After an hour, the metal monster of a machine screeched to a grinding halt. Peter Pan moved his eyes to the foggy window and sighed with relief. There was the front lawn of Wendy's high school, perfectly trimmed and perfectly green and perfectly scattered with teens, all lounging on the grass. He forced himself to move his legs, with were still heavy.
As he moved down the bus aisle, he saw the little old lady motioning for him to come closer.
"I already paid you lady." Peter said crossly as he reached her seat.
She reached for a newspaper that was sitting on the dashboard and hit Peter's head.
"OW! What the heck was that for?" he rubbed his head.
"Don't talk to your elders that way," she said, "you ain't never gonna get a family than," she put the newspaper on her lap, and groped around for Peter's hands.
"I don't want a family." Peter said, moving around to avoid her wrinkly grip. "what are you doing?!"
"Stand still boy, I need to give ya something."
"You could have said that." Peter stood still and held out his hands.
She reached out and gripped his right hand, warmth radiating from her wrinkled palms. Peter felt something metal and sharp in the center of his hand. He turned it over to examine the object.
It was a dull gold, and with two strangely shaped appendages one one side. It resembled half of an insect. Peter looked at it, and struggled to hold in his sarcasm.
"What is this? Half of a beetle?"
"A scarab if you wanna be specific."
"Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight."
"Find the other half and you'll get what ya wish for. Goodbye baby!" she shooed Peter away. As he was stepping down the stairs, he heard her giggling.
"Ooo hoo,I can't wait till that Blue Fairy sees this Diamond In The Rough. Ima win that bet with my eyes closed!"
Diamond in the rough? Peter glanced warily behind his shoulder. Blue Fairy? Is everyone required to be mysterious today?! He rolled his eyes and stepped off the bus. He brushed himself off and took a deep breath. The bus door closed behind him
"Crazy woman." He muttered, walking towards the school. He was scrutinizing the beetle again when he remembered something she had said.
You ain't never gonna get a family that way.
Peter felt chills.
How did she know that he was an orphan?
He looked back at the bus, which was already taking off, and ran as fast as he could to the school.
Upon reaching the entrance, Peter quickly formulated a plan. He felt a surge of giddiness at the thought of it. No one was here to hold him back. He rubbed his palms together.
The outside of the school was scattered with less people than Peter would have liked, which was understandable since it was cold enough to theoretically freeze shit. He walked towards a girl and a boy who were both sitting on a short stone wall. The boy was large and stockily built. He looked strange when he was hunched over to the side, doing something in concentration. The girl was a redhead just like Peter, but had big blue eyes and a splash of freckles. She held her hand towards the boy, giggling like a maniac. Upon inspection, he realized the boy was painting the girl's nails.
Peter Pan was a second away from laughing out loud. He was clueless about girls and love, but he knew what the friendzone looked like, and this guy was buried deep, deep, inside it.
"Hi," he stifled a smile, "Do you guys know Wendy Darling?"
They both looked up at him, and Peter gasped with recognition at the boy. He couldn't believe his luck.
"Dude!" he said, not remembering the guy's name, "Is that you? Oh ho, mannn." Peter shook his head with pity.
The guy's face was red and pissed. He was a big and stocky, but with a dopey brown eyes and an innocent face. Blond hair drooped over his eyes.
The girl cocked her head towards Peter Pan, trying to check him out without him noticing. He didn't. "You know this guy, Kristoff?" she asked inquiringly, her eyebrows raised and a smile escaping a serious expression.
"Yeah. Peter Pan lives in the orphanage I go in and out of." he grumbled.
"But you're showing up a lot more than you used to." Peter noted. He didn't say so, but Peter knew that pretty soon Kristoff would be a member of the dysfunctional orphanage family for good. It always happened.
"Yeah, well..." Kristoff trailed off.
The redhead noted Kristoff's discomfort and interrupted, "Um, I don't think Wendy has this lunch period. I think, I THINK, she might probably maybe be in Mr. Vega's room. We can go check. Why do need to find her? Is she your girlfriend?" she covered her mouth, "I didn't mean to say that."
"That's ok. She isn't" Peter Pan rubbed his neck sheepishly at the thought, "Anyways, I need a favor Kristoff." A devilish smile spread across his face.
"I barely know you." he retorted crossly, "And your cronies pantsed me the first day I got to the orphanage." He reddened when the girl laughed, "Don't laugh! I was wearing my superman boxers."
Peter made a shocked face, even though he was quite aware of the incident. He was the one, in fact, who made pantsing the newcomers a tradition."I am so sorry. When I get home I shall have them flogged. I had no idea they would do something like that to someone, especially a newcomer like yourself. Please forgive them. They weren't under my supervision. Next time you come, they'll be at your service and do all your chores. Also, you'll have radio privileges. And as a bonus, I'll give ya 5 cups of chocolate pudding, just for you."
Kristoff shifted positions, considering the offer. Chocolate pudding after all, was almost like a form of currency in the orphanage. Even Kristoff knew that. "What's your favor?" He finally said.
All signs of gentility vanished from Peter's face.
"I'm going to need your uniform, and your hat."
The Walt Disney High uniform was preppy to the point where it could have been designed by anime writers. Both the girls and the boys had to wear a light blue blazer that came with a god awful striped tie. The girls had to wear blue and white plaid skirts a few inches above the knee with knee length white socks, and the boys had to wear either khaki or navy pants. To Anna, the uniform made Kristoff look like a slightly gay bear. But she never said a word, since there was nothing he could do. Poor Kristoff.
When Peter Pan emerged from the bathroom wearing Kristoff's uniform, Anna threw her head back and laughed.
The arm sleeves of the blazer were so long that it sloped over his shoulders, making the sleeves cover his hands, both of which were holding up the pants. When he hobbled towards Ana, who was still laughing, he stepped on the pant legs.
"You boyfriend's like the size of a yeti."
"Yeah, he is." She wiped a tear from her eye before realizing what Peter had said. "Wait, he's not my boyfriend."
Peter ignored her, "I'll be back in five minutes dude." He called into the bathroom, where Kristoff was waiting in a stall, striped down in his underwear.
"If you take any longer it'll be ten cups!" he called back bitterly.
"Bye Kristoff!" Peter saluted, the arm sleeve whipping his face. He turned towards Anna. "Let's get going."
Wendy stared emptily at the teacher as she slouched over her desk, struggling to keep her head up. She felt herself slowly drift in and out of attention, a slight bit of drool straying from the side of her mouth. She blinked slowly as the World History teacher switched slides on the presentation. The only thing that was remotely interesting about the lesson the red laser dot thingy he was using, which was very pathetic. Wendy inwardly groaned
If this could be any more boring, I'd certainly be dead by now.
Just as Wendy was starting to see the light, the door opened.
"Hello? Is Wendy Darling in here?"
A strange mixture of disbelief and relief flooded through Wendy.
Peter Pan had saved the day once again.