come out of the water alive, onto land. Now dry and reasonably clean, she stood, and she waited for the view of the first person.

The sight of the girl standing on the beach, in solitary manner, prompted the blonde-haired girl to carefully retreat from the bushes, and approach in calm manner. The girl standing there looked older, and she wasn't particularly pretty, with her long, tangled brown ringlets and plain golden brown eyes, but she had an aura of authority about her that made the blonde girl curious. Curiosity was something she couldn't ignore. And she knew she wasn't old or experienced enough to take care of herself alone on this island. After she had passed out, she found herself alone on the beach, and had gone into the forest in hopes of finding the others from the plane. She stepped quietly towards the brown-haired girl, and pulled the skirt of her dress up to avoid catching it with the creepers that enclosed the forest.

The older girl saw the blonde girl making her way, and prepared to introduce herself. She noted that the girl was probably much younger than she was, or very small for her age. Either way, she didn't want to scare her. The young girl had light, ash-blonde hair that fluttered behind her as she walked in wisps. Light blue tinted her small, intrigued eyes. She stopped trudging right in front of the brown-haired girl, and looked up with a faint smile on her face. Even with her young features, adult-like qualities radiated from her.

"Hi, are you from the plane?"

"Yeah," the older girl said, smiling back comfortingly. "What's your name?"

"I'm Caitlin," replied the blonde girl gently. Something about the way she shuffled her feet, played with her fingers, showed the other girl that maybe she was ill, maybe a little different? She wasn't sure, but there was something very queer about her. But all the same, she was a young girl, and seemed all right. Her skin was very pale, and her cheeks rosy. "I'm thirteen. How about you?"

Surprised by her age, the other answered, "My name's Annabelle. I'm fifteen."

"Where's everyone else?"

"I'm not sure," Annabelle admitted, biting her lip. "I haven't seen them since I passed out. After we all got out of the water."

"Somebody saved me," Caitlin said. "Somebody dragged me out from the water." Her eyes looked up at Annabelle. "I think that was you."
Annabelle did vaguely remember putting her arms around a young, light-haired girl's shoulders and dragging her onto the beach. She had been rather calm, despite the chaotic circumstances, merely stating very firmly that she couldn't swim as loud as she could. She might have asked Annabelle to help her, or not. But everything around it was fuzzy in her head.

"Yeah," she said. "Yeah, I think I did."

"Thank you," Caitlin said sincerely. Annabelle gave her another smile, and they did not talk again for some time. They weren't sure of what to do, or where the others could be. Probably scattered all around the-where were they exactly? Annabelle took a step back, and for the first time, really got a good look at her surroundings. Tropical trees, tall and towering, blew in the warm breeze all across the forest that made up the middle of the land. After that, was the beach, where she was. All around them, water. Caribbean ocean, the sea wrapping every bit of land she could see. They were on an island, and so far, from the looks of it, it was a completely uninhabited and deserted island. So they had crashed on an island, and everyone (assumingly) survived miraculously. How like a cliche survival novel. Annabelle tapped her cheek with one fingernail, a habit that had become frequent when she was thinking. Suddenly, she only moved her foot by an inch, and tripped over a big rock driven deep into the sand. She swayed, and would have fallen sideways had Caitlin not caught her in time.

"Thanks," she said, panting. Ugh. So her curse hadn't disappeared on the island. She was still as clumsy as she ever was. "Now we're even, I guess."

"You should be careful," Caitlin said, her smile unfading. "There are lots of rocks on the beach, I bet. Things to trip over."

"Nah, I 'm just clumsy," Annabelle said, rubbing her nose. "That's my one big weakness. I've always been pretty uncoordinated."

"Hey," Caitlin said, pointing to something sparkling by the water. "What's that?"

Following her dainty fingers, Annabelle found a large, creamy object floating on the edge of the beach, just barely being kept from being swept away by the waves. Reaching out for it, she grabbed it before it was washed away, and studied it to find it was a conch shell, gleaming and pearly even under layers of wet sand. Caitlin peered over her shoulder in small delight as she wiped off the grime with her fingers, wiping them on her jeans.

"It's a conch shell," she remarked. "It's really pretty." She couldn't help but stare at its beauty, the clean, white lines of the shell once the dirt was gone.

"It's beautiful," Caitlin murmured behind her. They took a moment to examine this lovely find. But sooner or later they had to decide what to do with it.

"Is there any use to it?" Annabelle questioned, now looking inside the hollow conch.

"Yes," breathed Caitlin excitedly. "If you blow into it properly, you can get a sound out of it."

"A sound?" Looking at the shell, it really did resemble a kind of blowing instrument, with the small hole on one end and a bigger opening on the other. Annabelle put her lips to the smaller hole, like she would play a trumpet.

"How do you do it?"

"You sort of spit, I think. Like-"

"Like a trumpet," Annabelle finished. She suctioned her lips around the shell and blew, blew for as long as she could. A very loud, ringing noise came roaring out.

Caitlin took a step back, startled but thrilled. "How'd you do that?'

"I used to play the trumpet, in the school band department," Annabelle said sheepishly. "I don't do any music anymore, but I remember how." She took the shell in her hand and blew into it once more, then a second time. Each time the dimmed, hollow note echoed throughout the island, traveling with the breeze and into the ears of the other survivors.

And one by one, even two or three, faces popped out of the forest, from behind bushes, from the other end of the long strip of beach. Attached bodies began crawling up with them, coming up to Annabelle, saying hello. She gave each and every one of them a good look, trying to remember faces. She took names, and Caitlin stored them in her head. Seemingly the youngest of the whole group, a twelve-year old girl named Tessarose, had long flowing blonde hair and resembled Caitlin, only her hair was darker and was brighter-eyed.

Some of them were related: twin girls, Ruby and Rosaline, who couldn't look less like each other, as well as stepsiblings Hazell and Theodore, who said he was also called "Thayr". The oldest in the group, a 16-years old boy, mumbled that his name was Roger. Going back to a rock in the corner of the group after he spoke and not approaching anyone around him, he seemed to enjoy his confinement. But something gentle in his face said he was more than just aloof. Annabelle noticed his dark, rumpled golden-brown hair and sea foam green eyes.

Soon enough, all 24 people had gathered around the two. No one seemed to be familiar with each other. They all sort of just stood, as if waiting for something grand to happen. Annabelle wasn't used to being in the center of attention-or very well talking to a crowd. But at home, she liked taking charge of things; she liked being the figure of order, whether it was amongst her friends or a class. So, in a moment where everyone seemed to be rather glad to see another person and needing a way to go, Annabelle began to speak.

"Uh, hi, is everyone here? Hello? Hi, my name's Annabelle, and I'm 15. I was in class 5B, 10th grade." Blank stares met the start of her speech. Holding back her barely existent nerves, she continued, "Look, I know none of us know each other. And it could be awkward at first. It could be a lot awkward. But we are on an island, and from what I can see, there are absolutely no people out there. We're on our own." She paused, as everyone caught along to her words. "So, what I'm saying is…we've got to work together. We managed to survive, and we all have to contribute if we want to be rescued." People seemed to understand what she was saying now. Nods of agreement and, to her pleasure, they seemed impressed by her significant words. These were all young teenagers, boys and girls with their ages ranging from 12 to 16. To be accepted by them would be to gain their trust, their dependence. She could direct them, and guide them so they could all get off this island faster. That's the most important thing, she thought.

"Annabelle's right!" cried Lucy, whom Annabelle had noticed as an annoyingly outspoken British girl with a rounded face. Her messy, golden blonde hair that flew in her face and homely brown eyes-overall fairly plain looks- hadn't won much favor with the others. "We need to all work together, or we'll be here forever! Didn't you hear what the pilot said? He said we lost track of the course hours ago! They don't know where to look for us!"

"Shut up," sneered Hazell, who was proving to be more and more unfriendly by the minute. Thayr, who stood next to her, didn't say anything. A golden-blonde boy snickered in the crowd.

"Alright, alright," Annabelle called, trying to calm them down. "It's true. What Lucy said is true"- here, Lucy's eyes widened with great satisfaction that Annabelle had remembered her name- "I think we need to divide into groups to find food and water. And make some shelters. But the first thing we need to do is make a fire. A big one, maybe on the mountaintops, where people can see. And we'll need people to watch that, so it doesn't go out." The teenagers' reaction to Annabelle's speech was much different from the way they treated Lucy's-for a moment it pleased her that they seemed to have somewhat respect for what she was saying.

The golden haired boy stood. He spoke loudly, with dignity and self-righteousness ringing in his voice. He himself sounded like another leader. "We should definitely make a fire, and we also need to look for food. It's a tropical island, so I'm sure there must be fruits and stuff. But we need protein! I think we should go out and see if there's any animals, so we can hunt for meat." The crowd, unlike with Lucy, seemed to accept his words easily. Hazell looked particularly excited at the prospect of hunting. Their regard at this boy also probably had to do with his looks-half of the group were girls, and the boy who spoke had a lean, fit body with gleaming tanned skin. Annabelle observed this as well, but she wasn't about to let him run the crowd as if he was any different from Lucy.

"Here." She passed the conch shell to the boy. "Hold this when you're talking. Anyone who wants to talk can," she looked out to the crowd again as she said this. "As long as you're holding the shell, you can speak. And can you repeat your name? I can't remember."

"M'gosh, that's a conch shell!" Lucy exclaimed marvelously. "That things expensive, that is! It's a very precious shell, that conch shell! I wonder where you could've possibly found it?" No one bothered to answer her.

"Name's Jack," the boy went on spiritedly. "And I'm 15. I can be in charge of hunting for food. I should be pretty good at hunting-my dad has a license back home. I'm also pretty good at being in charge of things." He ended with a rather boastful smile on his face. Annabelle didn't particularly the sound of this arrogant boy, but his toothy grin was striking-it was like a smirk, but charming somehow.

"I think I should organize some people to come with me, on the hunting trip. We can go out and check out the area, see if there are any animals in the forest. Then we'll come back and make weapons. Like spears. And there might even be a survival knife from the plane. Now, come on, who wants to join me?" He looked around proudly. For a moment, nobody said a word. Then they all heard two boys pipe simultaneously,

"We'll follow Jack!" Everyone turned to look at them: they were physically different, but had unity in their high-pitched voices. Both glanced up at Jack admiringly, strongly resembling a pair of groupies. He grinned, pleased, as the two boys joined him, scrambling to stand on both his sides. Annabelle had no idea why two boys would want to follow him so badly, and look up to him as if he were a celebrity.

No one else, however, moved towards him. A flash of irritation appeared in his dark blue eyes. It was a bit unsettling, how sharp and cold they could turn from purely attractive.

"Is there no one else?" he tried, frowning icily.

"Uh, Jack, maybe hunting's not such a good idea," Annabelle said, attempting to save him from humiliation. "I mean, we don't know what kind of animals could be on this island, if there are any. They could be dangerous. And getting meat's not exactly important." Here, a few murmurs and nods of agreement spread across the group. Jack's eyes grew narrower. "I say it is important," the boy insisted loudly. "We need more than just damn fruits to survive. And it'll be fun. We can't stay here for long without some fun, can we?"

"Alright, fine," resolved Annabelle, giving up. She didn't want to fight this fight. Anyone who wasn't blind could see the look of petty jealousy on Jack's face. "Whoever wants to go hunting, can go with Jack. I'll pick some people to find water. Let's see…" The group waited in patience as her eyes swept across the crowd. "I'll pick you, the girl there," she said pointing to a pale brunette girl whose name she couldn't remember. "And you, Maurice, was it? And…and Austen." Her final choice was a boy who appeared around her age, but taller and with a broad stature. Dirty blonde hair flitted across his triangular face as he slinked, unabashed, towards her. The group set, Annabelle said to the remaining people to go with the hunters if they wished, or stay and start making some shelters on the beach. "Some of you should also go and build a fire, maybe somewhere up high, where rescuers can see. This can be our signal fire, and they'll be able to come find us if they see the smoke. No one should let this fire go out." Concluding her words, the now superior 15-year old of the assembly began walking down the beach, the people she had chosen trailing behind her. Her show of leadership in that moment had indeed helped-everyone scattered, but they didn't merely go off and lollygag on their own. Small groups formed, twos or threes or even fours, and set off working; whether it was collecting wood for the fire or branches and long, tropical plant leaves for shelters, they did it with a sense of surprising maturity for a bunch of teenagers. They appeared, to Annabelle, to be conversing politely and cooperating for their tasks. Watching this with content, she started on her way on her own journey with her water-searching partners. As she walked, she passed by Jack, Jack the hunter, and at that moment a spark of rivalry exchanged between them as he stared intently into her eyes. The ever so slight, resenting expression had still not faded away.

The three behind Annabelle chatted casually as they hiked through the trees, into the forest.

"Hi," the brunette girl said to Maurice. "Joelle. I'm in your biology class." Her eyes were light and cheery as she spoke.

"Hey, I'm Maurice," the boy replied equally warmly. They both seemed to get along with their friendly, sunny natures. He turned to the boy named Austen and said, "And you're Austen, right?"

"You got it," Austen responded, smiling and tilting his head in a self-confident manner. "10th grade, class 2A. I'm captain of the rugby team and the soccer team. I also play varsity basketball, but didn't make captain. Yet." Here he winked, his smile widening cheerfully. "But I can hope, right? I mean, I consider myself a fairly good athlete, so it's a matter of time, I guess. My favourite is definitely rugby though. How bout you? What sports do you play?" He gestured to Maurice.

"Well, I'm not really a big sports guy," he answered shyly. "I'm on the 9th grade soccer team and I like ice hockey, but I don't really play a lot, like on a team."

"Oh, well there won't be much opportunities to do sports here anyways. Sucks." Austen wrinkled his nose. "Can't believe we're actually on a deserted island…it's like Survivor, with teenagers, y'know? Crazy."

"It's definitely not what we were expecting," joined Joelle. "This is seriously insane."

"Kinda cool, though, isn't it? I mean, better than a school trip," said Austen.

"Kind of incredible," Maurice remarked. When Joelle looked at him curiously, he mumbled, "That we all survived, I mean. There were 24 of us, and all of us manage to live? What are the chances of that?"

"That's exactly what I was wondering about when we first got here," Annabelle said, turning her head for the first time since they started walking. "It's a miracle, and I think we're pretty damn lucky to all be here." Everyone nodded in agreement. As the others' conversation continued, she fingered through a tangle of leaves concealing a way to something. Peeling away each of them one by one, she at last made her way through the obstacles and stumbled into a grassy area. Joelle, Maurice, and Austen followed, and stopped in their tracks as she did. Laid in front of them was a wide, clear blue lake, hidden by the jungle, with lofty trees bearing all sorts of fruits and gleaming rocks surrounding the water. The surface sparkled desirably as a beam of sunlight hit it through the giant leaves of the trees. All four of them stared at the stunning view in front of them, a first-class view at nature that they'd never really got to see, living in the big city. It truly was a beautiful place.

"Woah," Maurice breathed.

Annabelle was the first to come around from the amazement at this sight, leaning down to the lake and took out her empty water bottle from her backpack. As she filled hers up, Austen plopped next to her on his knees and began splashing the water into his mouth, drinking.

"Stop!" Annabelle shouted in alarm. She grabbed his wrists to stop from spooning more water. "Stop it! You can't drink it now, it might not be clean! We should heat it over the fire to filter it before we drink it."

"Okay, okay, sorry," Austen mumbled without meaning. He scooped water into his own water bottle, following suit. Joelle and Maurice were careful not to drink it, either. Once all their bottles were filled, Annabelle declared that they should get as many bottles as possible from everyone, and return with them.

"We should let them know, too, that we've found water."

"We're lucky we did," Joelle mused. "We're really lucky. And we found it so quick, too. If we hadn't, we wouldn't have made it three days on this island."

"Austen, we'll go back and tell them we found water. And we'll collect bottles. You two stay here so we can find the lake again. We don't want to lose the way, this could be our only source of fresh water." The three nodded. Joelle and Maurice looked happy sitting and talking to each other lightheartedly by the lake, and the older two made their way back to the camp. As Annabelle pushed vines out of the way, trudging through the mud in the lead, Austen caught one and held it as she passed.

"Aren't you a gentleman," she said jokingly.

"A thank you would be nice," Austen replied smartly. He smirked as she rolled her eyes and continued walking ahead of her. He caught up to her in strides with his long legs.

"Seriously though, that Jack dude was pretty intense about all that hunting crap. I mean, he was kinda built, but he seems pretty mousy to me." When she didn't answer, he continued, "I could probably hunt. Jack, I'm not so sure about."

"I'm sure," Annabelle replied dryly, her thoughts elsewhere. A tad bit of annoyance crossed Austen's face, but he didn't push on.

An exasperated sigh simply had to escape Ruby's red-tinted lips as she watched her twin. Rosaline, the useless sister, and her daily talk show, All About Rosaline, was now broadcasting live. Everything in the entire universe had to revolve around her. She couldn't live otherwise. Every feature, every little detail about her made Ruby want to hurl. But she was her sister, nonetheless, and she had to care about her. Especially on this godforsaken island, she had to take care of her. Because she couldn't possibly take care of herself in a place like this.

Even now, in this ridiculously desperate situation, Rosaline didn't have a clue. She stood on the beach, her perfectly manicured toes digging into the sand; she brushed through her silky golden tresses with her fingers, French nails adorning them.

"Rose, can you get over yourself? At least while we're on this damn island?" Ruby rolled her eyes as her sister looked up at her irritatedly.

"God, Ruby, will you stop telling me what to do?" she spat back, the blue in her eyes flashing. It always surprised someone, when they saw it for the first time, the way her expression could quickly turn from sweet and innocent to a dirty one full of hatred. But not Ruby. She was very well used to this drastic change. "You always act like you're the boss of me. Well, guess what, you're highness, you're not. So stop yelling at me, it's embarrassing."

"You're the one embarrassing yourself," Ruby said, shrugging. "If you don't mind being the clueless idiot of the island who only cares about her hair and her nails, I don't care."

"You think you're so much better than me. But it's me who mom and dad always side with. Remember that, Ruby? Remember, I'm their favorite?" She called as Ruby walked away from her sister, pulling her dark auburn hair to one side to air herself. She was absolutely sick of Rosaline's narcissistic attitude. It was true that their parents favored her back home. Probably because Ruby wasn't exactly the lovable, model daughter most parents preferred. Maybe it was her fierce scene hairstyle, or her dark eye makeup she wore even now, the black waterproof eyeliner still intact. Her lips were painted bright red. She had been maintaining this style for several years, and her friends had similar looks-interestingly colored hair and styles, unlike Rosaline's friends who were all the same. They dressed like poodles and talked and gossiped for impossibly long periods at a time. Even for a group of very typical teenage girls, they were horrific. They had always managed to get on her nerves since they got into middle school, and she was glad for once her sister didn't have a crowd of prattling, obnoxious girls to go to for comfort. She had to resort to a long, semi-wet log sitting on the beach, which she plopped down upon in annoyance. Ruby glanced at her scornfully, and then turned her head to the others now collecting wood and gathering branches for a fire. None of them even probably knew how to make a fire, she expected. It was time for her survival skills to come into good use-spending time in the forest had been one of her favourite weekend pastimes, and she was a fourteen-year old girl who knew how to handle a knife proficiently. Even now, she had a knife; right at that moment, her small but sharp and efficient pocketknife lay in her pocket. She never went anywhere without it. Her hand slipped in to grasp it with her fingers, feeling the cool silver against her skin. She lowered it again, and pulled her hand out. That ease, that assurance she felt when she knew she had her knife was splendid.

Making a fire, building shelter, these were just the basics for her. Even hunting. She would be hunting, yes, but not with that ridiculous Jack who called himself a "hunter." No, Ruby liked working alone, and she would get her chance later on. Just maybe she might join the hunters, but first she needed to scout out the area on her own, see what kind of game they might find. For now, she blended into the crowd helping out with gathering the firewood. Her time would come later.

An ocean gust touched the girl's tousled, metallic caramel locks. Named for her stunning eyes, Hazell squinted menacingly as a thick curl of hair swept across her face, covering her view. She whipped her hand at it, like it was a pesky fly, glaring. It wasn't her fault she was born with annoying hair. Why should she have to suffer with it? She believed punishment was the key to most things, and physical punishment especially. Even her hair was to blame at times.

"Hazell!" a voice behind her called. She didn't have to turn to know who it was, and she didn't. Anyone who knew him would recognize that irritatingly sweet, naïve little voice. Thayr. Or Theodore, her sickeningly innocent stepbrother. No one could be as virtuous as that son of a bitch. Literally. Hazell sneered to herself-Thayr's mother was a gold digger and a swine; she had only married her father for his money. Only, she was the only one who could see it. Everyone else was just fucking blind.

"Hazell, didn't you hear me?" Thayr was now dangerously close to her, clear within a meter. Don't. Just don't. I am not in the mood for you and your snobby, dim-witted holiness. Her body just wasn't about to take anything from him today, or someone was going to get pounded bloody.

"Haz-"

"YES." Hazell turned, violence erupting in her intensely hued eyes. "What is it, Thayr?" Her voice was a soft, but low growl as she spat his name like dirt.

He sighed at his stepsister's usual aggression and disdain. "Aren't you going to help get wood? We're making the fire on the mountain."

"No." One eyebrow raised as she stared at Thayr's idiocy.

"You should," he insisted. "We all need to work on it if we want to be rescued as soon as possible. You heard what Annabelle said."

What kind of teenage boy was so logical? And fuck what Annabelle said, she wasn't about to take orders from some Hispanic-American (by the looks of it) with bad hair and a damn shell.

"I'm going hunting." She suddenly whirled around after this decision, and began trekking up the beach towards the boy who was going to lead the hunting trip. Jack. He had captured Hazell's attention from the minute he mentioned hunting for meat. Then she had gotten a look at him, and damn, she liked what she saw. Soft, but toned muscles adorned his slender arms, and his hair gleamed under the sunlight. As he stretched, she could see his tanned abs flexing. He was perfect. Someone who loved hunting, and good-looking? Hazell had never tried hunting as a way of letting out "pent-up aggression" (as some people called it), but she wasn't afraid of trying something new. She wasn't afraid of anything. She would become a hunter, and work on Jack, too...

"Jack!" her voice turned into melted chocolate as her eyes twinkled at this alluring boy. He stared for a moment at the girl, who skipped straight into his path. Good, good, she had her attention. True to her name, her eyes could tempt anyone, and she knew she was somewhat pretty. No. Who was she kidding. She was gorgeous. Her curls were perfect, her lashes long and her perked nose dotted with light freckles. A silky smile, a look could capture a boy. Or her physical aggression, if it came to be necessary.

"You're Jack, right?" Playing it dumb was the safe thing to do. At first.

"Uh, yeah," he replied, not looking particularly excited. But it didn't faze her.

"Hazell." She shook her head firmly without waiting for his approval. "You said you're going hunting? I want to come, too."

"Are you sure you're up for it?" Jack looked at her attractive appearance doubtfully. "I mean, are you physically?"

In reply, Hazell roundhouse-kicked the small tree standing next to him. He jumped as a branch fell to his side, a crack appearing on the trunk where it had received the blow. His expression of shock quickly turned into a wicked grin.

"Nice!"

Hazell faked a modest blush. "Thank you. Now, let me join your hunters." Jack nodded excitedly, satisfied with her well-learned Tae Kwon Do skills. The group to go on the hunting trip was soon arranged. It would be Jack and Hazell, two other boys, and if he could get to his senses, Thayr.

"Thayr, you WILL do this. For me." Her eyes darkened as she glared at her stepbrother, who had declined the offer to come hunting with them.

"Hazell, you know that stuff isn't me," he tried to reason, pleading. "I wouldn't know how to hunt. I couldn't even hurt an animal. Please don't make me do this." The desperation on his face was like a lost dog. Hazell, in frustration, grabbed him by the wrist and began forcing him up the beach to where the hunters were gathering.

"Hazell..." His voice drifted off, and knowing his sister's incredible strength and stubbornness, he ceased to argue. He was going on this hunting trip, and there was nothing he could do about it. Hazell would see to that.

"He's coming, too." She dropped him on his knees in front of their new leader, Jack. "This is Theodore, or Thayr, my stepbrother." She rolled her eyes as Thayr scrambled to his feet, and mumbled a hello. Then he moved to stand beside his sister. Jack only gave him an up and down look, before continuing to talk to the other two boys.

Hazell gave a menacing glare at her brother. "You ruin this for me, and I'll snap your arms. You understand? Just stay close to me and DON'T get on Jack's nerves. NOT that close!" She screamed as Thayr shuffled even closer to her. He winced at her outburst, taking a big step backwards. Ruffling his black hair, he stood awkwardly.

The other boys, who had been following Jack around like puppy dogs, were named Sébastien and Fillip, Hazell learned. The blonde one with a high voice and pale skin was Sébastien, the Spanish-American one whose features were dark in color and more chiseled, was Fillip.

"Jack is the awesomest, most badass guy ever!" Sébastien enthused to Hazell. "He's done everything! He drove his dad's motorcycle on the freeway, toilet-papered a car in the school parking lot-he was the one who played that huge prank on the principal's last day!"

"Yeah," Fillip joined in excitedly. "And he never gets caught. All the teachers love him, they think he's this saint! No one would ever rat him out, though. He's our hero." Both boys looked up longingly from their short legs at this so-called badass hero of theirs. Jack merely smirked, not saying anything to confirm their words. Hazell smiled at him, but her lips lowered into a snarl when he turned his head away, uninterested. So this was going to be difficult, was it? Well she had a plan, a plan to get his attention, and maybe have some fun on this damn island. She grabbed her stepbrother, and began trudging through the sand after Jack. The hunters were heading out. Let the games begin, she said to herself. Her lips curled upwards in anticipation and delight. Hopefully there were some animals to kill on this godforsaken island. It could help let out some emotions.

The rock skipped across the ocean, rippling delicately on the crystal water. The boy with dark hair, dark as chocolate but not quite black, hunched down to touch the warm grains of sand with his thin fingers. Another stone, a perfectly smooth one, made its way into his grasp. Perfect. It would be an easy throw, four skips at the least.

Roger stood up to his full figure, towering over his own shadow. As he bent low, leaning back contemplatively and aiming the stone in his hands, a young voice spoke behind him.

"Do you want to help with the shelters?"

He stopped, turning to face the youngest he had seen on the island, a girl about the age of 12 with long, flowing blonde hair. Rosy cheeks upon her creamy skin made her look ever the more child-like.

"I'm Tessarose," she said when he didn't reply. She was small, but not timid, and she reached out and shook his hand firmly without hesitation. A pair of lovely blue eyes shone as she continued speaking. "I'm from the middle school, the one connected to your high school. There was only room for me on this plane, so I was with the high school students. I guess that was just bad luck."

Roger stared as the tiny girl went on talking. So far, on the island everyone seemed to be distancing themselves from him-no one had been particularly antagonistic towards him, but there was a sense of fear that they seemed to get from him. He had a dark, reserved sort of aura that he rather enjoyed. Solitude was normally his best friend. And here was this child, approaching him with confidence and friendliness. He wasn't sure of what to do, or say.

"Uh...I don't think so." He cleared his throat shyly. "I mean, I don't think I'm welcome, anyways."

"Well, of course you're welcome." Tessarose smiled kindly. "Everyone needs to help out. You can't just not try and get out of it by thinking you're not welcome." Innocence rang in her soft, melodic voice. She then began making her way back to where the people were mostly gathered. "Come on, Roger, join us. I'll be up there working." Wondering how she could've known her name, he stared wonderingly at this little girl as she skipped back up the beach, the pure white sundress floating after her.

She had been the first one, the only one to show kindness to Roger since they'd arrived on this bloody island. None of them knew, of course, that he had dragged onto the beach from the water nearly half of them; it was the reason they were alive. Or did this girl, Tessarose, know? Was she the one person conscious when he had saved the lives of 10 or 11 people? It didn't matter. Right now he could either follow her words, and help out with building shelters and a fire, or stay on his own. Looking up at the big crowd distastefully, he trekked his way up towards them. A group of four people stood, separate from the others. No, five people- the black haired boy had joined them as he walked. Roger approached them, each step heavy and lengthy as he contemplated his options.

Finally, he caught the attention of the girl with caramel curls. Her hazel eyes turned, staring sharply at him as he got closer and closer.

"Can I join you?" he asked the hunters.

Jack eyed the newcomer curiously-he had seen this boy before, who had an odd, dark sort of look in his fierce green eyes. He was tall, well-built, would be a good addition to the hunting troupe. After his analogy was over, he offered his hand, shaking the other boy's firmly.

"Sure. I'm Jack. I'm going to be leading the trip."

"Roger," replied the boy coolly. Jack was enticed by his attitude, the aura that seemed to keep him slightly distanced from everyone else. Hazell and Thayr stood a few meters away, while Sébastien and Fillip, his two new cronies, peered at him with curious interest. The boy named Roger stripped off the thin leather jacket from his shoulders, and wrapped it around his waist, revealing a toned chest hugged by a brown t-shirt.

"Alright, let's go," said Jack loudly for the group to hear. "We'll just go and see if there's any animals on the island at all. No need for weapons now." The six teenagers started making their way off the beach, and into the forest when two faces, Annabelle and Austen, came running out.

Panting for breath, Annabelle said, "We've found water!"

"Already?" A tone of surprise came from Jack's lips. He knew Annabelle was a natural leader, and this was an impressive feat-the water-finding group had only been gone 10 or 20 minutes.

"Yeah," said Austen enthusiastically. "We just found this big lake in the middle of the forest."

Annabelle's reappearance gathered most of the people around her. She announced to them, "We've found water in the forest! There's a lake, a big one, and it should be a good source of fresh water. We just came to collect as many water bottles as we can-please give us all your empty water bottles, and we'll go fill it up." A cluttered line formed in front of her as the teenagers handed out their water bottles. Jack tapped his foot in slight impatience. She was taking too long, and taking up his hunting time. When it was his turn to hand over his bottle, instead of doing so, he crossed his arms in her face.

"Is this almost done? Me and my hunters want to get going."

"Relax, Jack," she replied crossly. "You'll have plenty of time. Water is the most important thing when it comes to survival-you have water, and you can live for weeks without even eating food."

"You just don't want me to hunt, do you?"

"Why wouldn't I want that?"

"You don't want me to be the leader of my own group, to lead the hunters, because you obviously think you've got a hand on everything and things should just go according to you," he concluded haughtily.

"Excuse me?" Annabelle huffed, exasperated. "None of that is true. I don't care if you hunt or not. You seem to be the one who doesn't want me here."

"Hm…well, just as long as we're clear." Oddly, he reached out a hand to shake hers. She took it wordlessly. "I'll be in charge of the hunters, and I guess you've got the rest. They seem to prefer you, anyhow." With finality, Jack flicked his hair in salute, and abruptly marched off with his group of prospective hunters.

Staring at the back of his head as left, glimmering under the fading light, she couldn't help shaking her head. This Jack had a strange effect on her-his condescending and competitive personality tired her out. Yet, as exhaustingly difficult he was, she wasn't bothered by him as much as she should've been. Competition was probably inevitable, but she wasn't dreading it. Of course, she was practically minded and hated to argue, but he left her with an odd feeling, a feeling that she shouldn't let him out of her sight. He would need her guidance on the island eventually.