It was eight years before Ralph returned to school. Eight years of living with his aunt in the United States. Eight years since he'd found out that he lost his parents in the war. Eight years since he was rescued from the island. Eight years of trying to stop himself from having flash backs of the island when seeing certain things.Eight years since he'd been in his home country. He missed England, though he wouldn't admit it.
Before the island, Ralph was almost always outside. He enjoyed the fresh air and the grass under his bare feet. After though, he spent most days inside his room. At first it was because he had forgot what it was like to be around a lot of people. He had forgotten how to act properly, but it soon turned into a habit. He spent most of his days reading books and playing with his aunt's dogs. He hardly went outside unless he had to. His aunt labeled him a "hermit" because of it, but he didn't really care. It was better to be a hermit than a savage. At least, that's how he saw it.
"Ralph, it's time to get up." His aunt called up the stairs. Today was Ralph's first day back to school. Though he was excited the week prior, when he heard his aunt's call, he was undeniably nervous. Anxious even. Ralph got out of bed with an annoyed sigh. He had been up for an hour, trying to talk himself out of bed. When his aunt called out to him, he finally had a reason.
This was the fifth school Ralph was going to try to go to. He hated school, not because of the learning component, but because of the people. He was bullied because he acted different than the other kids. He didn't like to be touched and he hated changing for gym class. He didn't like being outside and he couldn't go in the woods without remembering the cry of Jack's hunters. Upon changing, Ralph cringed at his school uniform. Grey slacks and a white button up shirt with brown shoes. He thought that America would have better school uniforms or something less bland, but he was wrong. While buttoning up his shirt, he saw the familiar scar that Jack had left when he hit him with the spear. The thought made Ralph cringe and shiver, just knowing that if Jack's aim were any better, he'd been dead a long time ago.
The bus ride to the high school was anything but peaceful. Children were yelling and jumping from seat to seat. The driver did his best to calm them down, but nothing seemed to work. Ralph sat in the back seat and watched everything going on outside the window. It was a cloudy day, there were small puddles from the previous night's rain on the concrete. There was a slight chill in the air, encouraging most of the students including Ralph to wear their jackets. The bus driver reached the last stop before the school.
"Get out of my way, would you?"
Ralph felt his blood go cold as another student spoke to him. His heart hammered in his chest as he tore his gaze from the window to meet the eyes of the red headed savage who nearly killed him. Ralph had hoped that he'd never have to see Jack again, but there he was. His red hair was cut shorter, leaving the top long to be slicked back with hair oil. He was a lot taller now, still taller than Ralph. He was quite muscular while Ralph was small and almost concerningly thin. Jack looked down at the fair boy with an intense glare. Ralph got up and was quick to move to the seat ahead of Jack, doing his best to avoid eye contact.
Why was his luck so poor? This school was supposed to be different. He was supposed to start out here with some hope that he'd be able to get over what had happened on the island, but he was wrong. So very wrong. Knowing Jack was at the same school as him would only make it worse. What was he going to do? Ralph sighed and rubbed his hand over his face, it was already going to be a long day.
Jack took the place of the familiar light haired boy. He tried to remember where he had seen him before, but he couldn't quite remember. He furrowed his eyebrows, thinking back as far as he could, but all he could think of was that god forsaken island. Was it one of the littluns? He looked small enough. Maybe he was just imagining things.
The bus stopped in front of the high school and let the students off. They all rushed to their awaiting friends while Ralph was one of the last off. He clutched his books to his chest and went to the main office. There was a line of students getting their schedules and to Ralph's dismay, Jack was right behind him.
"Ralph Monroe." He said to the old woman behind the counter. She looked like she had been alive before dinosaurs roamed the earth. Her skin was leathery and her hands had dark spots all over them. Her hair was a mixture between gray and white strands that framed her round, wrinkled face. She was undoubtedly in her 80's, and how she was still working there, Ralph had no idea.
Hearing his name made Jack freeze. That was Ralph. The one he'd tried to kill. The one he wanted to behead over something as ridiculous as jealousy. Piggy was Ralph's
friend, but Jack was too obsessed with having power to be friends with him. He wanted to be close to Ralph just as much as he wanted him dead. It was a strange concept that kept Jack up late some nights. He didn't want to admit it, but at the time he had a small crush on the smaller boy.
"Jack Merridew." Jack stated and accepted the small white piece of paper. Jack walked alone to his first class due to the fact that none of his friends have shown up yet. He had psychology first period. Jack assumed that they were going to introduce themselves, learn little bit about the course and do whatever they wanted for the rest the period. That's what they usually did the first day of school.
He was surprised when he saw Ralph sitting alone in the back of the room while other students sat together talking about their summer vacation. Ralph didn't really know what to do, so he sat alone. He didn't know those kids and he was afraid to talk with them. Jack sat down next to Ralph and set his notebooks down.
"Hey," Jack said. Ralph could feel his heartbeat quicken at the sound of his voice.
"Hello." Ralph acknowledged Jack without looking directly at him.
"Was your summer good?" Jack asked awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. He didn't really know what to say to Ralph, but he wanted to talk to him.
Ralph gawked at Jack with wide eyes before shaking his head slightly looked away. "It was good." Ralph mumbled before turning his attention back to his notebook.
"Mine was...swell." Jack's voice died out when he saw that Ralph wasn't very interested in talking to him.
Jack had tried most of that day to talk to Ralph, but Ralph did his best to avoid Jack. This was proving to be difficult because they had every class together. Not to mention Jack was trying to walk with Ralph in the hallways and insisting that he sat beside Ralph on the bus ride home.
This happened every day for a month. At first, Ralph tried to ignore him, or try to talk as little as possible. It was hard though because Jack did everything in his power to talk to him. Ralph was afraid of him. He didn't know what Jack was planning. He didn't want to risk anything by talking to him or opening up. That was until they bonded over an English project.
In English class, the students had a very difficult time getting along to the point that it was causing stress on their teacher. So, the teacher decided that the only way that they were ever going to get them to stop arguing in her class was to make them write a three page essay about their partner. After a few complaints and groans, she had them all in pairs.
Each student had to interview one another, and the teacher just so happened to pick Ralph and Jack to be partners. Ralph sat on the corner of his seat, his leg was bouncing and he had no idea what he was going to ask Jack. Jack, on the other hand, was quick to question him. Though to Jack it wasn't just about the project. He genuinely wanted to get to know who Ralph was as a person.
"What do you like to do in your free time?" Jack said, his pen ready to write Ralph's response. He had a friendly smile on his lips, but Ralph was hesitant to think it was real.
"Read." Ralph mumbled under his loud classmates. He looked down and started fiddling with a button on his shirt. "What about you?"
"I draw." Jack said, his smile faltered. He drew all the time, but they weren't very pretty pictures. Most of them were memories from the island. He had notebooks full of pictures of Piggy, Simon, and Roger. He drew what he thought the beast was. Once, he even drew himself as the beast.
"That's interesting." Ralph finally looked up at the pale boy in front of him. "I didn't take you for an artist."
Jack chuckled. "Not many do. It's just one of my hidden talents, I suppose."
That was the first time that Ralph smiled at him, a real smile. Not the fake or awkward smiles he would give to try to hide his fear. Jack smiled back at him before they continued their project. Ralph hadn't sat fully in his desk, nor did he feel comfortable with Jack then, but he thought that maybe they could be friends.
Eventually, Ralph became more fond of Jack's presence. He was less tense around Jack. He found himself laughing at his jokes and even willingly working with him as a partner on some class work. He smiled more when he was with him. Sometimes, he'd even blush when they talked. Jack enjoyed talking to Ralph. He thought that he was a very unique kind of friend. His other friends preferred to play soccer and go outside more than anything, but Ralph was the opposite of that and to Jack, it was like taking a breath of fresh air.
By the second month, the two boys were hanging out after school, but Ralph couldn't help but feel the need to have some closure. He needed to know why Jack turned everyone against him. It had been bothering him for eight years and he finally had the chance to find out what was really going through Jack's head when he had tried kill him. It was eating him alive being so close to someone who he knew could easily turn on him, again, and hurt him.