“The only thing keeping me awake right now is hunger.” They had eaten at the food court when they had first arrived, but the chicken nuggets and waffle fries were nothing more than a distant memory.
“What kind of food do you want?”
“The fast kind that doesn’t require me to shower or change my clothes.”
“But we bought so many cute pieces today! Why don’t you wear the black dress?”
Emily had insisted they bring every single bag in from the car. Vivienne was afraid she was going to force her to do a fashion show.
“Let’s compromise.” Vivienne plucked an outfit out of the closest bag and tossed it in her direction. “You put on something fancy; I’ll run across the street to the diner, get us a table, and order every appetizer on the menu.”
“Will you save me some cheese sticks?”
Vivienne paused with her hand on the doorknob. “I refuse to make a promise I can’t keep.”
“Fine.” Emily stuffed the fluffy black sweater back into the bag and pulled her phone free from the cord. “I’ll come with you now.”
They got to the restaurant and ordered enough food for five people. They chatted about everything and nothing. Vivienne managed to keep Emily talking about her family so she didn’t have to talk about her own.
They’d grown up so differently. Emily had lived in the same house her whole life. Had kept the same group of close friends since kindergarten.
It made Vivienne wonder what her life would have looked like if she hadn’t been orphaned. Would she have grown up in the white two-story house with blue shutters? Would she—
Emily’s phone started ringing.
“It’s my mom,” she groaned at the screen.
“Aren’t you going to answer it?”
“I guess I should.” She scooted out of the booth and took her conversation to the waiting area.
Vivienne dipped the larger chip crumbs into what was left of the salsa. Then she considered the final cheese stick. She cut it in half to share with Emily but ended up eating both halves. With no sign of her friend returning, Vivienne pulled her phone from her purse and flicked through the apps before opening the camera roll. The only picture she had was of a pair of hideous shoes Emily had tried to make her buy.
“Sorry about that.”
Vivienne turned off the screen. “Everything all right?”
“My mom was just checking in.” Rolling her eyes, Emily tucked her phone back into her purse. “She’s so needy sometimes.”
Vivienne smiled. She’d give anything to have a needy mom checking up on her. “Yeah, but I bet it’s nice having them so close.”
“It is. And I love that my mom and dad know about Neverland and Peter. But sometimes I wish I had been the one surprising them instead of the other way around.”
“I wonder what my foster family would say if I told them I’m part of Peter Pan’s secret society of flying teenagers.” Maren would be so jealous. The thought made her smile. Lynn would want to know that she was being safe. And Lyle . . . “Lyle would insist on coming along to see for himself.”
“The two of you seem close,” Emily said thoughtfully, toying with a bit of straw paper left on the table.
“We were.” When she had first moved to Lynn’s, Maren had made fun of her for being so short. Lyle had picked up a handful of dirty leaves and dumped them onto his sister’s head. From that point forward, they had been inseparable . . . Until she ditched him to come to Neverland.
“Why don’t you invite him to Kensington?” Emily scooted what was left of her chocolate cake to the edge of the table.
Vivienne had spoken to Paul about the possibility. He’d told her that until the whole HOOK thing was sorted, she couldn’t invite anyone. “HOOK showed up when my Nevergene activated, and—”
“What?” Emily’s cake clattered to the floor. “I can’t believe you never told me!”
“It never came up.” It was a poor excuse, but it was the only one she could think of. Vivienne helped Emily clean up the mess with her own napkin. When they were finished, a waitress came by with a tray to take away all the dirty dishes.
Emily asked how HOOK found out about Vivienne.
“Nobody knows.”
“Do they think Lyle is some sort of spy?”
“He’s not a spy.” But according to Paul, he was still a suspect.
When they got back to the room, Vivienne suggested renting a movie, but Emily said she was too tired. Which was perfect. The sooner she fell asleep, the sooner Vivienne could sneak away.
“I’m a little offended that, after everything we bought today,” Emily said, glaring at her from the other bed, “you’re still wearing that ugly sweatshirt.”
Vivienne pushed the covers aside and stared down at her OHIO sweatshirt. Emily was right. It was ugly. But it had belonged to William, so Vivienne would be wearing the thing until it disintegrated. “I don’t see anything wrong with it.”
“I hate it.”
“I’m going to buy you one just like it for Christmas so we can match.”
“No you won’t.”
Emily’s horrified expression made her giggle. “Just watch me.”
Once Emily fell asleep, Vivienne slipped out of her bed and pulled on her shoes. The door clicked behind her, and she took the elevator to reception. She went outside and crossed the parking lot to the convenience store next door. The plan was to pick up a prepaid phone and a few snacks in case Emily woke up and asked where she’d gone.
The door jingled when she opened it. She grabbed a small bag of chips and a bar of chocolate and brought them to the counter to ask the clerk if they had any prepaid phones.
The pock-faced teenager looked at her with dead eyes, not bothering to move from where he slumped against the register. “We only have flip phones.”
“That’s perfect. May I have one?”
He huffed at the inconvenience of being forced to move and lumbered to a locked cabinet behind him. “Do you want a blue or black one?”
The bell above the door jingled. Vivienne glanced at the couple who came in, then back at the clerk. Why was she so nervous? It wasn’t like she was doing anything illegal. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Uhhh…” He stared into the cabinet.
“Just give me a blue one.” She paid for everything and went back outside. The air felt thick and heavy, like it could start pouring any minute. After adding minutes to the phone, she dialed her foster brother’s number.
“Hello?” Lyle answered with the same amount of wariness that he applied to daily life.
Vivienne inhaled a shaky breath. “Hey, Lyle.”
“Holy shit.” His voice lowered to a whisper. “Is that you, Viv?”
She swiped at her welling tears. It was so good to hear his familiar voice. “Who else would it be?”
“Where the hell are you?”
“It’s kind of a long story.” She balanced on the edge of the curb and thought of everything that had happened over the past month. She wanted to tell him so badly but was already risking enough calling him. Soon. She would tell him soon.
“Come on. You go missing the same day a bunch of creepy guys come looking for you and all you’re going to give me is, ‘It’s kind of a long story?’”