Off to Neverland

OTN 3

After hearing those three words made my lip form a huge smile. Mr. Cooley went down the vehicle and assisted me with my bags. "Please proceed to the Neve Municipal Hall. They will guide you to your designated district." I nodded in response as we started to walk along the crowd.

The way they greet is completely different from the way my fellow humans greet. Bowing, smiling, and giving some kind of a gold coin. "You'll use that as your charm." Mr. Cooley said to me while looking at the coins I am holding.

Their Municipal hall sure is big, like a five star hotel if you ask me. They use chandeliers here and the walls and floor is reflective due to its cleanliness. "Hey, sir. Did you use gold to build this hall?" I whispered to Mr. Cooley while walking in the enormous lobby.

"Yes. Everything here is made of gold." He whispered back. I just nodded and proceed to the receiving area. There I see an old woman, she resembles a cartoon character from the show "Courage the Cowardly Dog". She's busy with some document using a laptop which shocked me since I never knew that Neverland has reached this amount of capability of creating advanced technology.

Let's just hope they preserved the natural beauty of this phenomenal island. Just thinking about the amount of new information I can get as soon as I investigate such environment makes my heart pound with excitement.

Mr. Cooley cleared his throat to get the attention of the old woman. She finally noticed us and immediately greeted me. "Well hello there, madam." Her sweet smile is just too fictional to be true. I've always wanted to have a grandmother like her, but unfortunately, I've never met any of my grandparents.

"Good day to you ma'am." I greeted and bowed. She bowed her head and proceeds to check her laptop. "Well then, let's see your name...."

Wait--what? "Uhm with all due respect madam, isn't it easier to just ask me directly?" I interrupted her as she immediately looks at me with a surprised look. She turned her head to Mr. Cooley who is in shock as well.

"Is something wrong?" I said, all confused by their reaction. I offered my hand to the old woman "My name's Leeyerine Sagefield. Pleased to meet you miss....?" It took her a few seconds to finally catch up with me and accepted my hand.

"Y-you can call me Mrs. Pines, my child." Her voice is shaking as if she's talking to a ghost. Though it's awkward, I just smiled at her. She went silent, still holding my hand. "You can remember your name?" After a few minutes of staring at me she finally asked me a question.

But her question confuses me more than before. "Of course. I'm pretty sure we're safe since the bus can go through any solid thing. Am I right mister Cooley?" I pat his back while giving a small laugh but when I turned to look, he's still in shock. Just what the hell is happening here?

He blinked few times and nodded slowly. "Ye..s that's right." He still continues to nod without even blinking as he slowly turns to Mrs. Pine's direction. Looks like she finally got back to her senses and cleared her throat. "Well then, welcome to Neverland Ms. Sagefield." Her lively tone just simply lightens up the atmosphere in just a blink.

"Thank you, ma'am." I nodded and shook hands with her. "So how's the trip to Neverland?" She asked me casually. "I'll be completely honest with you, Mrs. Pines. The sudden appearance of a bus inside my room is just a nerve-wrecker!" I can't help but to giggle just by reminiscing the event that happened earlier.

But as soon as I turn to look at her, the shocked face just continues to show up. "I-I see..." She tries to laugh it off but I can see clearly how shocked she is after everything I just said.

"Is something wrong?" I can't help but to finally ask them. They've been doing that for a while now but she just quickly shook her head and smiled at me. "No, nothing's wrong dear. I'm terribly sorry for the inconvenience."

I can sense something fishy here. I think Neverland is hiding something, and I'm here to find out. Mrs. Pines continues to look at her laptop which, to my conclusion, is my form. "Here's your card key to your assigned district. It's called Optimum Woods. Would you like to have someone to guide you?" I look at the card key and it just made my eyes pop. Is this thing made out of GOLD?!

Then I finally realized her question. "No thank you, madam. I can manage." I smiled at her and put the card in my pocket. Mrs. Pines continues to check my form, "Oh I see. So you're 18 years old?" She faced my direction and beamed at me. I was about to correct her that my age is actually 23 but I remembered that it was mentioned on the form that the age gap between Earth and Neverland is five years.

"Oh. So you're from the Philippines--"

"Uhm actually, Philippines is my birthplace but my mom and I moved to California when I was five." I interrupted her once again. I know it's rude but I can't let her have wrong information about me right?

Her jaw dropped after I corrected her but proceeded to check my form. "Let's see, Leeyerine Sagefield... you are now enrolled to Neverland University." She gave her last click to the keyboard and faced me.

Wait--what?!

"I'm sorry ma'am, but I don't remember reading anything from the form that I will be enrolled. More importantly, I did not bring sufficient money for an enrollment in any school." Mrs. Pines giggled and waved her hands. "Oh no, don't worry. Every person here at your age and below are automatically enrolled to Neverland University. There's no need to pay." She continues to giggle sweetly.

"Oh I see." I just nodded understandingly. "That's all Ms. Sagefield. Thank you for submitting your form in Neverland." She gave me her genuine smile as I smiled back to her before excusing myself.