What does it mean to grow up? Is growing up reaching milestones in one's life? Turning 13, 15, 16 or 18? Losing that first baby tooth or the last one? At what point do we stop believing everything our parents tell us to doubt the stories we were told? I suppose if one is to go by these definitions of growing up then the belief in the Guardians should happen long before becoming a teen. After all teenagers don't believe in things like the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman, Santa Claus, or the Easter Bunny. But what if they were real and it was only in believing in them that you could see them? Or maybe it is growing up that truly causes one to lose the ability to see these protectors. Or maybe a combination of these factors.
Sophie Bennett was what one would call a late bloomer. She was just entering into high school and had yet to lose all her baby teeth. On top of that she hadn't fully embraced Puberty like many of her peers, maintaining a pixie like appearance. And perhaps it was these factors that led her to maintain a belief in childhood characters that everyone else brushed off as fictional. Now admittedly it may have something to do with a dreamlike experience when she was much younger, maybe 3 or 4 she wasn't exactly sure. She knew had been around Easter and she had gone to her brother's room after a nightmare to find the Easter Bunny, Santa clause and the Tooth Fairy knocked out in her brother's room and from there she somehow ended up in an Easter themed paradise. She wasn't sure after that what exactly happened and she woke up in her own bed. She honestly tried to brush it off as a wonderful dream when she got older, but every now and then she would catch a glimpse of one of those childhood protectors and could never find it in herself to completely dismiss them as figments.
Now here she was starting high school and hoping more than ever for an early visit from Jack Frost, because she clearly remembered her brother never shutting up about the winter sprite until he 'grew up' and lost his last baby tooth. He had been in sixth grade, somewhat late to still be losing teeth but not nearly as late as Sophie herself. When that had happened he seemed to stop believing in his best friend, someone he was so sure existed, but she supposed years of not seeing him finally did away with his belief. It was seeing this play out that led to Sophie being glad she still had several of her baby teeth left to her. Sophie had vowed long ago to never stop believing, even if she couldn't see them anymore because she had 'grown up' as all children must someday do. For it is an inevitability that children grow up, no matter how much they wish otherwise. Though thinking on it if all those other fictional characters are real, what about Peter Pan? If he was real maybe she could dodge the inevitable and go live with the Easter Bunny. That actually sounded like a good plan to her, too bad actually making it happen was the trick.
Settling into a seat in the common area of the school, Sophie pulls out a notebook from her bag and a pencil. This was a habit that Sophie had developed in middle school. Being the only 'believer' in her age bracket left her with a lot of free social time before school and since her mother always made her finish her homework at home before dinner, well she had taken to drawing and writing. Often her stories were about the Easter Bunny and his friends, the other Guardians. She would weave fantastic tales about them and include drawings and sketches to go with them, much like a children's book. Letting herself be caught up in her work she doesn't notice a boy, one a few years older than her, heading over to her. At least not until he sits beside her and begins talking to her.
"Hey! You must be one of the freshman that's starting today, right?"
Sophie pauses in her drawing of the Tooth Fairy before looking up and answering. "Yeah, I am. I'm Sophie." She holds out her hand to the boy and he smiles back at her.
"I'm Nick. So what are you working on?"
"Oh, this." She looks a bit sheepish before looking down at her sketch and the few sentences beside it. "Just a story I was working on."
"Really? It looks pretty interesting. Is it a children's story? I mean you've got pictures drawn for it."
"Well, yeah, but anyone could still read it."
"Hey, you should come by the library after school. My club meets there most days and we were planning to meet today to work on recruiting new members."
"What sort of club?"
"Well, mostly a book club, but we do more than read books. We actually volunteer at the public library and read to the kids there on the weekends. If you joined you could read the kids your stories. I'm sure they'd like it."
Sophie smiles at him and the two chat for the remaining time before the bell rings to signal class. They part with Sophie promising to come by the library after school to check out the club.
The rest of the day goes by rather smoothly with Sophie mostly gliding through her classes since most were just doing basic first day things that involved a lot of introducing one's self. When the day was done she made her way to the library and came upon something that made her pause. What she saw was a scrawny boy with thick glasses and a tall stack of books that had been scattered on the floor around him as he was held by the collar of his shirt by a much larger boy that looked as if he could easily have been on the football team, the team jacket he was wearing with a varsity letter was rather telling on that. It was also clear that the smaller boy was being bullied and it seemed the one holding him wasn't the only one, there were two other boys, also with team jackets and varsity letters, that were egging on the one holding the scrawnier boy. Sophie had never been fond of bullies, she herself had been picked on for her beliefs and her size in the past and she never tolerated it, the bullies learned quickly to leave her be.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?"
"Huh?" The largest of the three bullies turns to look at her in confusion before laughing at the fierce expression on her face. "What's it to you? Why don't you just run along and leave us to teach this nerd his place?"
"How about not." Cocking her hip to the side and resting her fist on it she levels a stare at the boy, the first thing she had learned in dealing with bullies was don't let yourself act like a victim. Be confident.
"Tch, like a little girl like you could do anything to stop us. Look kiddie why don't you go find your mommy and play with your dolls. This is our turf and you don't belong."
"I may look small but I'm not stupid, besides this is my first day here. Leave the kid alone or I'll make you."
The two have a glaring contest and much to the surprise of the scrawny boy, the jock let's him go with a rough shove towards Sophie before leaving with a grumble to his buddies.
Once the boy was released Sophie reached out to steady him before moving to help gather his books.
"Are you alright?"
"Y yes, thank you. You didn't need to help me out. They usually just knock my books to the ground, laugh and then leave after a few taunts."
Sophie doesn't hide her frown. "They shouldn't even do that much. Honestly I can't stand bullies."
"Oh... So is it really your first day here?"
"Yeah, I'm a freshman. I was just on my way to the library to check out a club I heard about this morning."
"Oh, you mean the library club?"
"Yep, that would be the one."
"Awesome, I joined it last year. It's a lot of fun. Especially since we get pretty much an all access pass to the school's library and archives."
Sophie just finds herself giggling at his enthusiasm. "Well, my name is Sophie. It's nice to meet you...?"
"Oh, oh yeah, my name's Gilbert, but everyone in the club just calls me Book."
"Book?"
"Yeah, we all get nicknames. I'm probably the biggest bibliophile in the group so they all just call me 'Book'."
Sophie finds herself chuckling as they enter the library.
"Book! You're late!"
"Sorry Jules, I got held up by Fox and his friends. Though I did meet a new member on the way here."
Sophie had been a bit surprised by the appearance of the older girl that was seeming to be looking over Gilbert after his mention of his run in with the bully. She had chocolate brown hair done up in a slightly messy bun with goggles across the top of her head like a headband. She was wearing what looked like a victorian dress, only the skirt was a little shorter than it should have been, reaching only to her knees, and hemmed unevenly. She also wore tall boots and leggings and all the metal fastening and accessories seemed to be based off gears. Sophie had never seen anything like it before.
"Hey, Sophie, you made it. I see you've met Book and Jules."
"Um, yes." Sophie then takes the time to take in Nick's appearance, which she hadn't that morning, when he walks in. He's tall, maybe close to six foot, with sandy blonde hair and hazel eyes. She supposed he was rather handsome but beyond acknowledging it she didn't make a fuss about it.
Before anything else can be said though she finds herself being wrapped up in a hug from the girl named Jules.
"Aww, she's too cute. Doc, where did you find her?"
Nick chuckles, "She was doodling in the common area this morning before school. I just walked up to her to find out what she was drawing. When I saw it I know she'd fit in with us."
Sophie looks a bit confused that Nick responded to being called Doc, but figured it was his nickname in the group. She briefly wondered if she would get a nickname of her own, but didn't think on it long. While she had been thinking Jules had taken her hands and was now locking her eyes with Sophie's from a startlingly close distance.
"Oh, please show us. They must be rather impressive to get Doc's attention."
Sophie gives an uneasy smile but nods. "Just let me get it out of my bag."
Jules immediately releases Sophie's hands, which allows her to reach into her messenger bag and pull out her notebook. She hands it over to Jules who takes it and studies the cover for a moment.
"Wow, this is a great drawing. Is this rabbit a character from a book or something. He looks like a warrior. Hehe warrior rabbits."
"Well, or something. He's the Easter Bunny." Sophie almost cringes when Jules looks at her in shock.
"No way! The Easter Bunny is soft and fluffy, not tough and macho like this guy."
Gaining some courage Sophie shrugs. "Well that's how I see him." She reaches forward and opens the book to its first page, a group drawing of the Guardians done in colored pencil. "These are his friends." She points to each respectively. "Sandman, Jack Frost, The Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus."
"Cool."
"You're rather talented." Book had leaned over jules shoulder to get a look and was now reaching out and turning the pages for the stunned girl holding the book. As they flipped through the pages they both noticed it was telling a story with not just the pictures but with words.
Nick drapes an arm around her shoulder then in a half hug. "And that is why I thought she would fit in here. I think the kids at the public library might enjoy hearing some new stories."
"You're right I think they will love these stories. Where did you ever come up with the ideas for all of this?"
"Oh, you know I just have a very active imagination I guess." Sophie shrugged sheepishly while telling them the lie. How could she tell this group, as nice as they were, that she still believed in those very stories she was writing? She couldn't, she wasn't quite comfortable enough with them to tell them that, not yet.
The small group makes idle chatter, the older members filling Sophie in on the doings of the club and letting her know what time to be at the public library on Saturday. Jules is the first to bring up the need for a nickname for Sophie and suggests 'Teller'. The boys laugh as she makes a displeased face and Nick suggests 'Goose' as an alternative.
"Why 'Goose'?"
"You know, like Mother Goose. They both tell stories."
The rest all make 'oh' faces before nodding in agreement to the nickname for their newest member.

I wanted to do an abstract story about what it means to grow up and this is what happened. I'm happy about it though, this is an angle on 'older' Sophie I haven't seen before. So I hope you all enjoy it. Explanations for why the Guardians haven't shown themselves will be made and there will certainly be more of this. Please review to let me know what you think. And I apologize in advance for this will most likely have slow updates.