Okay. Here is chapter two! I know I already did a Peter Pan AU but this one is going to be very different plot-wise, I promise. Please let me know what you think.
Disclaimer: I do not own Peter Pan.
Navigating the London airport had been easier than expected, although locating her dorm room was not. At least twelve students had given her incorrect directions, giggling behind their hands at her blatant American-ness. Toting a heavy suitcase and her carry-on backpack, Gwen grew increasingly irritated as she wandered hopelessly around the common area near a cluster of central buildings (people called it 'the green'). "Does anyone on this God-forsaken campus know where I can find Middle Mill!?" she questioned the air angrily.
"Yeah," a feminine voice replied from behind her, "And I'm on my way there now, actually. Want to follow along?"
"Oh thank you, yes," Gwen turned around, giving her rescuer a grateful smile. The stranger returned her gesture, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
"You're not from around here, are you?" the girl asked. Guinevere shook her head, taking note of how the girl said 'heah' instead of 'here' and 'ah' instead of 'are. "Well, my name is Britney. Which room are you in?"
"Room 204," Gwen replied, suddenly nervous. She had completely forgotten about having a roommate. What if they're absolutely dreadful? She asked herself and then shook it off. You can handle anything. You are halfway across the world from your hometown; you can handle a strange roommate. Britney promptly turned and took off across the green, with Gwen hurrying to keep up.
"Where are you from?" Britney asked over her shoulder. Guinevere thought the girl looked a lot like a pixie with her short brown hair, narrow waist and wide hips. She looks just like a little brunette Tinkerbell.
"America," Gwen shrugged. Britney laughed, loud and long and clear.
"I knew that much from your accent and clear confusion with the campus geography," Britney chuckled, "I mean, where in America are you from?"
"Michigan," Guinevere replied. "It prepared me well for the weather here."
"Is it cold and rainy there?" Britney asked, slowing her pace so she could walk next to Gwen and converse more easily. Gwen nodded.
"It's cold and rainy, sure, but it also changes weather really fast. It could be sunny one minute and raining in the next five…or snowing in July," she explained, feeling a tug of homesickness in her chest. She frowned and looked over to Britney. "Where are you from?"
"Glasgow," Britney wrinkled her nose. "Glad to get out of that hell-hole. There's a lot of crime in Glasgow, mostly mugging and stabbing."
"Sounds terrifying," Gwen said, mentally shuddering. "Is this a good school?"
"I wouldn't know, it's my first year," Britney said.
"Oh," Guinevere paused. "Mine, too, obviously."
"Welcome to Kingston…uhm…"
"Oh! Guinevere! But you can just call me Gwen," Gwen introduced. "You told me your name right off the bat; I totally forgot to introduce myself."
"It's alright," Britney smiled, climbing the stairs of a brick building Gwen assumed was the dorm. Britney held the door open so Gwen could haul her suitcase through. They started up another set of stairs, this set being carpeted, "Here we are, Middle Mill. Room 204 is on the second floor. I'm just down the hall in 210."
"It's nice knowing someone already," Gwen smiled as they mounted the landing at the top of the stairs. "I thought I'd be sleeping on the green tonight."
"The fairies would get you," Britney winked, pulling a key from her pocket and fitting it into the door of a nearby room. "We wouldn't want that to happen to a student so soon in the year."
"Well, thanks again for rescuing me," Gwen nodded, finding her own key in her jacket pocket and fitting it into the knob. "I hope to see you around."
"Later," Britney acknowledged before ducking into her room and shutting the door behind her with a soft and final thud. Guinevere took a deep breath and opened the door to her room, pulling the suitcase in quickly and shutting the door behind her. Someone shifted around from further in the room. Gwen steeled herself for meeting her new roommate.
"You must be Gwen," the uninterested voice stated, "I'm Natalie."
"Uhm…nice to meet you, Natalie," Gwen muttered nervously, tugging her suitcase down the short hall and onto her side of the room. She hefted it onto the bed and unzipped it, looking around to locate her closet.
"Oh, an American." With those words, Natalie took her sketchbook and left the room. Gwen made her bed, put her clothes away, changed into pajamas, and fell gratefully onto the semi-hard mattress. She had a sectional in the morning, and she didn't want to be too jet-lagged.
!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!
"I'm going ta be pairin' ye up," her violin instructor announced. His Scottish accent was heavy and sometimes confusing, but Guinevere got the gist of what he was saying most of the time. "I've already haird your audition tapes, so I've already paired ye up. Any questions?"
A chorus of 'no' was his reply, so he nodded sagely and continued. "First chair is Peter Gardner and his pairtner is Guinevere Bellamy. Next is Rose Carter ("Cairter") with Andria Rossi. Following them are…" he trailed off, continuing to list people's names. Guinevere was struck dumb by the fact she was second chair violinist of an international orchestra. She'd have to email her Mother about this later, it was so exciting! "We have an hour left of class, but I dinna want to ruin your first day good mood already. I've given ye your pairtner, so find them and tell them aboot yourself."
Guinevere looked nervously around, searching for someone with Peter Garnder written on his nametag. He was kind enough to save her the awkwardness and find her first. "Hello," a tall, very skinny boy introduced. "I'm your stand partner, Peter."
"Guinevere," she replied shyly, "But you can call me Gwen."
"Hullo Gwen," this time his voice was far less formal. "You're from America, I see."
"Yeah, Michigan," she nervously tucked a piece of brown hair behind her ear and gave him a half-hearted smile. Her accent kept giving her away, "Where are you from?"
"London," he smirked, "This is all familiar territory."
"Ah, the king of the campus," Gwen teased with a mock bow from her sitting position. "How kind of Mr. Painter to pair me with thee, Your Royal Highness."
"Well you must not be so bad yourself to have gotten second chair violin," he remarked. She shrugged. "And you're named after a very legendary English Queen. Lady Guinevere…"
"Hey! Peter! Long time, no see!" a tall boy with dark hair and darker eyes proclaimed, approaching the sitting pair. Peter stood and they gave each other a manly hug with much back patting and enthusiastic joking. The boisterous friend turned to Gwen and looked her over, "You're a lucky lass to be stand partners with this guy."
"I figured he must be very good to get first chair," she mused. "I'm Guinevere, but you can call me Gwen."
"Kevin!" the boy announced. He was slightly taller than Peter and equally as thin, though Gwen could tell now that they both had wiry muscle hidden beneath the baggy t-shirt sleeves. He was very tan in comparison to Peter's almost-white skin. Kevin's hair was straight and deep brown while Peter's was strawberry blond with a slight curl. Kevin's brown eyes were full of light and mischief, a trait shared with Peter's bright blue eyes. Gwen smiled when Kevin began speaking again, full of energy, "My friends call me Slightly."
"Why?" she giggled.
"Because I'm slightly crazy," Kevin answered with a wriggle of his eyebrows. Gwen burst out laughing. It was loud, and several students turned and smiled with her. She wasn't going to be alone in London after all. That was probably the greatest relief she'd felt so far, even in comparison to Britney helping her find her dorm the previous evening.
"So, after class today some of us are going to do our homework on the north corner of the green. Care to join us, Lady Guinevere?" Peter inquired. Gwen's eager nod made both Kevin and Peter smirk. "Then you can meet the rest of the gang."
"The rest of the gang?" Gwen asked, already wanting an explanation.
"The other boys, and some of their girlfriends," Kevin articulated. "We all hang out together and usually have meals together. We also all live in Middle Mill."
"I live in Middle Mill! I'm in room 204," Gwen quipped.
"And thus we are all neighbors," Kevin rejoined. "This will be such great fun."
"Class is dismissed," Mr. Painter called from the front of the room. The students filed out, most of them smiling, some of them looking absolutely terrified.
Gwen floated through most of the day in a fog of confusion and worry and semi-embarrassment. Teachers handed out homework like it was finals week and her backpack grew heavier through Intro to Science, Medieval Literature, and Basic Maths. This was going to be a terrible night, she could tell. Her classes finished for the day, Gwen headed for the north end (or what she hoped was the north end) of the green. She was happy to find a rather large group of students clumped together, Peter and Kevin in their midst.
"Hey! Lady Guinevere," Peter called, motioning her over, "This is the gang."
"Hello gang, I am Gwen," Gwen introduced with a nervous and habitual curtsey. The teenagers chuckled/giggled at her introduction. Peter made room for her on his blanket, and she thanked him with a heavily relieved look. He merely smiled in return as she settled at his side.
"Shall we all introduce ourselves?" Peter suggested.
"You already know me," Kevin smirked. Gwen rolled her eyes good naturedly.
"That I do."
"Okay, well, I'll get started. I'm Stephanie but these idiots call me Curly," the brunette girl announced. "It's nice to meet you, Gwen."
"I'm Finn, or Nibs," another brunette boy introduced. "And those two idiots attached at the lips are Colie and Jack. We refer to them as Twins, which is kinda weird considering that they're dating."
"Secretly dating," Girl Twin spoke up (Gwen assumed that was Colie). "Which is why the Twins thing happened."
"Right, whatever," Stephanie (Curly) huffed. "Where is Tootles?"
"Bryce? He has a tutoring session," Peter spoke up. "It's the first day and he's already behind."
"Figures," Kevin laughed. "That's my boy."
"You'll meet Tootles, er, Bryce later," Peter promised. Gwen nodded. Just as Gwen was committing their names to memory, Britney bounded up and flopped onto Finn's lap.
"Britney!" Guinevere exclaimed happily. Britney looked up and returned the excited smile.
"Hey! You found the gang before I could introduce you!" Britney declared. "I see you've already met my boyfriend, Nibs."
"Yeah, he's pretty cool."
"We're way less gross than Twins, I promise," Britney wrinkled her nose in the direction of the other, rather promiscuous couple. Britney ruffled Finn's fluffy brown hair, "Isn't that right love?"
"Of course, dear," Finn smiled indulgently.
"Peter is the leader of the gang," Britney divulged. "He just pretends not to be because Kevin is a year older and Peter doesn't want to hurt his feelings."
"Yeah, sure, whatever," Kevin snorted. "Like I don't already know."
"Peter Gardner, first violin," Kevin huffed. "Peter Gardner, ladies man."
At this, the whole group broke up into laughter. Peter blushed brightly and rolled his eyes.
"What's so funny?" Gwen asked. Britney giggled a little more before calming down.
"Peter is the only one here who's never had a girlfriend. He says they're pointless, but we all know he's just too shy to find one," Finn teased.
"Idiots," Peter snorted. "Are we going to do our homework or what?"
"Right! On to academic success!" Kevin declared, hefting a textbook above his head like he was brandishing Excalibur. The rest of the group dissolved into laughter again, pulling books from their bags and setting to work comparing answers and scribbling down essay outlines. Gwen stretched out next to Peter and across from Britney and Finn, with Kevin on her other side. I'm not going to be alone; she smiled, taking notes on a ballad. I have friends.
I threw a lot of names at you with alter egos so I'll make a chart here!
Peter - Peter
Kevin - Slightly
Finn - Nibs
Stephanie - Curly
Jack/Colie - Twins
Bryce - Tootles
