The Stars Will Catch Me

Chapter 7

It's dawn when the ferry docks.

The sunlight feels warm on my cheeks, the air less humid. I can hear the splash of waves crashing on top of eachother and my back doesn't ache despite being propped against the hard surface for hours. My eyelids flutter open, spotting empty space where Aaron used to be.

I stand up, brushing off my jeans.

I walk up to the windows where I find a beach with sand as white as sugar. Beyond the sand are pebbles and rocks with no jagged edges. They're smooth and round, some tinted green and purple - the kind of rocks I'd collect if I was still a little girl. Farther out are luscious green fields that extend past what I can see. They go up hills that loop up and down like a quirky staircase to the top of the land.

My fingers slide down the glass. I feel like a visitor at a zoo, admiring something too wondrous and exotic to be part of my everyday life.

I hear shuffling from behind me. It's Aaron.

"I was about to wake you." His smile is even brighter in the daytime. His hair is disheveled from our nap but it suits him - like it's how his hair is meant to be.

"What is this place?" The awe I feel oozes out of every word in the sentence.

He chuckles, standing beside me to take in the view. "This island has been forgotten by the state so it doesn't really have an official name."

The island looks as though it has emerged from the sea today, glowing in its newness. I want to see every inch of it. I have even given up the goal of living somewhere far from the sea. If the rest of the island looks anything like what I'm seeing now, I wouldn't mind being surrounded by the sea. Forget the trauma the ship has inflicted on me, this place is amazing!

"What do you call it?" The skin beneath his freckles turns red like he's flattered that I care what he thinks.

He releases the name like a dove.

"Neverland."

"Neverland," I repeat, trying the name on my lips. It suits the whimsical scenery. "How'd you come up with that?"

Aaron gets this kind of sparkle in his eyes that makes me wonder if he can glow in the dark. "I make a promise to the kids here that they'll never have to go back to the life they had before. I am now extending that promise to you."

I want to believe him - and maybe I do because as we exit the ferry everything is in HD.

The captain gives us a wave and disappears into his booth. I feel like I should have said something more to him, at least a thank you. It was his boat that got me here and he did lie to the police for us. But he's making a speedy getaway so I decide I'll save my thank you for Charlie who made all of this happen.

Charlie.

I think back to a few hours ago and how I trusted Aaron only because he said Charlie had sent him.

"Did you ever actually speak to Charlie?"

He gives me a sheepish expression as we walk along the beach. My sneakers are already coated in sand. "We couldn't risk telling him too much since he lives with the enemy."

To be honest, it's crazy that they even took a chance on letting someone who was so close to Nakpuna know about their operation. Strategically speaking, maybe the risk was calculated. Charlie knows things about Nakpuna that even his employees at the lab wouldn't know. Having him on their side could work well but it also means putting him in more danger, which I'm not a fan of.

I squint at him, using my hand to shade myself from the rising sun. "Does that mean he won't be able to visit me?"

"Well, it might be a while before it's safe for any movement between Neverland and the mainland." Aaron picks up a pebble and starts playing with it, throwing it up and down like he did with his ring last night. "We do have phones you could use. Though, you'll have to limit how much you use them to avoid raising suspicion."