Panic

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

            “Are you all ready?” Blair asked.

            “Yes,” a chorus of girls responded.

            I ran my fingers over my dress and took as deep a breath I could with my corset tightened as far as it would go.  I was nervous, because I wasn’t quite sure how things were going to turn out tonight. 

            “Stop,” Theodora said.  I looked at her, surprised.  “I know what you’re thinking.  You’ll be fine, I know you will.”

            I smiled at her.  “Thank you,” I said.  “You look beautiful.”  She was dressed in a deep purple lace dress that made her shy face look radiant.  Her light brown hair hung straight down, but Celina had placed a crown of silver beads on her head, which made her eyes look bigger. 

            “Not as beautiful as you,” she said, returning my smile.  Her eyes travelled over me.  Celina had curled my hair, and placed a crown of gold coloured flowers. The dress did look nice; I’d finally been able to see myself in a mirror, and John had sent a true masterpiece.

            “Thank you,” I said.

            “Are you ready?” Blair said with an edge in her voice.  I looked over at her.

            “We’ve already said yes,” I retorted.

            “You were talking,” Blair said.  “I was wondering if something was wrong.”

            “Nothing’s wrong,” I said.  “Please, let’s make our grand entrance.”

            Blair glared at me, and led us out of the dormitory.  We walked down the hallway and descended the staircase.  At the bottom stood a group of boys, the same group that met us every night for dinner.  I hadn’t seen them for a time; in the week preceding the ball, the maids had been working very hard to clean the school, and hadn’t had the time to cook meals for us and the boys as well.

            As I looked over at them, I noticed that there was one extra boy.  I turned to Theodora.  “Dora, who is the extra boy?”

            She surveyed the group, and then looked back at me.  “You’re right, there is an extra one,” she said.  “I’ve no idea.  He must be new.”

            We reached the bottom of the stairs, and Mr. Leland came over to me.  “Miss Darling, Miss Blanche, I’d like to introduce you to a new student at our school,” he said, leading a young man over to me.  “This is, sorry lad, what’s your name again?”

            The boy looked at me.  “Mr. Pan,” he said, his eyes catching mine.

            Mr. Leland nodded, pleased.  “That’s right.  This is Mr. Peter Pan; he came to London quite recently and joined our class.”

            I was speechless for a moment, looking at the man’s face, trying to find my friend in his features.  Indeed, I could see that the man had Peter’s eyes, nose, and curly hair, but he was older.  He should have looked fourteen; yet, the boy in front of me looked eighteen, a bit older than me.  He was dressed in an elegant green waistcoat, and would pass as a London gentleman if I hadn’t known it was him.

            “Miss Blanche,” the man said with a nod.

            Theodora smiled graciously.  “It’s nice to meet you Mr. Pan.  I do hope you enjoy your stay in London.”