Chapter 7 'Temptations'
Lily undid the clasp of necklace, letting the black charm in the center droop slightly before taking it off entirely. The chain itched and irritated her skin so she decided to make do without it for now. It was the one thing she carried with her daily, only taking it off before bed or to shower. She set the necklace down next to her books, then sighed before rubbing her eyes at the text in front of her. Miss Blanchard had been pushing her towards analytical passages, stories with deeper messages and did not begin with 'Once upon a time…'.
Since the incident at school, Lily had been alienated from the rest of the town. Everyone seemed to watch her and wait for the mentally deranged girl to beat up the person next to her. It was bad enough they thought of her as the freak orphan, now add public menace to the mix. She couldn't walk into Granny's without having the whole diner turn to acknowledge her arrival. like if they kept seeing her that way, she might end being that girl. She couldn't help but feel this way and she tried hard to keep a low profile.
So, she stayed indoors, throwing herself into her studies because there was nothing else. She guessed she had done it so often that she was gradually improving in her reading, impressing Miss Blanchard and the school board. That explained why she was at her teacher's apartment on a Saturday morning, slowly getting through one of the most interesting books she had ever read. It was thin in pages but it took several hours piecing the words together with the help of Miss Blanchard.
Speaking of which, her teacher must have been going through bad times too. Lily noticed how Miss Blanchard would gaze at the wall with a contemplative frown. And when Lily would get her attention, her petite body would jump in her seat before returning to the curriculum.
She closed the book, "Miss Blanchard. You're not happy."
The pixie -cut teacher glanced up from her pile of reports she dutifully graded. She was taken back and shook her head, "No, of course I'm happy Lily. You have improved immensely since we started. I really think we could get you to high school in a matter of months." She praised.
"No. Not that. Something is bothering you,"
Miss Blanchard wriggled uncomfortably in her seat. She was eager to delve into another topic, trying to keep her emotions to herself, "How far are you in the book?" she seemed to ask offhandedly.
Lily looked at her teacher warily, not buying it but decided to drop the subject for now, "Nearly done."
"Quite different than the fairytales I started you off with," Miss Blanchard picked up the book, The Pearl by John Steinbeck. She flipped through the pages and the summary of it came flowing back to her, " In these stories, they don't have much of a happy ending. What do you think about the plot?"
It was about a poor fisher who found an enormous pearl one day. He figured his life could change with this one pearl, but things go awry. People sought to cheat him from it, he became paranoid and fled his home after an attack on his home. With only a few pages left of this story, Lily could tell the ending wasn't going to be a happy. It was just the way life was, at least that was what life was to her. It was too good to be true if it ended that way.
"It's realistic," she commented, "I could see where he's coming from,"
"Steinbeck is widely known for writing about people, their flaws and their strengths," she sighed, "He understood the human spirit and conveyed our struggles into his writings,"
"It's just how the main character, Kino, let greed overcome him and cloud his judgement. He wanted more. Why wasn't he happy with what he had?" Thoughts drifted to Henry and the old bitterness towards him returned. She still found him to be an ungrateful brat at times.
"Temptations. There are things in life that tempt us to do bad things, lure us from our initial path. It is relatable," By the way Miss Blanchard carried her words, had Lily wondering if she was speaking from personal experience. Though she would never expect Mary Margaret Blanchard to fray from the path of light. The woman was the epitome of good-doers. She was too smart to give into temptations, "It's human. It's normal."
"But what annoyed me was his how his wife, Juana, went with this. She didn't agree with Kino's plans but followed him anyway, leaving behind the life they knew,"
"That's what love does. But seeing how this was played out in the book, the pearl put a strain on their family. The love seemed to be overshadowed by the corruption from the pearl,"
"She should have fought. Then maybe they wouldn't be on the run now,"
"Yeah," Miss Blanchard agreed, "And their son wouldn't have died,"
"What?" Lily exclaimed, not having read that part, but it still justified her point.
Miss Blanchard giggled at her reaction, sparking a little laugh fest between the both of them. "Ah, see what we're doing?" she said in midst of the laughter, "We're discussing about the text. Reading comprehension is understanding the plot and being able to justify what you feel about it. And you're doing just that Lily. It's just the matter of writing it down, which we'll start right now,"
They were about to get out their notebooks when Miss Blanchard's phone beeped. She didn't want to be rude and she asked Lily if it was okay to check her phone. Lily shook her head, "I don't mind at all," Her teacher was way too nice that it was unbelievable sometimes.
She flipped the device open and read the text. The joyous expression dropped, replaced with one of worry, "Are you okay, Miss Blanchard?"
"Yeah. It's...just something came up," she snapped her phone shut and began to clear the table, "I'm sorry but I'm cutting today's lesson short, but I promise we will return to the joys of essays and character analyzations,"
"Oh no, I definitely don't want to miss that," Lily murmured. She packed up her things and couldn't help but let her eyes wander the table to her teacher's phone. A name blinked repeatedly across the outside screen
David Nolan? As in, new animal rescuer David Nolan? The name took Lily off guard, accidentally sweeping her books off the table's surface in an attempt to steady herself from the shock. Nolan. She instinctively reached for her right wrist where a chunk of bracelets hung.
"Lily?" A hand rested on her shoulder and Lily realized that she had been teetering, on the verge of hitting the ground if it weren't for Miss Blanchard's interference, "What's wrong?" The warm touch of the hand disappeared, now on her forehead to check her temperature, " Do I need to get you to the hospital?" Miss Blanchard set her down on the chair before retrieving her fallen books and stuffing them in her bag for her.
"No," Lily jumped to her feet, almost light headed when doing so, "Just a little dizzy. All those words...swimming in my head," she explained weakly. Sliding her sleeve over her bracelets, she snagged the bag from Miss Blanchard and scurried for the door.
If Miss Blanchard caught her pitiful excuse, she didn't show it. Instead, she grabbed her coat from the hanger as well as her white knit beanie. She had somewhere to go. Did this had to do with David Nolan?
"I'll walk you out. Will you be alright walking home by yourself?" Lily saw the underlying in what she said. Miss Blanchard would always accompany her to places whenever she could, serving as protection from the bullies. But there wasn't a threat anymore. Lily made sure of that. But she wasn't safe from the disapproving looks on the streets. That was something she couldn't fight her way out of. Obliviousness was her shield at this point.
"I'm good,"
"But aren't your foster parents at work?"
"I'll just go to the park or something," She knew Paige, the Zimmers, and Henry were there. Her friends.
She never thought she would have a group of people who cared for her and enjoyed her company. It had been wonderful. They had helped her get through each day, even Henry. But she wouldn't consider him to be a 'friend friend' yet, her feelings toward his current situation with his moms preventing her from doing that.
They would hang out at the Tailors' every week, watching movies, telling stories...but ends the same way each time. Henry would bounce early with no explanation to why or where he was going. She was suspicious. What would that boy be up to? Did he have plans with the motorcycle guy, August?
"I'm heading in that direction so I'll walk you there,"
"No, its okay. I'll be fine,"
"Are you sure?" Lily's phone vibrated. It was Paige's reply:
Awesome! Come here soon. Nic is killing us w/ his warp speed theory. :P
Oh Nic. The anxiety attack back there was far from her mind now. She had something to attend to at the park. The corners of her lips jerked into a smile, a genuine smile, one Miss Blanchard rarely saw since teaching Lily, "I'm good. Bye Miss Blanchard," She threw open the door and raced down the stairs. Like the message suggested, she wanted to be there soon.
"Until tomorrow, I guess!" Miss Blanchard called after her though she must have exited the building by then. Sighing, she followed in the same direction, but with a slower, less enthusiastic pace. She had to meet someone as well. She shut the door behind her, forgetting to check for items left behind. Otherwise, she would have caught Lily's necklace still laying on the table, forgotten amidst the rush.
Peter recovered within a day. Tigerlily would like to say he was back to his old zealous self, but she would be kidding herself. She made time to drop in during midday to check on him, respecting Tink's instructions, but when she arrived at the treehouse Peter had already risen. It was plain to see he wasn't the epitome of good health, with his bloodshot eyes twitching from left to right, absorbing everything in his surroundings as if previous day's events escaped his memory.
He paced hyperactively with would have been a regularity seeing as though Peter couldn't sit still anyway, but he did with unease. Sweat cemented his emerald garments to his chest and his hair also emitting perspiration as well, creating a sort of revolting sleekness to it. In other words, he was a mess.
But before she could voice her opinions on his condition, Peter flew past her and out the window. She hustled down the ladder in time to find Peter proceeding with his pacing, overlooking the Lost Boys carrying on with their business. It was important for all the boys to apply themselves into their chores, otherwise the compound would be in chaos, anarchy would ensue. Peter wasn't one for responsibility, but he wanted to keep his boys in line, as well as set them off on fun escapades, the balance of work and play. Only one boy didn't agree with the system- Felix.
Although extremely faithful to Peter, he didn't care for the chores. He would show his defiance by deliberately forgetting to complete them, often staying recumbent against a tree whittling away. A full lecture and scolding would come shortly afterward courtesy of Peter, yet there he stayed at his tree for the remainder of the day.
He was there now, his eyes following Peter with a newfound curiosity. Tigerlily could see why. Peter was dissatisfied, he found something wrong with the perfectly functioning system he had orchestrated. He approached Fox and Pockets, a younger boy, who recently returned from collecting firewood.
"Now what do we have here?"
Fox brightened at the sight of their leader, "Ah Peter, glad to see you're alright-"
"I believe there is a question on the table, Fox," Peter cut in brusquely, finding the boy's concern irritating rather than touching
"About to start the fire, sir," Pockets answered for the older boy, raising the arrangements of kindling proudly. He was a petite boy for his age but tended to act a bit like Peter at times. Tigerlily remembered rescuing him from Agrabah about two centuries ago. The memory played in her head- now that was a trip. Full of disguises, brawny men with swords, Peter's trickery at its finest…It had been so long since they left the island.
A brilliant blaze distracted her from recollecting further. Peter had lit the firepit with only the snap of his fingers, the Lost Boys near the pit stumbled back, having received no warning, "Well don't. That's what magic is for,"
What? Was Peter insane? Tigerlily thought appalled by his actions. The fairies prohibited any misuse of Neverland's magic ever since the pirates came and caused their energy crisis. Did Peter care that his eternal youth could cease if he kept using magic?
"But you told us not to use the island's magic. It comes with a price,"
Peter stared at his shaking hands, reeling from the fire trick. It had been long since he felt the power pulsing through his body. Through his eyes, Tigerlily saw hunger. Hunger for more magic, "I've already paid it." But not a price he meant to pay. Tigerlily long discovered that Peter had more of a special, direct connection with the island's magic, vastly different than the fairies', in fact maybe even more powerful.
"We shouldn't, Peter," Fox argued, "The fairies said the magic will run out if we do,"
"You don't follow the fairies now do you? You're a Lost Boy and Lost Boys listen to what I say,"
"But-"
Peter kicked aside the makeshift cart carrying the pots and pans in a suddenly. The clatter caused the boys to jump in fright, their heads turned to face their leader with wide eyes. He wanted to bring attention to Fox's mistake. He leered at Fox then let out a mirthless laugh, "But what? For a moment there, I thought you were questioning me. Me?" he stressed the last 'me' in such a voice that a bear growl couldn't compare. Pockets scurried off.
Fox's eyes widened. He stammered, "No, no, Peter. I was only-"
"Only what? Getting on my nerves. Well then, you've succeeded. Remember what I did for you, risked my life to rescue you from your no-good mother. Didn't she used to beat you until your throat turned raw from screaming?" Fox remained in a pained silence. Upon seeing this, a malevolent grin passed over Peter as he snagged Felix's club in seconds and ambled towards Fox, "I think it went something like this."
Then, he jabbed the club deep into Fox's stomach knocking the wind out of him. He stumbled onto a tree, scratching the bark behind him but couldn't escape from Peter's path of violence. The second he looked up, the club was hurtling towards him once more, this time meeting his face with an cringing crack. The Lost Boys stood ways off, only Devin tried to intervene, only to be held down by Felix and Thud. They knew Peter was going to lash out on him too if he tried to help.
Tigerlily was forced to step in. She dragged Peter back, prying the club from his insatiable hands. She casted an apologetic glance Fox's way. A ring of darkish purple formed around his now unnaturally crooked nose. He irradiated fear. Peter had never been this harsh.
She led him away from the compound until they were below the treehouse. She pointed to the ladder, "Bed. Now," she said while maintaining temperance. She found it pointless to argue with the same asperity he had, so she went with a peaceful approach.
"Eager, are we?" he growled, "No thanks," Peter was still fuming from the encounter with Fox.
"You are delirious. You must rest,"
"No I don't!" he yelled, "Tigerlily, you worry about nothing,"
"You must sleep," she tried again.
"Don't control me. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not one of your little squaws that you boss around. Even if I were, I still wouldn't listen. To them you are nothing but your title!"
She slapped him, distinguishing the fire in his eyes, "Quiet!" What he said stung. She knew it was the truth, but for him to say it as brusquely as he did brought the unpleasant feelings she fought to contain, "You stupid boy, " she hissed, her plan of temperance falling apart, "can you see this does not concern me? Your anger is unnecessary. You did not have to do that to Fox,"
"What?" Peter stared at her confused. She must have slapped sense back into him. Literally," What about Fox?"
"You beat him for questioning you? He only asked. Only asked! I know leadership, Peter. And what you displayed wasn't that!"
His eyes widened, "Is he okay? Is he okay now?"
"Is a crooked nose okay?" How could he have forgotten? It occurred only moments ago,"
"No, no, no," he ran his fingers through his hair, "I didn't mean to,"
"It did not look like that,"
"Tigerlily. Something happened to me last night,"
"Yes. You died,"
"No. I'm not feeling like myself today. Couldn't really sleep after what happened,"
Tigerlily rested her hand on his shoulder, but her line of vision was elsewhere. This was White Eyes' doing. The shadows merging together must be effecting Peter's attitude, "Please, go and get some rest," she said in a far off voice, already making plans to resolve this.
"Fine," he complied, foot on a ladder rung, "You could watch the boys, apologize on my behalf."
"No, I am going to find Tinkerbell. She might have a remedy for a broken nose,"
"Okay," Then he waved goodbye and climbed into the treehouse. He must be tired, she remarked, he didn't bother to fly up. She turned to the direction of Pixie Hollow but stopped mid-step when she heard Peter whispering. There was no one in the treehouse apart from him as far as she knew. She nimbly hopped to the ladder base to hear what he was saying.
"I never agreed to this," he said, "You're changing me,"
Then another voice came, octaves lower and reverberating her insides just by listening to it, "If you want the power, then you do what needs to be done."
She backed away from the ladder. She never heard the voice before. She couldn't help but have a bad feeling, almost fear. The only thing Tigerlily ever feared were the Shadows, but a familiar shiver sparked through her body at hearing the voice. She couldn't help but wonder why that was.
This only confirmed her suspicions. It was time to pay Tinkerbell a visit.
TRAMP
Lily sheepishly approached Miss Blanchard's car. She came as soon as word got out about the affair between her and David. She had suspicions from the moment she read his name off her phone. They must have went on one of their secretive dates which mildly nettled Lily a bit when she found out. Was a date more important than her tutoring sessions?
But she didn't hold it against her. She thought back to their discussion about temptations and how people could easily give in to them. Miss Blanchard made a mistake, only one mistake. And that costed her everybody's respect, which Lily could relate. She figured she needed someone who wouldn't judge her. Someone who understood.
But consoling her teacher wasn't her only agenda . Among the stories swirling around about the affair, most of it revolved around how the truth came out. David's wife, Katherine had come to the school and publicly humiliated Miss Blanchard, slapping her and yelling at her for ruining her marriage. She didn't deserved to be ridiculed like that, especially from someone like Katherine Nolan.
Indignant, Lily chose a different route home, cutting through Applewood Lane where Miss Blanchard lived. She had rounded the corner in time to see her teacher conversing with David. This was a tense conversation and she didn't want to be a part of it. Her hand subconsciously went for her neck but nothing was there.
She forgot. She lost her necklace. She had no idea where it was. It was special to her. Graham had told her that it was wrapped around her bundle when she was left at his doorstep. It was the one gift her birth parents left, at least that was what she thought. The true origins were unknown, but all Lily knew that it was made with love.
Bringing her attention to the quarreling lovers, Lily inferred Miss Blanchard was the furious one while David pleaded for forgiveness. Key words were distinct while the rest was muffled by the winter wind. She waited until they were done for her to talk to Miss Blanchard. David stalked off in the opposite direction, his head cast down crestfallen. She guessed she didn't forgive him.
"Miss Blanchard," The pixie cut woman finished brushing away the tears from the brim of her eyes. She pressed her lips into an almost smile.
"Lily? If you're here for a tutoring session, can we…," her voice became shaky, coming close to crying, " can we just reschedule?"
"No, I'm not here for that. I wanted to see if you're okay,"
"Oh sweetie," She was touched by her concern, "I must admit I've bad better days,"
"If it helps, I don't think you're a homewrecker or anything," Lily continued, "Temptations are human. It's normal," she quoted what Miss Blanchard said only days ago.
Miss Blanchard nodded, though Lily knew she thought of herself as homewrecker and, like written on her car, a tramp. She was too hard of herself to hear the voice of reason that was Lily, "I never thought it would turn out like this, you know? That it would end up in a huge mess. I'm unhappy, David's unhappy, and Katherine's definitely unhappy. I didn't want to hurt anybody, Lily," she closed her eyes, sighing, "I'm ranting, aren't I? I'm sorry Lily. You should get you home, it's getting late. I don't want to keep you."
It was only 3:30. Even in the winter sun would set later than that. Miss Blanchard didn't want to talk about it anymore. Lily thought it was best to give her her space now. Her attempt at comforting her teacher didn't work out the way she wanted to. She turned to leave, but lingered for an offhanded question.
"Katherine slapped you, right?" Although uncomfortable to admit, Miss Blanchard nodded. She touched her cheek, "It still stings."
"Yeah," Lily agreed sadly, "They tend to."
There was silence.
"Lily?" Miss Blanchard took a step towards her, resulting Lily into taking one back. She didn't mean to say it, but it slipped. She wanted to keep it a secret. There was a reason she kept her wrist hidden and why she freaked out about Miss Blanchard's affair.
But they shouldn't know. Graham made her swear not to tell.
"I have to go," she said, running away from her teacher. She didn't remember the last time she ran this fast, but Lily propelled her legs until she was nearly breathless and a block away from the Tailors. She rushed past Mrs. Tailor asking about school, past Paige playing video games with Henry, past everyone who cared about her. She went straight to her room and shut the door behind her. Then she sat on her bed, crying as the memories she suppressed for a year trickled down her face in the form of tears, wishing she had her necklace.
Tink was no help. She had explained in profuse details what happened at Dark Hollow, from the shadows fusing together to the ball of light she made. The fairy had no knowledge of what both of these could be or how this could affect Peter. She pressed for more information, to see if Queen Clarion could share her insight, but the conch shell blew, summoning her back to her tribe.
Tigerlily hurried into her village, darting past Moon-Eye near the healing tent. The Picaninny healer tried to speak to the Chief's daughter and by the look on her face, Tigerlily could tell it was urgent.
"You need to go to the fire. Your father is waiting for you there. It is important," Tigerlily thanked her and fled before she could say anything else. She came to the fire pit, nearly stumbling on her way. Her father stood solemnly before her, along with two men she recognized to be from another tribe.
"Here she is. Finally," The Chief stressed the last word, hinting exasperation. Tigerlily bottled her anger towards her father with a neutral smile.
"What is this about?" she asked, out of breath.
"This is Pine Sap, chief of the Bog Dwellers," Her father nodded to the man with the headdress as large as his. His ensemble was decorated differently than the Picaninny's, having used more rabbit bones woven into the base of the headdress than feathers, "And this is his son, Rufio."
The other man was quite familiar to her. She had seen him whilst hunting her tribe, they would occasionally share a gaze before proceeding in their separate directions. He was fairly tall and muscular, not a usual combination among her people but maybe for his. His hair protruded in a red tipped trihawk fashion. He had the face of a boy but she knew better than to call him that.
She bowed to both of them respectfully, "Hello."
"Tigerlily," The Chief said declared solemnly, "it is time."
"Time for what?"
"You must put away your foolish games and lead,"
"I have been leading," She spent most of her days leading. If this was about seeing the Lost Boys, she only did so after her duties were done and out of the way. He was expecting her to do it full time, but why? Was he sick? Why now?
"It is different now because you will have two tribes to oversee. The tribes of Neverland must unite against the pirates. The magic is running out once more and the island grows more dangerous each passing day," The Chief took his daughter's hand and pulled her closer to Rufio, who was wearing a smug expression. Tigerlily didn't like where this was going, "Tigerlily, you are to be married to Rufio at the start of the new winter."
A/N: Surprise!
There might be a wedding! But what is Peter going to say about this? In the next chapter we'll find out more about Peter's condition and the backstory between Katherine and Lily. Bear with me, the curse will break soon.
Thanks for all the reviews. Means alot.
*~Phoebee~*