uh idk yet but i will change it

New Friends and Newer Enemies

The forest looked dark and slightly foreboding from the outside, but nevertheless I headed in anyways. Looking around, I began grabbing good-sized sticks and branches, dragging them through the underbrush with me. My clothes snagged on sticks and thorns but I brushed it off, working hard. While the air was hot and dry out on the sand, in the wooded area it was humid and warm, like a greenhouse.

Finishing with my wood gathering, I dragged my finds back out to the beach, where some were hard at work while others played in the water and sand. I noticed that the red-haired boy and his group weren't working, and were instead just sitting and watching. This slightly perturbed me, as they hadn't even taken up watching the littluns either. As I brought my branches closer to the group of half-built huts, I suddenly heard laughing and a shout from the bunch.

"Oi, look at her! She's trying to build a bloody hut! Girls can't build huts!"

Laughter erupted from the group. I felt my face burn as I squinted at them with a glare, shielding my eyes from the sun.

"Yeah!"

"Go watch the littluns, girl!"

"Yeah, go cook something!"

I growled to myself and threw down my branches, stomping over to the snickering boys.

"You shut up, you lot! I haven't done anything but tried to make an effort to help us survive on this bloody godforsaken island! And you! What are you doing?!" I pointed to the red-haired boy, who then stood up. He was much, much taller than me.

"I'm telling you to get back where you belong, that's what I'm doing. So you better watch out! I'm Jack Merridew, and I'm the Headboy of my choir! And I can sing C#! So get to cleaning or something! Or else go float yourself out to sea!" He took a seat again as a literal choir of 'boos' and 'yeah's erupted again from the lot. I angrily turned on my heels and stomped back to where my branches were, except they were no longer there. I turned and just barely caught the tip of one as it floated out with the tide.

With a defeated sigh and a frown, I trudged back into the forest again, for more branches. It was fine if the boys didn't want me around, or want me to help. I figured I could work fairly well on my own, and didn't need them. I'd build my own hut and find my own food and things, all by myself.

Night came faster than expected, and when the chilled winds hit my sorry excuse for a shelter, it collapsed completely. Meaning that I had to figure something else out. While in passing, I overheard that Jack had used Piggy's specs to start a fire. They were no use to me now, however, as it was dark. But if I could creep over to the fire that the boys had all sat around, perhaps I could at least get warm.

I crept up to the fire, slowly taking a seat next to a black-haired boy, who I had seen building shelters earlier. He glanced over and gave me a small smile, before looking back into the warm glow. I returned the smile, then speaking quietly to him.

"Hello. What's your name?"

He hesitated for a moment before finally answering me.

"I'm Simon. You said your name was Mary Jane, right?"

I nodded and smiled. "Right. Do you happen to have an extra shelter I could stay in?"

"I'd need to ask Chief Ralph. But maybe. You'd have to sleep on your own, since Jack and his choir really hate you. I'm not sure why. Ralph doesn't hate you, though. He's decent. Just thought you would like to be alone, since you're a girl and all."

How odd. This one was decent, too. That made three of them. And a whole lot of them who were beastly.

I nodded, scooting a bit closer to the fire. No one else had much noticed me yet, and I was rather thankful for it. The warm fire made me feel sleepy, and I felt myself begin to nod off, sitting right in the sand. Until Simon tapped me suddenly.

"Ralph says you can sleep in that one on the right. All the way over near the woods. He says you can stay in that one if you want, but you'd better not ruin it."

I shot him a slightly irritated look. That was something my mother commonly told me, and it scratched me particularly wrong tonight. Without another word, I stood up and trudged off to the small hut in the dark, feeling rather pissed off.

I looked back at the boys all sitting around the fire, casually talking and laughing. It seemed as though they all had something to do; a place on the island. And so far, I had absolutely nothing. Other than a small hut, poorly built compared to the others. To be fair, I hadn't really expected a mansion with a chaise lounge. But there were multiple cracks and things that let the wind get in a bit easily, and left me slightly shivering in the dark night. Tomorrow, I would begin work for myself, not the group, and I'd prove to that abominable lot that I was indeed able to build a shelter and find my own food.

Why do boys have to be so beastly?