Chapter Text
CHAPTER 1
On the beach of the island, Simon was standing there. The sand was sticking to his feet as the cold ocean water splashed against them. He was staring out into the ocean, looking at its darkness while taking in the cold air and listening to the sounds of the waves. This is how he liked it, peaceful and silent. Him and his own thoughts.
After being on the island for so long he was starting to get worried that no one would come save him and the rest of the boys. He had mentioned this concern to Ralph and Piggy but every time they would reassure him that everything was going to be fine and that everyone would be rescued soon. Jack and his tribe were starting to slowly get more insane as the days passed by. After Jack and the rest of his tribe tried to kill Simon awhile back, Simon tried his best to keep his distance despite them once being close friends. Simon was frightened by Jack sure, but deep down he knew that he was slowly starting to dread staying away from Jack.
After a while of staring out into the ocean, he heard banging, as if someone was banging on a door. Simon tried to ignore this at first, choosing to look out at the ocean instead of trying to figure out what that sound was. The banging would go on for a couple seconds before stopping for around ten seconds and then starting again. After a couple of rounds of this constant banging, Simon heard his name being called out. That's when he finally decided to look at his surroundings, what if it was Jack trying to kill him again? It sure sounded like Jack, but he also heard Ralph. He decided to run quickly into the forest before finally waking up.
Simon sat up frantically in his bed, breathing heavily and feeling slightly damp. Gosh how he hated being damp. He heard banging again and quickly turned to look at the door of his dorm. He got up from bed, not even having time to properly remake his bed and was about to open the door but he noticed an envelope on the floor, just in front of his door. He quickly picked it up and tossed it on his bed before opening his door. Ralph and Jack stood outside, Jack leaning on the door frame looking unbothered while Ralph looked worried and frantic.
"Simon! Are you alright? We were worried," Ralph said, he looked more calm and settled once he had seen Simon open the door.
"I'm alright don't worry about me, really," Simon gave both of them a tired half smile before speaking again.
"How come the both of you are here? It's the weekend, did something wrong happen?" Simon's facial expression looked confused. He had his focus mainly on Ralph, trying his hardest to not face Jack for a long amount of time.
"Nothing happened but we hadn't heard from you in a while, you were sleeping for an awfully long time," Ralph paused, being careful with his next sentence. "We thought you had died," Ralph's tone was more dramatic towards the end of his sentence, making it obvious he was joking around.
Simon just stood there, looking more confused than he already was. It was early in the morning and Simon could barely comprehend anything he was being told. Simon then takes a glance at Jack, who's still standing next to Ralph. He wasn't leaning on the doorframe anymore, instead he was standing up more straight, looking more presentable. Jack's focus is on Ralph as he speaks up again, before Jack's eyes move to Simon and the two lock eyes. Simon quickly looks back at Ralph. He had zoned out for a bit, tuning out Ralph. Before Ralph called out his name again for god knows how many times.
"Simon! Are you listening?"
Simon flinched slightly, breaking out of his trance. "Huh? Oh. Yeah I was, sorry," Simon gave a sheepish smile, putting a hand slightly behind his head.
"Alright then. Well everyone is going to be hanging out later today, did you want to come?"
"I'll have to see, I'll let you guys know later."
"Great! Well, we'll be on our way now, see you later Simon!" Ralph smiles at Simon before walking away and waving bye. Jack follows behind Ralph, waving bye as well.
Simon waves back at the both of them before shutting his door and sighing, looking back at his bed. The envelope from earlier was still sitting there. After a couple seconds of staring, he decides to move towards his bed again and picks up the letter, opening it carefully. He had held his breath, nervous it was something bad but upon inspecting it seemed like a normal letter. He sat down on the edge of the bed, reading the letter. Quickly, he realized it was a love letter. Simon's eyes widened and he quickly looked at the bottom of the letter to find a name instead of reading the rest of what was written. However there was no name, was this a mistake? Surely not, it had his name on the top at the beginning. Who could have possibly given him this letter? Ralph? No it couldn't be. Maybe this was all a joke, maybe someone was playing a trick on him.
Simon had read the letter over and over again for what seemed like an eternity. He finally made a decision, he was going to tell someone about this, though he specifically wanted to let Ralph know about this. Simon quickly put the letter back in the envelope and changed out of his pajamas into more casual clothing. He grabbed the letter and put it in his pocket and walked out of his dorm.
He walked down the corridors, wondering where Ralph could've gone with Jack. Simon decided to try to check Ralph's dorm first, he walked over to Ralph's dorm room and knocked on the door. After a while there was no answer so Simon tried again just in case. Still no answer. Learning this, Simon decided to go check the courtyard. A decent amount of people hung around there during the day, especially on the weekends so maybe Ralph was there with Jack and the other boys. Simon walked out the corridors and arrived at the courtyard. No sign of Ralph. Maybe he was in the library with Piggy.
Simon walked quickly to the library, his breathing becoming slightly faster. He opened the doors to the library and walked in, now desperately trying to find someone, anyone to try to help him find Ralph. He walked around a bit and eventually found Piggy. Simon's face lit up with relief that he finally found someone, maybe Piggy had seen Ralph.
Simon gained hope again and walked towards Piggy who was reading a book at the table. He tapped on Piggy's shoulder and Piggy looked up from his book, closing it before speaking.
"Good morning Simon," Piggy smiled at him "Did you need anything?" Piggy's expression turned more curious.
"Hello, have you seen Ralph? I— I need to speak to him about something."
Piggy thought for a moment, playing back what he had already done at the start of today before giving an answer.
"I believe I only saw him once so far today, he was with Jack so we didn't say much but he did greet me," Piggy pauses again, inspecting Simon's face, looking at his facial expression. "Are you alright Simon? You look a bit anxious."
Simon paused, his throat got slightly dry. He tried to defend himself but couldn't seem to get the words out. After a couple seconds he was finally able to speak up again.
"I just wanted to ask him something, it's urgent," He knew he was lying through his teeth, but the only reason he didn't say anything about the letter was because he wasn't ready to come out to anyone but Ralph yet. It may seem silly but Simon felt that he trusted Ralph a little more than he did Piggy.
"I see, maybe he would be in the field?"
On the playing field? It could be a possibility, especially if Jack dragged him there. That's the only excuse that Simon could come up with. He didn't find Ralph to be the kind to play many sports.
"Alright then, I guess that will have to do. Thank you for your help Piggy," Simon smiled at Piggy and Piggy smiled back. Simon then walks away to continue to find Ralph as Piggy goes back to reading his book.
Simon walked out the library and started to navigate himself to the field. He was really hoping that he would find Ralph there.
Once he finally got there, he finally spotted Ralph sitting on the sidelines, watching the other boys play. Simon let out a sigh of relief and walked over to Ralph.
Once Ralph had spotted Simon, his face lit up and he got up and sprinted towards him.
"Simon! What are you doing here?" Ralph's face went from excited to slightly confused. "You don't normally come here often."
"I know, I need to talk to you. Do you have a moment?" Simon looked to the group of boys playing on the field and then looked back at Ralph, looking more worried as his eyebrows furrowed slightly. "Or are you too busy?"
Ralph looked back at the group of boys on the field, knowing Simon was referring to them.
"I don't mind talking. I'm not doing anything, just watching Jack and the others play."
"Won't Jack get upset you left?"
"He won't," Ralph shrugged, looking unbothered. "If he does I'll just say there was an emergency." Ralph smiled at Simon. "Come on, let's go somewhere private."
Simon nodded and the two started walking. Ralph looked back and glanced at the group of boys, luckily Jack was too busy to even notice that Ralph was gone.
Simon and Ralph decided to go into the library, they both found that it was the safest option aside from going to their dorms. Not many kids found interest in the library so it was practically empty all the time. They both sat at a table as Simon slid the letter over to Ralph, as if this was some interrogation.
"What is this?" Ralph looked confused and looked down at the letter and then back at Simon.
"Just open it and read it," Simon said, in an almost cold tone.
Ralph reluctantly opened the envelope, pulling out the letter and reading it thoroughly. His facial expression changed from confused to shocked and then to a mix of both once he finished reading the letter.
"A love letter!?" Simon quickly stood up, putting his hand over Ralph's mouth.
"Shush!" Simon whispered to Ralph before removing his hand and sitting back down across from Ralph. "Sorry, I just don't want anyone else knowing, also we could get kicked out if you're too loud."
Ralph laughed a bit.
"Sorry Simon." Ralph put a hand to the back of his head out of slight embarrassment before returning to normal and speaking again. "Do you have any idea on who could've given you this?"
"I don't know. It was at the door of my room. Someone must've slid it through the crack of the bottom overnight," To Ralph, Simon didn't seem anxious, but he knew for a fact that Simon didn't seem too fond of the letter.
"Do you have an idea on who could've given you this?"
"I had thought it was you at first." Simon's cheeks flushed slightly, feeling a bit embarrassed to confess that. "I know there's no way it could've been you though. The handwriting is different."
"Yeah. I could see why you'd think that," Ralph paused, examining the handwriting once more again. "I don't even think we know anyone with this handwriting. The person must've changed it."
"What if it is someone we don't know though?"
"Don't be silly Simon, you're being batty again."
That word brought back more memories from the island again. So many people found Simon batty and that word was one of the main words everyone called him. Even before the island some people said that, but even after, people still continue to call him that even now.
"Maybe you're right," Simon sighed, his shoulders relaxing. "Maybe it was just a trick that someone was playing on me."
Ralph nodded, agreeing with Simon. "That's true, that is a possibility." Ralph paused for a moment, thinking of a possible plan that the two of them could bring to action in the future. "If you get another one of those you should write back to the person."
Simon thought for a moment. "I could, but how would I give it to them? I don't know who it is."
"Easy, just leave it outside your door at night."
"That seems silly," Simon laughed a bit at Ralph's suggestion. "What if someone else finds it?"
"Worth a shot, no?" Ralph laughed with Simon, smiling at him. He was glad he was able to make Simon laugh even during this situation.
"I suppose you're right."