The first thing Jane smelt in the morning was apple cinnamon oatmeal. That was enough to get her out of bed.

"Good morning," her mother greeted once she came down.

"Good morning," Jane grinned and sat down at the table.

"I made your favorite."

"I can smell it," she laughed. As Wendy poured her oatmeal into a bowl, Jane began to feel bad about the way she acted last night. Sure, Danny may have deserved it for acting like a brat. But her parents certainly didn't.

"Hey mum-" she started, but was interrupted by her little brother jumping down the stairs.

"Look mummy! I can fly!" He held Jane's old Peter Pan doll up high in his hand.

"Be careful, Danny," Wendy warned. "Remember what happened last time?"

"Yeah, I sprang my foot. But it got better!"

"What if you were to do something worse to it one day?"

"I won't. Don't worry!" He piped. His face lit up when he noticed that Jane was up. He 'flew' the following over to her. "Good morning, Jane! Are you ready to go to Neverland with me?"

Jane was in a much better mood than she was yesterday, so she played along. "Oh, I'd love to come!" She laughed. "I really missed it there! Are we going to play treasure hunt and fight pirates again?"

"If you want to!" Danny 'flew' the doll over to Wendy and started speaking to her.

Jane shook her head, still laughing. Sure, her brother could be a pain, but sometimes he distracted her from the real world. She wouldn't have thought it back then, but innocence was very beautiful. Something about it just made her feel so happy. She wished the real world was like that more. Not dark and cold or mean or unforgiving.

She remembered the one time when her childhood wasn't so dark. It didn't last for very long, but it was worth it. Going to Neverland had been the experience of a lifetime. It was the most fun she ever had in years. Unfortunately, she had forced most of those memories to the back of her mind. If she hadn't, it would've kept her from living in the real world. But whenever she saw Danny playing with his sword or her old Peter Pan doll she let him have, she was filled with joy, although she'd never admit it.

None of her friends believed in those things anymore. Although Jane still did, she wanted to live a normal life. She couldn't be stuck in that world forever. It was just the truth, no matter how tragic it was.

"Peter Pan told me a new story!" Danny said.

"Oh really?" Jane playfully raised an eyebrow. She knew he'd never been to Neverland, but he liked to make up his own stories.

"Yes! You wanna hear it?"

"Why of course," she turned towards him with her oatmeal bowl in her hand.

"One day...Peter and the Lost Boys were playing follow the leader when they heard a strange noise."

Jane raised her eyebrows. "And what was that noise?"

"It sounded like a ticking noise at first, so they thought it was tic tock the croc. But then they heard a bunch of popping noises, so then they thought it was the giant octopus. They went towards the noise and guess what they found?"

"What was it?"

"It was a mix of the two animals combined! It had a long tail like tic tock, but it also had long arms like the octopus."

"That sounds terrifying!" Jane faked a gasp. "What did they do then?"

"Peter told Tinkerbell to sprinkle pixie dust all over the ginormous octopus crocodile so they could all drop it on Captain Hook's ship!"

"Well that sounds like a good idea," she said as she took another bite of oatmeal.

"Of course it was! It was Peter Pan's, after all!"

"Alright you two," Wendy said with a small laugh. We'll tell stories later. Now it's time to finish up and get ready for school."

"Aw man, can I just stay home today?" Danny whined.

"I'm afraid not."

"But-" he faked a cough. "I feel sick!"

"You were just fine when you were telling your sister that Peter Pan story."

"It's true," Jane giggled as she finished breakfast and went to grab her backpack.

"Fine," Danny pouted.

"You two have a great day!" She called as they both headed out the door. "Make sure you get on the right bus this time, Daniel!" Jane stifled a laugh, remembering how he accidentally got on the one to university on the first day. Poor boy, she thought. He must've been scared to death.

"I'll see you after school, Jane!" Danny waved.

"Bye," she waved back before walking to the corner of her street to meet up with Mia.

"Jane!" She popped out, scaring her half to death.

"What?!" She took a breath to calm herself.

"You are not going to believe what happened!"

"Alright...?"

"Christopher asked me to the winter ball! But that's not all! You wanna know how he did it?!" She started walking rather quickly.

"Uh...sure," Jane replied, trying to keep up.

"So he showed up at my house last night around 22:00 (10:00 pm) and he literally, I kid you not, threw rocks at my window! It was insane! I thought it was hail or something! I'm so lucky that he's in year 11, or else I'd have to wait one more year."

Yeah. You're so lucky. Jane wanted to roll her eyes. But instead she smiled. "Well I'm happy for you." It's not like she wasn't. She truly did care for her friend's happiness. It's just that too many people were constantly rubbing it in her face, whether it was telling her about their love life, making out in the hallways, or even talking about marriage.

"Thank you! Oh, I'm so excited! I can't wait for December!" She paused. "We have to get you a date!"

"No we don't," she replied.

"Yes! You could-oh my...sorry, I forgot about what happened." Mia bit her lip.

"It's alright," Jane sighed. "It doesn't matter anyways. I'd like to forget about him, so if you would kindly not bring it up?"

"Sorry again..."

She shrugged. "It's not big deal, Mia. I know you're excited."

"Thanks for understanding," she smiled.

"Yep." If only someone understood me.

**

"I made a 100.00! A 100.00!!" Isabell beamed as she sat down beside Jane and Mia at lunch.

"See where studying gets you?" Mia replied sarcastically.

"I know! It's like magic!"

"Speaking of magic...what should I wear for the winter ball? The theme this year is going to be fairies. I kinda want wings with those icy like swirls around them. You know what I'm saying?"

"Yeah," Isabell nodded. "William hasn't asked me yet but I'm sure he will when it comes closer to time."

"He better," Mia laughed. "Do you have an outfit planned out yet?"

"Well I don't know yet."

"I could help you pick one out."

"What's this talk about the Winter ball?" Ben took a seat next to Jane.

"They're discussing the costumes they're going to wear," Jane answered. "And aren't you supposed to be with Lillian right now?"

"She's on vacation."

"...At the beginning of the school year?"

"Yeah, I know. It's kinda weird. But hey, I support anything my girlfriend does," he shrugged.

"I've got to use the restroom," said Jane. "I'll be right back."

"Don't fall in!" Ben teased.

"I'll be extra careful," she laughed.

Jane went into the last stall in the bathroom and locked the door when she heard a couple of other girls walk in, giggling like they were super wasted.

"Have you heard about what happened with Elliot Wilson and Jane Darling-"

"Shh!" Her friend cut her off. "We wanna make sure no one's in here first. "Hello?" She called.

Jane's heart stopped. Did he tell them about me trying to kiss him? She silently stood up on the toilet seat and made sure to duck a little so her head wasn't showing.

"I think we're good, Tabatha," the other said. "Anyways, have you heard about Jane and Elliot?"

"No? And who's Jane?"

"She's some 16 year old girl. Elliot went to her birthday party over the weekend. Apparently he took her virginity."

"What?!" Jane accidentally said out loud and ended up falling against the door. She didn't slide it into lock all the way so it came flying open, sending her falling. She caught herself with her arms and winced in pain when she hit the hard tile floor.

"Um..."

"Nice going, Sarah! Someone was in the bathroom!"

"Well I'm sorry, Tabatha! I can't help if some freak decided to listen to our conversation! Unless...you're the Jane we were talking about?"

Jane's face went red with embarrassment and the two girls laughed.

"Oh my gosh! This is priceless!" Sarah said.

"You two have a lot of nerve," Jane retorted, standing up. She pretended that every square of inch of her body didn't hurt.

"So is it true?" Tabatha asked. "Did you sleep with Elliot?"

"No! I don't know where this came from!" Her face turned even redder.

"You liar. You asked for it, didn't you?"

"I didn't!"

"She did," Sarah started laughing again. Tabatha joined her.

Jane opened her mouth to say something back, then closed it. She realized that no matter what she said, they'd never believe her. It's already been said by Elliot. Everyone believed him. He was popular, he was hot, he was cool. He was a man. She was a woman. And when it's a man vs a woman, they always believe the man. She glared at them.

"Fine. Believe whatever you want." She marched past them, making sure her shoulder hit one of their's.

"Ah! That was rude!" Sarah snapped. "I bet she wasn't even that good in bed." They giggled.

Jane didn't know what to feel. Hurt? Angry? Betrayed? The guy she had liked for a whole year wasn't who he seemed to be. Her hands shook as she headed back to her lunch table. She scanned the cafeteria. How many people knew this before me? Then she looked to her friends. Did they know?

She walked to the table but didn't sit down. She then placed her hands on her hips. "Did you guys know that Elliot is spreading a rumor about me?"

Mia and Isabell frowned. "Yeah...he did yesterday. How did you find out?" Mia asked worriedly.

"In the bathroom. I had to hear it from two random girls before I heard it from my own friends!" Jane snapped, her eyes filling with tears.

"In all fairness, I didn't know," Ben held his hands up.

Jane ignored him and continued to talk to Mia and Isabell. "Why didn't you guys tell me this?!"

"Because we didn't want you to feel any worse. It was for your own good!"

"How?!" She yelled. "How was waiting for the rumor to spread all over he school before telling me 'for my own good'?!"

Isabell stood up. "Jane-"

"No! I don't want to talk to any of you!" She grabbed her backpack and sharply turned around.

"Jane, wait!" Mia called. "We didn't mean to hurt you!"

She ignored them. All she wanted to do was go home. She didn't care about skipping class or missing any homework assignments. She just needed to breathe.