Page 8 of Neverland

7

MELODY

“There anything you want to tell me?” My sister drops a copy of my own book down next to me. I guess she figured out my secret before I could hers. I fight back the emotions that well up inside of me.

“Oh shit, don’t cry.” She starts to panic, not wanting to upset me. I’m sitting at my desk, and she drops sideways onto my lap, wrapping her arms around me. “I take it back. Cry. Please. Let it all out. You always make me do it.”

How did she even find this? Also, how the heck did she know it’s me? I had no clue it would break out in this way.

I take her advice and let it all out. My little sister that I’ve tried to be strong for holds me tightly as the tears that I’ve held back or hidden in the shower or closet flow freely.

“I love you,” she whispers into my ear. “You’re my person. I’m not shaming you, but we should be celebrating this.” I lift my head. She picks the book back up. I can see how proud she is of me just by the look in her eyes. It only makes me want to cry more.

“But it’s over. Easton always pushed for my dream, so I wrote our story. What it could have been but never will be.” My sister's eyes fill with tears too.

“Now you don’t get to cry too.” I try to stop her tears.

“No, we’re sisters. We cry together.” I only cry harder at her words.

“He's getting married or something. I was terrible and looked it up.” Elsa wipes the tears from my cheeks. It’s so hard to even wrap my mind around that. All of this is so bittersweet. One dream of mine finally coming true with the publishing of Neverland, and the other being crushed with the news of Easton’s engagement.

“Then he’s not the man in this story.” She picks up my book. “This man. The one you wrote about would look for his lost girl forever.”

“When did you grow up so much?” I brush away the rest of my tears.

“I think we’re different.” I’ve always known that. If not for everything that happened with our father, she would have been at some fancy Ivy League college doing something with math.

“You want Peter Pan.” She smirks. “I want Captain Hook.”

I snort a laugh. “You got this Hook in mind, because I’m a bit scared.”

“That’s the point.” She wiggles her brows.

“It doesn’t scare you? I mean not the real Hook or whatever. The bad boy. The heartbreaker?” She ponders my question for a moment.

“What makes you think I won’t break his heart right back?” Of course she has a badass response. She can be shy and quiet at times, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t plotting. If anything, it only makes her more mysterious.

“But then what?” I whisper. A million questions of my own are bouncing around in my head.

“I think with some, you have to show them what they’re missing without you.” Okay, that kind of makes sense. “With others”—she looks me dead in the eyes—“you need them to fight for you.”

A small smile pulls at my mouth thinking of the first time I met Easton and how he fought for me. He knocked a boy out to make sure everyone knew not to mess with me.

“Really, Mel.” My sister's words interrupt my trip down memory lane “We both have lost a lot, but I never worried about who would stick with me. I was young. I knew you and Dad would be here. You were older, so it was different. A boy stole your heart, but you never think you’re good enough.” She picks up my book again. “You might not be all into numbers like Dad and I, but your mind is sprinkled with pixie dust, and I think Easton made you believe in yourself.”

I grab the book from her. “You read it.” It’s not a question. I know from the way she is speaking she did.

“I remember Easton. Not a ton, but I do recall how he looked at you. Called you his Neverland.” She taps the book, and I sit back down. No wonder she put it together that it’s my book. “The hero in this book would do anything for the heroine. It wouldn’t matter where she came from.”

“You might be right,” I agree. “But sometimes you have to let people go because you’ll only hold yourself and them back. I saw the engagement—”

“Let’s go bust that shit up!” My sister jumps up from my lap, making me smile. She’s always so quiet. We’re supposed to be in hiding. I think she forgets that at times. Vegas is her life now.

“I’m not going to ruin some woman’s wedding.” What if these two are really in love? I think I know love. The idea of being with someone that isn’t Easton makes my stomach turn. It must not be the same for him. If he is marrying some woman, he clearly has been with her.

More of the reality of that hits me. We’re older. Easton and I were young, neither of us having shared more than a kiss.

“He was yours first,” my sister counters in my defense.

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