A/N: Sorry this took so long to update. This chapter took me forever to write.

Neal went to Borders to get Aly a math book. Or at least, he tried.

Flashback: Neal Gets Lost and Learns A Valuable Lesson

Neal sighed at the paper in his hand. He never should have gotten directions from Aly. She wrote in code. So he called her.

"Hello?"

"Hi. This is Neal."

"Oh." She covered the phone with her hand, but Neal could still hear. "Mom, it's Neal again. Can I go do my math homework?"

"No," said Neal.

"What?"

"No, you can't. I haven't got you your math book yet."

"Oh." She sighed. "All right, what do you want? Make it quick."

"You wrote those directions to Borders in code."

"Ummm….no I didn't."

"Yes, you did."

"Try turning it over."

Neal did. Suddenly, he could read it. He hung up.

Aly threw down the phone and stomped out of the room. "Mom!"

"What?"

"Neal hung up on me!" she yelled.

"But I thought you didn't like him!" said Alanna.

"Well the least he could do is tell me when he's going to hang up!" said Aly. She stormed out of the house and went to go see Nawat.

Meanwhile, Neal was lost. He'd ripped up the directions because he'd been mad at himself for being so stupid. Now, he had no idea where he was. He called Aly again.

Aly's phone rang. She looked at it. "Oh crud, it's Neal. Would you answer it? And pretend that this is the wrong number?"

"Why?"

"Just do it."

"All right then." So Nawat answered Aly's phone with a British accent. "Hello?"

"Um, hi. This is Neal. Is Aly there?"

Nawat pretended to be puzzled. "Who?"

"Aly. This is her phone, right?"

"No…who did you say this was?"

"Neal."

"Of Queenscove?"

"Yes."

Nawat grinned at Aly. "You must be mistaken. I'm Neal of Queenscove."

"No…I am."

"No. I am."

"You can't be!"

"Who else would I be?"

"…George? Is that you?"

"No. I told you, I'm Neal."

"But you can't be Neal! Then who am I? Hello?"

But Nawat had already hung up.

Neal started to panic. He ran straight ahead and, as it happened, right in to an empty recital hall, well almost empty. Fabio was giving a recital, and there were two people in the audience, Daine, who was taking pictures, and Fabio's mom. Neal ran up on the stage, tripped, and fell right into the piano. Daine took a picture.

"You look familiar," Neal yelled at Fabio. " Who am I? And where's Borders?" Fabio pointed down the nearest hallway and Daine pulled Neal out of the piano. Neal opened the door that Fabio had pointed to. He opened it and saw...Numair?

"What are you doing here?"Neal asked. "This isn't Borders!"

"Shhh! Don't let Fabio see me!"

"What? Who? Why? Where's Borders?"Neal said in one breath. Numair had already left to find a new place to hide, after making sure Fabio was looking the other way. Neal entered the closet. He didn't see anything that looked like Borders. He rested his hand on a broom leaning on the wall and then...

He was suddenly on a cold, stone floor. He stood up. He was standing in a long hallway near a portrait of a fat woman. It was a very strange place. The portraits seemed to be moving. A girl with bushy hair came up the stairs. When she saw him, she said, "Neville, did you forget the password again?"

Neal had no idea what she was talking about, but he decided to go along with it. The girl said "Flobberworm" and the portrait of the fat lady opened revealing a comfortable looking room. He followed her into the room and saw her sit next to two boys. Neal sat in a comfortable armchair not far away. He listened to them talk for awhile, then decided to go find Borders.

He asked a tall boy with red hair, who look at him like he was crazy. Then he turned to the black haired boy and whispered, "Do you reckon he's been confunded?"

Neville-I mean Neal- decided he should just go look for it himself. After about an hour of looking around a strange castle, plus fifteen minutes trying to pull his foot out of the trick step, he realized that it would be a good idea to ask for directions. He saw an extremely old man with a long white beard.

"Hey!" he yelled from across the corridor. "Where's Borders?" The man looked slightly puzzled, but pointed to an empty wall behind him. Neal looked really puzzled, but walked in that direction anyway. He thought, "I need to find Borders. I need to find Borders." Then he saw a door that he could have sworn was not there before. He opened it and saw that he was back where he was before. He didn't see Borders.

He asked a person who was passing by. She said to cross the street and take four left turns. Neal did what she said, and when he took the last turn, he was right where he started. At Borders! Except facing the other way. He went inside. I would tell you how long it took Neal to find a math book, but that would take too long.

End Flashback

One his way out, Neal saw a table that said "New Release." So he went over to it and looked at the books. It was some weird series by Tamora Pierce called The Immortals. He picked up the first book, which was called Wild Magic. It sounded strangely familiar for some reason…but whatever. He started to read it. It seemed like he knew exactly what would happen next. Plus, the main character really reminded him of someone he knew, though he couldn't think who. He had just started to pick up the last book, The Realms of the Gods, when somebody yelled "Get him!" and a bunch of people jumped out from nowhere and began beating him with celery and spoons.

That night, Neal thought about the lessons he learned that day. He made a list.

1. Do not ask Aly for directions. She might write in code.

2. When you find out you were holding the paper upside down, do no rip it up in anger.

3. Do not forget who you are.

4. Do not go into recital halls.

5. If you are in a recital hall, do not go on stage.

6. If you are in a recital hall on the stage, do not fall into a piano.

7. If you fall into a piano, do not let Daine take pictures.

8. If Daine takes pictures of you falling into a piano, do not let her post them online.

9. Never go into a closet. You could appear somewhere else.

10. Do not ask redheads for directions.

11. Do not forget to look behind you.

12. Do not read a book if the main character reminds you of someone you know. Celery and spoons are actually quite painful.