Author's Note: I'm glad Chapter 6 had such a great turnout! Glad you all enjoyed it; hope you all like this one just as much. Review to let me know what you think, thanks. Enjoy! I'll update as soon as I can.
Chapter Seven
"Do you remember my father's dinner party, back when we were in college?"
Elizabeth and Daniel Parker were sitting in the family room of their house, speaking in hushed voices. Kayla and her friends had driven off in Alex's convertible to meet up with old high school classmates at a local club, and Evan had decided to follow along in his rental car, attempting to admire Kayla's best friend, Rhea Sparks, from a safe distance. However, the parents knew that their youngest daughter was still home, and there was a possibility that she would eavesdrop at one point or another, so they remained quiet.
"Refresh my memory," Dan replied. "College was so long ago."
"Well," Elizabeth began, reclining on one of the sofa pillows, "it started out when Dad invited his boss and a few other important people at work for dinner. But my mother also invited some friends from her prestigious book club, as well as significant officials from the city. I was scheduled to come home and visit that month, anyway, so Mum requested that I join them.
"You and I had been dating for about six months by then, and Mother also encouraged me to bring you along. Generally obedient to my family, of course I did."
"Oh, so you're talking about the first time I met your parents?" Dan grinned mischievously. "They absolutely hated me."
"They didn't hate you, love. They just didn't know what to expect."
"Maybe that's because you told them what a great medical student I was."
"Not far from the truth, really." Elizabeth's emerald green eyes twinkled. "You could've studied a bit more in that first year at college, of course…"
"Hey, I was just a kid. You must have told your parents I was near perfect, though, the way they'd judged me."
"That's how I'd always seen you," Elizabeth admitted, revealing a small smile. "Back to the party – Mum and Dad were upset that I was seriously dating somebody whose main goal in life was to make it big as a rock star. What was your band called, again?"
"Afro Funk Brothers," Dan laughed, patting his own head. "I was the only guy who couldn't grow his own Afro – and please, don't tell the kids about those days. Anyway, your parents must have been thrilled. Remember after we talked to that guy who owned the bank, and your dad pulled you aside?"
"Yeah! He said to me, 'I don't much like that boy. He looks like a drug dealer.' Ironically enough, you sounded quite similar to him, just earlier today. But little did Dad know, he would be the one that proposed a toast at our wedding, nearly three years later."
"Lizzie," Dan said, using a pet name he hardly ever referred to her with. "Do you remember when we snuck out?"
"From the dinner party? Yes, we drove to that nearby lake to talk and relax in peace, but somehow Dad found out and followed us there. It was embarrassing!"
"He yelled so loudly. I was beginning to think that if I ever asked you to marry me, we'd have to elope to Vegas or something!"
Elizabeth laughed, her cheeks wet as the tears rolled down. "We were so young, Danny. Remember how it felt to be so young and in love?"
"The best feeling in the world," Dan agreed.
All was quiet for a moment, until Elizabeth piped up. "Danny?"
"Yes, Liz?"
"Are we complete hypocrites?" Elizabeth bit her lip. "Jenna and Adam are beginning to remind me of us when we were young… and you know how we hated when my father tried to interfere in our relationship."
"Honey, that's different. Jenna was told specifically that she was to stay here for Kayla's dinner, and she disobeyed us." Dan furrowed his brow.
"You're wrong. All I told her was that she could not go to that party. She was never ordered not to talk to Adam. Haven't you heard her speaking about him over the years? Haven't you seen the way her eyes light up whenever they talk on the phone? She loves him, Dan. Don't you see?" Elizabeth frowned. "I think we both made a mistake on the way we handled the situation."
"They're not in love, Elizabeth!" Daniel protested. "They're fourteen years old… they don't know what love is. They don't even know how to drive, for Heaven's sake. We were older, we knew better."
"Did we, Danny?" Elizabeth whispered. "After that confrontation from my father, I didn't speak to anyone in my family for over a week, including my mother, with whom I had always been so close. I wanted so badly to run away from all of that. What makes you think Jenna doesn't feel the same way?"
Daniel thought for a moment, before nodding. "Maybe you're right," he conceded. "I don't know. I think maybe we should go talk to her."
"Let's go, then."
They hurried down the hall to Jenna's room, where they found the door shut. "Jenna!" Dan called out. "Let us in!" The door was locked, as expected, and neither parent heard a response from their daughter. Finally, Daniel reached up above the door, pulled out the key from its hiding spot, and turned it slowly through the lock.
"Jenna!" Elizabeth exclaimed, but their daughter was gone. All that remained was an envelope sealed on her pillow.
"Psst! How did you get here anyway?" Jenna whispered, grasping tightly onto Peter's hand to follow him through the backyards.
The two of them walked outside in the dark, relying on distant streetlights and Tinkerbell for guidance through the night. They'd snuck out through Jenna's window, and had begun creeping through yards to find an unpopulated area to set flight.
"Relied on my instinct," Peter laughed, running over to an empty acre of land. "You'd be surprised how much I know."
Jenna giggled. "You're kidding, right?" She couldn't believe that this boy, amazing as he was, could fly around aimlessly and find Tinkerbell in only a few days.
"Do I look like I'm kidding?" Peter's face was now solemn. He looked into her eyes, and paused. "I think we're all right here," he finally murmured.
"Agreed." Jenna was confused, though, as to how she would be able to fly to Neverland with Peter. "Now, how am I going to fly?"
"Just think happy thoughts," Peter said, "and they'll cause you to float away."
Jenna slapped his arm. "I'm not an idiot, Peter. I've heard the stories… you tricked my uncles with that one!"
"I tricked Wendy with that one, too, as much as she never wanted to admit that I fooled her. But fine, you know the secret. Tink, get over here."
Peter sprayed some of Tinkerbell's fairy dust on Jenna, who actually began to hover in the air right away. She figured out how to move, too, at a quick enough rate, although not appearing nearly as graceful as Peter did when he flew alongside her. They soared toward the sky, surpassing the stars as they accelerated upward.
"This isn't real," Jenna whispered, mostly to herself. "This can't be real. It's too perfect. Evan's science would totally deny all of this. I'm dreaming, I know it."
"Well, start believing," Peter told her, as they took a few turns. "We're almost there, anyway. You'd love Neverland. It's wonderful. Second star to the right, and straight on till morning, that's where it is."
The two continued to fly and talk at the same time. Jenna told Peter all about her life back in Florida and about her love for writing and knowledge, about her friends, about Adam, about even the littler things like insecurities and inconveniences. She found that she could tell the boy anything and he would be completely engrossed, absorbing every detail in his mind. In turn, he gave her pointers about how to improve flying, and told her that she would be an excellent mother to his Lost Boys.
Suddenly, light began to pour in. Jenna found herself bouncing onto a fuchsia cloud (which closely resembled cotton candy), and looking downward toward where there was ground. She could see trees of different types and beautiful flowers and lakes and scenery. Just looking at the landscape compelled Jenna to long to live there.
Peter realized how captivated Jenna was as she gazed at the panorama of the enchanting place, and he smiled knowingly. "This," he told her, "is Neverland, the place where dreams come true, the place where you never have to grow up."
Acknowledgments: I would like to thank my lovely reviewers of Chapter 6 –Daniel-radcliffes-girl, RL, Tallemera Rane, hefalump, grily, DanishGirl, Daniela, Blackcat69, SuperSayin2Gohan, Blondie Hair andYuki Asao. Stay sweet!
