"You don't have to leave." He whispers to me as he flies through the trees once again. "You could stay here and never grow up."
I refuse to listen to him. The idea of that is ridiculous. It's childish and immature and everything I'm not. Running away and hiding from the inevitable things is something I would never do, no matter how much I wished to stay and not have to worry about anything ever again. He set me down and opened the wooden door, letting me go down first. Just as I walked down, the lost boys began to wake up. Cubby came first, whining about how hungry he was. The rest slowly woke up and Peter grew tired of their whining, so he took them out to go get some food from Tiger Lilly. I followed closely behind the small group of Lost Boys, who walked fast and excitedly towards their food source. When we found the camp, the Indians welcomed us.
"They used to hate me until I saved Tiger Lilly from Hook once. Now they treat me like a King." He winked at me, and I crossed my arms. I followed him into the center of the camp, where a large man sat with his daughter.
"Peter!" Said the girl as she smiled, jumping up and hugging Peter tightly. She kissed his cheek and Peter blushed, rubbing the back of his neck. I ran a hand through my hair and bit down on the inside of my cheek. 'Don't ask who I am,' I begged inside of my head, my palms becoming clammy, 'please don't ask who I am.'
"Who is she?" Asked Tiger Lilly, narrowing her eyes slightly at me. I took a step back and waved once, keeping my distance.
"Just a friend from the mainland." Peter said, waving off her question. "Anyways, the lost boys were wondering if we could have some food, since you have plenty because of the harvest season." He said, changing the subject. Her eyes brightened slightly and she nodded, running to the large man (who I assumed was the chief) and whispering some things to him.
"He said to take as much as you need!" She said, smiling and running back to him. "Here, I'll take you to the food supply!" She said, grabbing his hand and dragging him forward, surprising and causing him to trip. I followed behind them, watching as she chatted with him excitedly.
I didn't like her. She seemed too enthusiastic about everything, and she looked at him in this weird way as if she liked him (though there was no doubt in my mind that she fancied him; the way her lips curled up slightly when he even looked her way gave it away).
"Flora!" I heard someone call my name and I snapped out of my trance, turning around. "Come here, look at all the food!" The Twins chirped in unison. I walked over and stared at the large sacks of food hanging from the trees.
"Tiger Lilly told me they hang the food from the trees so the foxes and skunks and other animals can't get the food and eat it." Nibs told me, jumping and pulling a rope, causing the sack to fall to the ground with a quiet thud.
"We usually just take a sack or two of food. That lasts us a while since food never goes bad here." Cubby said, reaching inside the sack and taking out a strawberry, shoving it into his mouth. Red fruit juiced dribbled down his cheek and I giggled. I curled the sleeve of my sweater in my palm and wiped his chin.
"Do you want some?" Slightly asked me, holding out his palm, which had a few blueberries in it.
"Just one." I replied, smiling and tossing the blueberry in the air, catching it in my mouth. They all cheered and I laughed as they tried to mimic me, mostly failing. Finally Tootles caught a raspberry in his mouth and I laughed, as did the rest of the lost boys.
"Ready to go?" I heard Peter call out behind us. I grabbed the sack of food and slung it over my back. His face was slightly red and he was adjusting his hat. Tiger Lilly was skipping away, a smile dancing across her lips.
The lost boys all nodded and we began to march through the woods once again. "Want me to carry that?" Peter asked me, floating beside me.
"Nope."
"You sure? Looks kinda heavy." He replied, reaching out to take it from me.
"I've got it." I insisted, shifting the bag to my other arm. "So how about you and Tiger Lilly?" I asked him, and his cheeks turned red again.
"She likes me a little too much." He replied, rubbing the back of his neck, blushing again. "I don't really like her back, though. I haven't liked anyone in a while, honestly."
"Hey! Look!" I heard Tootles call out, and the lost boys laughed and ran off. I turned around and tried to see where they went, but Peter touched my shoulder.
"They probably saw a squirrel or something." He shrugged, landing on the ground with a soft thud. He took the bag from me forcefully, slinging it over his shoulder.
"How come you haven't liked anyone in a while?"
"No one's really come along." He said, shrugging. "First Wendy, then Jane. Then another mainland girl I brought here a while back, but she didn't like me much. Kind of like you."
"I like you." I replied quietly, picking at a rip in the hem of my sweater. I tore it off, making a small scrap of fabric. I gathered my hair up and tied it into a ponytail with the fabric, brushing my bangs out of my face. "I just don't show it."
"You should work on showing your affection. That kind of stuff gets you far in life." Peter Pan replied, flying forward to the wooden door entrance, opening it and disappearing inside. I dug my fingernails into my palm, sighing.
Showing affection was a sign of weakness, in my opinion. As soon as you show someone that you like them, they turn on you. They drop you and leave you. Feelings are only good if you want to get hurt.
I followed him downwards into the room and sat down on a bed, pushing my bangs behind my ear. "What do you usually do around here for fun?" I asked him, crossing my ankles.
"Chase animals. Fight Hook, but he hasn't been active since I nearly cut his other hand off a week ago." Peter scratched his chin. "We like to just run around and do crazy things. Fun things! Like swimming and climbing trees and flying!" He smiled excitedly.
"I can't fly."
"That's because I haven't taught you to fly yet. I need to find some pixie dust, and then you can fly around NeverLand as much as you want!" He smiled, peeking under a bed. "I know I stashed some around here somewhere." He scratched his head, turning around in a few circles. He peeked under some bowls and a few more beds. I stood up and walked over to a bookshelf, looking inside of a few clay pots and opening a few of the books. Most of the books were just old storybooks, dusty with the pages nearly falling out. I opened one, though, and found that a space had been cut out in the pages, and a small green canvas bag had been placed inside.
"Is this it?" I asked, taking out the bag and holding it in the air. I closed the book and pushed it into the bookshelf. His eyes lit up and he walked over to me, taking the bag. He opened it delicately and frowned slightly.
"Yeah, but it's almost empty. I think we'll have to go visit Tink and get some more."
"Tinkerbell? You're fairy friend?" I asked, tightening my ponytail. "What if she doesn't like me?"
"She won't. But she'll get over it. She just gets jealous when I hang out with other girls. Most girls get like that around me." I snorted slightly and he glanced at me, furrowing his eyebrows. "What?"
"I'm not jealous."
"You sure? You looked kind of frustrated back at the IndianVillage when Tiger Lilly was giving me thimbles and such."
"You still call kisses 'thimbles'? Grow up, Peter." He glared at me and stuffed the bag in his pocket. I crossed my arms and glared back at him.
"You don't have to be so mean, Florence."
"You don't have to be so childish!" I snapped back, turning on my heel and walking away from him, towards the door.
"You don't have to be so grown-up, you know. You're not an adult yet. You can still be a kid sometimes." He mumbled, and I glanced back at him, sighing. "I think you try to act like a grown-up too much, and you end up frustrating everyone around you, including yourself."
"Since when did you get so smart? Last time I heard, you barely knew anything besides what was in NeverLand." I asked him, turning around.
"It's been a while since I've seen Jane or Wendy, you know." He whispered, staring at the ground. "People change."
"You aren't 'people', Peter. You're an infinite child."
"I can still change, Florence! You think you know everything about me just because Wendy and Jane told you a few wonderful stories! I know more than you think." He said, walking towards me. "I've seen things and I've felt pain and I've had to grow up a bit, too, so don't tell me that I can't change!" He snapped, walking past me. "I'm going to go get you some pixie dust and you can either come with me or stay here." He walked through the door and I heard the slamming of the wooden door. I bit my lower lip and followed him, my arms crossed tightly.