The thimble was burning a hole in her pocket the whole day at school. She regularly would feel for it to make sure she hadn’t lost it. It was ridiculous. But she was struggling to come to terms with yesterday’s events. It was too surreal. All she knew was that Peter had rescued her, and with him came the burden of something truly terrifying—the truth about her past and Neverland.

She was a mess of mixed emotions, of wanting to see Peter but also wanting to run as far from him as possible.

A tap on her shoulder made Wendy jump. She was losing it and needed to keep her cool, but it was hard when she expected every single person to shapeshift into a Red Skull. She turned and was stunned to see Jeremy standing before her.

He waited for her to say something, but when nothing came, he said, “What are you doing after school today?”

He flashed a grin her way, and she could see why at one point she would have been affected by that brilliantly white smile, but it paled in comparisons to Peter’s.

“I don’t know,” she said. “I think I’m just heading home today.”

Jeremy’s face fell in disappointment. “Okay, how about we change that? You, me—and dinner?” He gave her a confident grin.

Wendy panicked. Dinner meant being forced to have small talk, and she wasn’t sure she was ready. “I don’t think it’s a good idea. I have a lot going on right now.”

A tall figure was walking through the front doors, and Wendy’s radar went off—she couldn’t help but zero in on his outline and knew he was near. Peter nodded when he saw her and worked his way through the throng of students. He was wearing a green hooded sweater and dark denim jeans, which did nothing to disguise his good looks, and many girls noticed. He kept getting stopped and waylaid as he tried to make his way through the throng of girls.

Why was he there? He said he didn’t go to her school.

Jeremy was oblivious that he had lost Wendy’s attention. He cupped his hands around his mouth and began to holler down the school hallway, “Who thinks this girl should go on a date with me?”

Peter froze in the middle of the hall, his brows furrowed, and pressed his lips into a thin line of displeasure.

Students stopped and stared; some began to make loud noises, and others clapped.

One student yelled, “Do it.”

“How about a movie?” Jeremy countered. “I’m not going to take no for an answer.” He grinned, his fist pumping in the air, inviting more mass chanting. Wendy crossed her arm and began to look for an escape route.

“The masses are speaking to you, Wendy. What say you give a guy a chance?”

Her anxiety began to rise, she opened and closed her mouth, unable to get the words out. Where did all of the saliva go in her mouth? She was speechless.

Her eyes sought Peter’s over the crowd. Peter had drawn closer to her, his mood dark like a thundercloud, his ire aimed at Jeremy. She could feel Peter’s jealousy, and the full effect of him being that near her washed over her, making her knees go weak, and her cheeks flushed. Why should he be angry? Peter had no claim on her, they had only just “met” the night before. Then, he showed up in her school after dropping life changing information bombs and had the gall to act jealous because another boy asked her out?

In an attempt to save her, Peter gripped her arm and pulled her to his side. How dare he? He had no right to assume that she needed his help.

Wendy recoiled in irritation, yanking her arm back with enough force that she stumbled backward and fell. But it was Jeremy who caught her—his arm slinked around her waist.

“It looks like you’re already falling for me. So, what does Wendy have to say to my offer?”

Out of spite, and to prove to herself that Peter didn’t mean anything to her she nodded in affirmation.

“She said yes,” Jeremy yelled, and the hallway erupted into chaos. He leaned in, his eyes looking her up and down, and his voice lowered. “Now, remember, I don’t take no for an answer.”

He flashed her another confident smile before sauntering off.

She could feel Peter’s displeasure from five feet away. He didn’t come any closer to her—just watched, a confused look on his face. But Wendy didn’t dare meet his gaze. She turned down the hallway and tried to put as much distance as she could between them.

---

John recognized Tink instantly in the crowded hallway. She stood out like Starburst in a pile of Skittles, both bright and colorful except for the shape, the odd one out. She might pose as a student and look like the other kids, but her attitude didn’t fit. Plus, she was leaning against a wall wearing dark sunglasses, pretending to read a textbook like it was a comic book.

He was first irritated by her presence, but he came up beside her and noticed that she wasn’t even looking at the book. Sure enough, Tink was watching Wendy make her way into the girls’ locker room.

“Expecting a lot of sun?” he asked, then laughed when Tink floundered and dropped the book on the ground with a thud.

“Go away!” she hissed, picking up the book. “Before you blow my cover.”

“Uh, it’s blown, because teenagers don’t read.” He paused as he read the title, “The Age of War and Computers.”

“Some do.”

“Most don’t,” he snorted. “If you want to blend into our school, lose the crazy hair and books.”

Her censor box started to chime as his phone buzzed. He picked up and heard Wendy’s voice rush out over the line. She must not have seen him in the hall, and he knew she was calling him from the locker room because of the slight echo of the brick walls.

“I have a problem.” Her words sounded a bit forced. Like she wasn’t just trying to convince him but herself as well.

“What’s wrong?” He already knew what she had done but let her tell her side.

Another long pause. “I just agreed to go on a date tonight with Jeremy, and I don’t want to.”

“Why did you say yes?”

“I had a moment insanity.”

“Yeah, you do have those. Look sis, if you don’t want to, don’t. You’re entitled to change your mind. Jeremy will just have to deal.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s just . . .”

“What?”

“I dunno. I mean, I used to really like Jeremy, right?”

John grinned. “Yeah, you did. You used to write his name all over your folders like a creeper.”

“Shut up!” She laughed.

“Don’t go if you don’t want to.”

“Well . . . What would the old me have done?” Wendy asked.

“She’d have gone on the date, and then rubbed it in Brittney’s face,” John chuckled. “But seriously, only go if you want to, not because you think you should.”

“I’ll do it. I mean, what could it hurt?”

“Nothing.” He looked over at Tink, and an idea popped into his head. “Especially if you had backup. Let’s make it a double date. We’ll go with you as protection.” John grinned, winking at Tink who suddenly paled and shook her head vehemently at him.

“Who’s we?” Wendy asked suspiciously.

“Uh, ah, I mean a girl and me,” John said. Tink dragged her finger across her throat.

“Girl has a name you know,” Tink spat out into his ear.

“Yeah, we’ll meet you there.” He was positive that his plan was a good one. He’d score a date with Tink and stick close to his sister.

Tink’s face scrunched up in a grimace, and her hand formed a fake gun pulling a trigger to her temple. Her finger twitched, and her head dropped forward.

“Uh-huh. Yep. Sounds good.” He hung up.

Tink’s face was red. “I’m going to kill you, dweeb.”

“No, you’re not. Besides, it’s not a date. Think of it as an undercover operation. You’re going to come with me and help keep an eye on my sister. Maybe you can get on her good side and do some mild interrogation.”

He smiled, feeling extremely proud of himself. He kept second-guessing his decision to not have her help Wendy recover her memories. That would give her a chance to talk to Wendy, and he could keep an eye on them both.

“We’ll see, pretty boy. You may wish you never met me when I’m done with you.” She pushed away from the wall.

“You think I’m pretty?”

She stomped her boot on his foot. And he yelped. Tink paused to text, Peter he presumed, about their plans.

“So, when is this nondate?” she threw out over her shoulder, trying to sound disinterested.

He tried to hide his smile of pleasure. “Tonight.”

She walked out mumbling under her breath, “&@*% boys.”

Chimes followed her down the hall.