The dim rays of the morning sun shone through the mahogany shades of Lilith's window. They cast unique patterns on her face, but she was still wildly lost in sleep. Completely blissful and unaware of the outside world that was already awake and full of life.
There was a soft tap on Lil's door and a creaking noise as it opened.
"Lilith?" Her Mother quietly asked.
Eyes still closed and buried under the blankets, Lil moaned "What, Mom?"
"Sorry to wake you, dear, I just don't want you to waste the day sleeping. It's nearly eleven o'clock."
Lilith's eyes shot open as she threw the covers off and jumped out of bed, "Eleven? Oh no. Oh no no no!"
"What is it?" Margaret asked as Lil dashed into the bathroom.
"I'm supposed to hang out with a friend today!" Lil called, "At eleven!"
Margaret checked the watch on her hand and made a clicking sound with her tongue, "Well it's a good thing I woke you."
"Yeah. Thanks Mom!" She said as she splashed her face with water.
Lil's mother went to leave, but stopped herself in the doorway and turned back to Lil.
"Dear, did you come home late last night? I heard something downstairs and I was assuming it was you."
In the midst of brushing her teeth, last night came flooding back to mind. Going to the Cove with the Darling's, the bizarre encounter at the library, bursting into the house in a flurry... and Peter.
Lilith suddenly felt her heart sink to her stomach.
Was that real? Did Peter Pan actually fly to her window? Or was the whole thing a dream?
But it couldn't be! Everything seemed so... genuine.
"Well?" Margaret asked again.
"Oh," Lil spit in the sink, "It was, sorry. I know I got back late. It won't happen again. I promise."
"Alright then. Just be home earlier tonight please."
"Will do." Lil replied as she
re-entered the room and walked into her closet.
Her mom finally shut the door and Lil let out a sigh.
She sat on the edge of her bed and put her hands in her head.
"Peter Pan? In my room?", She shook her head, "No way."
But then she remembered.
She lifted her head and looked up, over towards her dresser. And there, sitting on the left corner, was her perfectly fixed snowglobe.
Lil ran up to it and picked it up in both hands, feeling each side and examining the smoothness. She gently shook it and the snow blew around the water like a blizzard. Little, white flakes covering the top of Big Ben.
She smiled to herself and placed the snowglobe back on the dresser.
So it wasn't a dream! He was real! He had been here! And he was coming back! To tell stories, just like he promised.
Lil's heart swam at the memory of him floating gracefully outside her window, bowing and saying goodnight. How magical he looked against the night sky.
She had so many questions to ask, things to discover. When he came back, she'd be ready.
Lil's thoughts were interrupted by a loud buzz. She snapped out of her daydream and ran over to her phone. It was a message from Jonathan.
BE THERE IN 10
"Crap!" She groaned.
Quickly, she picked out a pink tank-top and white shorts from her closet. She threw on a little bit of makeup, to get rid of the bags under her eyes and add a little edge to her style, but it wasn't overbearing. Surprisingly, her hair looked presentable, so she left it the way it was. Lil stepped back to look in the mirror and was happy with the outcome.
The white shorts made her long, Australian tanned legs look flawless, and the tank-top hugged her body in all the right places. The bit of makeup made her green eyes pop and as she sheepishly stuck a hand in her pocket, she decided something was missing. A necklace. Lil went over to her jewelry box which had been placed on her dresser, courtesy of her mother, and dug threw the small box until she found what she was looking for. Before she left for Ireland, she bought one last thing from her favorite beach shop. A necklace with a thin, white shell that was carved to look like a flower, hung on a purple chain with a silver clasp. Lil carefully hooked the necklace around her neck and was fully satisfied with the way it looked.
Her phone buzzed again.
HEY SLOW POKE. I'M OUTSIDE.
She smiled and replied,
IM COMING DOWN
She grabbed some money from her wallet and stuffed it in her pocket. As she hopped down the stairs she called to her parents, "I'll be back later! I have my phone if you need me!"
Lil opened the front door and walked down the pebble pathway. At the bottom, she saw Jonathan leaning against his bike. His head lifted and a smile stretched on his face as he saw her approaching. Today, he was wearing a dark brown muscle shirt and tan colored shorts. His dark brown hair looked damp and glistened in the light.
"Hey." She grinned as she got closer to him.
He pulled her into a hug, which surprised Lil, "Hey there."
It was a quick hug, but it still made Lil's palms sweaty.
"So what're we gonna do today?" She asked as she bounced on her toes.
"I thought I'd show you some of my favorite places to hang. A couple cool shops, a nice beach, and then we can grab lunch if you get hungry or something."
Lil smiled, "That sounds great."
He nodded and tossed a leg over the bike, "Sweet. Come on, let's go."
"What? No silver chariot?" Lil joked.
"I'm afraid not. This was the best I could do." He chuckled, motioning at the bike.
She stepped on to the pegs and wrapped her arms around his chest, her head directly next to his.
"You holding on tight?" He asked.
She nodded, and he set off.
First stop on their tour was a little café not too far from her house. It was what Jonathan called the 'Town Center'. He explained that this was the busiest part of town. But as Lil looked around, she noticed that it actually wasn't very busy. On either side of the street were a bunch of shops. Some for clothes, some for food, some offices. Basically a smaller version of a city. The buildings all looked old and worn down. Their once red's and blue's had faded into pinks and grays. The place looked sickly.
"Wow," Lil spoke, "Looks real busy."
Jonathan chuckled and pulled his bike over in front of the café, "Let's go inside. You have to try something."
Lil got off the bike and looked up at the café name. 'Sweetest Things'.
Jonathan grabbed her hand and pulled her inside, "You're going to love it, I promise."
The moment she stepped foot inside, an overwhelming aroma of deserts filled her nose.
The place was relatively small. The front was completely made of windows and there was a long glass counter displaying delicious looking pastries. So many kinds Lil had never seen before. A pink one with blue frosting, a pie-looking thing with yellow flowers decorated on the outside. Lil walked up to the counter and bent down to get a better look. She could feel herself salivating at just the sight of them.
A blur of movement behind the pastries made her stand up right. There was a little, older woman wearing an apron behind the counter. Her skin was wrinkled and her hair was white, but her cheeks were freckled and she smiled at Lil.
Lil felt Jonathan next to her.
"Hello Abbey! How are you?"
"I'm doing fine, m'boy! How about yourself? Who's this pretty, young thing you've brought with ya?" The woman asked.
Lil tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and Jonathan replied, "This is Lilith. She just moved to town a few days ago."
Abbey's face lit up, "Oh how wonderful! We don't get many new comers around here!"
Lil stuck her hand across the counter, "It's nice to meet you."
The woman gently shook it, "I've never heard that accent before. Where you from?"
"Australia." Lil said as she took her hand away.
"Whew you made a long journey, didn't ya?" Abbey sighed.
Lil nodded and smoothed out her shorts.
"Well, what can I get for ya today?" Abbey questioned.
"I want her to try some of your Apple Amber, please." Jonathan said as he placed a hand on Lil's back. Abbey grinned and clasped her hands together, "You've got it."
Lil looked up at Jonathan and raised an eyebrow, "Apple Amber? Am I going to be eating a person?"
He laughed, "No. You'll love it, trust me!"
"I do." She smiled.
He still had his hand on her back and she looked into his deep, blue eyes. She realized they were quite opposite from Peter's, even though they were both blue. Jonathan's were dark, and made Lil think of the ocean on a stormy day. While Peter's were light and inviting, making her think of a clear sky.
The thought of Peter caused her to look away from Jonathan in a hurry. He stiffly laughed and took a step back, shoving his hands in his pockets.
Abbey came bursting out from the back in a cloud of flour smoke. She coughed as she used her hand to brush the flour away.
"What happened in there?" Jonathan asked as he leaned over the counter, "Did it explode or something?"
Abbey made a small laugh and placed a box in front of Jonathan. She wiped the flour from her hands and pushed the box closer to him, "You know I take my work very seriously."
He smiled a warm smile at her, "I know, Abbey. How much do I owe you?"
She shook her head, "It's on the house."
"Really?" Jonathan asked.
"Positively. You two little birds go have fun. Enjoy your youth. It'll slip away from ya before ya know it."
Jonathan picked up the box, "Thankyou."
"Yes, thankyou." Lil added.
Abbey winked at her, "Go on now."
Jonathan lead Lil to the door and held it open for her. A twinkling bell chimed as it opened and Lil stepped out. Jonathan placed the box in the front basket of his bike and climbed on. Lil stepped onto the pegs and once again wrapped her arms around his torso.
"So, where to now?" She asked.
He tilted his head back at her, coming dangerously close, and grinned, "You'll see."
They rode down the main road of the town until they reached a dirt path. Jonathan warned Lil to hold on tight and to watch for branches. Lil was so focused on not falling and ducking from branches, that she didn't recognize where they were going until she heard the call of a seagull.
Jonathan stopped the bike and Lil finally looked in front of them.
It was a beach. A beautiful, mysterious beach.
The sand was colored unlike what she had seen in Australia. It was a dark yellow, almost orange. Beyond a couple dozen feet of sand was the ocean. Pounding rhythmically against the shore and leaving a white foam behind. The water was so blue, Lil could almost see a hint of green in it. There was nobody on the beach. It was completely empty except for some birds and the occasional crab she saw race past the shore line, which was lined with rocks and large shells.
Lil hopped down from the bike and picked up a handful of sand. She let it slip through her fingers and then stood up, looking at the beach again. Not too far from where they were standing was a big clump of trees. Not Palm Trees or anything regularly beachy. Just trees. Yet they formed a shaded... cabana type thing.
Lil looked over at Jonathan who stayed silent throughout her time of fascination.
"Where are we?"
He pulled the pastry box out from the bike and walked to stand next to her. As he stared out at the sea, he replied, "One of those hang out spots I promised I'd show you."
Lil shot him a confused look but he smiled and put an arm around her back,
"Come this way. I'll show you what I mean."
Jonathan walked them over to the natural made cabana. In the shade, there was a picnic table, which was definitely not made naturally.
"This is... unreal." Lil said in awe as she gently ran a finger over a tree and looked up to see that the leaves and branches formed a ceiling.
"Even better than the Cove?", Jonathan asked.
She stopped in her tracks, "I don't know if I could compare them. They're both equally amazing in different ways."
"Personally, I like it here better. It's always nice, it's always empty, and there's something about the water that's just...."
"Magical?" Lil finished.
Jonathan chuckled, "I was going to say beautiful, but I guess magical could work."
He sat down at the table and placed the box in front of him.
"Although I don't really believe in magic," he continued, "If I had to say anywhere around here was magical, I'd say the Cove."
Lil sat down next to him, "Why not? Who's to say half the stuff that happens in your life isn't from magical help. How do you know someone's not looking out for you and throwing good things your way. I mean, it's possible that there are other worlds out there."
She looked out at the ocean and studied the waves ebbing and flowing.
"Maybe Atlantis really is at the bottom of the ocean. Maybe Wonderland really is just down the rabbit hole." She looked down at her fingers and laughed to herself, "Maybe Neverland is just past the second star to the right."
Lil finished her ramble and looked up at Jonathan who looked utterly disturbed. She felt her face go red and she put her face in her hands.
"I'm sorry. I know I probably sounded like an idiot. I just... get on these rants sometimes and I can't really help myself."
Jonathan carefully pulled her hands away from her face and shook his head, "I think that was a wonderful speech."
She felt the red going away as she relaxed a little, "Really? You don't think I'm crazy or something?"
He nodded and shrugged his shoulders, "Oh, there's no doubt that you're crazy."
Lil's jaw fell open and she playfully hit his arm.
"But only the best people are." He finished.
Lil's stomach did a tiny tumblesault. Jonathan was truly the most appealing boy she had ever met. Kind, funny, handsome. He could kind of be called the 'full package'.
She reached onto the table and pulled the box closer, "So, are we going to try this or just let it go to waste?"