Off to Neverland

Off to Neverland (46)

I never thought I would have to sneak out of my own house through the front door.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve snuck out before. But every time that I did it, I went through my bedroom window and it was dark outside. Usually I was leaving to go see Terra or Simon or Henry to get away from Claudia and Cassidy, but it was definitely a different reason this time.

It was dusk, the sky just light enough that I would be able to see without a flashlight. I was completely dressed and ready for school, even though I normally wouldn’t have gotten up for another two hours. But I had to leave before anyone else could wake up.

I never realized how squeaky my front door was. I was glad that my dad didn’t have work that day, because he would have been waking up at any second if he did. But knowing my luck, this damn squeaky door would have woken everyone up anyway.

When the door was open enough that I could slide right out, I hurried my way outside and shut the door as quietly as I could have. After I made sure that it was closed and locked, I quickly sprinted down the lawn and toward the direction of Neverland.

I made sure to leave a note to everyone in the house saying that I was going to school early. I made up an excuse about having to retake a test or something, but I was pretty sure that the teachers at Neverland didn’t even offer retakes in the morning.

Even though I wanted to run through the hallways of the dorms, I made myself walk so I wouldn’t wake anyone up. I hurried my pace when I checked the time though, my grip on my backpack strap tightening until I got in front of the dorm that I used to know so well.

I banged on the door loudly to make sure it would wake her up. I hoped that this wouldn’t wake anyone else up, but at that moment I didn’t really care very much. I just had to talk to Chloe and I had to talk to her right then.

When she opened the door, she looked so pissed off that it was almost funny. When she saw that it was me, her angered died down a little. “Why are you here so early in the morning? Do you even know what time it is?”

“Sorry,” I apologized, walking into the dorm room without even getting permission to. I guess this room was still kind of mine, in a way. “I just had to talk to you as soon as possible.”

“About?” she asked, yawning and shutting the door behind me. I was way too antsy and squirrelly for this time in the morning, and Chloe definitely noticed as I awkwardly sat down on the coffee table.

“Well…” I started, swallowing because I didn’t know where to begin. “Jack and I made up last night.”

Her eyebrows rose in surprise, but then she gave me a suspicious look. “Please don’t tell me that this making up had anything to do with making out.”

I laughed nervously. “Hah, that’s exactly what Eli said.”

“Ivy.”

“Yes, we kissed,” I admitted, dropping my head into my hands and letting out a sigh. “But we didn’t get back together or anything.”

Chloe let out an overdramatic sigh of relief, placing a hand over her heart. “Oh, thank goodness.”

I rolled my eyes at her. “But that’s not what I’m here to tell you.”

She sat down on the bottom bunk now, the bed that used to be mine. It was weird, being back in this room after so long. It made me realize how much I missed it, and how things were when I lived in this room. Everything was so much less complicated then.

“What are you here to tell me then?” she asked.

“Eli and I met up after Jack and I reconciled,” I started, my hands shaking just thinking about it. “And we kissed. For a while.”