Peter wandered through the halls of the Darling residence. Each room had a sign on the door, one for Russell and Kai, another for the master bedroom, where Belle also slept, and a last on for Simon’s room. After softly knocking on the door, Peter waited for a reply.
“Who’s there?” The voice on the other side of the door sounded broken and distressed. Peter took a cautious step forward, his hand placed readily on the doorknob.
“Uh…hey Simon. It’s Peter. You OK in there? Just wanted to talk to you.” When he heard no reply, just the noisy clatter of objects being kicked around, he called again, anxious for a reply. “Simon?”
Peter waited for a reply. “Just gimme a second, Peter.”
After a small wait, the door opened. Simon stood blocking the doorway and Peter’s view into the room. Simon’s eyes were shifted down, guiltily. He was about as tall as Peter but his posture lacked the same confidence. It was only small things, like how he stood with his harms folded yet he barely let them touch his chest. Or how he hunched forward and kept his head downwards. Or how one of his feet tapped the ground nervously.
Peter, picking up on these small things, automatically felt concern. A twelve year old boy should look that beaten up and anxious. Something was wrong.
“You OK Simon?” Peter asked, taking a step forward which Simon reacted to by taking a step backward.
“Yeah, why?”
“I don’t know, you just look a little hurt.” Simon glanced up at Peter suspiciously.
“I’m fine,” he replied hastily, “I have some homework to do so, yeah…I gotta go.” And with that Simon retreated back into his room and closed the door.
Peter dawdled back to Wendy’s room. She’d gone to get some water from downstairs in the kitchen, leaving Peter by himself. As he walked into Wendy’s room, though, he nearly died of surprise. There, leaning on the doorframe, was Wendy’s father.
“What the-! Oh, sorry Sir. I, uh, didn’t realise you’d be standing there. Can I help you with anything at all?” Mr. Darling smiled a bit. He must’ve found it rather funny, seeing Peter jump out of his skin. Mr. Darling walked further into Wendy’s room and sat down on an armchair next to Wendy’s bed.
“Have a seat, boy.” Peter looked around, not really knowing where to set himself down. “On the beanbag.”
The room was silent for a moment, the quietude eventually being broken by a deep sigh that escaped Mr. darling’s lips.
“You know, Peter, I still remember being as youthful and healthy as you. You’re at a prime time of your childhood, enjoy it.” He paused, staring off at the corner of the wall. “Wendy’s a good girl. A sweet girl. She deserves the best. So I want you to help her live the best childhood possible. You know, ever since we moved here, I haven’t seen her smile or play or laugh like she used to. Except when you came over today. I just saw a little spark of that happiness come back into her eyes. That’s why I’m asking you to listen now and listen clear.” Mr. Darling leaned forward, the intensity of his glare burning into Peter’s eyes. “Wendy, she’s like a fragile piece of glass. Beautiful, clear and unscratched. Don’t be the one to break her heart, because just like the glass, she’s easily broken. And when she breaks, she shatters into a million pieces. And I don’t want to you come crying to me when it happens because I was never good at sweeping up broken glass. I always cut myself and accidentally miss some shards. But I’m going to let you have her, to take her out whenever you want because…I’ve never seen her this happy since…well, you know.”
Peter nearly pumped his fist in triumph. He didn’t expect it to be easy to get Wendy’s father to like him. But he did and he was about to thank Wendy’s father but Mr. Darling interrupted him. “So, you can visit when you like and take her places after school on some days. But…” Peter sighed. He knew there was a ‘but’. “But…if I start to see a change in her that’s not for the better, then I’m not going to let her see you anymore. You have to let her find some girls to hang out with. Help her with that if you can. And you have to include Simon in some things because he was affected by the move more than she was. Ok?”
YOU ARE READING
The Pretenders (ON HOLD)
Storie d'amore"This wasn't some story book tale. There were no happy endings. People would get hurt. People would cry. The bad guys would probably win. But for the sake of living up to the reputation children had of being blissfully ignorant, he would pretend tha...
