atypical

Gwen remembered when she first kissed Peter like it was yesterday rather than almost twenty years ago. They were in pre-school, only four years old, and already attached at the hip. Gwen and Peter’s parents got along like a house fire so the latter spent a lot of time at the former’s house with her and her little brothers whenever the Parkers had to leave town, which was quite often. 

It was their first day of school and Gwen was terrified. Peter was excited to learn and make friends and Gwen was scared of doing neither. Her parents had been worried about her social development, considering the only child her age she speaks to is Peter. Gwen also struggled with eye contact and regulating her sensory input. That, paired with lots of other warning signs, meant that Gwen was due to be evaluated for Autism Spectrum Disorder soon. They hadn’t been able to get her in before school started but it was only going to be a couple of weeks before they finally got some answers.

Gwen was different from most girls, in lots of ways. She walked on her toes, flapped her hands, and threw tantrums like no other to start. Sometimes, Gwen had something like absence seizures which rendered her totally unresponsive for long periods of time. Her parents had worried about their eldest and taken her to a neurologist, but they were still observing Gwen’s baseline to see what could be going on. 

Until they could get her proper treatment, it was best for her and Peter to go to school together for times like that day. The duo were off in the corner during group reading time. Gwen couldn’t stop humming and flapping her hands, much like she got whenever she and Peter got separated from Mrs. Stacy and the boys at the grocery store. Peter had been asked by their teacher, Miss Toni, to sit with Gwen while she ‘calmed down.’ All Peter knew was Gwen needed him, so he was set on helping her.

“What’s the matter, Gwendy?” Peter asked curiously, his thick glasses perched on his button nose, “Why are you nervous?”

“Nuh,” Gwen shook her head, “Nuh, nuh, not.”

“You’re not nervous?” he asked to get another head shake in response, “Are you sad? Do you miss your mommy and daddy?”

“Not,” she emphasized sharply, her brows scrunched in distress as she yanked on her own pigtail, “No! No Mommy!” 

“Yeah,” Peter nodded so enthusiastically his chocolate curls fell in front of his eyes as he took her hand into his to redirect her from yanking her hair again, “Your Mommy’s not coming til’ three!”

He held up three fingers for her, then pointed to the clock with the hand not in hers. Peter continued explaining how to tell how much time was left before her Mommy came just by looking at the hands on the clock. As he talked, Gwen listened and played with his fingers in her little hands. She loved it when Peter explained things because he talked so nicely. He was smart but didn’t make Gwen feel dumb like so many other people did, most without realizing it. Peter, on the other hand, was always careful with how he talked to Gwen to make sure he was being respectful to her and her feelings. 

“You okay, Gwendy?” he asked quietly, his big brown eyes magnified by his glasses with his little lips making an O, “D’ya need a hug?”

”No,” Gwen growled, stomping her foot and making the soles of her pink shoes light up, “No touch!”

”Good job, Gwendy!” Peter cheered, holding a fist out for a bump which Gwen begrudgingly returned, “No touch, good job using your words!”

Gwen blushed and curled into herself with a scowl, hating Peter’s enthusiasm because it was working. 

“Shut up, Petey!” she cried out, grabbing the teacher’s attention just as Gwen’s hands started flying toward her self-proclaimed ‘bestest friend,’ “You’re dumb!”

“Gwendolyne!” Miss Toni gasped, quickly making her way over and pulling the blonde’s tiny body off of her other student, “We do not use those words and we certainly do not hit. What’s the matter, hun? What’s got you so upset?”

Peter got up, slightly winded from being hit and then tackled, and jumped up to kneel beside Gwen. Her big round eyes were glazed and unseeing despite the tears welling up in her lower lashline. Just as he was about to hold his hand out to touch Gwen, to help ground her, she took in a deep breath before letting out an ear-splitting wail. She flapped her hands harshly at first then started pulling at the ribbons tied into her pigtails as she continued to cry loudly, drawing everyone’s attention. 

“Aw, Gwendy,” Peter pouted, his empathy making him want to cry too, “It’s okay… I’m here. Your Peter Pan’s right here with you!”

“Pedah?” Gwen sobbed, “My Pedah?” 

“Yeah!” he cheered with a bright smile as Gwen’s little fist stopped smacking against the side of her face and rubbed her teary eyes instead, “Your Peter, Gwen. I’m right here.”

Gwen looked at Peter with her big sad blue eyes and sniffled miserably as he held out his arms for a hug. She sniffled again, her eyes never leaving him as he considered his offer. Miss Toni was about to say something when Gwen crawled over to close the gap between them and bundled into his arms. Peter smiled and held her as best he could, not saying anything when she wiped her tears onto his Iron Man t-shirt. 

“Good job making up,” Miss Toni praised softly, exceedingly proud of both children, “But, I think Gwen still has something to tell Peter.”

Gwen whimpered and ripped away from Peter with a trembling lower lip. Peter pouted again briefly at her emotion, holding out his two hands for her to hold which she did. He looked at her and gave her an encouraging nod when she looked up at him.

“’m sorry, Petey,” Gwen mumbled miserably, “You’re not dumb, I was just mad.”

“It’s okay, Gwendy,” Peter smiled, proud of his friend for using her words so well despite having struggled with her speech her entire life, “Thank you for apologizing.”

“Are you sorry for anything else, Gwen?” Miss Toni asked pointedly, “Like maybe for hitting Peter and knocking him down? You could’ve really hurt him, hun.”

”Hng,” she whined, shaking her head back and forth very quickly before turning back to him with more tears in her eyes, “I didn’ mean to hurt you, Petey! ‘m sorry for hittin’ you!”

Peter frowned and pulled Gwen into another hug, which she returned immediately before sobbing into his shoulder. He began patting her back soothingly, straightening the back of her pink dress which he knew she hated wearing. Even at such a young age, Peter was such a comforting presence for Gwen. 

“Oh, Gwen,” Miss Toni cooed, “It’s alright, sweetheart. Peter’s not hurt, we just have to have safe hands with our friends, okay?”

“O-Okay,” Gwen choked on a sob without removing her face from Peter’s shoulder, “S-Safe hands with Pete-Petey.”

“Good job, Gwendy,” Peter praised as he continued to gently pat her back, “We can share my apple slices at lunch. My mommy even packed me some peanut butter.”

”Apple?” Gwen asked with wide eyes, finally removing her face from its hiding place before tugging on her lower lip.

Miss Toni took in a breath to speak, to gently remind her that lunch wasn’t for almost another hour before Peter cut in with precious enthusiasm.

”Yeah, we’ll eat them at lunch!” he told her with a toothy grin, “Look! It’s almost time, too! Look at the clock, let’s see how much more time until lunch.” 

Gwen looked on with uncertainty as Peter stood and held out a hand for her to take. Group reading was already dragging past its allotted time due to Gwen’s meltdown, but Miss Toni knew it was best to let Peter and Gwen gather their bearings before resuming regular class time. Trusting Peter, the woman returned to her other students to resume reading, keeping an eye on the duo. The small blonde continued to tug on her lip with one hand and used the other to take Peter’s extended one. She allowed him to tug her up onto her feet and lead her to the clock on the other side of the room.

Since learning how to tell time, Peter had become obsessed with clocks. No one was sure what it was about them that the little boy enjoyed so much, but no one really questioned it either. Gwen was just being a good friend to Peter the way he was a good friend to her, by listening to and engaging in conversation about some of his favorite topics. Peter always did the same for her. He’d let her talk for hours if she wanted to about any of her favorite things like worms and rocks. While he was quite averse to digging around in the mud himself for such things, he was always more than happy to assist Gwen whenever she chose to do so. It wasn’t uncommon for Peter to keep wipes and hand sanitizer for Gwen in his bag, knowing how likely it was for her to start digging into the earth at any given moment. 

Gwen said nothing and never let go of Peter’s hand as he pointed up at the clock and began counting how many minutes were left until lunch out loud to her. She continued tugging on her lower lip, nodding along whenever he turned to see if she was following his explanation. Peter smiled, knowing she’d be back to her version of normal in no time. Especially with him by her side. 

Gwen was quiet for the remainder of the class. Peter assumed it was because she was tired and hungry, so he just gave her space. He kept a continuous chatter going, though, knowing Gwen was tethered to his voice and needed it to stay grounded when she couldn’t handle physical touch. Luckily, lunch was only about forty minutes after her mini-meltdown.

Peter sat with Gwen, as usual, when it came time to eat lunch. He waited for her to get her food set up in the precise way it had to be plated in order for her to eat it, which sometimes took more than half the lunch period. Today, she seemed to be extra hungry because she took her sliced grapes out of her Care Bears lunch bag first and immediately started munching on them. He watched on with a smile as he took out his apple slices and peanut butter, knowing they were here favorite. His smile widened when she wordlessly offered him some sliced grapes.

“No, thank you,” he replied sweetly, not particularly enjoying the texture of sliced grapes, “But, I’ll trade you some apple slices for one of your Oreos.”

“Deal,” Gwen replied without hesitation, “Only if I can dip them in your peanut butter.”

“Of course,” Peter chuckled, “I always share my peanut butter with you.”

“You’re the nicest, Petey,” she said softly, handing him an Oreo when he put his container of apples and peanut butter in between them, “Why are you so nice to me?”

“What do you mean?” he asked, munching on an apple slice, “I’m nice. I’m a good boy.”

“Yeah,” Gwen nodded, “But, not all nice boys are nice to me. Why are you so nice to me?”

“Because you’re my friend,” he shrugged, taking another bite of an apple slice, “I like you, so I like being nice to you.”

“Like me?” she asked with wide eyes, “Like… Like like me?”

“Uh,” Peter blushed, looking down shyly, “I don’t know… I mean, you are reallypretty…”

“You think so?” Gwen asked with a small smile.

“Of course…” he said as if it was obvious, which he knew he had to be blunter about with her, “I think you’re the prettiest.”

Peter was still blushing, looking down at his Star Wars lunch bag when he felt a small pair of lips press a smacking kiss onto his cheek, right on the corner of his lips. His blush burned bright red and his smile was so big, his eyes were squished closed by his chubby cheeks. Gwen really was the closest thing he had to a crush, so this was a big moment for him. 

“I think you’re pretty too, Petey,” she said passively, taking an apple slice and dipping it into the peanut butter as if she hadn’t just broken him, “I like you too.”

“Uh,” Peter cleared his throat and straightened his back, “That’s good. That’s why we’re friends, that’s why we’re nice to each other.”

“Okay,” Gwen shrugged, clearly disinterested in the topic now, “Do you wanna come to my house after school?”

“Sure,” he nodded, “I’ll ask my Mommy when she picks me up, and you can ask yours.”

“Why?” she asked with a wrinkled nose.

“Because asking for permission is the right thing to do,” he explained, “Our Mommies want us to ask for permission.”

“Fine,” she groaned, making him giggle.

And with him by her side, it’d all be just that; fine.