“No listen. There was a guy following you this way. I came this way because he looked creepy. He was wearing an ugly green tie. Didn’t you see him?” My buddy Ian was talking to Wendy when I emerged from the office. Ian was on his hands and knees in the hallway.

“I don’t see anyone creepy but you,” she answered.

“I’m not the creepy guy. I was trying to stop the creepy guy… Will you help me up? I seem to have tripped.”

“I’m not coming over there.”

“Please?”

“Um, no.” Wendy looked unimpressed.

“But you’re so pretty. Like an angel. Angels are supposed to be helpful.” Ian seemed honestly confused about being on the ground, and unable to get up.

“I don’t know you. Stay back. You’re very drunk,” she said to him, keeping away several feet, probably to give herself room to run.

“I’m not drunk.” He slurred. “I haven’t had hardly anything to drink tonight.” He tried to get up on his feet again and failed.

“I don’t believe you.”

“No, it’s true.”

Wendy, who had clearly just been coming back from the bathroom, looked horrified by the scene before her. I wanted to get back to Rae, but there was no way I was leaving Wendy unattended with drunk Ian. He was harmless, but she had no way of knowing that. Although she could easily just walk around him, it was also obvious that she wouldn’t.

“You need help,” she told him. “You definitely need some help.” She looked unsure about what to do. Her eyes flashed around the darkened hallway, looking for someone to assist her.

“Jesus Christ, Ian. You do need help,” I added, surprising both Ian and Wendy. She looked at me in obvious relief.

“Hi Lucas. You know this guy?”

I frowned. “Unfortunately. He’s clearly partied a bit too hard. Can you go in the other room and get the tall guy wearing a blue shirt? He’s got glasses that look kind of like mine. His name is Ryan. We’ll get him home.”

“Ok,” she carefully stepped around Ian. She was almost past him when he popped up and grabbed her wrist.

In a movement faster than I could follow, Wendy twisted her wrist and used her leg to spin and then pin Ian by the throat with her stiletto heel. She’d gone from standing and walking to kneeling down on his chest with her shoe against his neck in the blink of an eye. Ian made a strangled, surprised little gurgle.

What the fuck? Wendy? Sweet little Wendy just did that?

I blinked in disbelief, but the scene was unchanged when I opened my eyes. Yeah, she’d just done that. “Holy shit Wendy!”

Wendy looked up at me like she was surprised to find herself pinning down a drunk. She stood up gracefully and smoothed down her pink skirt, stepping around him carefully and with as much dignity as she could. She left him prone on the ground. Her movements all looked simple enough, but she performed them with such speed and precision that there were clearly years of martial arts training in her past. I never would have guessed.

Wendy was a secret badass.

“Don’t touch me,” she told him in her soft little southern accent. He gurgled something unintelligible. She took that as an affirmative and walked off. “I’ll go get Ryan,” she said over her shoulder.

I blinked after her, looking between her and Ian. He was slumped helplessly in a ball. I had the easy job. He probably wouldn’t put up much more of a fight.

Ryan, Wendy, and I loaded Ian into Ryan’s car ten minutes later.

“Are you sure one trash bag is going to be enough?” Wendy asked Ryan. “I’m pretty sure he’s not going to make it all the way home without throwing up.”

“I’m only going a few blocks,” Ryan said, shaking his head. “You’ll apologize to Ward and Emma for me for leaving early?”

Wendy nodded. “For you, sure. But Ian has to come apologize to them himself.”

Ryan smirked. “That’s only fair. Thanks for your help.”

I waved to him and he drove off. Wendy and I stared at one another.

“You’re a secret ninja,” I told her. My voice was appropriately awed.

“I’m not a secret ninja.” Wendy shook her head. “I just took a few self-defense classes when I was a teenager.”

Yeah sure. That’s exactly what a secret ninja would say.

“Well you definitely put the fear of god into Ian.”

She smiled sweetly. “I sure hope not. I just didn’t want him to touch me.”

“I’m not saying it wasn’t justified. I’m impressed.”

“Really?” Her eyes were wide.

“Really.”

“Well thank you.” The woman was actually blushing.

Wendy really was the real deal. She was every bit as sweet as she seemed. I was comforted by the fact that she had ability to beat down anyone who crossed her, though. The world wasn’t meant for people as innocent and kind as Wendy. I was glad to see that she had a bit of an edge to her.

“How’s your plan going?” Wendy asked when we went inside. “Is your ex-girlfriend super jealous yet?”

I shrugged. Now that I’d come to my senses, I was a bit embarrassed. “I’m not sure it was such a good plan after all.”

Her eyes went wide and concerned. “Really?”

I nodded. “Don’t worry though. I think I know what I need to do.”

“Why didn’t your plan work?” She bit her bottom lip and looked so concerned for me that I needed to comfort her.

“It did. It just didn’t work the way I intended. What I wanted—well, who I wanted, changed. I finally realized what was right in front of me.”

She smiled at me. “Ok. Well, you look really happy, so that’s a good sign. I guess you just needed to figure things out. Good luck!”

If a real, live Disney princess like Wendy can go from zero to ninja, I might need it.