Always || Edmund Pevensie (The Chronicles of Narnia) [1]

Chapter 1: Into the New World ✔️

CHAPTER 1

EDITED 1/20/22

Cars honked, bicycle bells rang, and a mixture of adults and kids hastened down the road as everyone set out for either work or school. Mary and the Pevensie siblings were included in that category, having to head to their respective schools for the term.

"So, that Bill is still trying to flirt with you, huh?"

"I don't know if I'd consider it flirting, but he does bother me a lot."

Mary and Edmund were standing by a bagel stand, finishing their quick breakfast. Coincidentally, the two were off to a late start that morning and had to skip breakfast in their own homes. Upon finding out, Edmund suggested that he and Mary grab a bite before their train left for school.

"How so?"

"He always approaches me whenever I'm with having lunch with my classmates," Mary explained. "It causes a bit of a scene since he's from your school across us and none of us knew him. Not to mention that he's been offering to 'tutor' me for no apparent reason. We don't even have the same classes."

Edmund grumbled in annoyance, already not liking that Bill she was talking about. Surprisingly, he had grown the closest to Mary after meeting her that night the Browns visited his home. He didn't expect to form such a close friendship with her, but he didn't regret it in the slightest. Now that she was complaining about a boy that flirted (or 'bothered' according to Mary) with her nonstop, he couldn't help but feel protective. Wasn't it just the same feeling he would get when his sisters complained about boys, too?

"He sounds like a pain in the arse."

Mary laughed at his irritated face that was partially covered by the Hendon House scarf he wore around his neck and the newspaper boy cap on his head. She crumpled the wrapper that held her bagel and said, "Sort of. He's nice, but it gets overwhelming sometimes."

"Then do your friends get irritated when I approach you?" Edmund asked curiously. "Especially since we have lunch together outside school on the weekends."

"Of course not," Mary said, nudging him. "They know I've been friends with you and your siblings even before I moved to Saint Finbar's."

Edmund was going to ask something else, but he spotted Lucy running across the street with Susan hot on her heels. Lucy had just witnessed Peter getting into a fight with two other boys his age. Being the youngest, she didn't quite know how to intervene and stop him. So, her best option was to find Susan who was evidently the most mature and level-headed sibling among them all, and after finding her reading the day's paper by a newspaper stand, they took off sprinting back to the train station.

"Lucy, Susan!" Edmund called out, but his siblings did not hear him.

"We should see what's going on," Mary said. Edmund nodded and the two threw their wrappers into the trash bin before hurriedly following the other Pevensies.

It was crowded and cramped as usual in the underground. However, it was noticeably louder than ever when they arrived. People were shouting, cheering, and jeering at the commotion happening: Peter was at the bottom of the steps, punching and hitting two other boys in a fight. Mary could practically sense the wires working in Edmund's brain as he contemplated on what to do. She hoped he would stay back because she was half expecting for Susan to step in and stop it once and for all. Instead, all she did was send him a disappointed look. Peter looked like he wanted to stop fighting after seeing that, but he was in too deep. The other two boys were still going at him, and he had no choice but to continue.