Magical Mystery Tour

Chapter Forty: Lilly's POV

Lilly's POV
Neal and I had been walking through the gardens at Friar Park for about an hour, and he seemed to be rather nervous.
"Can you tell me more about you?" He asked moving in closer to me. I leaned against a giant rock as I looked him in the eyes. They were bright blue.
"I am Lillian Michelle Preston, I am 16 years old, I have two sisters, Cindy and Miranda, and I am the youngest. My favorite color is purple, I live in McDonough, Georgia, USA, and I have never ever been this far from home before." I said, sounding a bit like rambling even to myself. Neal shook his head and rolled his eyes.
"No, I meant..." He sighed and bit his lip, "I don't know if I can tell you this, but we all have this power to tell when someone is one of us." I raised an eyebrow and backed away from.
"What does that even come close to meaning?" I asked quickly. I got up and Neal frowned at me.
"You know, like..." He sighed and ruffled his hair, "Like, just, one of us! You know, like Serena and George and John!" I turned around to face him and shook my head.
"I don't understand." I said gently. "What do you mean like Serena?" I was worried he'd heard what Serena and I had been talking about.
"You know...John and George were...." Neal stopped and sighed, "Nevermind. Forget I said anything, OK?" I shook my head and grabbed his arm.
"No what are you talking about?" I asked with a huff. Neal sighed and looked at his feet.
"I don't know how to explain it." He looked up and he looked pretty sincere.
"Try?"
"Lilly, I-" Neal ruffled his hair again, "OK, so you know how George and John were...you know..not alive? Well I was...not alive too. But Bellamy found me before these Alive Again people could. Most of us, like me, can feel when there's someone like them. That's why I helped you and George escape Bellamy's."
"Yeah, but what do you mean about me and Serena?" I asked, becoming confused, "I mean, we haven't had that...I mean we weren't..." Neal blushed and backed away.
"You didn't know?" He asked, "That's why you have those powers. Why you can see the things you do."
I walked away from him. I was confused. Everything I had dreamed about John was real? Everything Serena had said that happened to her was real? But it couldn't be! We had memories, and families! I shook my head and found I couldn't meet his gaze. I didn't understand.
"Lilly?" Neal asked gently grabbing my hand, "I didn't mean to-"
"No," I said quickly, "I'm fine. We'll talk about it with the others later." Neal nodded and smiled.
"Maybe we should head back to the house." He suggested. "It's getting a bit dark, and I'm getting hungry." I nodded and he pulled me by the hand to the house. When we got inside I tapped into John's mind and saw him sitting at a table eating with everyone else.
Thanks for telling me it was dinner time. I frowned and Neal raised his eyebrows. I shrugged and pulled him down the hall to the dining room. John smirked at me and I rolled my eyes as I sat next to him.
You didn't seem to want to be disturbed.
I sat down next to Neal and Paul and ate a bit. I suddenly realized I was sitting next to Paul McCartney. I looked over and tried to contain myself as we ate our meal. I looked around at everyone and I saw George staring at Serena as she talked to Stryker. He didn't seem to like that. I didn't like it all that much either. I didn't trust him at all.
I had a thought suddenly.
John, if you didn't want to bother me, did you hear anything Neal said to me? I looked at John and he frowned.
No, should I have?
Maybe. I don't know. We need to talk.
We're having a talk with Dhani after dinner.
Stryker invited?
Nope...
Good...