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Never grow up, never get older!
Second star to the right,
And straight on till morning.
He’d been looking forward to going to the show with his friends for so long. He couldn’t believe he was going to miss it.
He studied his parents’ faces for any glimmer of hope that their resolve was weakening and he could convince them, but they looked firm. He could tell from experience. They weren’t going to change their minds, not once they’d made them up like this.
Feeling defeated, Barrie followed Rita out the door, grabbing his backpack with the gash in the side. It was time for school. They climbed into the car and he slumped in the back seat. He was dreading telling Michael and John the news that he couldn’t go. They did everything together.
“Enjoy the kiddie museum, Goober,” Rita smirked as if reading his mind. “Meanwhile, I’ll be rocking out with my friends.”
She made the rock out symbol with her hands and fired up “Never Land.” The song blared from the speakers, making Barrie feel even worse—which he hadn’t thought possible.
“You don’t gotta rub it in,” Barrie mumbled, feeling like a dagger had been plunged into his heart.
Rita glanced in the rearview mirror. He could tell she wanted to do just that, but then she spotted the desolate expression on his face and softened.
“Hey, cheer up,” she said. “I’ll send you vids from the show.”
But he didn’t want videos—he wanted to be there with his friends and the cool kids. He couldn’t believe that Michael and John were going to see the Lost Boys without him.
His mother’s words ran through his head again: You’re too young for concerts.
It just wasn’t fair.
He reached into his backpack through the gash in the side, feeling the outline of the hook. He was sure that the wish had caused this to happen. That was the only possible explanation for why his parents would suddenly decide that he was too young for a concert. For the first time, as he slumped in the back seat listening to his favorite song, he started to wonder if not growing up was such a good idea after all.
* * *
The children’s museum was even worse than he expected.
All the exhibits were overrun with snotty little kids wired on sugar or adrenaline—or maybe both. They careened around the museum like drunken sailors, bumping into each other, squealing in shrill voices, and smearing their sticky hands everywhere.
Barrie was definitely the oldest kid there. When he was younger, he’d loved this museum, especially the ocean exhibit, where they let the kids pick up starfish. But now, as he surveyed the colorful, geometric designs and oversized signs, he felt like he didn’t belong. I should be at the concert with my friends, he thought glumly, not stuck here with these little brats.
“Go have fun with the other kids,” Mom said, oblivious to his sour mood. Her eyes had that glazed-over look. “I’ll be over here if you need anything.”
She joined a gaggle of parents clustered by the hard plastic chairs. They all seemed absorbed in their phones, as if they’d rather be anywhere else. Barrie could relate—he felt the exact same way.
He meandered through the museum, looking for a group of kids that he could join, but none of them looked fun. He was a few years older than everyone there.
Buzz. Buzz.
His phone vibrated in his pocket and he fished it out, opening to his messages. He hit play on a video Michael had sent him. The screen flooded with an image of John up close, with the brightly lit stage in the background.
“Wish you were here!” John yelled before tilting the lens toward the stage, right as the band launched into “Second Star.” Colorful lights swirled around while backup dancers rocked out. Star-shaped spotlights roved over the packed crowd, who were bouncing around and looked like they were having the time of their lives. “You’re the second star I see every night, but of all the stars, the brightest light,” the trio sang in perfect harmony while playing their instruments. “Never stop flying, never grow up, dreams are forever, and childhood doesn’t stop.”
Barrie felt his mouth go dry. Envy rose up in him like a poisonous tide. Rita sent him a video, too, as promised. She was there with Brooke and Todd. It seemed like her painstaking plans to get Todd’s attention had worked. Todd had his arms wrapped around Rita.
Yuck, Barrie thought, imagining them making out during the show.
Barrie played and then replayed the videos over and over, feeling worse every time he watched them. Suddenly, staying a kid didn’t seem so fun after all. He missed his friends. He had missed the concert.
Did I make a huge mistake?
He wandered over to the ocean exhibit—his former favorite—passing through a shadowy corridor painted blue and designed to emulate the sensation of being underwater. Facts about undersea life were painted across the walls in colorful script, along with fanciful sea images.
