Author's note:

This is a crappy chapter, nothing much would happen, but I would be glad if you'd put up with it. I'm working with what looks like a promising idea for the next chapters. I really hope it'll work. Thanks for reading. Please review!

A shift in the atmosphere had occurred since Peter's arrival. The lights seemed to blaze brighter, and it looked like the monotonous black paint of my room turned several shades lighter. I felt a little less conflicted, a little less snappy.

Peter had bowed before me, the way he learned while watching fairy ceremonies. I bowed awkwardly, trying to look regal, but failed.

"What's your name?" the boy that colored my childhood asked.

"Scarlett Genevieve Bern," I said.

"Scarlett? I've heard prettier names," he said cockily. He then seemed to forget I was there and took interest in my laptop computer on the bed. "What's this?" he asked, and probably suspecting danger, drew out his dagger.

"No!" I cried, rushing to him. "It's a computer," I said.

"What does it do?" he asked, still cautious.

"Well, you can play games in there." At the sound of the word games, Peter's eyes glinted. Anyone could tell how much he loved games. "Here, I'll show you one." I clicked an icon I had unearthed in about two seconds. Later, I wondered how. I clearly remembered deleting my Games folder and emptying the Recycle Bin.

"Here, you just have to pretend you're a warrior, fight goons and save the princess tied to the mast of the ship." I showed him the controls, and he got them at once. I watched as he played, then quickly found myself wondering why he had come. The last words in the book were "And thus it will go on, so long as children are gay and innocent and heartless:" the exact opposite of me. I was trying hard to be liberated. I was clearly not innocent. Gay? Forget it. My happiest moment happened when I was seven years old, when my mother finally bought me the Grande Sundae I had been drooling over. Why did Peter Pan, prince of all of Neverland come precisely to my window in this period in my life?

"Scarlett!" I realized that Peter was shouting in my ear but I hadn't heard because I was so immersed in thinking. "Is this all it has?"

"What?" Then I saw that fireworks were shooting in the screen, the trumpets were blaring triumphantly in the background. He had finished the entire game in less than fifteen minutes. Awesome. "Peter, you're a pro. It had taken me an hour to finish just one level."

"It's easy enough for me," he said, then crowed that cocky crow, a crow I would know anywhere anytime. He suddenly flew around the room, light as a feather, faster than the wind. My heart leaped in delight. It was the most beautiful thing I'd seen in my miserable life. He was the most beautiful boy to ever exist.

"By the way, Peter, why did you come?" I asked.

Without pausing in his merry flight, he answered in a loud voice, "It is spring-cleaning time! Have you forgotten?"

I was suddenly conscious that my parents would hear. "Shhh, Peter. People are asleep in the room next door." He ignored me then started chasing the fairy he had come with. When he laughed, I knew I'd never heard someone laugh the way he did. He was a child, after all. "So, what if it's spring-cleaning time?"

"I can't do it alone, girl. Come with me?"

His last three words were trapped in my head.

Come with me.

Come with him.

Come with Peter Pan to Never Never Land.

The idea lured me in like a bee is lured to nectar, but a thought pulled me up short.

What would my parents say? What indeed?

Then I imagined them missing me for about two minutes and getting over it just as quick. They would forget me as soon as the phone rings. My mother would probably take a longer time to recover, but, whatever. And I would be away, never worrying about anything at all, laughing, flying, fighting, and living next to an adorable little boy. Of course, I would get what I needed all the time.

Freedom.

My heart pounded against my ribcage, driven uncontrollable by the idea of being free.

One word is all it would take, really. Then I'd be gone, never to be found, never to be married, never to inherit the family's business. My mind was working overtime, but I didn't seem to care. This could be my next happy moment after ten long years.

Come? Peter's voice echoed in my brain. I didn't know how, but the one word I'd wanted to say all along slipped out of my lips. "Yes," I said, my own voice sounding foreign. I had done it. I was finally free.

The next moments were a fast blur of happy thoughts: ice cream, music, books, walking quietly, travelling, and a sweet, tinkling sensation on my skin: fairy dust. Then all at once, I was laughing, laughing like I never had in years. I wasn't afraid. In fact, my heart had room for only one emotion: joy. My feet left the ground and I was really, literally flying, and I couldn't bring myself to think of anything else because I was so happy, so incredibly happy. My frustrations vanished, leaving a slight dark smudge in the back of my mind.

Peter's voice sounded distant, but I heard him alright. "Let's go, Scarlett!" And when he held out his hand, I took it, and away we flew, leaving the ugly, sad chunk of my life behind us. The wind bit and slapped at my skin, tiny particles kept getting into my eyes, and I was still having a hard time moving around, but I didn't care at all.

What mattered most was that Scarlett Bern was free. I wouldn't trade it for anything.