AN: This chapter was a lot of fun to write! 
CWs: None

We did end up with lots of loot—all four of us. I had no regrets whatsoever. Our shopping spree proved to be a success. Keefe ended up with a few more t-shirts (including Batman merchandise), a couple more pairs of jeans, and, naturally, a Batman Funko Pop figurine, besides his Squishmallow, which he'd dubbed Bluffy. I returned with a collector's edition of Pride and Prejudice, Matilda got nail polish and a three-pack of scrunchies, and Tabitha obtained a new comic book.

Keefe had protested over my willingly buying a book. "They're so boring! I don't know why you'd get one, even if it's pretty."

"Maybe try reading something besides whatever's the elven equivalent of a textbook," Matilda snarked back. "You'll find that fiction is actually quite entertaining."

Other than that mild scuffle, the trip back to the hotel was surprisingly peaceful. Of course, there was some chaos, but it was minor, surprisingly enough. Tabitha and Keefe nerded out over some Batman movie I'd never seen, while Matilda and I discussed Jane Austen. The two of us unanimously concluded that Mr. Darcy was the best Austen male. After the geeking out ended, the redhead put back on the oldies playlist and cranked the volume.

"No interrogation is allowed for the return trip, girls. I think you drained what intel you could receive from our friend Keefe here."

Matilda mock-whined. I knew that I could always drag information out of my honorary big brother at any time.

He can be such a pushover sometimes. I snickered.

About halfway to the hotel, Matilda decided to register a personal complaint.

"Tabitha, can you skip this song? I swear, if I hear one more Beetles song, I am going to go mad!" she pleaded, clearly desperate, as "Hey Jude" came on.

"I don't have an issue with it." Keefe shrugged.

"Try having a sister who's obsessed with their music. It's weird. Willow likes rock bands like Nirvana, but then she also likes these sappy sixties love songs." She shook her head. "I don't see how her music tastes can be so different."

"I can," I piped up. "See, I like pop, classical, folk, oldies, showtunes, and soundtracks. There's a lot of variety there."

Tabitha decided to join the conversation. "There's a difference between listening to songs like 'Smells Like Teen Spirit', which is a vibe, and 'Yellow Submarine', which is annoying after, like, the tenth listen. Matilda has a point." She skipped the song.

As the next song began to play, I perked up. I recognized the familiar guitar opening to "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel.

"Better?" the oldest girl asked.

"Much," Matilda and I jinxed. I could tolerate only so much Beetles.

The rest of the car ride passed by fairly quickly. Honestly, I was kind of disappointed when we dropped Keefe off.

"You'll be at the park later today, right?" Tabitha clarified.

"Yep. Wouldn't miss it out for the life of me."

"Great. See you then!" I waved cheerfully as I watched the boy enter the building.

"And then there were three," Matilda remarked.

"Yup!" I popped the "p." "And it's all girls now."

Both girls agreed that they failed to see the downside to that. I had to admit they had a point.

"Karaoke time?" I begged. "Pwease?"

Tabitha replied positively, so we began to sing our lungs out on the next song that came on, which happened to be "Never Gonna Give You Up."

"Tabitha Rickrolled us!" the brunette realized, tears streaming down her face from laughing so hard.

"Wait! Oh my word, she did!" The fact hit me seconds after Matilda's comment. "Who cares? The song's a bop."

It was true. We sang every single word, including the backup singer's parts.

Carpool karaoke continued until we reached my house. I hated to leave my friends, but it was inevitable. I promised to see them at the park later today before heading inside.

•.¸¸.•'¨* •.¸¸.•*'¨•.¸¸.•'¨'

The rest of the weekend passed by like normal. I couldn't believe it, but I kind of enjoyed the unexpected adventures at the park. Having a weekend pass by without me having my mind blown to bits, questioning how fictional fantasy actually was, or freaking out over some supernatural event seemed odd, even abnormal.

Huh, I guess Luke was right, I realized. I've really become Bilbo Baggins.

I was grateful that I didn't have school today. I needed—well, wanted—new books, and the library was my safest option so that I didn't end up spending a hundred bucks. Remembering how much Matilda enjoyed reading, I decided to invite her to tag along. I pulled out my phone and texted her about my plans to head the library that afternoon.

Within a couple of moments, she texted me back.

Of course! I'd love to! Meet up there?

Sure that's fine. See u there!

After hitting "send," I headed downstairs. I felt like baking some muffins for breakfast, so I ambled over to the kitchen, phone in hand.

"Let's see...we have flour, sugar, vanilla extract, eggs, and all those other important ingredients. What type of muffin should I make?" I said to myself.

A flash of inspiration hit me. Mom always loved apple cinnamon muffins, and we had plenty of apples.

Now, all I need is a recipe.

I did a quick Google search and found a simple recipe with a cinnamon crumb topping and white icing. After I read through the recipe and gathered the ingredients, I pulled up Spotify on my phone and started to play my movie soundtrack playlist. "Test Drive" from How to Train Your Dragon started to play.

Once I finished spooning the batter into liners and adding the crumb topping, I stuck the dozen into the oven and set a timer for five minutes as I baked them at a higher temperature. After the timer went off, I lowered the temperature and reset the timer, this time for twenty-two minutes.

Brrring! The noise of the oven going off jolted me from my reverie. Grabbing a pair of mitts and opening it, I checked the centers of my goodies.

All good. Mom's gonna love them.

After they were cool enough to touch, I removed the muffins from the pan and placed them on a cooling rack. My phone buzzed, and a notification popped up on my watch, letting me know that Willow had texted me.

I wonder how she's doing. She hasn't been coming to park as often, ever since Keefe started coming regularly. I hope everything's okay and we didn't chase her off.

Mom came downstairs a few minutes later. Her eyes widened at the sight of the glorious apple cinnamon muffins cooling.

"Good morning, Lexi. Did you bake these for breakfast?"

"Sure did! I'm just waiting for them to cool enough to ice them. I was just about to whip up the icing."

"They look delicious," she praised. "Are they... apple cinnamon?"

I smiled. "Yup! I found a delicious, simple recipe online. Now, I need to make the icing."

"Oh, honey! Those are my favorites. You didn't have to!"

"Consider it an early birthday present." I winked. Mom's birthday was in a couple of days.

I woke up my phone, entered my pin, and began following the instructions for the icing. By the time I finished, the muffins were cool enough to frost. With the practiced ease of a baker, I poured it into a bag and piped it onto each muffin. By the time I finished, they looked too beautiful to eat.

"Now, we can feast!" I declared. "You can pick the first one, Mom."

Mom chose a muffin, placed it on a plate, removed the wrapper, and took a bite. "Mmm, these are delicious! You need to share the recipe with me."

I grinned. Baking was a hobby I'd always enjoyed.

"So, Mom," I started as we sat down to breakfast, "I want to go to the library today with Matilda. That's fine, right? We don't have anything planned?"

"No, we don't. I'm glad you're making friends with the Sarratt girls. By the way, have you heard from Willow lately? Mrs. Sarratt has been worried about her. She's been waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, muttering something about not letting him find out. I don't know who this mysterious 'he' is, but I've got a feeling it's someone from her life before she was adopted."

Willow's adopted?! I did not know that!

All this weird behavior started when we let Keefe into the Playground Gang. Secretly, I worried that I'd triggered something. Willow could've found community with us, but now she was suffering from nightmares.

And it's all my fault.

I inhaled. "Nope. Matilda's worried. I'll bring it up today at the library. I do hope Willow's okay."

Mom smiled understandingly. "I can do the dishes since you blessed me with these amazing muffins."

I politely turned down her offer. Doing the dishes would help keep my mind off Willow.

And the fact that I haven't been completely honest with my parents. I promised Keefe I wouldn't tell, but I can't help but think that I made the wrong choice.

Picking up the dishrag, I applied some soap and started scrubbing furiously at the bowl I'd used.

Everything should be fine, but I can't help but feel nervous. What if I'm making a huge mistake? 

***

AN: Something's up with Willow. Something suspicious. Have any guesses? Let me know!