The Island

Lizzie's POV

I awoke to a splitting headache, the hot sun shining brightly in my eyes. I opened them slowly, and shut them shortly after due to my headache worsening. I groaned and rolled over, my eyes finally adjusting to this new environment.

I pushed myself onto my hands and knees. My head was spinning and I couldn't stop the bile rising in my throat as I threw up the contents of my stomach onto the sand. Grimacing, I wiped my mouth on my arm before moving away from the wretched pile of vomit. 

I surveyed my surroundings. Large palm trees and thick green bushes stretched on for what seemed like miles on my left, and on my right was a vast blue ocean, glittering in the sunlight. I gasped and stepped backward in awe. I was supposed to be dead. I continued to back up, disregarding any obstacle that may be in my way as I began to panic. How did I get here? I was supposed to be dead! The crash should have killed me on impact! 

I really should have been watching where I was going. My heel collided with a large object as I tumbled backward. I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for impact with the ground, but it never came. Instead, a set of arms caught me, and I could hear a soft laugh from above. 

'Better watch where you're going pretty miss.' Ralph smirked as I slowly opened my eyes. I thrashed out of his hold and stepped away from him, glaring at the boy. 

'I told you not to call me that!' I said annoyed. He half-smiled and held his hands up in surrender.

'My bad!' He replied happily. There was a rustle in the bushes, and Ralph and I peered into the jungle, waiting for whatever would greet us. A robust boy popped out, nearly tripping over his own feet as he panted tiredly. 

He was wearing the same school uniform that Ralph was, only this one didn't fit quite as well. He was, well, fat. Very fat. I felt bad for the poor boy, whom was panting and wheezing from running. His chubby face was bright red and sweat beaded off his shiny forehead. 

'Who are you?' The chubby boy asked, taking his fogged glasses off his sweaty face. He wiped them on his dirty uniform shirt and pushed them back onto his face, peering at us through the thick lenses. 

'I'm Ralph, this is Lizzie.' Ralph said cautiously. The boy smiled bright and shook my hand, as well as Ralph's. 

One thing I quickly gathered about Ralph was that his attention span really wasn't very big. His interest in the fat boy suddenly vanished as his attention was drawn to the forest. As if a sudden force pulled him in, he took off into the forest. 

'Where on earth are you going?' The fat boy called to Ralph, who had already disappeared into the undergrowth. 

'Yeah Ralphie, where are you going?' I yelled. I took off after him, and the boy followed behind me, panting like a dog.

The fat boy and I continued to follow the sound of Ralph pushing through the bushes until we were thrust into a clearing. A large pond sat in the middle. To the right was an incline where a river ran through the bushes and down a short waterfall that emptied into the pool of water. The water was clear and didn't smell of the sea, so I assumed it must have been freshwater. 

'Woah!' Ralph muttered, his breathing heavy from running as I watched him scan his eyes over the clearing. 'This is so cool.' 

'You shouldn't have run off!' The boy heaved. He looked as if he might either throw up or faint as he swayed in the heat. 'My aunt told me not to run on account of my ass-mar!'

'Ass-mar?' Ralph asked, raising his eyebrows in confusion. 

'Yeah! I was the only boy with ass-mar, and my aunt told me not to run.' He repeated.