• I once knew a boy who swore to me that one day he would show me Neverland, and all of the wondrous things there. His name was Derek and he was always my best friend. Each and every night, when our mothers called us home, he would give me a hug and promise to show me Neverland someday. Everyone in our neighborhood didn't believe him, the adults just smiled like they thought it was cute but impossible, the other children called him stupid, but I believed. I had never known him to lie to me. Even when he broke every single piece of my china tea set, he didn't lie, he told me straight out that he did it and he was sorry. I couldn't stay mad at him, nor could he stay mad at me.

    We spent our entire childhood searching for Neverland. By the time we were ten no one called us Derek and Julia, we were Peter Pan and Wendy. Every night we would lay in the grass and stare up at the stars trying to figure out which one it was. As we grew older we still lay there, talking of anything and everything that came to mind. Then one night when we were fourteen he told me the one thing that changed my life forever. He said that his mom and dad had been fighting more and more often, and that they were getting a divorce. Then he told me that he was going to have to move with his mom. I hugged him and told him everything would be alright. The day he moved was the saddest day of my life, I felt as though someone had torn out my heart and ripped it to shreds. But I still smiled and told him I would write to him every day, and that I would come and visit him when summer came. As his mom drove away he leaned out the window and yelled to me that he would still show me Neverland someday.

    I wrote to him every day for two years, telling him little tales of my life in High school and how the kids we had grown up with were doing. When the boy I had been crushing on for months asked me out, I made sure that Derek was the first to know. And when the same boy broke my heart, Derek wrote to me about how much I deserved better. I never did go to visit him, and he never came back for a visit. Our friendship continued in our letters, and the occasional phone call. The summer I turned sixteen he wrote to me saying he had bad news. His mom had gotten a new job, teaching French, but they were going to have to move to London. I was shocked but wrote back immediately saying how happy I was for him that he got to go experience something like that. I told him to give his mom my best wishes, and to send me his new address. But I never got a letter back.

    For months I would rush to the mailbox as soon as I got home to see if the letter was there, but it never was. Eventually I stopped looking for a letter, and slowly Derek appeared less and less in my thoughts. I dated other boys, but I discovered that I was comparing them to someone, but I never could figure out who. So as I graduated High school and prepared myself for college, I found myself laying out in the grass one night. I looked up at the stars, and I wasn't calm, confident Julia; head of the class and homecoming queen. I was little Wendy, who had been staring at those same stars the night she found out her best friend would be leaving forever. I closed my eyes and made a wish, that one day I would find Peter Pan again, and together we would find Neverland. Then as my reverie was broken by the noises of my neighborhood at night, I shook my head at the thought. Neverland never existed, it was all just a story told to little children at bedtime. But still in my thoughts was the memory of a young boy leaning out the window to yell at me that he would still show me, a young boy who had never once lied to me.

    Three months later I left for college, and the course load I was taking forced me to forget all about Derek and Neverland. I tried dating again, but found that the guys I knew just didn't work. So I abandoned thoughts of that and threw myself into my classes. Finishing my degree a year early thanks to summer courses, I was beginning my search for a Grad School when a professor came up to me after his lecture. He told me that an old friend of his was looking for a Grad student to help with some of his classes. When I expressed interest in it he handed me the application with a small smile and said how happy his friend would be that he would have someone who clearly loved the field as much as he did.

    Within a month I received the letter of acceptance from the University and I was off to London to begin my stay as the new assistant to Professor Barry Davies. I arrived in London and quickly found the apartment building that I would be living in for the next several years. After a quick meal I started unpacking everything room by room. Only making it through the bathroom and bedroom, I collapsed on my bed and didn’t wake up until the next afternoon. Once awake I set to unpacking my kitchen so I could make breakfast. Deciding that anything else could wait I made my way out of the building and down to the nearest grocer’s, which I had noticed the night before.

    I made my way home and unpacked what remained of my kitchen, then settled into slowly unpacking the various books that had been able to make the journey. Opening the third box, I reached down to place the next book on the shelf. Looking down at it I stopped and sat down. I was holding the last birthday present I had ever gotten from Derek. Written on the inside cover was a short note, “Dear Wendy, May we never forget, never grow up, and always be friends. Your Friend, Peter Pan. P.S. Happy Birthday Julia!” Forgetting all about the rest of my books I went back to my bedroom and spent the rest of the day reading about the boy who refused to grow up.

    The next morning I went to the University to begin my first day as a Grad assistant. After getting lost and asking for directions I knocked on the door to Professor Davies office and was told to enter. Opening the door I noticed not only was the professor there, but another man as well.
    “Excuse me, I didn’t know there was someone else here, I can come back later.” I said as I nervously tucked some of my hair behind my ears.

    “No it’s alright, we were nearly done.” The elderly professor replied, “Please, sit down.” As I complied he continued, “Now, I assume that you are Miss Perry, correct? I am Professor Davies, as you have probably figured out. And my companion—“

    “Can speak for himself.” The tall dark haired man said. “Hello Wendy.”

    Faced with a part of my past that I had tried my hardest to forget, I did the only thing someone in my position could be asked to do, I ran. I tore out of that office like a bat out of hell and didn’t stop until I was safely behind my apartment door. It had been twelve years since I had heard that name, ten since I had seen it written on paper, and I was honestly scared of the man who had given it to me. Looking up at the sky and consequently the ceiling of my one room apartment I asked, “Why now, of all times, why now?” Receiving no answer, not that I expected any, I took a deep breath and left my apartment for the second time that day.

    Returning to the University, I walked calmly down the same halls I had just sprinted through. Knocking on Professor Davies office door, I entered the room thankfully vacant of any unexpected guests.

    “I’m so sorry Professor! I didn’t mean to run out like that. Oh, you must think I’m horribly rude. But it was such a surprise, and I didn’t know how to react, so I just ran without thinking. Oh, I’m so terribly sorry. If you want to fire me now I would completely under–“ my rambling was interrupted by hearty laughter.

    “Child! Don’t worry, Mr. Shaw has explained everything to me. And I most certainly will not be firing you before you even start working.” Still chuckling offered me some tea as I sat across from him. “Now as far as your rather spectacular exit, lets just say that I have never seen anyone leave the building faster, and leave it at that."

    As my face got hot, and most probably red from embarrassment, he continued to talk of little non-important things. After a little while I started listening with only one ear as I mulled over everything that I had learned about my employer. He was not only an apparently close friend of Derek's, but was also possessed with a wicked sense of humor. I tuned in just in time to hear, "So I don't expect you here until Monday morning at the earliest, say around 10. I never schedule my classes any earlier. As I get older it seems like these old bones just don't want to leave my bed!"

    Nodding I thanked him for his time and understanding and left the office with my head still reeling. How I made it home without getting run over I'll never know.