Pete's favorites songlist
Track 10: Bon Jovi- Livin' On A Prayer

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Tiana's POV

Of course I was not allowed to leave right away.

I had just been hit on the head with a pipe, had cut my forehead on a rock, had been kidnapped, had been sexually harassed, had been almost raped, and had only been in the hospital for a day. However much I desperately wanted to go home, I couldn't. But all I could think of was what could possibly be in that book.

I was sure it was there. In Peter's room, the third book on the second book shelf of the brown book case next to the bed. That was the shelf for classics, and since Peter had liked them kept in alphabetical order, I also remembered that Peter Pan and Pocahontas were on each side of it. I could picture it so vividly, that I could almost reach out and touch the thin book spines.

I imagined everything that could possibly be in it, eagerly waiting for me to open itself and reveal it's long lost message. Perhaps a gift certificate for Home-Depo for me to go stationary shopping. Perhaps a letter to me from the past. Perhaps a treasure map he had dug up on his own.

I just couldn't wait to find out.

But time wasn't on my side.

It went sluggishly, dragging the clock hands behind them in a lazy tempo. I looked at the clock every five minutes, and when I had done that for the supposed two-thousandth time, someone finally opened the door, saving me from my boredom.

"T," Emma sniffled, her eyes puffy from crying all night. She didn't meet them right away with mine, but when she did look at me, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "OH MY GOD JUST LOOK AT YOUR FOREHEAD!" she screamed and rushed to my bedside. "You're becoming a mummy!"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, and this is my own pyramid. Boring me to actual death," I joked.

"I'm serious! What have I done to you?" she cried, scrunching her face up into a hideous sobbing expression.

I patted the back of her hand. "Nothing was your fault. Do you understand me? Nothing."

She shook her head heavily as the tears poured down her mascara-stained cheeks. "Everything was my fault. I asked you to get those towels so that I could spank that dimwit Parker's butt for ignoring you like that. The world is so cruel, they can't let a girl get some damned towels on her own!"

"You actually did that?" I laughed, trying to ease her sadness and guilt.

She took in short shaky breaths. "I did. You should have seen his face. It was... flabbergasting."

I frowned. "That word sounds... gross."

"I know," she smiled weakly.

"Do you know why he just... shut me out like that?" I asked cautiously asked as Emma pulled out a tissue and blew her nose. Shs blinked hard a few times, squeezing the tears out.

"I have no idea. And even if I did know," She wagged a finger at me. "that is for you to find out."

I sighed and flew myself back onto the bed. I did not feel like I wanted to know anymore. Now that Parker wasn't ignoring me, I didn't find it very important to know the cause.

"Oh, and I heard you had one of your PAs. Charlie was all mindblasted from how intense it was. It's his first time seeing one, eh?" She rolled another kleenex into a thin clump and stuck it up her nose.

I nodded, trying not to laugh at her left nostril that bulged out. "Charlie didn't return after he went to get the doctor."

"He did. He just saw you and Parker having such a merry time and got all sulky. That's all." She chuckled.

My face got heated. Just thinking of Parker made my body react first, the reddening of my face, the thumping of my heartbeat, the butterflies in my stomach, and the tingling of my lips. I knew what this feeling was.

I was falling for him.

And I was falling hard.

"Have you two kissed yet?" Emma took a seat on the green couch with a bounce.

"What? No!" I denied, sitting up on the bed.

"You did?"

"I said no!"

She gasped. "Oh my Gosh, you did more."

"Are you going to ignore my replies?" I waved my hands up in the air.

"Yes. Yes, I am. Because it'll make me squeal at night, just thinking of you two together. You guys look so cute together, you know that?" She looked at her nails.

"Um... thanks?" I smiled sheepishly.

"Don't bother." She winked. "If you haven't kissed yet, when are you going to?"

I blushed and looked down at my feet. "I don't even know if he likes me yet," I said timidly.

Emma scoffed. "Yeah right. Like he didn't risk his life to save you. Oh dear innocent Tiana, you must be so confused. He is kind enough to go on rescuing people he doesn't like. A very nice OPEN YOUR EYES FOR GOD'S SAKE, TIANA!" she hollered.

"Thanks for yelling and waking up the whole HOSPITAL!" I smugly shouted back.

Emma cackled in laughter. "There's my girl with the juicy ass. It's not like you to act all down and non-self-esteem-ish..." she said slowly. "Although I don't even know if that's a word," she added quietly.

"It isn't." I rolled my eyes. "Besides, I have rules. No kissing until holding hands, hooking arms, and hugging. They're like, stepping stones. You have to do them first."

"Been there, done that. I'm pretty sure you have already finished off with all those an era ago. And if you haven't, you're definitely gonna break your little rules. So now is the stage for smooching!" She clapped her hands.

I laughed awkwardly, wanting to change the subject. "What about you and James? I'm still not sure about him." I shook my head.

"Me neither..." she shrugged. "It's just that I stutter really badly when I speak with him. My heart goes crazy and I can't look into his eyes. Like just now back at the waiting room."

"What did he say?"

"He just comforted me because I was crying. It actually seemed like he was... nice. 'Cause... I actually know how much of a jerk he has been. How much he sleeps around, how many girls he meets, I know how he is. But... he's... actually kind of nice inside. You know?" She twirled her hair between her fingers.

I nodded slowly. I had also had the feeling that he was not that bad. Although he probably did sleep around a lot.

"I hope he's not too much of a player." I smiled.

She giggled. "Oh, T. He is a player. He is everything a player is." Her eyes glistened with certainty. "But I'm sure I can play him better. You know my ways."

I laughed heartily. "Of course. You're going to play the player. I remember that time when I had a panic attack and went to your house to find your ex kneeling in front of your door." I cackled.

Emma chuckled. "He was acting like a bitch! He took my last apple pie. Totally deserved it."

I nodded and barked out a laugh. It felt so good to have a bestfriend. A bestfriend to share and encourage everything we went through.

I hugged her tightly. "It's good to have you here by my side." I sighed in comfort.

"Of course. I'll never leave it." She smiled genuinely.

A knock came at the door, and James peeked his head in. I eyed Emma, but she didn't seem to be much affected. Then, I saw her ears turn a bright red. I chuckled to myself.

"Um, just here to make sure you're not having a cat fight," he said, looking around the hospital room interior. He nodded as if everything seemed in place. "Do you girls need anything?" he asked, looking straight at Emma. I could see that she already had him in the palm of her hand.

She whipped her head to me and arched an eyebrow with a mischievous smile that I could easily interpret. She meant to tell me, I told you he's not all that bad.

I giggled slightly with a shrug.

"Nah, I was just leaving." Emma stood up, and tidied her clothes. "She needs some time alone." Emma winked at me, urging me to play along. It was absolutely not that I needed time alone, but it was Emma that needed time alone with James.

"Yeah. I'm so tired." I smiled. "You guys should get home. I'll get some rest now."

"Okay, plump-ass. Call me if something is wrong. Kapeesh?"

I grinned, although I knew she didn't want her to call when she was with James. "Kapeesh."

I gripped the handle for the fifth time.

My hands were slippery from the sweat forming on my palm. I hesitated. After all those years of guilt and mourning, I still hesitated to open the door that had been shut for as long as I could remember. I was afraid that he would be waiting there where he would have been.

Maybe on his bed, playing Super Mario with his brand new pink nintendo that I envied so much. Maybe at his desk, battling an endless war with his arch enemy, calculus. Maybe standing next to the book case, skimming through the books he had read tons of times. Maybe looming over his computer with bags of darkness under his eyes to finish his homework. Or maybe just groaning, sprawled on the floor, saying he needs ice-cream or he's going to die.

I was still afraid. Especially after the encounter at the hospital, it was as if he could appear anywhere.

But there was no way that I was going to back down. I was not going to hide in the shadows of my trauma anymore. I was going to fight it. And if that meant I had to face him in real life, I was willing to.

I turned the handle and gave it a gentle push to open. The door swung slowly with a decripit creak on its hinges. I took a shaky breath and stepped in.

Everything was the same.

The old scent of his book collection had stained the whole room with an antiquish smell. The dust on the desk proved that it had been left untouched for quite a long time. The bed was tidily made, making it unnatural for such a messy person like her brother. The analog clock had stopped to 11:30, having run out of battery. The walls were decorated with puffy clouds, enveloping the sight into a mystical view.

Everything was the same.

And it was so damned unbearable.

I tried not to cry. Believe me, I really did. But the tears, they always won over me. I crouched down into a ball and starting sobbing. Everything was the same. But in every way, it wasn't. He wasn't here. And that made everything so different.

Then my friends flashed into my mind. Emma, my bestfriend who I'd been resisting on like a sister for all my life. Ben, who had worked so hard to open me up to him once more. Parker, whom I deeply had a crush on and would never leave my side again. Charlie who helped me smile even in the worst times of pain. Nate who was... just Nate himself. And James who I didn't really know well. They were all here for me.

For the time I was at the hospital, I had thought about this. My friends and I. How important they were to me. How I wouldn't let go of what had been given to me after such a long time of isolation and suffer. I was to cherish them every moment.

They made me feel strong. I was not the weak Tiana Kings I had been a couple of weeks ago. I was becoming numb. The pain was becoming harder, but at the same time I was becoming stronger, covering them up like medicine. Now the scars were left, just reminding me of the pain I used to be in.

I stood up and wiped my tears. As if he would come back if I opened the book, as if I actually believed that would happen, I walked to the book case like I were in a trance. My fingertips brushed the spine of the book before I carefully pulled it out of it's spot. When it was in my arms, the book case seemed blank without it.

On the cover, Pinocchio showed off his familiar cute smile. The cover itself brought back so many memories that came rushing in through my mind, making me want to do anything to relive those moments if only I could. Those were the days we were all well and happy. But they were buried up inside my brain now, for seldom pop ups when I was triggered with specific things.

I sat at the bottom edge of the bed and opened the cover with trembling hands. The pages were thick and smooth as I trailed my hand over the surface. From top to bottom I read the title, the words printed in cursive 'Walt Disney', and the words that Peter had written in his beautiful writing.

Lies may hide truths for a reason.

I turned a page and wiped a tear before it could fall into the book and ruin the ink. I read every word carefully and slowly, chewing on all the letters before I left the page for a new one. I didn't forget to smile every time I found the old cricket, Jiminy, I remembered. I noticed that certain names of locations were boxed in blue marker.

Geppetto's house

On the way to school

Pleasure Island

A Whales Belly

On the last page of the book, with his handwriting in cursive, was a letter from Peter. I chuckled with my eyes full of tears as I pictured him sticking his tongue out as he concenctrated, straining to write in neat cursive.

Follow Pinocchio to Geppetto's house.
Where you can discover the other me.

His words felt surreal. I kept touching them, feeling the slight hilts in the paper from the pressure he had applied on the pen. Another me? What did that mean? Geppetto's house? What was he talking about?

I always knew Peter loved riddles. But right now, I was just so angry that riddles even existed. I was horrible with solving them, and he was aware of that very well. If only Peter had just told me what he wanted to say!

When I turned the page, there was a small slit of paper. It was a business card, with only a name and a phone number..

Wendy Storm
240-XXX-XXXX

I flipped another page, finding nothing on the back cover. I stared at the card before carefully reaching for my phone. I dialed the numbers slowly, so that the call wouldn't go to someone else. The stroll of the ring tone went on, and I impatiently chewed on my nails. With the other hand, I kept feathering my fingers along the words Peter had written. As if they would pop out and materialize in front of me.

The stroll stopped, making my heart thump in my chest. Whoever this was, she could be the key to finding out what Peter wanted to tell me.

"Hello?" an uneasy voice answered from the other side of the line.

I took a shaky breath. "Hello? Is this Wendy Storm's phone?"

Silence.

"Hello?"

Silence.

"I just called to ask something-"

"Who the f*ck are you, and how do you know that name?" the woman said in a low, dangerous voice. My eyes widened at the sudden outburst of the woman and I began to stutter.

"I'm sorry, if it wasn't you. I'll just... hang up now," I said quickly, ready to hang up when the woman hissed into the mic.

"Wait! Sorry for being a b*tch. Yes, I am Wendy Storm. Who are you? How do you know me?"

"I- I don't know you. I just called because m-my brother left me a message to call this number," I stammered. Although she had calmed down immediately, her voice still had an edge to it, like she was ready to lash out if I said anything wrong.

She sighed heavily into her phone, making my speakers buzz. "Who the hell is he? Let me guess, Stanley?" She sounded very annoyed, as if Stanley was the last guy she'd ever want to speak to right now.

"Um... no."

"Logan?"

"No. I'm sorry, but do you know a Peter Kings?" I asked cautiously.

There was a slight pause, and the other side of the phone line went dead.

A/N:

Oh my gosh, my loves! We're already all the way here to the story!! The riddles are unraveling!! I'm thrilled to show you what I have planned for this story:)

I hope you're enjoying it cause I work really hard on this even though I'm crazy busy for my Korean SATs. I write whenever I get home which is almost midnight after studying at school. Please bear with my slow updates and lack of content:)

So, questions!

What do you think about Emma and James? Hopefully they'll get more adorable!

What do you think the names of the places mean?

Who do you think Wendy Storm is, and why is she so touchy about her identity?

Thanks for reading and have an awesome night!