Wendy opened her eyes and looked around. Groggily she stood up, realizing that both she and her father had fallen asleep in Simon’s hospital room and stayed overnight with him. They were both snoring lightly. It was funny how they were so similar in many ways, including appearance. Looking at them, she saw two innocent boys, sleeping restlessly.
It was still early in the morning, so, not wanting to wake them, she left a note on Simon’s bedside table telling them that she’d be back by lunch. She tiptoed out of the room and made her way out of the hospital. Just as she was exiting through the automatic doors, she caught the sun glinting off the dark blonde-hair of a young teen. Peter.
He was walking slowly, dawdling really, and he was intently studying a small parcel in his hand.
“Peter?” she called. He looked up as if he was surprised to see her there.
“Me?” he asked, glancing back to see if she was addressing someone else.
“Yes you,” she clarified, with a small smile.
“Oh, right. Of course, me.”
He tossed the parcel between his hands gently, seeming slightly embarrassed.
“Um,” he began, not so confidently, “This is for Simon. You know, to make up for not going to visit him yesterday. I'm sorry about that, by the way.”
He passed the expertly wrapped present to Wendy, brushing her hand as he did.
“You didn’t have to get him anything but thank you. I’m sure he’ll really appreciate it,” Wendy said. She couldn’t help but admire how sweet it was of him to bring a present. No other guy she knew would’ve done that.
“Ok, then. I guess I’d better be heading off now. You probably want to be getting back to Simon,” Peter said shyly, starting to walk away.
“No wait!” Wendy called after him, taking a quick step forward. Instantly she stepped back again but she was surprised at how fast her reaction was to stop him from leaving. It left her heart beating slightly harder. The drum of each beat filled her ears, causing her to automatically reach up and massage her temple.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, concerned. He reached out and placed his hand softly on her shoulder. She jumped slightly at his warm touch. It was a nice warmth.
“Yeah,” she finally managed to say, “Just a head rush.”
“Oh, I get them sometimes if I move around too much just after I wake up,” he informed her, dropping his hand from her shoulder, much to Wendy’s chagrin.
“It passes eventually,” he assured her, still looking concerned.
“I'm fine now,” she said with a shy smile.
He smiled as if that was good news to him. Wendy loved how he was so genuinely compassionate and sympathetic. Those characteristics were usually only true of princes in fairytales and sparkly vampires in romance novels. But with Peter, everything was real.
“Why did you want me to wait?” he asked, suddenly remembering what Wendy had said before.
“Oh,” Wendy started, snapping out of her thoughts. “Well, I'm leaving now. And you’re leaving now. So I thought we could walk together. I only have to be back here by noon so I have a couple of hours to spare anyway. Not that it will take a couple of hours to walk to my house, though.”
“Your house? If we’re going to walk together and we have a couple of hours to burn then there’s no way we’re going to waste our time walking to your house. I can think of somewhere way cooler,” Peter said, smiling adventurously.
Wendy’s heart sped up again with excitement. Except this time, she didn’t get a head rush. She sprinted back up to Simon’s hospital room and left the package next to his bed with a note that said ‘From Peter’.
Then she hurried back outside and began following Peter. A strange thought crossed her mind. She realized that she didn’t really know where she was going but she would follow Peter there anyway. Because it was the first time in a while that Wendy had a friend she felt she could trust. Actually, it was the first time in a while that Wendy had a friend at all.
They had been walking for a while when Wendy noticed light pink scratches decorating Peter’s arms.
“What happened there?” she asked, instinctively reaching out to his arm. Each little scratch stood out slightly from his skin. Wendy, gasped as she turned over his hand to find red cut across his palm. She traced one with her finger, frowning with concern.
“Peter, you alright?”
“Oh, yeah, yeah,” he waved her off, “I was carrying some timber today, but it hadn’t been sanded down yet. And since I didn’t think to wear gloves, I got these little scratches all over my arm. But it doesn’t hurt, really.”
Wendy sighed, glad it wasn’t something else that had caused those scratches. After letting go of his arm, they continued walking.
“Why were you carrying timber in the first place?” she questioned.
Instead of answering her, he just gave her one of his teasing smiles that made her blush a little.
Wendy soon recognized where they were heading and her pace sped up with excitement.
“We’re going to that beautiful place you took me to before, aren’t we?” she asked.
“I was wondering when you were going to figure it out.”
And before she knew it, they had broken out of the thick bush and into the vast stretch of rolling hills. She inhaled deeply, savouring the feel of the cool breeze against her skin. The long grass tickled her ankles and the gentle sunlight warmed her cheeks.
“It’s still as wonderful as before,” she marveled.
Walking around in a full circle, she spotted a large pile of wood nearby. Without even pausing, Wendy spun around to Peter and asked, “You carried all this wood here? What ever for?”
He sat down in the grass, leaning back on to his elbows. Wendy sank down next to him, anticipating an answer.
“I dunno, I just thought this place was missing something. Like a place to sit in when it rains. So I thought maybe I could build a little house of sorts. And if you’re staying in Eatonville then I guess you could help too,” Peter answered, flashing a purposely extra-charming smile in her direction. It made Wendy laugh because she knew he meant playfully. But it was still very charming.
“I’d like that very much,” Wendy concluded and then for the rest of the afternoon they sat without talking much. That’s how it is with real friends. It’s not awkward when they don’t talk. With a friend, silence is a way to daydream with company. It gives you time to let your mind wander into theirs, sort through their thoughts. And hopefully find some thoughts about you.
However, though Wendy tried to decipher Peter’s thoughts, even glancing at him hoping his expression would give him away, there was just something that was shutting her out. It was this cold wall separating her from him.
It was then that it occurred to her that only someone who has been through trouble could be so compassionate and true as Peter. So that was how she became very suspicious of Peter’s past; through that short time of silence. Not a word was passed between them but she felt as if he had told her something. Or rather, hinted at it. For nothing was ever clear with Peter. With him, there was a lot of guesswork. Like when trying to solve a riddle, you have to guess several possibilities of answers before actually solving it.
Yes, much like this, Wendy was trying to solve Peter. But the more she tried, the more frustrated she became that she could not read him. Noone can, and many have tried.
There's still more to come so hang in there and thanks for reading! :-)
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The Pretenders (ON HOLD)
Romance"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...
