𝐏𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐎𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐁𝐈𝐀 // 𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐒

four

the waves crashed against the rocks as ralph, samneric and i perched on them, spears in hand. i watched the water carefully, keeping my eye out for any fish. it was hotter than usual today, and my shirt felt unpleasant and sticky against my hot back. all i wanted to do was go swimming to cool off, but ralph put me on spear fishing duty. i looked up as jack and a couple other boys started throwing rocks into the sea, mostly aimed at the twins. jack looked powerful from where he was standing - on a small pile of sturdy rocks that hung just above the shallows where we were fishing. he had earned a light tan across his entire body, from being out in the sun every day, and his blonde hair was even lighter than when we first arrived. he had a spray of freckles across his nose. he looked healthy.

"are you crazy? stop it!" ralph yelled at them. jack rolled his eyes and walked away, but not before throwing one last rock into the ocean. the other boys followed him. i sighed and prodded the water with my spear aimlessly.

"y'know why jack got sent to military school?" sam spoke up. i looked at him quickly, intrigued. "because he was in trouble."

"who said?" i asked loudly, over the noise of the waves.

"tony. jack told him - he took a car and drove it up the highway." sam replied. i raised my eyebrows.

"he's a liar." ralph shook his head. "he didn't steal a car, no way."

"he didn't say he stole it! he just borrowed it. it was the neighbours and the neighbour was away so he just, like, borrowed it and drove down the highway." sam shrugged.

"he probably borrowed his dad's bicycle and rode it round the block." ralph stated. i chuckled softly.

"then how come he got arrested?"

"-yeah, by the highway patrol!" sam and eric basically spoke as one all the time. it was hard to tell the difference between them, except i noticed sam's voice is a little squeakier than eric's, so i base it off that.

"they caught him doing 80!" sam laughed. i noticed a fish go by and i quickly speared it, before lifting it out of the water. it was a puffa fish.

"eurgh!" all the boys said quietly. i frowned in disgust.

"i don't think we should eat this one." i told them, and they all shook their heads. i put it back in the ocean and it sunk to the bottom, lifelessly. i couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt.

it was night time, and i was sat on the beach again, watching the dark waves splash against the sand. i sighed, twiddling my fingers. i desperately wanted to go home. i missed my dad, and my brothers and my cat. jack snapped me out of my trance by sitting down next to me abruptly. we seemed to always talk like this - side by side on the beach, or by the fire.

"whatcha thinking about?" he asked softly. i shrugged.

"home." i said simply. i felt his eyes on me.

"you don't like it here?" he tilted his head slightly.

"not really, no." i shook my head, looking at him.

"i like it." he nodded. "no grown ups... we can do whatever we like."

i sighed. "we're gonna go mad out here. like in the movies." jack visibly stiffened, and i clenched my jaw, waiting for him to reply.

instead, he took my hand, gently intertwining our fingers. i frowned, looking at him. he didn't say anything, just brushed his thumb over my knuckle. i felt a blush creep into my cheeks, and i was glad it was dark so he couldn't see it. i watched him carefully as he watched the waves.

i realised that jack was more sad than angry. he covered up his true feelings with a mask of hatred and cruelty. he was different around me than he was around the boys, and i didn't understand that. he was simply a broken boy.

i rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes. we fell asleep there, on the beach, our fingers tangled together.

ELLA SPEAKS!

this sucks sorry