Wonder [R.K.]

Chapter 6

He's kissing me.

His lips are on mine.

What do I do?

I kiss him back, enjoying his proximity.

It then dawns on me. This is Peter Pan, the one I so quickly despised, the ruler of this terrible island.

I then pull away, standing from the bed in front of Pan. He stares at me with wide eyes and a confused expression.

"Uh, thanks for the help and making me feel better." I say quickly before rushing out of the hut, to mine. I notice the boys are dancing around the fire and they call out to me, but I just keep my head down and rush into my small hut.

I lay in my bed and look up to the ceiling. I close my eyes, trying to stop my headache.

Why did he kiss me?

I lay there, replaying the events of today in my head, until I fall asleep in what seems like hours later, with a tingling on my lips and memories in my head.

I wake up, in a terrible mood with the sun shining directly into my eyes.

I sit up, stretching my sore limbs. I look into a small mirror on the wall of my hut. The bruise on my cheek already seems to be fading. I quickly clean myself up before stepping out into the broad sunlight.

The moment my feet touch the soil outside of my cabin, a string of 'Aria's emit from those of the boys.

The first one to walk up to me is Eli and be gives me a warm and welcoming smile. "I'm so glad you're okay."

"Me too," I chuckle.

Then Brayden, Travis, and so on before Nolan walks up to me, a scowl planted on his bruised face.

Pan was right, he looks awful, but I guess he did before.

"Look who it is," he spits.

"Awe, don't get all pissy, because you got beat by a girl." I laugh at him.

"At least I don't hit like a little girl." He hisses.

I scoff and roll my eyes, "Well at least I don't shoot like one."

"We don't know that yet," says someone from behind me. I turn around to look into the fiery jade gaze of Pan. "We're really going to test your skills today."

Pan and I make eye contact for a quick second before I avert my eyes to the ground.

"We will all be practicing in the Dark Woods, after you bathe in the lake. I expect to see you all there soon."

And with that, he's off, venturing in the the deep forest.

The lost boys and I make our way to the lake, drenching our boding in the cold lake before hurrying out to get to Pan.

The moment I step into the small clearing in the dark woods, I could feel the tension. It rested on my shoulders like a heavy backpack that just continued to bring me down.

I avoided eye contact with Pan as he explained what we were doing for the day. As I stared at the ground, I could always feel Pan's eyes on me, but the minute I looked up, they awkwardly averted away.

The first thing we did was shooting with a bow and arrow. I knew I could do this. I practiced shooting on my farm in California when we moved, to replace the need for the water that brought back memories.

Brought up my arrow into my bow and pointed at the target painted on the tree. With a swift motion, I let go of the string and watched the arrow fall right outside of the middle of the target.

Not bad.

I shoot 4 more after that, 3 hitting the center and 1 hitting just like the first.

The rest of the boys clapped, seeming impressed, though Pan's face stayed with a straight expression.

The rest of the boys did good, Brayden being the best, getting all the arrows in the middle.

The next challenge was knives, which was challenging. All of my knives ended up near the outside of the target.

The last thing we did fire building. We had a competition to see who could build a fire the fastest. I thought this was totally unfair because I had never built a fire without a match and newspaper.

The competition started and I focused on trying to mimic what the other boys were doing.

I started rubbing a stick into a log because it seemed it was working for the boys.

"Here," stated a soft voice coming from behind me, taking the stick and rubbing it up and down into the log. After Pan finished showing me, he handed me the stick, "Now you try."

"Oh, um, thanks," I said awkwardly, taking the stick from him. He nodded his head in response and walked away.

I began trying the way Pan showed me and it worked! The log began with a small amount of smoke before the stock created a small flame. I continued this until I had a full fire.

"Done!" I shouted to the boys, proud of myself for completing this task.

The boys look at me in shock, very surprised I actually finished. Nolan's face reads a very pissed off expression, but when don't I piss him off?

Pan doesn't say anything to me as he begins walking off to camp, "time to go." He shouts.

By the time we make it back to camp, the sun is already setting. We spend the rest of the night sitting around the fire. At one point, all the boys get up and start dancing around the fire. I stay seated, laughing at the childish dance moves of the boys. I notice one person sitting directly across from me, not partaking in the dancing, Pan.

He looks as menacing as ever. A wicked frown placed upon his face. Hands places in his lap. Evil eyes glaring directly towards me.

And in this moment, the only thing that I can think is that, this boy is so utterly attractive.

I try to clear my head of these thoughts, but I can't. His green eyes seem to pull me in even though I fight it. His lips call out to me without moving as I yearn to have them again.

I realize that I've been staring for a while and quickly look to my lap.

Finally, the night comes to an end and everyone makes their way to their huts, calling out their goodnights.

I lay my head on my pillow staring at the roof of my hut. I close my eyes and imagine the taste of Pan on my lips once more before I fall asleep.