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Barrie took a deep breath, then asked the question he’d been meaning to blurt out since he and Rita had picked them up that morning.
“Uh, is there anything special about today?” he asked.
He wanted to make sure that his theory applied outside his home, and it wasn’t just his family who had been brainwashed by aliens or something. His friends hadn’t mentioned anything about his birthday yet, which was a sign for sure, but he had to be totally sure.
Michael frowned, thinking it over. Barrie waited, holding his breath.
“Are they dropping a new trailer?” Michael said, finally. “For the second season?”
He ran his hand through his choppy red hair. His backpack with the adorable baby alien from their favorite sci-fi show bounced on his shoulders as he walked.
“Oh, that’s dope!” John said. “I can’t wait. I’m gonna watch it like four hundred million times. Then I’m gonna read the heck out of Reddit threads for all the fan theories.”
“No, it’s not a trailer,” Barrie prodded. “Anything else?”
When they didn’t respond, he added, “Maybe something about…my twelfth birthday?”
John and Michael both shot him confused looks. They stopped in their tracks.
“Your birthday?” John said. “What are you even talking about?”
“You’re still only eleven like us,” Michael said. “Kids forever!”
“Yeah,” John agreed. “We’re your best friends. I’m pretty sure we’d know if it was your birthday.”
“So you don’t remember about my skate park party after school today?” Barrie asked.
“Uh, what kind of friends would we be if we forgot your birthday party?” John replied.
“Yeah, we’re the Lost Boys,” Michael added. “That’s like the next level of friendship. Friendship version 2.0.”
An awkward silence fell over their group. Michael and John both looked worried.
“Right, I’m just messing with you,” Barrie said, backtracking and covering it up with a laugh.
“Ha, good one,” Michael said with a chuckle. “You almost had me going there for a second.”
“Yeah, I thought maybe aliens sucked out your brains through your nose and scrambled them up,” John said with a giggle. “Like that freaky old horror movie.” He pressed his nose flat and made a sucking noise like his brains were being extracted through his nostrils.
All three of them laughed.
Barrie really did have the two best friends in the whole wide world. And he wasn’t going to let anything change that—even if it meant keeping the hook. He could feel it weighing down his backpack with each step.
“Don’t forget to get a later curfew for tomorrow night,” Michael said as they reached the entrance. “For the Lost Boys concert. No way I’m bailing before the encore.”
“Oh, the concert!” Barrie said, feeling a rush of excitement. He couldn’t wait to see his favorite band live with his friends. “I’m so excited. I’ll make sure my parents remember about the curfew.”
“Dude, I already got permission,” John said, bopping his head. “My parents are all about me being in junior high. Freedom, baby!”
“I can’t believe graduation is Friday,” Michael said, shaking his head. “Next year is going to be so different. Changing classrooms all day. And we get different teachers for different subjects.”
Barrie nodded, unsure how it would work with his wish. “Just as long as we don’t have…algebra.”
“Uh…what’s that?” John asked.
“Exactly,” Barrie said. “Trust me, you don’t want to know.”
Inside the school, the hallway was rowdy and filled with jovial chatter, even this early in the morning. All around them, kids bobbed and weaved through the packed corridor, heading for their classrooms, lest they miss the bell and get marked tardy. A gaggle of kindergartners bumped into them, acting silly and immature. Their shrill screams echoed through the hallway.
