The Lost Girl

Chapter 1

12 years later...

In my mind's eye, I saw him the way my father always described him. He was slim and bore fair skin dotted with freckles. His chestnut brown hair was wild, sticking out all over the place. Atop his head, he wore an emerald green archer's hat with a red feather attached to it. The rest of his clothes matched the green hat, but they looked crookedly sewn together.

This is the image I attempted to transfer to the lined paper in front of me. The pencil in my hand flowed across the paper gracefully with my direction. Each pencil stroke made him appear more lifelike, almost as if he could leap from the page at any given moment.

"Miss Darling?!"

At the angry voice of my teacher, Mrs. Smith, I slammed my notebook shut in alarm. She stood over my desk with her beady eyes staring down at me with disbelief. Her dark brown hair was pulled back in a precise bun that matched her stern demeanor.

Without warning, she snatched my sketch notebook and rifled through the pages until she found the one I was working on. "What is the meaning of this?!" She screeched, holding it out for me to see. "Sketching? In my class?!"

I averted my blue eyes nervously. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Smith, it won't happen again."

"You're right it won't because next time it happens, I'll see you suspended!" Mrs. Smith narrowed her eyes at me. "And I'm confiscating this." She held up my sketchbook and my heart skipped a beat.

"Please not my sketchbook...." I begged. I was aware of the entire class watching me with their scrutinizing stares, but I didn't care. That sketchbook held more than just my doodles of Peter Pan and Neverland...it's also where I kept the portraits of my parents.

Mrs. Smith walked back to her desk with it still in her clutches. "If you cared about it that much, then you shouldn't have brought it to class."

I opened my mouth to argue but then thought better of it. Mrs. Smith was infamous for making a student's life hell if they spoke out against her. I'm lucky that she hasn't kicked me out of her class or sent me to the headmaster's office. So I kept my mouth shut...for now.

For the rest of class, I kept my eyes low and talked to nobody while Mrs. Smith drawled on and on about the fascinations of the Peloponesian War. My blue eyes flitted towards the window once when a green flash caught my eye, but it must've been my imagination. In this class, I didn't have any friends so I had no reason to talk.

The bell finally rang and I quickly gathered my stuff to go find my best friend, Teagan, during passing time. I couldn't wait to tell her about what happened. She was always there when I needed to rant, whether it be about classes, teachers, my brother and sister, or my insufferable aunt and uncle.

As I passed through the doorway, I collided with my worst enemy since primary school: Maggie Henry. She shoved me which caused the textbooks I carried in my arms to spill all over the hallway. People turned to stare, but no one stopped to help or interfere. Maggie had a reputation for being a force to reckon within.

She wore her signature black garb with black army boots that I've been kicked with many times before. I noticed that she's added a new piercing since our last encounter the month before. It seemed never ending with her. I'm not even sure why she picked on me; I guess she saw me as an easy target.

"Get out of my way, dumb bitch." Maggie sneered with her blue-painted lips.

I stood up to face her eye-to-eye. Too many times I've backed down and let her push me around. It's about time that changed. "Leave me alone, Maggie." I warned her. "I'm done being your punching bag."

Maggie shoved me hard so that my back rammed against the lockers. The air was knocked out of my lungs and I found myself gasping. She wrapped her hand around my throat while the other students started calling for a teacher. "You'll be my punching bag as long as I say you are."

She threw me to the ground then walked away, leaving me gasping for air and red with embarrassment. The onlooking students awkwardly dispersed, but none of them said a word to me. It seemed that I was the last one in the hallway with all of my things spilled out.

I started to gather my pencil pouch and my notebooks as I fought back tears. How was it that no matter what I said or did, Maggie always beat me? Maybe I was just weak in both mind and body. A nobody that anybody could push around.

"Need a hand?" Two feet appeared in my line of vision: emerald green slippers. I looked up into the green eyes and kind face of a boy who looked hauntingly familiar, yet he was a complete stranger. He offered a small smile then crouched down to help me gather my things.

"Uh, thank you?" I managed to say through my daze. Why did I feel like I knew him? I'm certain I've never met him because how could I forget a face like his: round and handsome in a boyish type of way.

I shoved my textbooks and notebooks into my book bag. The boy handed me my pencil pouch. As I reached for it, my fingers brushed against his skin. Electricity snapped against my skin, causing me to reel back. I stood up quickly with him following my lead.

"What's the matter?" He asked gently.

My brows furrowed in confusion as I met his gaze. "I'm sorry, do I know you?"

A playful grin spread across his face before shaking his head no. "I don't believe we've ever met." He proceeded to hold out his hand to me: "Hi, I'm Peter. Peter Pan."