CHAPTER ELEVEN
Wendy woke up. She had been so low on energy she had fallen asleep. She looked at the alarm clock. It was already noon the next day. She got up and her head spun. She hadn't eaten anything for a long time, and it was getting to her. She walked back down the stairs as best as she could and took a picture of her and her mom out of the frame, carrying it outside.
Her head and eyes ached from her tears and thoughts. Her wrist still hurt, but she didn't regret doing it. Everything that was going on was too much to bear, and she couldn't think of any other way to take out her frustration. She held the picture to her heart and walked down the street.
She didn't know where she was going, but she was just walking and thinking. She found her way to the ravine and something seemed familiar, so she made her way down the path.
Wendy stopped when she got a chill up her spine. What seemed so familiar about this spot? It was as if something was missing that should be there. She fell to the ground from lack of energy. Her head was spinning so much it felt like she was going to pass out.
She breathed heavily as she began to feel even dizzier than she was before every minute. Then something happened that she couldn't explain.
She closed her eyes, remembering very faintly, the image of a boy. She saw herself talking to this boy, calling him Peter. She was telling him she couldn't stay. The memory ended as soon as it had began, it seemed, and Wendy opened her eyes, finding herself in a different spot from where she had fallen. She was surrounded by what seemed to be the walls of a small cabin. Except for the fact that the walls had vines intertwined with the wood.
She felt her head spin even more and she couldn't hold her eyes open anymore. Where was she? Before she could make a guess, she fell, but a pair of arms broke her fall.
"Oh my gosh, it's Wendy!" Peter cried as he flew as fast as he could down to his room. He was too late. He barely caught her as she fell backwards into a deep sleep.
"How is she here? I gave everyone the dust to forget."
Tinkerbell looked at Peter. She was just as confused as he was.
Peter looked at Wendy. Her strength and energy were shrinking; he could sense it within her. She hadn't eaten in days and he could tell her heart was breaking more and more. The only conclusion that Peter could think of was that something happened with Jake.
"Tinkerbell, get the boys to gather some periwinkle moss from the woods and get the guest room ready for Wendy. She will need her rest."
Tinkerbell nodded and fluttered off to do what she was told. Although she was jealous of Wendy, all she wanted was for her best friend Peter to be happy.
Peter flew over to the guest room where Tinkerbell had already done her job. He put Wendy comfortably down on the bed. His eyes were filled with sadness at the sight of Wendy's suffering. She already had lost a lot of weight and there were purple bags under her eyes. All the normal happiness from her had faded.
He left her side, though it was hard, and headed into the forest. He flew down the familiar path where he had taken Wendy to the mermaids. He landed at the surface of the lake, where the mermaids were lounging around in a circle. Peter cleared his throat and they all swam up to them.
"Hello Peter."
"Hello Flaze."
"You are troubled. What is the source of your worry?"
"I used the memory loss on Wendy so she could be happy with Jake."
"Oh Peter, I am so sorry."
"No, that's the thing, it didn't work somehow, she just appeared in the tree house and I am so confused. What does this mean?"
"Where is she?"
"She passed out. She hasn't eaten in days and she is really depressed. Her mother died..."
"Oh my goodness, you'd better come with us Peter, I can feel something bad dwelling."
After getting covered in the mermaid dust he dived into the lake, following the mermaids down to the very bottom, where there was a big rock covered in vines. Flaze separated the vines and there was a giant opening behind it. It was the mermaid kingdom. It was one of the most beautiful things Peter had ever seen. All of Neverland had been enchanted with beauty and this, he could tell, was specially enchanted. There in front of them was a castle made of crystal and diamond that shone like the sun against smooth ice in winter. Peter was bewildered, but he still managed to look around. The mermaids took him into an upper chamber in the castle.
When they sat around a table in the high-ceilinged room, Flaze took out a small crystal ball and held it up in the air. She blew out of her mouth a breath, which looked like ice. It surrounded the ball and lifted it out of her hands. She whispered some words in a language that Peter didn't recognize and the ball lit up. Peter had to block his eyes because of the immense brightness of the ball. When it died down Peter moved his arm and saw the crystal back in Flaze's hands. Even more miraculously, Flaze was crying. Peter had never seen Flaze cry, because she never had. Mermaids were one of the happiest creatures in Neverland, in the whole world.
"Flaze, what's the matter?"
As if not hearing Peter, Flaze told her companion to go fetch the 'change potion'.
"Thank you," she said when she put the crystal down and held the potion. She turned to Peter, "Only for a short time, I must turn into a human Peter."
"Flaze, why?"
"Wendy is dying from a broken heart. She fades away into mortality more every second. I fear I will not be able to help, but I will try. The only way she can live is if she is conscious and we can help her. Peter, I fear I cannot help, but I will do as much as I can. But nothing can mend that broken of a heart."
Peter's heart skipped a beat. The girl he loved was slowly dying. "Why is this happening? Why is she dying? I know she has a broken heart, but she is strong, she should be able to get through it."
Flaze had a weird look on her face, like she was hiding something, but Peter urged her to go on. "When you used that dust to make her forget you, part of her heart disappeared as well. With her mom dying as well, her heart is taking too many losses."
Peter's heart sank, as he couldn't help thinking that part of Wendy's depression came from him. A tear rolled down his cheek before he could stop it.
Flaze took the potion and drank it. The room filled up with light and Peter closed his eyes, the tears brimming his eyes bunched up and when the light faded, Peter looked ahead and gasped.
Lisa hugged Ash and tears rolled down her pale cheeks. Wendy had been gone for two days now, and there had been no word as to where she was.
"Ash, what if she did something stupid?"
"Don't think that Lisa, you know she's stronger than that?"
"Is she? Did you see her wrists?"
"Yah I know, but let's just pray she is okay."
Lisa looked over to Jake, who had been sitting at the front window for the whole two days, waiting for Wendy's return. Then out of nowhere, his head perked up and his mouth widened. He ran out the front door. Lisa and Ash stood in the doorway and when they saw the skinny, healthy figure of Wendy walking up the driveway, they ran to join Jake, who was hugging her.
Wendy wrapped her arms around her three best friends and smiled faintly. A tear of joy rolled down her cheek. It felt like she hadn't seen them all in months, even though it had only been two days.
Finally, they all let go and led Wendy into the house, where her grandma was standing, crying. Wendy ran up to her and gave her a hug, "Oh grandma."
Once they had all settled down a bit, Lisa asked where she had been.
"I was with a couple friends. I just had to get away and calm down a bit..."
As Wendy explained, Jake looked her up and down. She wasn't a wreck anymore, and Jake realized how much she had grown up. He remembered his tomboy girlfriend and how much she despised girly girls. Now here she was, a girly girl. Where her frizzy and orange hair used to be, was a long head of vibrant red curls. Where her very faint eyelashes used to be, were long, thick, beautiful lashes. Where all her baggy clothes used to be, was a pair of low-rise jeans and a bright blue form-fitting shirt. He had not seen these changes when he first came because Wendy was very tired and depressed, too much so to try to do anything.
Unnoticed, he walked across the street to the park, where he sat on the jungle gym where him and all his friends sat before he moved.
Wendy had finished talking, and noticed that one person was no longer sitting with everyone else. She sighed as she recalled her and Peter's conversation in Neverland when she was recovered. He had told her why he used the dust and that he was fine if her heart was with Jake. He just wanted her to be happy.
"Guys, I'll be right back."
She saw Jake sitting at the park and walked over to join him.
"Hey Wendy."
"Hi. Listen, sorry for my mood lately."
"No, you have an excuse. Don't apologize."
There was a silence, then he spoke again, "You've grown up."
"Yah I know. So have you."
Jake smiled, "So, how are you feeling? Well, obviously better."
"Yah, I am a lot better. I am still quite sad though."
"Yah, well that's not weird."
"Exactly. Do you remember when we started going out and we both had our first kiss on this jungle gym with each other?"
"How could I forget? That was one of the best days of my life."
"Yah, me too. I remember I went home after that and screamed with joy. A kiss was such a big deal back then."
"Yes, I know, I was probably just as happy. I went home and told Chad. He laughed at me and called me a loser. I was so mad at him. Now I agree though."
They laughed together. Wendy found it harder every second to choose between these two great guys.
"Wendy?"
"Yes?"
"When did you... never mind."
"No, please."
"It's stupid."
"Jake, nothing you can say is stupid."
"Fine. When did you stop having feelings for me?"
Jake had been looking at the ground. Wendy grabbed his chin and lifted his head. "I never stopped loving you, and I never will."
