The Pretenders (ON HOLD)

Chapter 30

The cold morning air stung Wendy's cheeks, biting at her skin persistently. She hugged her parka closer, exhaling deeply. It was strange; the weather. It was supposed to be warm and a little rainy during September. It had been two weeks since Simon's get well party, and since, he had gotten better. A lot better.

Simon stood next to her at the bus stop, wearing jeans, sneakers and a grey hoodie that read IT'S OK TO STARE. Humorous clothing had always been one of Simon's trademarks. Wendy noticed that Simon had let his hair grow out. It now hung down to his eyes. Its dark chocolate color used to contrast starkly with his pale skin, but lately he'd been spending more time outside and his skin was lightly tanned. He had started wearing his glasses again because he had gotten 'tired of having to stick pieces of plastic into my eye every morning'.

Wendy thought he looked better with glasses; smarter, more alive, more like the Simon he had always been. They weren't fashionable glasses; just rectangular, wiry ones that made his azure eyes seem to buzz with intelligence. There was no doubt that Simon was smart for his age. He was definitely more mature that other boys after all he'd been through- after all they'd been through.

Looking at Simon, he seemed older now. He didn't look twelve, but more like her age. He was tall, but it was more than that. But at least he wasn't so...sad anymore. That was partly thanks to Peter, of course.

Peter had been making frequent visits to her family, always dropping in for half an hour or so when he dropped her off. Her younger siblings loved him, especially Kai. No one had had ever paid much attention to Kai, but Peter did. Ever since Peter had started coming over, Kai's talking skills had improved dramatically. He still stuttered but he wasn't afraid to speak anymore; just shy, which was ok.

"Where is Peter?" Simon asked, snapping Wendy out of her reverie. She looked around, automatically, searching for her friend.

"I don't know. I think we came out a bit early today. He's always here just on time."

At that moment Rick emerged, to Wendy's surprised, from the house right next to hers. The look of shock on her face, was nothing in comparison to the look on Rick's.

"Rick?" she called.

"Uh...hey." He walked sheepishly over to where they were standing, running his hand nervously through his light brown hair, giving it its usual messy-on-top look. His pale, grey-blue eyes matched the overcast sky.

"Hey," Simon said after a few seconds of silence, "I'm Simon. I've seen you around school, hanging out with my sister. And then walking off with her and Lily and Peter after school. It's funny how Lily and Peter, who both live a while away, have managed to visit us, but you, who lives right next door, have not been able to walk the distance. Isn't that funny Rick? Wait...no, it's not."

Wendy shot Simon a look of horror, but he only shrugged innocently. He had the bad habit of acting like a big brother to her sometimes, being overprotective and telling off anybody who he thought had done her wrong.

"I'm sorry Wendy," Rick began, a look of shame and guilt staining his features. "I just didn't-"

It was then that Peter walked around the corner, making Rick sigh with relief.

Wendy shot Rick a look. We'll finish this conversation later.

As Peter neared, confusion seemed to grow on his face. Wendy shook her head slightly at him, telling him not to worry about it. The two of them had grown so close over the past month, that they barely needed to talk to understand each other sometimes.

As usual, the bus arrived at the same time as Peter did. Simon quickly greeted Peter with a smile, and somehow managed to shoot Rick a scowl at the same time, before boarding the bus. He sat at the front as usual. Wendy sat next to Peter in the seat behind Simon, as usual. And Rick sat in the seat opposite them, as usual.