Rania plopped onto her bed. Never was she ever going to be embarrassed like that again. So she broke a promise to Isaiah. It doesn't mean he can blurt out from his seat to the entire class that she believed she could fly to Neverland. Everyone, even her best friends, couldn't stifle their giggles. They said that they were sorry and all, but she still felt hurt. It wasn't her fault she wanted to run away.
She stared all around her room. It's not like she was obsessed with the guy. She had other interests such as reading, playing her flute, and telling really obnoxious jokes, but she did have almost all the stories of Peter Pan ever made (which she kept hidden) and she never locked her bedroom window. Isaiah laughed and teased her for days. Isaiah, she thought. She fell face down again onto her purple and green polka dotted bedspread and rolled into it. She never wanted to face the world again. No one would make her.
She heard a knock at the door. She knew it was Isaiah coming to "apologize". Since she didn't care to answer, he barged in.
"So," He cleared his throat. "Okay. So I'm sorry that I embarrassed you in front of the whole class and I'll never do it again." He smiled proudly. He stood up to walk away.
"Mmmphh," Rania said under the blanket on her bed.
"What?" He turned around. "I couldn't hear you under that thing you call a blanket."
She sighed and unwrapped herself. "I said that mom probably told you to come."
"But I did, so I'm off the hook."
"And you won't ever even be able to say that again since you already did. No one'll be laughing the next time."
"Uh, you're right next door and I can pick any lock so tell me I can't come in here and search your room."
"I don't keep anything locked." She said her lip trembling.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Peter Pan hates locks. Get a life."
"You said that to everyone in the class. Even the teacher held her laugh."
"But she didn't."
"She was gonna." Her eyes started tearing up so she couldn't see clearly. Great. The last thing I need is Isaiah to see me cry.
"And now you're starting to cry. Listen Peter Pan is for little kids, age range 2-4, and depressed adults who have nothing better to do. You're nine-years-old. You need to get over this. Face it, the stories exist only in stories."
"Go away."
"Make me."
"I'll call mom."
"You know what she's going to say. "'Shut up, I'm trying to work,'" or "'Suck it up you weaklings,'" He mimicked their mom using a high voice.
Rania burrowed herself in her polka dotted bedspread again. She wasn't going to let Isaiah see her tears fall.
Isaiah sighed and left the room. Nothing made him feel more uncomfortable than his sister bawling.
Rania vowed that some way or another, she was going to have to prove it to Isaiah that Peter Pan isn't some fiction character. She's only believed in him this far because once, when she was very small, she caught a glimpse of a shadow of a boy and a ball of light tinkling like bells gliding through the night sky. It wasn't a hoax. She knew it was true even if everyone else called her foolish. But who could tell a lie about someone flying wearing clothes made of leaves?