Off to Neverland

Off to Neverland (20)

I was scared to go to school the next day because I didn't know what Eli would do. I hadn't ever seen him that angry before... Since he could have gotten away with anything, who knew what he could have done!

I was also afraid to see Jack. Even though I didn't admit that I loved him out loud, I still knew that I did. And I had no idea how I was supposed to act around him. What if I accidentally blurted it out? Knowing me, that was a big possibility...

I pushed these thoughts aside as I walked into the period I had with Eli. Maybe if I kept my cool and tough façade on, he would just leave me alone and everything would be perfectly fine...

I could dream.

"You're surprisingly not angry," I blinked, interrupting whatever Eli was saying to me. I knew he was saying something that was making fun of me, but I didn't really care very much at that moment. "I thought you'd rip my head off or something. You were so pissed yesterday."

Eli shrugged, looking back up at the board in the front of the classroom. "Well, what happened to Amelia isn't exactly a secret or anything. Everyone here knows about it. So why can't you know it, too?"

I blinked once again, not expecting this response from him. I really thought he was going to hurt me or something! But now he was acting as calm as ever, and I really wasn't expecting it! I actually didn't think that I had ever seen him this calm before! Ever!

"Oh... well... uh..." I stammered, having no idea what I was supposed to say to him now. I was fully prepared to fight back if he came at me, but that wasn't what he was doing. "Um... okay..."

Eli smirked at me. "So, did you hear how the auditions for the play are after school today?"

My eyes bugged out of my head. No! I hadn't heard that the auditions were after school! Why hadn't anyone told me? Didn't Chloe know? She would have told me if she knew! Unless she forgot...

Eli grinned now. "I'm guessing you didn't."

"Well, thanks for telling me," I sighed, leaning back in my chair just a little. "I would have missed it if it wasn't for you. Chloe probably would have missed it, too."

"Wait, you're auditioning?" Eli asked, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "I didn't think you were auditioning. I just told you that to change the subject from my sister."

"I'm auditioning," I nodded, not wanting the subject to go back to his late sister. "Of course I'm auditioning. I love acting and singing. I would ask if you're auditioning, but Jack already told me that you don't--"

"I'm auditioning," he informed me quickly, cutting me off and catching me completely off guard.

"What?" I almost screeched, but reminded myself that we were still in a classroom so I couldn't be so loud. Was he just messing with me or something? He had to be messing with me! "What do you mean? Jack told me that you never do school plays!"

Eli shrugged, giving me a strange look. "It's different this year."

"What's so different?"

Eli continued to look away from me. "Nothing that you need to know."

I pursed my lips at him, angry that he was going to audition now. What if he sucked? If he did, he was going to be in the play anyway because he was a Lost Boy.

I was hoping to get Belle, but I knew that that wasn't going to happen since Courtney's mom was in charge of it all. Jack's mom was usually in charge with her, but Chloe had told me someone else was taking her place this time...

"Your step-sister is a pretty funny girl," Eli informed me suddenly, and I tried my best not to glare at her. "Courtney's taken a liking to her, actually. You would think that they're best friends and not two girls that just met yesterday. I think she's closer to her than she is to those two friends that she's always around. I guess it's because both Courtney and Cassidy have something in common..."