Page 190 of Johnny

And death.

But not my death.

That’s the most ironic thing about this whole fucked-up situation. I will not die tomorrow. They

cannot kill me.

But they can, and will, kill everyone I care about.

“You know what tonight is?” Johnny says softly.

“I’m not even sure I know what month it is anymore.”

“It’s August twelfth. And every year on this date there’s a meteor shower.”

“I knew that,” I whisper. Still replaying that explosion over, and over again in my head.

His whole family. All his friends.

And him.

Dead. They will all die tomorrow if I don’t give them what they must surely know I have by now.

My father must’ve said something. They tortured those answers out of him, and he told them

everything, and now… now… now I’m in love with the man they sent me to trap and—

“Hundreds of shooting stars every hour,” Johnny says. Still talking about the sky. “And you know

what that means?”

I turn my head to look at him, wondering how he can be so calm when we were just notified that

our lives are over and we’re gonna take everyone we ever cared about down with us.

But I don’t even have the energy to ask him. So I just whisper, “What does it mean?”

“It means tonight we get to wish. All the wishes we want. Every shooting star up there is another

gift to us if we make a wish.”

I look up at the vast, dark sky and picture Wendy in that Peter Pan story. I imagine I’m her. I’m

looking out her bedroom window ready for a bedtime story. “Is this how it works in Neverland?”

“It is.” Johnny sighs. “And I’d like to take you there, if that’s OK.”

I could use a trip to Neverland right now. But it won’t change anything, will it?

My body is shaking. It’s not even cold out, I’m just shaking with fear. Johnny slips his arm underneath me, pulling me in close. And his heat and embrace comfort me a little. “What happens

when we have to leave?” I whisper. “What then?”

“We bring this night with us, Megan. It’s ours now and no one can ever take it away.” Then he

points to the sky. “There. My first wish.”

I follow his finger and see just a bit of a flash before it disappears. “Do we have to keep our