Jacklyn Smith. A teenage girl with high expectations and low self-esteem. The geek at her high school. The girl with only one friend. The girl who dreamed of being seen as popular but knew, in reality, it would never happen. The one that was bullied.
She burst through the door with Madelyn, her friend, right behind her. With tears in her eyes, she ran into the kitchen to get some ice, but she didn't expect her mother and father to be there. She hesitated as her mind processed that they were home early before lifting her sleeve up to her mouth to prevent them from seeing the cut on her lower lip.
"Jacklyn? Madelyn?" her mother questioned, glancing up at the two and furrowing her brow when she saw her daughter's tear-filled eyes. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"
Her father turned around from facing the fridge and he closed the door after he took out an egg carton. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"
Unsure of what to say, she turned to Madelyn, who looked at her at the same time with a sympathetic expression. "I-I," she started but didn't know what to say after that. How could she tell her parents what was going on at school? They were busy all the time and had much important matters to worry about than her.
"We had an argument," Madelyn lied, glancing at her before turning her attention back to Jacklyn's parents, "but we're okay."
Her parents glanced at each other, as if they were silently communicating with one another, before they turned their attention back to the two teenagers. "What did you two argue about?" her father asked and ducked below the counter to open a cupboard and pull out a frying pan.
"A school project," Madelyn again lied and smiled softly, "but we came to a compromise."
Jacklyn nodded quickly to her friend's lie, hoping her parents would buy it and wishing she was already upstairs to tend to her wound.
Her mother set her glass of water on the counter before walking over to her daughter, causing her to widen her eyes at her. She stopped and didn't hesitate to wrap her arms around her, pulling her closer to her. Jacklyn allowed the warmth of her mother's hug to seep through her trembling body and allowed a few tears to fall onto her mother soft sweater. "Whatever happened, honey," she whispered into her ear, "I want you to know that your father and I will always be here for you."
Jacklyn resisted the urge to sob into her mother's sweater as she reluctantly pulled away. "W-We need to work," she whispered, glancing at Madelyn as she tried to prevent her voice from breaking.
Her friend nodded before gently grabbing her elbow and pulling her closer to her. "We need to get started on our project," she informed Jacklyn's parents.
"If you need any help-" her father started before Madelyn interrupted him.
"We know. We'll come ask for your help if we need it."
Her friend pulled her upstairs, already knowing where her room was after coming over often during their high school careers. She opened her bedroom door and pulled both of them inside before closing it and sitting down on the bed with her. "Let me see it," Madelyn demanded, keeping her tone soft and gentle.
Jacklyn hesitantly removed her hand from her mouth, showing her blood-stained lips. She poked them gently and winced when the action caused more blood to seep out.
Her friend scowled as she examined the wound before standing and hurrying over to the connected bathroom.
The victim reached over to her nightstand and grabbed her tissue box. She took a tissue and began wiping her mouth but winced every time it made direct contact. She could hear Madelyn pushing a lot of her necessities around in her bathroom and glanced over to see her upper body disappear from view as she leaned on her counter to look in the mirror cabinet.
She looked back over to face the front, her eyes accidentally catching her own appearance in the mirror on the other side of the room. She stared with great intensity at her unkempt appearance; her brown hair was disheveled, her green eyes were puffy from crying on the bus ride home and her now blood-stained tissue was sticking to her lower lip, which was already swelling from the bully's punch.
Why did they have to bully her? Was there something they didn't like about her? What did she do wrong? What made her so different from the other kids that it caused them to want to hurt her and push her around? She frowned and threw her tissue in her nearby trashcan before grabbing another one and patting her eyes gently.
Was it because she was an overachiever when it came to her school work? Was it because she would prefer to study rather than go out? Was it because she had a good home life? Was it because she dressed like a scholar instead of wearing whatever clothing was the newest trend? Did she do her makeup differently than the other girls? Was it because she was aiming to go to Harvard after high school? What was wrong with her that they hated so much?
She tried fitting in. Heck she spent an entire summer teaching herself how to do makeup like the other girls and even studied on how to dress like them too; well, she ended up only finding a cute scholar-like style that she felt really complimented her personality instead. What was so different that was wrong in their eyes?
She threw another tissue in the garbage and glanced back over to the bathroom when she heard the faucet turn on then off. Her friend emerged from the bathroom, damp towel in hand and a first-aid kit in the other. She sat down on the bed with her and started to gently apply pressure to Jacklyn's lips, muttering "sorry" every time she caused her to wince. Noticing the bleeding stopped, she then took out a cotton ball and poured some hydrogen peroxide on it before cleaning the wound, again muttering her apologies every time Jacklyn winced. Finally, to finish, she handed her the Vaseline and watched as she gently rubbed a little bit on her wound.
Jacklyn sighed when she was finished and set the Vaseline on her nightstand, figuring she would use more before she went to bed. "I wish I was graduated already," she whispered, looking down with her eyes closed, "I could be away from all of them."
Her friend immediately wrapped her arms around her, squeezing her gently. "Believe me, I wish the same; you wouldn't have to go through all of this if you were," she whispered back, gently rubbing her back in a circular motion.
"Yeah, but we wouldn't have met, would we?"
"Probably not, but if it means that you would be safe and happy, I would have gladly accepted that you graduated early."
Jacklyn smiled softly and pulled away from her friend. "Thanks for helping me with my wound and," she hesitated and frowned, "lying to my parents."
"Hey, what are friends for?" she responded before frowning. "But you do need to tell them the truth."
She sighed again. "I know. They just have a lot on their plates."
"I'm pretty sure their daughter's safety is much more important than anything else."
She hummed. Madelyn had a good point; her parents always put her first, even if she needed them for a ridiculous reason. Which meant she was more important to them than anything else.
She nodded hesitantly. "You're right," she admitted, "you're so right."
Her friend smiled. "Then tell them the truth."
"I will but not tonight. It's Friday, and I want to have a nice evening."
Madelyn smirked. "You think it's okay with your parents if I spend the night?"
"Are you kidding? They know you're my only friend; of course they'll let you stay over."
"Good," she responded before taking out her phone and turning it on, "I'll just call my Mom and let her know."
"Oh my gosh, I can't believe it's midnight already. It's too early," Madelyn complained as she struggled to keep her eyes open.
Jacklyn giggled, feeling her own eyes close. "If it's too early then why do you look so tired?"
"I'm not."
"Uh-huh."
She huffed. "Look, how about we watch something to keep us up?"
"You don't want to go to bed?"
"Do you really have to ask that?"
She smiled and reached for her TV remote on her nightstand then laid back in bed. "What do you want to watch?"
"Once Upon A Time, season three."
She groaned, annoyed with her friend's non-hesitant answer. "No way."
"Oh come on! You love that show!"
"Yeah, but I don't like Pan."
"But you like the story."
"I like the nice Peter Pan from the original story; not the creepy and evil one from the show."
Madelyn huffed. "You gotta give it a chance."
"I did. Four times to be exact because of your constant pleading! I don't want to watch it again."
"Please?"
"No."
"Pretty please?"
"Again no."
"I'll do whatever you want."
"No you won't."
"Fine, I'll make you my famous strawberry crepes in the morning. Will that satisfy you?"
Jacklyn bit her lower lip but winced and opened her mouth as pain shot through it. "Fine, but you better live up to that promise."
Madelyn smiled, satisfied that she convinced her. "Oh don't worry, I will. Now turn it on!"
She rolled her eyes and turned on the first episode of season three.
Who the heck was talking so freaking loud late at night? Jacklyn scowled as she woke up and lifted herself up on her elbows, feeling her warm comforter beneath her. She looked to her left first to see her friend sleeping beside her before looking forward when the voice of a familiar British actor reached her ears. She rolled her eyes at herself for falling asleep with the TV on and stood up to go turn it off, forgetting that her remote was literally next to her from where she lay before. She sighed in relief once it was off and glanced over at Madelyn, who was snoring softly and clutching onto most of the blanket they were sharing before they both fell asleep. She shook her head in slight annoyance and amusement; that girl could sleep through anything.
She walked over to her bed and took off another blanket from off of it before walking over to the window seat, deciding she'd rather sleep on it then on the carpet. She sat down on the window seat, her back against the wall behind her, and placed her blanket on top of her lap to keep her warm before staring at the stars, as if observing them. She huffed when one shined brighter than the rest, it causing her to remember Peter Pan from the original story and Pan from the TV show. "'Second star to the right, and straight on till morning,' huh?" she mused, smirking. "Yeah right."
Peter Pan was the first story her parents ever told her before taking her to see the movie. It was great to believe in it when she was young but she was a seventeen year old girl now; she didn't believe in any of that nonsense anymore.
Not to mention, Peter Pan was meant to be a fun and happy character for children; not an evil genius like Pan from Once Upon A Time. However, (she would never admit this out loud) it was entertaining to see Pan in a different light; he was portrayed as a dark trickster, who only wanted the heart of the truest believer.
She chuckled, suddenly remembering Pan's plan for Henry to make him believe in him. "Well, Peter, unlike the truest believer, I don't believe. I mean it's common sense that magic and fairy tales just don't exist; there's always a scientific explanation for it." She sunk down until she was laying down and smirked as she let her wild imagination take control. "This might be because I'm exhausted and am thinking the most craziest thoughts or whatever, but if you can take me to Neverland tonight, then I might believe in you, but I'll still hate you; unless you can change my mind about that too. Can you hear me, Pan? Do you want to lose to a girl? Or do you want to prove me wrong and win? So why don't you accept my challenge and I'll believe in you, but only if you win. Okay? I'll believe."
She closed her eyes, exhausted and for sure going to either laugh about what she had done tomorrow or remember none of it.
As soon as sleep began to overcome her, she didn't register that her window panels flew open.