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THE RADIO droned on in the other room, the irritating voice of the news anchor mumbling on and on about topical updates that Eleanor Porter couldn't care to listen to. The girl huffs, picking up a pair of earrings from the small tray on the vanity and putting them on. She batts her blonde hair away from her face, watching herself in the reflection in the mirror as she hooks the earrings in. Once she's done, she sits up straight again, looking at herself for a moment. The daylight from the window reflected off the looking glass, which displayed the floral pink wallpaper on the wall behind her. There were a few photos there, paintings and things, decorative mirrors, and such. It wasn't just this room, the whole house was beautiful. It was museum-like, full of art and expensive furniture. The whole building screamed 'not for children' which was ironic with the four siblings currently residing there. Not that they had much of a choice.

Believe Eleanor, or any of the Porter siblings really, they would rather be anywhere in the world than their Aunt Alexandra's house. Their relative was not keen on children, and took them in, not for love, but rather an obligation. You see, with their mothers recently passing and their father off at war, the Porter children had nowhere else to go.

Eleanor stays still for a moment longer, taking a deep breath before sighing and getting up from her seat. She picks up her school uniform tie, going to her doorway, and peering down the hallway. Michaels door was partially open, but Louis and Lillians were both shut. Their Aunt had placed the children in the furthest part of the house from herself and had little to no interaction with them when at all possible. It was hard, being the eldest in the family. With no parents around, and a guardian who couldn't care less, Eleanor felt a lot of responsibility to look after the others.

The girl stays quiet for a moment, finishing tightening her tie and enjoying the silence. A calm before the storm. "Alright.." she mutters to herself, walking a bit down the hall and gently knocking on Lillian's door. "Rise and shine," She says quietly. The door opens almost immediately. Lillian Porter gives her sister a look before going back to her desk. "I'm up," she mumbles, clearly tired as she piles her books into her school bag. She offers Eleanor a sheepish smile. "How'd you sleep?" She asks gently. Eleanor shrugs.

"Did you do your chores?" She asks her younger sister. Lillian nods, lips pressed together. Aunt Alexandra called it 'earning your keep'. All the children basically ran the house for their aunt, both before and after school. Complaints were not accepted and were often punished. Eleanor, quite a mouth on her at times, learned that the hard way. "Right then," she says, leaving the doorway and going to Louis's door next.

Louis and Lillian were twins, both brilliant in different ways. Lillian was an explorer, book smart. She often kept a journal on her person, observing those around her with a keen eye. Louis, on the other hand, had an appreciation for the arts. He was skilled with a blank sheet of paper, especially with a paintbrush in hand. Eleanor admired them both. She was never much of anything in school. That meaning, her grades were fine, but nothing notable. Eleanor softly wraps her knuckles on Louis's closed door. Nothing. She knocks again. Silence.

"Louis-" Eleanor starts.

"Yeah?" Louis's voice comes from Micheal's room, right along with the noise from the radio. The eldest Porter steps across the hall and pushes the partially open door all the way open. Michaels room was a mess, clothing, and books thrown everywhere without care. Eleanor wrinkles her nose. Micheal himself, the youngest of all of them, was sitting at his desk, chin rested on his palm as he listed to the news report of the radio. Louis was trekking his way around the small bedroom, picking up the mess. "Morning," Louis greets Eleanor. "Micheal and I are cleaning his room," It was clearly just Louis doing the cleaning.

"Oh are you?" Eleanor hums, leaning on the doorframe and fiddling with her long blonde hair. At least someone was cleaning up. Aunt Alexandra would have their head if she saw any of her rooms left like this. "Micheal you're not even dressed," Eleanor reprimands. "Come on, kiddo, we've got school,"

"We were just getting to that," Louis says, placing Michael's school uniform on the desk next to him and briskly shutting off the radio.

"Hey!" Micheal complains, speaking for the first time that morning. He immediately reaches to turn it back on. "I was listening to that," Micheal Porter was nothing if not stubborn. He, like Eleanor, had blonde hair, though his was far less cared for, and all too often shoved under a hat. Louis stops his brother, holding his arm back.

"You can listen once you're ready for school, Micheal," he says, sounding quite tired. Eleanor could relate to that feeling. It was hard being an adult when you were still a child. "Come on," he urges. "I'll help you with your tie,"

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"Come on, Porter!"

Eleanor slings her satchel over her shoulder, slightly jogging to catch up to her group of friends. The school day was far too long, especially with the promise of home and housework after the final bell. Eleanor's jog slows to a small trot as she catches up with her group. All the girls were dressed in the same clean-cut uniform, with a few variations of how they wore their grey sweaters or skirts.

"Did you see Pevensie in class today?" One of the girls asks. "Practically falling asleep during mathematics," Eleanor snorts, shaking her head. She rests one hand on her satchel as they walk to lunch in the courtyard. Early in the school year, the cold from on-coming autumn began to trickle into the air, but the weather was not freezing enough to drive students inside on their free period.

"Can't blame him can't you?" Another girl muses. "That class is torture. It should be against the law to subject children to it," Okay, maybe that was a bit dramatic. The group of girls agreed on a dislike for school work. Each of them was rather pretty, they were quite popular among their peers.

It was true, Eleanor had practically her pick from the boys in her classes, and she would be dishonest if she said she didn't enjoy the attention of that. Lillian said it was stupid, and maybe she was right, but flirting was gratifying. Eleanor liked to consider herself rather popular. She had a good amount of friends, an up-to-date social life, and a good head on her shoulders. So why didn't Peter Pevensie notice her?

It wasn't like she particularly fancied Peter or anything, though he was quite handsome, she just found something interesting about him; like he had a secret he wasn't sharing.

Peter Pevensie stood out to Eleanor for the main reason that he didn't seem to notice her in the slightest. Not in a cruel way at all, Peter just always seems too distracted with his work; his siblings, his family matters. With the war raging on, and with threats of it coming to the heart of London, Eleanor couldn't blame him for being worried. She was too... still, she found the boy perfectly frustrating.

Eleanor knew plenty of boys in her grade who would probably take her out, but there was something different about Peter, she didn't know why. Eleanor realized that made her sound incredibly vain, and she surely didn't mean to sound self-centered. She knew there really wasn't anything special about her. She was just an average girl, in a boring school, in a basic city.

That was before everything.