Disclaimer: The Chronicles of Narnia and its characters belong to C.S. Lewis and I hold no claim.
Author's Note: Can I just begin by saying thank you for not overlooking this fiction! Really. I know a lot of readers (myself included) disregard stories with original character pairings, and I've only written one one other time (in the LotR fandom) but for some reason, this particular idea grabbed me and would not let go. I really enjoyed creating Jack and this story and I really liked delving into the minds of a character I hadn't before - Peter. I might caution that the story may seem campy or just strange in the beginning, but I assure you that it will pick up. Also, that although the story is movieverse (for aesthetic reasons), the characterization is bookverse as much as possible.
With all that said, I hope you enjoy the tale and my character. And please, please, please review!
Jack Hopewell was a conundrum.
She was quite possibly the most infuriating, aggravating, annoying girl Peter Pevensie had ever met and yet... the only person outside of his siblings he was willing to call his best mate.
In the past three and a half years, he'd established quite a close relationship with the girl. Many of the boys his age thought that this was a friendship borne from pity, as she had effectively ended most relationships before they even began.
The reason for this being that she was unlike most of the girls at St. Finbar's; stranger still, she was a lot different than the boys at Hendon House. But to the Pevensies', she was like a breath of fresh air... if that air had a mind of its own.
How she and Peter ended up being so close was beyond anyone's imagination. Though Peter and his siblings were sometimes considered an oddity, Jack was so odd that she became a 'commodity'. Yet Peter wouldn't have had her any other way.
Number One: Jack was not like normal girls, obviously. For instance, she liked to be called 'Jack' and not her given name 'Jacqueline' and anyone who deviated from this was given a prompt punch in the gut or a kick in the shin. She also thoroughly enjoyed wearing pants and even tried to petition St. Finbar's to include slacks as an option in their uniforms. To other girls, it seemed that she cared very little about her appearance as she rarely wore makeup, her hair down or painted her nails.
Number Two: Jack was American. A true to the bone, solid American. She had come to live in England with a distant cousin after her parents divorced. She originally hailed from California, which meant she spoke with a fast-talking, bright, western accent. She would often tell the Pevensies about the beaches there and midnight dances and Hollywood movie stars. Lucy and Edmund listened most avidly to these stories, being young and impressionable.
Number Three: Jack was opinionated and she never apologized for it. In a time where girls usually kept their opposing thoughts to themselves, Jack voiced them... and loudly. If she didn't like something, you knew about it and were quick to reconcile whatever was wrong or again, you'd be given a punch in the gut or a kick in the shin.
Number Four: Jack was fearless. She would do anything if you dared her to, and more often than not, she'd succeed at it with reckless grace. Girls were often trying to humiliate her at school, daring her to speak curse words in French, cross the road and eat lunch with the Hendon House boys, and the like. She did it all flawlessly and accepted the repercussions with a Jack-like smile in the face of her frustrated bullies.
Number Five: And possibly the most perplexing of all was that Jack had charm. Once you got past the fierce personality, the dominating nature and the unconventionality of her, she was an amazing girl. Few others than the Pevensies ever got to see this side of her. The part of her that was generous, protective, honest and daresay, benevolent.
But now, he watched as Jack, his best friend, laughed easily with his sister and her beau. Susan hung on her arm, showing off her masterpiece to the boy Thomas.
And it was a masterpiece. The black charmeuse dress hung just off her shoulders, accentuating her long neck, hugging her curves until it stopped just above her knees to show off her long legs. Her deep chestnut-colored hair was down — a miracle – and curled down to the neckline. Susan made her lips as fresh as ripe cherries and darkened the lines around her eyes, making the hazel of her irises stand out.
Before this, Peter had no idea of the girl that was underneath those sharp features and loose trousers. It wasn't that he thought Jack was unattractive; it was that she'd never given him any inkling of how very attractive she could be. Standing just off to the side, just on the edge of conversation, Peter was able to appreciate Jack.
Ever since they'd first met on the fateful in the Hendon House schoolyard, she never ceased to surprise him. He'd watched her grow — and it was clear that she'd come a long way from the girl who pretended to beat him up in the schoolyard — but he hadn't seen her as such a woman before. How did he miss it? She was a perfect example of a phrase 'a diamond in the rough'.
When Susan and Thomas abandoned Peter and Jack for some private company, Jack looked at him, grinning widely. It was incredible to see her so happy, especially since she'd been bargained into coming in the first place. "You wouldn't leave your best friend alone at the mercy of a dozen strange girls, would you?" Susan had told her with a sly look in her eye. Hesitantly, Jack obliged and allowed herself to be at Susan's mercy.
Peter offered his arm to her and Jack slid her hand into the crook of his elbow. Peter didn't miss the longing glances of his male peers. She didn't seem to pay any attention to them. A different Jack would've stormed over, and not-so-politely asked them to stop staring at her. Narnia had changed this girl.