Ah, home sweet home.
Or so I thought.
I had just stepped out of the taxi (after having flirted with the driver for several minutes because I didn't have any money to pay him) when who happens to be lounging against the door to my apartment building none other than Peter Pan?
"How did you get here so fast?" I asked, both suspicious and impressed.
"I have my ways," replied Peter mysteriously as he examined his fingernails.
"You took the bus, didn't you?" I pressed, narrowing my eyes. He must have taken the bus.
"What? How dare you! Of course I didn't take the bus. I…look that's not the point. The point is that I'm here to apologize." I could see that Peter was trying to put on a somber face as he continued, "After looking back, I realized I wasn't the most polite of gentlemen. I'm sorry if I came across as a player to you."
A player? Did he just say that?
"Uh…," I replied, speechless. "I don't really know what to say…"
"Say you'll let me make it up to you," he told me eagerly. "C'mon! I have the rest of the weekend to make it up to you. By the way, what school did you say you went to?" He slipped the question in so quickly and slyly that I almost fell for it.
"I didn't say," I replied dully. It was just another one of his tricks so he could continue to stalk me. "Nice try though."
"Please Wendy?" he asked, lacing his fingers together as if in prayer. "Give me another chance. Don't make me beg."
I can't say I'd turn down a little groveling.
After resisting great temptation, I sighed. "Well…Oh, alright. You're lucky I'm so sweet."
"Ha, I knew it'd work," said Peter smugly as he ran a hand arrogantly through his hair.
I rolled my eyes. "Well, if you don't mind," I added, "I'm going upstairs to change into something that's not soaking wet and-"
"Wendy?" a voice asked, sounding incredulous.
I tore my eyes away from Peter to see my two friends Kim and Zandra standing not but a few feet away, looking me up and down as if I had just crawled out of a sewer. Kim was half Chinese/half I-have-no-clue with short dark hair and slightly slanted eyes. She constantly had the look on her face as if she were smelling something particularly nasty, but I still loved her anyways. Zandra (short for Alexandra) was as white as they come with equally short hair that had the tendency to poof out whether it was humid or not. Both had brown eyes that were flicking between Peter and myself with disbelief.
"Kim," I said, plastering on a smile. "Zandra. Funny seeing you two here."
"You told us to meet you here. We're going shopping, remember?" Kim said, lifting a dark eyebrow. Her eyes were still glancing to Peter with interest.
"I didn't know you were going to a wet t-shirt contest," Zandra added, pointing at my shirt. I crossed my arms over my chest and stuck my tongue out at her.
"Who's he?" Kim demanded.
"That's uh…That's…," I faltered, wondering why my friends were acting so hostile.
"I'm her boyfriend," Peter offered, bowing his head in greeting. "Pan. Peter Pan." Who was he, James Bond?
"Boyfriend?" my friends chorused.
"UM," I said loudly, dragging their eyes away from Peter. "Can I talk to you two upstairs?" When Peter started for the door after us, I added, "Alone?"
Peter rolled his eyes and slumped against the brick wall, waving us to go inside. I pulled Kim and Zandra after me, hightailing it to the elevator. Once we were safely inside I explained everything to them.
"He sure is cute," said Kim, releasing a giggle.
Was she giggling? Gross.
"I don't care how cute he may be," I told them. "I'm only doing this because…" I trailed off. Wait, why was I doing this? Originally it had been for my mother just because I had wanted to make her happy. But I already went out with him and had nearly lost my life doing so. Now who was I doing it for?
Unnerved by this thought, I fell into silence. My friends proceeded to giggle all the way up to my floor. The elevator doors slid open and I was just about to step out when I caught sight of Peter leaning against the door to my apartment.
"How does he do that?" I muttered under my breath.
"I was just making sure you came up okay," said Peter cheerfully, grinning at my annoyed expression.
"Isn't he sweet?" Kim sighed. "You're so lucky, Wendy. You have such a caring boyfriend."
I nearly strangled myself.
Caring boyfriend indeed. He cares so much that he won't leave me the hell alone!
"Well since you're all here," I said dully, "we might as well go inside." I knocked on my own door, considering my keys were probably lying at the bottom of the ocean by now.
My mother answered the door. She looked thrilled to see Kim and Zandra and even more thrilled to see Peter. "Come in! Come in!" she cried, letting us pass. "Wendy, darling, how did you like your date? Good heavens, child! Why are you all wet?"
"Funny story actually," I said nervously. "Had to do with a rainstorm and a moped but I won't get into that now. I'm going to go change, alright mum?" I kissed her on the cheek. "Zandra, Kim…follow me." Peter started walking too but I turned around and pushed my hand into his chest. "I'm going to change my clothes. You should stay out here."
Peter grinned at me sheepishly. "Oh, right."
After locking myself up in the solitude of my bedroom with my two best friends, I spun on them and said, "What am I going to do? How do I get rid of him?"
"Rid of him?" Kim repeated. "Are you crazy? How are your knees not weak after you look into those dreamy…green…eyes…" She sank down at the foot of Michael's bed. Which, I realized, had Michael in it.
Michael blinked sleepily. "What are you all talking about?"
"Nothing," I said quickly. "Why don't you find John, eh?"
"Mum took him to the library," Michael replied as he sat up.
"Could you please go out in the hallway, then, for a second?" I asked sweetly. "I'm going to get dressed."
Michael yawned and drifted dreamily across the room to where he opened my door. Peter toppled inside. It appeared as if Peter had been trying to eavesdrop.
"Peter!" I exclaimed, shocked.
"Oops," he replied quickly. "Sorry, I thought this was the bathroom. My mistake."
Michael frowned. "He listens to people go to the bathroom?"
"Michael," I cut in, "why don't you keep Peter company while I get dressed? You'll shut the door behind you, won't you? Thank you, Michael." The door closed once more. I sighed in relief.
"Aw, he was listening to what you were saying about him," Zandra cooed. "That's so sweet. He must worry about what you think of him."
I pinched the bridge of my nose. Explaining things to my friends was like talking to a brick wall. "Okay," I sighed. "There's no winning with you two. I might as well put on a happy face and let Peter prove himself to me."
"You should wear a miniskirt," said Kim, ignoring what I just said. "Guys like miniskirts."
I stared at her. "I am not going to wear a miniskirt! I don't think I even have a miniskirt!"
"Well if we had gone shopping, like you promised," said Zandra accusingly, "then you would have one."
"You two are unbelievable! Why is everyone taking Peter's side in this?" I asked crossly.
"Because you're being stubborn," said Kim. "This isn't the Wendy I know. The Wendy I know is sweet and well mannered who only gets anal if someone spills something and doesn't clean it up. You're a very caring person, Wendy, and I know you have a soft side. Peter's going to give up on you if you don't show him that."
"Show him what?" I asked, giving her an odd look.
"Your legs," Kim replied. "Like I said, wear a miniskirt."
I ignored this comment and said, "Do you both really think I'm being a little harsh with this? I mean, I did agree to give him another chance…"
Kim smiled at me. "What harm could it do?"
A lot, apparently.
The moment I stepped outside my bedroom door in some dry jeans and a t-shirt (and not a miniskirt) with a shy smile and a warm hello to Peter, I was instantly taken advantage of.
"You know," said Peter, watching me suspiciously, "I'm a bit hungry considering I had to fight pirates and everything this afternoon…Would you mind making me a sandwich?"
I closed my eyes. Don't scream, don't scream, don't scream, I told myself. He was just kidding. He didn't mean it.
"Hold the mayo. That stuff makes my tummy feel funny," Peter added as he sat down on the couch next to Michael.
I looked to Kim and Zandra. They were nodding in encouragement. Did they actually think that him asking me to make a sandwich for him was entirely polite?
I dug my fingernails into my palms as I wandered into the kitchen. "Oh no, we're out of bread!" I called out to Peter, pretending to sound disappointed.
"What are you talking about?" my mother asked, coming in and pointing to the loaf of bread on the counter. "We have plenty."
So I made him a sandwich. I never felt so humiliated in my life; he should be the one making me a sandwich. I would have added extra mayonnaise too, if only we had any in the fridge. It was nearly three in the afternoon when we all walked out onto the sidewalk again as Peter commented on how weird his sandwich tasted. Ignoring these comments, I forced myself to listen to my friends as they argued over what we would do for the remainder of the day. Peter wanted to take us all bowling, Kim wanted to go clubbing, and Zandra thought it would be nice if we all got some ice cream. I just wanted to stay home.
"How about this," Peter suggested. "Why don't we go to my apartment and pick up my friends and then go bowling? There's an arcade in the bowling alley and I'm sure they have a DDR machine…which is kind of like clubbing minus the alcohol. And, I know for a fact that the snack bar has ice cream."
Oh, so everyone got what they wanted except me.
"Okay," I sighed as Kim and Zandra nodded in agreement. "Bowling it is."
Being nice was way too much work.
--
A/N: I tried to make Wendy sweeter XD I'm not sure it worked though.
