────── ★★★ ──────

────── ★★★ ──────

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟓
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐖𝐊𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐄𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐎𝐍

────── ★★★ ──────

All the excitement was officially over and Everly, Sam, Katherine, and Killian finally made it back to their hotel room. Just as the three teens were about to start getting ready for bed, the pirate captain stopped them and began talking about them trying out the local school. His idea caused a huge smile to appear on Katherine's face while Everly and Sam stare at the raven-haired man with skeptical looks in their eyes.

"It would be good for the two of you," Killian said after seeing the expressions on the blonde teens' faces, "Henry attends and he loves it. Just go for a day and see what you think."

"No. I spent enough time attending school back when I was cursed," the Jones girl stated before she looked up at Sam and back at the pirate captain, "the only education we need is how to keep ourselves alive."

"Plus, Henry's been attending since he was a kid. He's just used to it," Sam added as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back on the wall behind him.

The only response the two of them received was an annoyed sigh from Killian before he looked out the window. Everly just stared at him for a long moment then she walked across the room and stopped in his line of vision.

"Is this your way of keeping us out of trouble?" the blonde girl asked while Sam and Katherine watched their exchange from the other side of the room.

"No," the pirate captain replied, earning an unconvinced look from the girl in front of him before he added, "I just think it's what's best for all of you."

The Purest Heart instantly quirked her eyebrow at the raven-haired man as her eyes continued to study every inch of his face. "Is this Emma talking or you?"

"It's mainly your parents."

"Well, they aren't mine," Sam declared, only for Katherine to step in front of him with a pleading look in her eyes.

"Come on, Sam! It'll be fun!" the Scott girl exclaimed as the blonde boy continued to stare at her before letting out a sigh of defeat.

"Fine. I'll try it...for one day. But if I don't like it, I'm not going back there."

"Thanks, Sammy. I knew I could count on you to back me up," Everly said while sending a glare his way at the same moment a small smirk appeared on Killian's face.

The Jones boy sent the blonde girl a sheepish grin before he and Katherine went to get ready for bed. As soon as they were gone, Everly turned her attention back to the pirate captain, only to find him staring back at her with a pleading look in her eyes.

"It would help a lot if you went," Killian told the Purest Heart, earning a confused look from the latter as the two of them sat down on the bay window seat, "with everything going on, Emma wants someone to look out for Henry. She thinks there's another reason for the wall staying up."

A million thoughts ran through Everly's head as she took in Killian's words. It wasn't long after that when she let out a sigh of defeat and looked up at the raven-haired man. "Fine. But only for Henry, not because I want to go to school."

"I can live with that," Killian responded with a smug smirk before he gestured toward the other side of the room with his hook, "all of your uniforms are in the closet."

The Jones girl sent the man in front of her a confused look then she got to her feet and walked toward the closet. As soon as she opened the door, she spotted three school uniforms neatly hanging. Her eyes scanned over the articles of clothing for a moment before regret and irritation began flowing through her veins.

"You've got to be kidding me," Everly muttered under her breath as she pulled out the uniforms and placed them on the bed nearest to her.

"They aren't so bad," Katherine stated after she and Sam, who was laughing harder than ever, reentered the room.

The redheaded girl was right about Sam's uniform being not too bad. He only had to wear a white collared shirt with a black sweater and black dress pants with matching shoes. Everly would've been fine wearing that...but not what she and Katherine had to wear. Instead of slacks as the bottom of their uniform, they had to wear plaid skirts and knee-high socks.

"There is no way I'm wearing this," Everly said before she turned around to face Killian once again while holding up her uniform, "this is worse than what you had me wear when we went back in time."

"That's not yours," the pirate captain responded while doing his best to hold back his laughter as he took the uniform the Jones girl was holding and handed it to Katherine. He then went back into the closet and pulled out the last uniform, which was very similar to the one the Scott girl was holding but, instead of a skirt, it had pants.

"This one's yours," Killian declared while handing the articles of clothing to the blonde girl, "now get to bed. You start tomorrow."

────── ★★★ ──────

Since he felt Everly needed more training to keep herself alive on Neverland, Felix started making her work on her hand-to-hand combat skills a few weeks ago. His goal was to help her learn how to use her opponent's strengths and weaknesses against them. They had been training for most of the day in a clearing that Pan and the Lost Boys rarely went to. According to Felix, it was one of the safest places on the island.

"Done for the day," Felix told Everly after knocking her to the group for the twenty-sixth time since they began their training session.

"Sounds good to me," the Jones girl responded as she pushed herself up onto her elbows before the Thorne boy offered her his hand. After she got to her feet and brushed off most of the dirt on her clothing, the former Lost Girl looked up at Felix with a small smile on her face. "What now?"

"Now you go back to your cove and I go back to camp," the blonde boy responded while he began to gather his things, causing the grin on Everly's face to fade.

"Can't we work a bit longer?"

"I need to get back before Pan gets suspicious," Felix told her after he finished shoving all of his belongings back into his bag. The only response he received from the blonde girl was a small nod before they said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.

When she finally arrived back at the cove, Everly was greeted by silence...as usual. After letting out a long sigh, the Jones girl walked over to the wall that was covered in tally marks. Each mark represented the days she'd been running, but they mainly reminded her of how long she'd truly been alone. The former Lost Girl just stared at all the tally marks before grabbing her dagger and scratching another one into the wall. It had officially been 563 days. Almost two years of running and fighting.

After taking in how long she'd been on her own, Everly walked over to her pile of fruit and grabbed an apple. The Jones girl just stared at it for a long moment before letting out a scream and hurling the apple at the nearby wall. Her eyes were glued to the fruit splatter as the memories of Pan forcing them to shoot apples off of each other's heads ran through her head. Her memories only reminded her that she couldn't escape her nightmare because of the leader of the Lost Boys. Whether he meant to or not, Pan was making her live her worst fears all day, every day, and she could never escape them.

After staring at the splattered apple for a few more minutes, Everly left the cove and sat on the nearby beach. Her thoughts began to fill with memories of Killian before she tried to guess what he might be doing at that moment. He was probably off somewhere with the rest of their crew finding hidden treasures. That was one of the things she missed most about being on board the Jolly Roger...but Everly mostly just missed Killian.

What felt like an eternity passed before the former Lost Girl got to her feet and walked into the forest. She didn't know what she was going to do. All she knew was that it was almost time for the Lost Boys to go hunting. The Jones girl hoped she'd see Felix...even if she wasn't able to talk to him. Everly just needed to try and get her mind off of the loneliness she was feeling or else she'd go insane.

Unlike everyone else on the dark island, the blonde girl didn't feel lost until she arrived on Neverland. Pan was supposed to help those who felt lost and give them a purpose. But he only made Everly feel like she didn't belong anywhere. He made her lose all the hope she felt and made her stop believing in happy endings.

────── ★★★ ──────

After getting ready for their first day of school, Everly, Sam, and Katherine met up with Henry outside of Granny's. The Mills boy instantly sent them a smile before they began their journey to their destination. As soon as they turned the corner that would lead them to their next adventure, the Truest Believer looked over at his three friends before deciding it was time to break the awkward silence surrounding them.

"You're really going to like school," he told them as he adjusted his backpack straps, "it's a lot of fun."

"Are we all going to be together?" Katherine questioned, making Everly remember one of the main reasons she hated school. Not being with Henry.

"You guys might be together for some classes but not all of them," Henry responded, earning confused looks from Sam and Katherine before he continued speaking, "you're different ages so you'll be in different grades. Katherine will be in ninth grade, Everly in eleventh, and Sam in twelfth. I'm in eighth, which is in a different section of the school but still on the same campus."

The rest of Henry's explanation went unheard after Everly, Sam, and Katherine stopped in their tracks. The three of them just stared at the large building in front of them with wide eyes and slightly parted lips. It wasn't long before the Mills boy noticed he was talking to himself, causing him to turn around to see his friends' current state. A small smile formed on his face as he made his way back to them. "I can take you to the main office but then you're on your own."

Like Henry said, he walked with the three of them to the main office before going to the lower school building. The receptionist gave Everly, Sam, and Katherine their schedules and a map of the school. It turned out they had three classes together; art, P.E., and photography. But other than that, they were on their own. The Jones girl just hoped she'd be able to get through this by herself.

When she got to her English class, Everly took the empty seat she found in the far back corner. It wasn't long after that when she noticed someone sitting down next to her. A small sigh passed over her lips as she glanced over at the newcomer, only for a wave of shock to wash over her when she realized who it was.

"Jackson?" the Jones girl questioned without even attempting to hide the shock in her voice, earning a small smirk from the boy next to her.

"Let me guess. First day?" the Overland boy asked, earning a small nod from Everly while the former let out a small laugh, "Jacob won't be happy to see you."

"He's here too?" the Purest Heart responded, only for Jackson to send her a sympathetic look before Everly let out a long sigh, "then I hope I don't have any classes with him."

"Let me see your schedule," the blonde boy demanded, causing the blonde girl to give him the sheet of paper for him to look over, "you have a few more classes with me but nothing with Jacob."

"You memorized his schedule?" Everly asked after Jackson handed the paper back to her.

"I spend enough time with him. I can show you how to avoid him, too. Might be better for both of you."

────── ★★★ ──────

After the final bell rang, Everly walked out of the building with Jackson and toward where she was supposed to meet Sam, Katherine, and Henry. On their way to the front of the school, the Purest Heart slammed into something and fell onto the concert below her. She just stared at the pair of shoes in front of her before she slowly looked up to see the one person she could've gone the rest of her life without seeing again.

"Watch it!" Jacob shouted at his brother then his attention fell to where the Jones girl sat, "Everly?"

"Hey, Jacob," the Purest Heart responded while attempting to hide the nerves in her voice, only to fail.

"I see your feelings toward me haven't changed," the older Overland brother laughed before reaching a hand out to Everly and helping her to her feet, "just so you know, I only didn't like you because of Pan. Now that he's gone, nothing is keeping us on opposite sides."

"What are you saying exactly?" the Jones girl questioned, still slightly stunned that the brunette boy was being nice to her for once in her life.

"I'm saying that I'm willing to keep what was between us where it belongs...in the past."

The shock within Everly did nothing but grow when a smile appeared on Jacob's face. It wasn't long after that when he held his hand out toward her. A long moment of the Overland boy waiting for her to return the gesture passed before a small smile appeared on the Jones girl's face as she took his hand.

────── ★★★ ──────

────── ★★★ ──────