Peter flew quite confidently towards his home on the second star to the right. But as he flew, he lost himself in thoughts about Wendy and kisses and became quite lost in the whole. He looked about for his star and it started to seem to him that all of the stars looked terribly alike. He looked to Tink to help guide him, but he had just realized that she was no longer there. Getting quite scared at his sudden displacement he felt himself no longer thinking of happy thoughts. Slowly, he floated all the more down towards the ground. When he touched down, he gathered himself in all his usually happy thoughts but found that he could no longer fly, merely jump remarkably high. His heart beat in a panic as he looked, lost among the stars, and for the first time, took in the surrounding in which he had become stranded.
To Wendy's dismay, Peter no longer visited her. The rest of the summer, although growing hotter, for Wendy only grew colder as she let go of the hope that he may come back. He may have truly forgotten her this time. Pretended himself back into a little boy, she was sure. With a fierce pride about her, Wendy marched on in her life, looking, however unsure towards her future at Wisterian Halls, Finishing School for Ladies. After two years, here, Wendy would be thrust forth into society, and be given to a husband which she must vow to love.
"Finished, indeed I will be." She whispered darkly. She silently dreaded the part where she is given to a husband, for she really hated lying, and knew that she had regrettably given all of her love to the flighty Peter Pan. The next day, she faced her demise. Her mother had gone to the same school and shared joyous stories about the establishment along the way. It was a simple school, Wendy was told, there were only four hallways, joint like a square with towers at each corner. There were two floors, save for the little rooms three and four flights up into the tower; and lastly, there was a very square, very simple dormitory made of stones in the middle of the square. To soothe Wendy, her mother had planted little stories of the Gargoyles that hung from the rafters, spitting water quite intentionally on all its passing victims of Wisterian Halls. The faucets, Wendy was told, were all usually kindhearted fish cast of copper save for the second to last, which naughtily squirted towards the dresses of the girls to make it seem as if a terrible occurrence of incontinence had taken them. Her most dreadful story her mother told was about the ghosts who haunt each tower.
"It's why they moved the dormitories to the servant's quarters." Her mother teased. Although meaning well, Wendy's mind was far too young to no longer believe in ghouls and the thought absolutely shook her.
As the car (happily purchased by Mr. Darling, who drove it as if it had a will and mind) pulled up towards the four horrid towers, Wendy felt the seriousness of the situation. She would never be going back home. She would remain here, until she is finished, and sent off to become a wife. A flight of panic overtook her and she looked back at the road they had taken and began to calculate how long it would take for her to run wildly back towards her old house in these blasted shoes. The opening of the car door jarred her back. Lots of young ladies were now walking towards the school, happily, and it reassured her that maybe there were indeed no ghosts.
The rest of the day was an absolute blur. She was grouped together with strange girls, each offering an encouragingly welcome smile, while they toured the lot of the property. The gargoyles were not spitting, as it was not raining, but she could see their wicked intentions. In the dormitory bathroom, Wendy gave the second to last faucet a dark glance, as if daring it to spout at her dress. Madame Wisteria, tragic widow, and head teacher at the school, was an absolutely charming woman with a tender nature. Not only was her name lovely, her manners were as well. At the end of the tour, she guided the girls to the dining hall and paused in the corridor to point out (all too proudly, Wendy might add) a brand, new grand piano, slick and black. Madame sat staring at it longingly, as if she might forget her manners and begin to play heartily, but she shook herself from her dream and continued to guide the girls.
The dinner and evening activities were all well, and Wendy found to her great surprise that the school was an immensely warm and inviting place. Already, she had made it a home.
At night time, she did her washing up and listened intently to the gossip of the girls, all brushing out their hair and splashing their faces, one girl who mistakenly chose the second to last sink was now soaked to dregs.
"Madame is so lovely!" Cooed one. It seemed Madame's warmth was not without effect on the others.
"Oh yes, and did you know she has three lovely daughters? All grown now, save for one." Said another. "Perfectly mannered, they all are. The eldest married a viscount! Can you imagine?" The all sighed longingly. Wendy felt perfectly out of place, for she never fantasized about such things and suddenly felt she would not fit in.
"I heard…" Said a fiery red-headed girl "That she is to lose the school, as the viscount argues he is the rightful heir, now that her husband has passed."
"That's awful!" Gasped another, the dreams of the viscount now shattered for all by the news of his foul character. The girl with the soaked nightgown shrugged.
"She should have had a son, silly woman." She said. The red-headed girl scoffed.
"You cannot just wish to have a son, Margarette, it doesn't work that way!" Taken aback, Margarette flushed.
"And what do you know of having children, Lissy?"
Lissy, obviously now out of useful information on the matter shut up quite quickly. Already, Wendy did not like Margarette.
As they were all practicing to become ladies, each girl was offered a small room in the dormitory. Wendy, being alphabetically last, got the room in the corner, which was absolutely lovely because it offered not just one but two windows to gaze out of. She looked on to the view which was to be hers for the next two years and it gazed up one of the towers menacingly. Her excitement suddenly dimmed.
The girls all crawled into bed, now and the lights were turned out. Wendy felt perfectly ready for sleep, even though this bed was new to her. Without much of a glance at her new view, she fell fast asleep.
Wendy awoke, at first, slowly, to a moaning of sorts. It became so horribly dreadful that she opened her eyes. She saw the moon rising high above the ominous towers and the cries reached a horrid peak that shook her to her core. Her heart beat frantically. So, the school really was haunted. She squeezed her eyes shut and blocked her ears. She might have had better luck falling asleep with Peter. Now, Peter haunted her mind as well. The rest of the night, it is safe to say, was restless.
The next morning, it seemed that Wendy was the only one haunted by the spirit, as the rest of her class seemed gay. The girls seemed to have taken no notice, and they walked gleefully to breakfast. As she passed the grand piano in the hallway she could almost imagine the foul notes it might play in the full of the moon.
As it was really only their first day, the lessons were nothing more than introductory. Lunch came too quickly for Wendy, and still plagued by her haunting, dinner seemed to lurk menacingly closer. It was at dinner time that her fate quite changed completely.
They had been eating peacefully, when a horrid sound came from the grand piano. The girls, all giggling, peered to see what idiot was playing so wretchedly. It was a young man, Wendy could see, and he was a dreadful musician. Madame Wisteria softly cooing to him that he was doing just fine, even though he was most certainly not. His shoulders were hunched in obvious malaise as he struggled with the instrument.
"Here," She encouraged kindly. "This is the Prelude." All too happy to take the keys from him, Madame Wisteria indulged herself with playing the prelude so beautifully. To the surprise of the whole dining hall, the boy, listening intently, played the prelude back almost perfectly (although completely without proper timing). Madame Wisteria tut tutted, as mothers would, immune to the display.
"You did not read the piece, silly boy, you merely used your ears. You need to actually read it!" She pointed to the sheet music roughly. In a heat of tantrum, the young man rose suddenly from the bench.
"But you know damn well I cannot read, you daft cow!" he spit. Now the whole dining hall took back a breath, and at the blanching of Madame's face, began to laugh at them. The young man suddenly dwarfed with embarrassment, gazed helplessly at the room of girls mocking him. It was his absolute nightmare. But, as if drawn magnetically, and dare we saw magically, he locked eyes with a particular girl in the room.
Half recognizing him by his voice, and fully recognizing him by his fiery green gaze, Wendy's heart stopped. She was quite sure she had died. At the locking of their eyes, Peter's eyes softened and his clumsy smile split wide, forgetting already his frustrations with the piano.
Madame's pride was dreadfully shattered and she grabbed him forcefully by the ear to the tower South. As if his ear were made of gum, he tried desperately twisting his head this way and that to get another glimpse of Wendy, to make sure he really, truly had seen her there.
Hooray! I'm doing it! I'm writing the story of my dreams! I hope you like it too!