Life's a Bore

"We're landing!" Peter shouted, and I giggled. I was finally away from that hell-hole I called home!

"Lost Boys, FALL IN!" Peter shouted as we landed.

A few boys dressed as animals lined up in front of us.

"Who's that?" asked one, pointing to me.

"I'm getting to that," Peter replied dismissively.

"Isn't she a grown up?" another boy asked.

"I told you, I'm getting to it!" Peter said, exasperated. "Now, this is -"

"She's a GIRL!" another Lost Boy exclaimed, and they all started bombarding Peter with questions. Why had he brought them someone new, who was both an adult and a girl?

"LISTEN!" Peter yelled, silencing them all. "Now, as I was saying, this is Haylee. You can call her Haylee, Hay, or Hayze. She's special, and she's still a kid on the inside. Plus," he added in a whisper, "She might have... The Gift!"

They broke out in frenzied whispers and I felt myself begin to blush.

"Now," Peter said, silencing them all again, "She's special, as you know. She can understand Tink, too and also fly without pixie dust. And though she's dark and though she's a grown up, I'm sure you'll come to love her and her complexities. Now, I'll let her give a speech and tell us about herself." All eyes turned to me and we sat in a circle, like in Preschool show-and-tell. I was standing and I cleared my throat.

"Umm... Well, my name's Haylee, or Hay, or Hayze. Whatever you prefer. I like drawing, singing, and writing. I write songs, stories, and poetry. But most of all I like to play and goof off and dream and just have fun. Well, actually I like singing the best, but that counts as every good thing in the world. Music is my life and I brought a friend I'd like to show you all." Peter looked at me quizzically but I just unzipped my guitar case and showed them all my bass, Michael. "This is Michael. He's my bass guitar which I'm learning to play. It's for my band. I have a dirty mouth and a weird way of thinking, but I think that we could really be good friends if you'll accept me. Most people don't, though." I hung my head and Tink whispered, "confidence." I smiled at her. "So, yeah. That's pretty much it... Oh, and my favorite band is My Chemical Romance. I'd love to meet them someday." I stared dreamily into space. They looked at me and I snapped out of it. I had a good idea which was sure to warm their hearts to me. "So, without further adieu... TAG! You're it!" I tagged the chubby Lost Boy and ran. It took them all a second or two to register what had just happened, but by that time I was already at the top of a tree. We played tag in midair and then laid down on the grass to look at the clouds.

"I've never met anyone like you, much less a grown-up," Peter said after regaining his breath.

I smiled. "I hope for your sake that that was a compliment," I said in a slightly threatening but joking tone.

"And what if it wasn't?" he challenged, picking up on my joking-ness.

"Well, I guess I'd have to do... THIS!" I yelled as I tackled him and started tickling his sides.

"Ahh! S-stop!" he yelled in between his laughter. "Lost Boys... H-H-HELP!"

We were in a tickle war for a few hours and then the sun was down. I loved looking up at the stars. That was one of the reasons that I was practically nocturnal...

"Time to get to bed?" Peter said suggestively. I looked up at him with puppy dog eyes.

"But... I stay up late usually and then sleep past noon!" I whined.

"Fine," he said. He turned to the Lost Boys and yelled, "You hear that? Thanks to Hayze here, we get to STAY UP LATE!"

They all cheered, and for once I felt accepted.

It was a little past three when I finally fell asleep.

Now, let's see if you're really Gifted...