Happy Thoughts || Peter Pan

Chapter 2

It felt like time had never before gone so slowly. When the clock finally struck three-thirty, Avery packed her things and walked out of the classroom, finally enjoying her well-earned weekend after all. Her parents had promised to take her to the park this evening and she was looking forward to it. Though she kept reminding herself not to have high expectations. She ended up disappointed more often than was good for her.

'Hey Johnson!'

Avery hated being called only by her surname. There was a certain etiquette missing that way. When Brad appeared beside her, she tried to walk on stolidly. However, he was a taller than her and easily kept up with her. 'I saw you looking at me in the classroom...'

She was already tired of this conversation.

'So can I finally persuade you to go out with me?'

'No, sorry, thank you,' Avery replied, keeping her gaze fixed on the way to freedom.

'Brad!' echoed another voice down the corridor. 'Laura asks if you want to come to the back of the school.'

She heard the boy chuckle. 'If only you were easier too.' Without another word to her, Brad sprinted away from her, looking for his easier prey. And that was exactly why she didn't respond to him. What had happened to courtship, love letters and going all the way for each other?

Outside, she took a deep breath. A gentle breeze stroked her bare arms and the tufts of red hair that had escaped from her braid danced before her eyes. She did not want to stay here a moment longer. On her way to the gate, she passed a few classmates. Her ears pricked up when she heard her name drop.

'Ask her, just as a courtesy,' someone chimed softly.

'And if she says yes? Then we're stuck with her!'

'Not so loud! Just ask.'

Avery walked on quickly, but before she could put her hand on the handle of the gate...

'Hey, Avery.'

She turned slowly and squeezed out a smile. 'Hi,' she replied.

Mira smiled as if her jaws were stuck. 'We're going to a party tonight and we were wondering if you might like to join us. You often sit alone and well,' she stopped talking at that and just looked at Avery expectantly.

She shook her head. 'I'm not alone.' She patted her shoulder bag. 'I have my books. And I'm going to the park with my parents tonight. Thanks anyway.' She turned and walked away, but she couldn't ignore it when their whispers haunted her: 'I told you she wouldn't come, she's such a weird kid.'

Avery sighed and walked down the schoolyard towards home. It was a long walk, but that didn't bother her. In the silence, she could think. And she had so much to think about. The book was almost done and tonight she would read the last chapter to Abby, her white and grey striped cat. It might sound strange to others that she preferred sitting in her room and reading stories to dancing in a club, but Avery didn't like all the crowds and noise at all. She liked the quiet and with Abby she was never alone.... Not always.

Avery walked through the well-known little neighbourhood where the baker just lifted his billboard inside and smiled kindly at her as she passed. Her neighbour, Mrs Bennet, rushed  over the threshold for the umpteenth time, just in time to get the last few pieces of bread for tomorrow morning. She passed the local fastfood, where the smell of greasy food wafted towards her and where, as always, the loitering youths stole the chips from under each other's noses. And she walked past the little church, where the bells were already striking five o'clock and residents were hurrying to get home for dinner.

Avery enjoyed every scene that played out before her eyes, stopping at times to take in the impressions. But this time she did not. The traffic light jumped to red and amid loud honking from impatient car drivers, she tripped to the pavement, where she was passed at breakneck speed by the cars that had been waiting. She walked past the cafes through the park to her street. There, some children were playing with a ball, and the dog, Bruno, behind the fence barking happily at them. Avery opened the gate to her garden and walked into the house.

The door fell into lock behind her and silence took its place. Only the clock on the wall managed to break it. Avery kicked off her shoes under the heater and walked straight up the stairs to the upstairs, without even bothering to check if anyone was already home. Avery knew that chance was very slim.

She was welcomed by cheerful meowing from Abby, who lay stretched out on her bed. There were still books scattered everywhere, as the bookcase on the wall could not be fuller and the shelves above her bed were almost sagging.

Avery put her bag on the floor and took a seat behind her desk. She grabbed the first pen she saw and opened the little black book in front of her.

' "Love is making each other's loneliness bearable." Words that I had the pleasure of reading in a book today, but which are meaningless to me. After all, how can someone who is lonely make their own loneliness bearable? Will I have to dream? Live in a fantasy world? Find love in a world where its existence seems as unlikely as if Neverland existed? Maybe I should dream then to make my own loneliness bearable.' 

Sighing, she dropped her pen and plopped down on her bed. She stared at the ceiling until Abby pressed her head against her.

'Hey Abs, what have you all been up to today?' The cat started purring as she tickled her on the head. 'Cat things for sure.' Abby curled up on her chest purring and rolled up into a little ball there. She used to do that when she was a kitten, but now she was so big that her tail was always hanging in Avery's face.

'I've almost finished the book, Abby, shall I read the last chapter?' The cat didn't answer, but Avery climbed off the bed and grabbed the book from her bag, then took a seat on the bed again and opened the book. 'OK, here it comes,' she said and started reading.