Keep Your Enemies Closer (Lord of the Flies)

Chapter Two

   As they walked through the halls, Jack would pull Ralph towards one person then another, stopping for a brief chat, then breezing on past. Ralph didn't even know half of their names, but Jack greeted them flawlessly and effortlessly. Those not high enough on the pecking order to be acknowledged by Jack looked on wistfully, and Ralph paused to give them a little half-wave. One girl looked as though she may faint. 

   Ralph himself would've rather hang out with those kids, the ones who don't talk much, but whenever they do it's worth it, rather than these people Jack insisted they fraternize with, who just blabber on about a whole lot of nothing. But Jack, power-hungry, social-climbing Jack insisted. "You wanna be the best,  you've got to hang with the best," he said. The boys had different definitions of 'best'. But, as always, Ralph found himself powerless to do any different. It was like they're coworkers and their job was being popular and shit. 

   After Jack was satisfied with his mindless mingling, the boys headed to their first class. Science. The teacher was nice enough, an elderly lady with a passion for plants, but neither Ralph nor Jack were very good at the subject. Jack only cared about knowing what makes things tick if it'll help him to stop that ticking, and Ralph just couldn't seem to keep his attention in check in that class. Next was history, which, surprisingly, Jack excelled at. Especially the sections on war and battle strategy, which was less surprising. If Ralph were to find himself struggling in that class, Jack would help him out, just as it works the other way around with maths. After history came PE. The coach quite liked Ralph- he had proved his worth during the wrestling unit- but the uniform made him uncomfortable. The shorts were a little too short and a little too tight, and it wasn't unusual for him to catch someone's eyes wandering. 

   After PE comes lunch, where he sat at a table with people he barely knew and talked about stuff he didn't give a rat's ass about. Then it was off  to English, where both boys did well enough, then, blessedly, French. French was the only class he didn't share with the ginger, as Jack had opted to take Chinese instead. This meant that Ralph was relatively free for about an hour. He had become friends with the quiet girl in the desk next to him. Her name was Maryann, although Ralph just called her Annie, and she 

(reminded him of Simon)

had long brown hair and a dreamy expression. Annie liked writing short stories in the margins of her notebooks in the downtime of the class, and sometimes she would let Ralph read them. He thought for certain someday Annie was going to be a famous author. It was nice to have a friend who he genuinely liked, even if this was the only time he was ever able to hang out with her. 

   Then, the last class of the day was maths. Ralph liked math- it was all very logical, tried and true. Safe. Jack, however, found himself lost in that class. He wasn't good at working with numbers, with rules. After maths, Jack had choir rehearsal, and Ralph would often go play sports on the lawn with the other boys. Then, they would do their homework until dinner. At 9 o'clock, it was lights out. Ralph liked the rhythm of it, the steadiness. It made him feel safe. The beat of it kept him going.

A/N: Hello! I know this chapter is pretty dull and short, but if you liked it be sure to vote and comment! Also, if you can't tell, I'm used to writing in first person present tense, so this is kinda difficult for me. So, if you catch a mistake in pov or tense, or just any mistake at all, don't be afraid to call me out on it, ok? As always, thanks for reading. Bye for now! <3