A/N- Okay, chapter 2 of The Darling Girl. I am growing rather obsessed with this story. I just love being able to switch around POV's and see what other characters are thinking. Any way, REVIEW AND ENJOY!
Chapter 2: The Sleepover
Lyra's POV:
My mom and dad, well, they were the kind of grown-ups that want kids to be adults as soon as they are born. They don't tell stories about pirates and mermaids, they tell stories about the Great Depression. It's a great depression just listening to Father (as he says to call him) go on and on about exactly how much the stocks fell and exactly where the homeless people went. They don't even want me to pursue my dream to become an artist/writer! I mean, parents should support their kids' choices!
"That isn't anything more than a hobby. You'll never be paid well. Now lawyers, they get paid well…" Blah blah blah, stocks, blah blah blah, Harvard. So when they came home and heard me telling Danny about how Peter once stole Hook's treasure, they put their foot down. Mrs. Smith had left an hour ago, and Danny was bored, so I started telling him stories to keep him occupied.
"Lyra! Stop telling such childish stories!" Father snapped as Mother and he stepped into the living room. I look just like Mother, but with Father's eyes.
"Why? Danny is a child. And he loves the stories," I said, trying to stay calm. Only my parents have ever seen what little of a dark side I have. But once I've hit my boiling point, you better run in the opposite direction as fast as you can and find the nearest bomb shelter. Because I will explode like a volcano. No, worse than a volcano. More like an atomic bomb.
"Daniel needs to work on his math and grammar, not listen to make-believe stories about some boy who never grows up!" Father said. Mother was always quiet, because I got my level-headedness from her. But because she never once defended Danny or me, so I hate her as much as Father. Well, almost as much. It's hard to hate someone as much as him.
"Peter Pan is real!" Danny said, looking in disbelief at his father.
"Peter Pan is not real! Neverland is not real! It is fake, make-believe! There are no such things as flying boys and fairies!" Danny gasped, and I did as well. I actually did believe in the stories as much as Danny and the fact that Father just killed a fairy appalled me.
"Lee Lee! Father just killed a fairy!" Danny said, tugging on my shirt.
"I know Danny. I am just as mad at him as you are for doing that," I said, picking Danny up.
"Stop this at once! Daniel, her name is Lyra, not Lee Lee, and you should call her such," Father put as much contempt into my nickname as he could; "Fairies aren't real! Lyra, it is time for you to grow up! You need to focus on school work, not silly drawings and ditzy pixies!" Father shouted. Danny started crying and I comforted him the best as I could.
"Father," I said, with as much contempt as he had used with my nickname, "You just ruined your own child's entire life. The only reason he was so focused on schoolwork was that he believed he would be kidnapped by Captain Hook if he didn't, and he could be a Lost Boy if he did well. Just remember that." I brushed past my father and mother and carried Danny to my room, locking the door behind me. Danny crawled onto my bed, sniffling. I was surprised I didn't explode like usual. Father telling me to grow up sent me into shock, so that was probably the reason.
"Lee Lee, is Father right?" He asked. I sat on the bed and put him on my lap.
"Of course he is not," I said confidently, "He's just a stinky old codfish, and don't you forget it," I said. Danny smiled at me.
"Is Captain Hook badder than Father?" Danny asked worriedly.
"Some say he is, because Father only uses words to hit people, but Hook uses actions and words," I began, "But words can be worse than injuries, because while a broken bone or a twisted ankle can heal, a broken heart never truly does." Danny looked at me, his eyes shining. I knew that he believed me, his older sister, more than his own father, and that was really sad.
"Lyra, we are leaving now. We will see you in one week." Mother said through the door. I ignored her, and Father and her left a minute later. Within 15 minutes, my friends had arrived and were seated in my room, now ready for a full out sleepover. Danny was staying with us because he was scared Hook would come in the night thanks to Father. He was seated on my bed, watching my friends and I goof around and eat animal crackers Haley brought along.
"Let's watch a movie!" I suggested at midnight. Amazingly everyone (Danny included) was wide awake, even though we had absolutely no sugar or caffeine.
"Okay, what's the movie?" Hannah asked, lounging around on her sleeping bag.
"As long as it's not The Ring, or any horror movie, I am fine," Haley said from her sleeping bag, where she had been reading Peter Pan.
"As long as it's not Coraline, I'm fine," Coraline said, from her position behind Haley (she had been reading over her shoulder for a few minutes now, Haley hadn't noticed yet). I pulled out Peter Pan (the live action one), and everyone cheered.
"Yes! Something we can agree on!" I said, faking exasperation. I inserted the disk into my laptop and faced it for everyone to see, then settled down on my bed with Danny leaning against me. An couple hours later, Danny had fallen asleep and the rest of us were glued to the screen as Peter fought Hook on the pirate ship.
"Yah! Go Peter!" We all cheered as Hook was swallowed by the crocodile. With the movie over (and Danny awake and frustrated that he missed the best part), I glanced out the window as thunder sounded and lighting flashed.
"Yikes, looks like a storm," Coraline said as rain started pounding the roof.
"That was random, the weather channel said it was going to be a clear night," Haley observed. Then the power went off and we were plunged into darkness. Everyone screamed reflexively as a huge crack of thunder sounded. I put my fingers to lips and whistled shrilly.
"All right! Quiet!" I called out. Coraline, Haley, Hannah, and Danny immediately went silent.
"Now, in a few minutes our eyes will adjust and we'll be able to see better than we can now. So stay seated until that happens." For the next five or so minutes all was quiet as our eyes slowly adjusted to the dim light. I carefully moved Danny from my lap and moved around the room, lighting a few candles I kept in my room. It was dim, but better than nothing.
"Lee Lee, can you tell us a story now? You promised," Danny asked.
"Alright, it's not like there is much else to do without power and lights," Hannah said, turning to face me on top of her sleeping bag and crossed her legs.
"Just don't make it super scary," Haley said, snuggling down into her sleeping bag. Coraline leaned against my desk, her pillow behind her. I knew there was no way to turn them down.
"Once upon a time, there was a magical island called Neverland…" I talked for a half an hour about the adventures of Peter Pan, Wendy, and the Lost Boys. I told my friends of the time they snuck aboard the Jolly Roger and stole Hook's treasure, and Hook's attempts to get it back.
"'Alright Hook,' Peter said. 'I will duel you for it. If you win, I'll tell you where the treasure is. If I win, I keep the treasure. And to make it fair, I will even do it on the Jolly Roger!' Hook agreed and they took their places on the rocking pirate ship," I narrated. My audience was captivated, lost in dreamland as they saw Captain Hook and Peter getting ready to duel each other.
"And then brave Danny knocks Captain Hook into the sea with a kick and saves the day!" Danny cried out, standing up on the bed and striking a heroic pose. And with that, the spell was broken.
"Danny!" Coraline, Haley, Hannah, and I all chorused at the same time before collapsing into fits of laughter. I couldn't help but join in. Danny looked at the giggling girls around him with a confused look on his face.
"What? That's what happens. Lee Lee told me this story today," He said, frowning.
"It's true guys! That is how I ended it!" I gasped, holding my sore ribs. Coraline and Haley were leaning against each other, stifling laughter and grinning at each other. Hannah was trying to stop her laughter by burying herself in her sleeping bag and closing it (this was failing miserably). Slowly we stopped laughing and settled down.
"Is that what that picture is off? The story you just told us?" Haley asked, pointing to the uncovered picture.
"Oh, yeah! I meant to show you it before, but I forgot," I said, getting off my bed and walking over to the picture. Everyone crowded around it and examined it closely.
"Wow, I think it's you best one yet, Lee Lee!" Coraline said, getting closer to the picture.
"Yeah Lyra, its great!" Hannah added.
"Awesome!" Haley exclaimed.
"Lee Lee?" Danny asked from the bed. He was sitting down, troubled by our reaction to the ending of the story. "Could I really beat Captain Hook?"
"Danny, this is assuming your defending yourself right? Because you know Peter is the only one who can fight Hook for the kill," Hannah commented. Yes, she truly is a fan at heart. Tinker Bell is her favorite character (probably because she is so much like the temperamental pixie).
"Duh!"
"Danny, I think you could take Hook any day," I said, smiling at him reassuringly. Danny looked much happier.
"Oh, I beg to differ," A harsh, unfamiliar voice said. We all froze, because the voice came from the door. The door swung open to reveal a tall man with black hair that hung in curls to the shoulders of his blood red captain outfit, and cold forget-me-not blue eyes. A steel hook gleamed in the candlelight. Behind the man I heard voices and barely saw more pirates. Oh no. Not good. Not good at all. Without even looking at my friends behind me I knew they were thinking the exact same thing. Danny looked amazed.
"Captain Hook!" He cried. The infamous captain looked at my little brother. Hook looked amused.
"Boy, are you ready to join my crew?" Captain Hook asked. I felt nauseous. Haley was stark white, Hannah looked like she was about to kill Hook, and Coraline looked terrified. I didn't blame any of them.
"Yeah!" Danny said, climbing down to the floor.
"Danny! Listen to me," I frantically said, but I kept my voice calm so not to scare Danny; "Remember what I always told you about Captain Hook?"
"Of course!" Danny looked shocked that I would even suggest this.
"What is he?"
"A bad guy!" Danny looked thrilled at this new game. Hannah looked at me curiously, but Haley nodded encouragingly. Coraline was still staring at Hook, scared stiff.
"And why is he a bad guy?"
"Because he's a liar!"
"Why don't you trust a liar?"
"Because they don't tell the truth." Hook's smug look had faded to one of annoyance.
"So should you believe Hook?"
"No!" Danny ended, and then he ran over to me. I scooped him up and held him tight.
"Bravo, girl," Hook said sarcastically. I glared at him, and put Danny down behind me. Coraline, Haley, and Hannah instantly surrounded him, ready to protect the little boy.
"But your coming with us, whether you like it or not!" The pirates cheered. Oh no! How where we going to get out of this?
"Not today Hook!" A new voice shouted from the window. The boy from the bus was perched on my windowsill (an impressive feat, seeing that the sill was only a few inches wide). He was soaked, but it didn't seem to bother him, and a bright light flitted out of his pocket to hover next to him.
"Pan!" Hook spat. I stared at the boy, shocked and confused. Why was he on our bus and in my class if he was the Peter Pan and the light was the Tinker Bell? Coraline, Hannah, Haley, Danny and I were almost hyperventilating about now, convinced that Peter was going to help us out of this. Peter swopped down and shoved Hook's hat over his head. I giggled at the prank. Tinker Bell flew over to us and sprinkled us with her pixie dust. We closed our eyes and thought happy thoughts as fast as we could.
"OW!" I had flown straight into the ceiling, I had risen so fast. The others were slightly more graceful and did not hit their heads, though Hannah got close.
"Get them, you bilge rats!" Hook shouted, and pirates poured into my room.
"Window!" I shouted, gabbing Danny's hand and soaring out the window. It was still raining, unfortunately. Hannah, Haley, and Coraline followed. Peter followed, and then shut the window on the pirates. Several of them hit the window and bounced off before they realized what happened and tried to open it again. Amazingly the window had managed to lock itself (the pirates had yet to realize this fact).
"We better get going!" Hannah said, "Before those pirates get the ship moving." Peter nodded and gave us a quick lesson on how to fly, then led us up above the clouds. It was nice and dry up above the storm clouds.
"Sorry about Hook. I was going to talk to you before he came, but… yeah," Peter explained, going red.
"That's why you were on the bus!" Haley exclaimed.
"And in my English class!" I added.
"Well, I was in every class with you. I kind of wanted to talk to you alone." Peter was getting redder by the second, much to my amusement. Danny looked at us in wonder that Peter had been following us all day and we hadn't noticed.
"Stalker!" Hannah shouted, diving down from above us (nearly hitting Peter), and disappeared into the clouds. She came back up a second later, dripping wet from the condensation in the clouds. Coraline, Haley, Danny, and I laughed. Peter cracked a smile after realizing that Hannah had been joking.
"Peter? I thought Hook was gone for good?" Danny said. Huh, he was right. Peter suddenly looked grim.
"He was. But he came back," Peter said shortly.
"I didn't recognize any of the crew either. He didn't get a new one, did he?" Coraline said, a bit pale. Peter nodded sadly.
"They're smarter and more skilled than before too," Peter added. Well crap.
"Well, this is just great. Hook finally gets a good crew and we happen along," Haley complained.
"But we are going to Neverland! Even Hook can't make that bad!" I said. Everyone perked right up.
"Alright everyone. Grab on!" Peter announced. Hannah grabbed his ankle, Haley grabbed Hannah's, Coraline grabs Haley's, I grabbed Coraline's, and Danny grabbed mine.
"Don't Let GO!" Peter shouted. We were speeding threw a bright vortex thing, screaming our heads off. Then, with a burst of light, we were spit out over an ocean. A large island was in front f us, the sun just rising over the mountains in the north. Two lagoons glistened in the early morning sunlight, and a single curl of smoke rose sluggishly from the western edge of the island.
"Neverland!"
A/N- Dah dah DAH! They are now in Neverland! And Hook nearly got Danny to be a pirate! Boo! Hehe, I just love playing around with these guys, and they can't protest!
Lyra- Oh yes we can!
AHHH! HOW DID YOU GET INTO MY AUTHOR'S NOTES?
Danny- Tinker Bell and Hannah got us in.
Do you know where they are?
Danny- Hiding in the closet.
Hannah- Danny! You weren't supposed to tell her that~
Thank you Danny! *gets out baseball bat*
Tinker Bell and Hannah- RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!
Lyra- *sigh* Review while I go calm down Bookgirl0!
