XV. Tiger, September 24

Tiger felt disoriented at first when she woke up. She was in her own familiar bed, but there was someone warm next to her—Peter was next to her. It took her half a minute to put the pieces together and remember what had happened the night before. She smiled for a moment, looking at Peter, still asleep beside her. She reached over and ruffled his messy reddish brown hair gently. Then the current situation suddenly occurred to her—it was Friday. What time was it? She looked up at the clock just as she heard her father's heavy footsteps in the hallway.

Tiger put a hand over Peter's mouth and jostled him awake. He looked at her in surprise at first, and she put a finger over her lips. He looked around her room, the look of realization slowly crossing his face. She smiled at him for a moment, then jumped at the pounding on the door.

"Tiger?" her father's voice boomed loudly. "Are you awake yet?"

"Yes, Daddy!" Tiger said, hopping out of bed and scurrying over to the dresser.

"Why is this door locked?" he asked, trying to turn the knob.

"I'm getting dressed right now," she said, trying to sound convincing as she rifled through the drawers.

"Okay, well—your mother is making breakfast," Mr. Lily said.

"Okay, I'll be right down!" Tiger said, then waited until she was sure her father was far enough and turned to Peter.

His clothes were completely disheveled, and he looked… well, adorable. He was opening the window as she walked over to him.

"That was close," Tiger whispered.

"I like to live dangerously," Peter said, and Tiger punched him lightly in the arm. "I'll see you later?"

"You're really going to climb out the window?" Tiger looked out it at the lawn with concern.

"I climbed up—climbing down will be a picnic," Peter said.

"Okay, well… be careful," Tiger said with uncertainty.

"Never," Peter smiled, gave her a quick kiss, and climbed out the window.

Tiger shook her head and watched him as he climbed down the side of the house and then hurried across the lawn and down the street. Then she hurried to get dressed and gather her things into her backpack before heading down to the dining room. Her mother and father were sitting at the table and there was a plate of food prepared for her. She smiled and sat down.

"Good morning," she said cheerily and began to eat.

"That Peter's a nice boy, isn't he?" Mrs. Lily said, and Tiger nearly choked on her food before realizing they were only talking about him because of last night.

"Oh, yes, he seemed nice enough," Mr. Lily said. "A bit… jittery, maybe, but very nice."

"You must be excited about Homecoming," Mrs. Lily turned to her daughter. "Do you want to go dress shopping this weekend? Or are you too cool to go shopping with your mom now?"

"Of course not," Tiger said. "I'd love to go dress shopping with you."

"Great," Mrs. Lily said. "You'd better eat up or you'll be late."

Tiger looked at her phone and saw that her mom was right. She drank down her orange juice and then headed out the door to catch the bus.

"Hey Wendy," Tiger said, taking what had become her usual desk next to Wendy's—the two had developed something of a friendship since the day they'd worked together in class, although Tiger couldn't help but sense just a little bit of tension.

"Hi Tiger," Wendy said, turning and looking very interested in talking to her. "How'd it go with Peter last night?"

"He didn't tell you?" Tiger asked, pulling her notebook out of her bag but not looking away from Wendy.

"Well, he said a little bit when he called me last night—something about nice parents, good cornbread—but then he just sort of abruptly left, I think he was tired or something," Wendy said with a shrug.

"You haven't talked to him today then?" Wendy shook her head, and Tiger looked around at the other students filing in and chattering loudly. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Of course," Wendy said, and Tiger moved her desk over so that the two could talk quietly.

"He slept over," Tiger whispered.

"What?" Wendy said, eyes wide in an expression that could easily be interpreted a number of ways. "Your parents were okay with this?"

"They didn't know," Tiger said, blushing. "He just sort of… climbed in my window, it was all very romantic."

"Climbed in your window… I wonder where he got that idea," Wendy said.

"I know, it's kind of cliché, but it was nice," Tiger said. "I thought things like that only happened in movies."

"That's not what I—wait, so did you two…?" Wendy raised her eyebrows to imply what she was a bit too straight-laced to even say.

"Oh, no," Tiger shook her head, blushing again. "I—we're not ready for that, neither of us are. I know a lot of people like to rush into it these days, but…"

"No, I think waiting's best," Wendy said with a nod.

Tiger smiled and looked down at her hands for a moment, then back at Wendy, "So what about you, then? Met any cute boys this year?"

"Oh," Wendy let a small smile show. "I'm not interested in anyone right now."

"Your words say no, but that smile says yes," Tiger said good-naturedly. "It's okay, though, you don't have to tell me. My advice would be to go for it, though. Guys can be shy, too—sometimes they need a little push."

"Thanks, but… he's seeing someone," Wendy said, looking at her desk. "As much as I like him, I have to respect his decision and I wouldn't want to… I just wouldn't feel right breaking a girl's heart just to be with her boyfriend. It seems wrong."

"That's really nice of you," Tiger said. "You're a nice girl—I think any guy would be lucky to have you. You should tell him. Just let him know that you like him, and then let him make the decision. You can't feel bad if he happens to like you. You never know—maybe he was just too shy to ever say anything. And if he handles it badly, well… then you know he's not worth your time."

"Thanks," Wendy said. "But… I don't think so."

"Well, I can't make you do anything," Tiger said. "But I always thought it was better to know than to always wonder."

"Maybe," Wendy said.

Monsieur Chandelle walked into the room then with a flourish, talking in rapid, complicated French as he often would at the beginning of class in an always-hilarious attempt to disorient the students. Tiger smiled reassuringly at Wendy and moved her desk back in line, opening her notebook.

"He just climbed in your window?"

"Shh!" Tiger said. "I don't want too many people to know."

It was third block and Tiger was running around the track that surrounded the football field with Jane, a close friend since elementary school. Mr. Shan, their gym teacher, was on one end of the field barking at the students who ran by, but when they were far enough away from him they could slow down to a jog and talk.

"Oh my god, did you—?"

"No!" Tiger said. "Of course not. It's funny, Wendy had the same reaction."

"Wendy?"

"His best friend—she's in my French class," Tiger explained.

"I thought you wanted to keep this a secret," Jane said, looking sideways at Tiger.

"I do," Tiger said. "I mean, it's not a big deal, obviously, but you know how people can gossip and blow things out of proportion. Anyway I've only told you and Wendy, so."

"Does he know you want to keep it quiet?" Jane asked. "You know how boys can talk."

"I hadn't thought about it," Tiger said. "I guess it's not a big deal if he wants to tell people, but… I don't think he will. He's sweet."

"Adorable."

"What?"

"Well, you're obviously head-over-heels for this guy," Jane said.

"What, I'm not allowed to like my boyfriend?" Tiger asked. "Of course, proper Jane wouldn't know a thing about liking boys, would she?"

"Shut up," Jane said, blushing.

"Oh, so there is a boy, then?"

"Maybe—well, no," Jane shook her head.

"Pick up the pace, ladies!" Mr. Shan barked at them as they approached. "I said run five laps, not 'take a leisurely stroll around the field' for five laps. Come on!"

The two sprinted around the curve of the track until they were out of Mr. Shan's field of vision, then slowed down.

"So who is it, then?" Tiger asked.

"It's really nothing—really," Jane said. "Just a harmless crush, you could say—this guy in my art class. But he's a senior, and… a bit… rough around the edges. All things considered, he's really not my type."

"But you are attracted to him?" Tiger said, and Jane shrugged. "Ah!"

"Don't say a word," Jane said, giving Tiger what was supposed to be a serious look, but then giggling a little.

"I think that kid just double lapped us," Tiger said. "But we'll continue this conversation later."

Tiger ran ahead with Jane following close behind.

"Guess who?"

Tiger was sitting at a table at lunch with Jane when her vision was suddenly blocked out. She put her fork down and crossed her arm.

"Let's see… could it be… Peter Pan?"

He took his hands off her eyes and sat down next to her.

"However did you guess?" Peter said, feigning shock. "Did you recognize my strong, manly hands?"

"Please," Tiger pushed him playfully. "Hey—you cleaned up nicely. Did you… change your clothes?"

"I keep a change of clothes in my locker just in case," Peter said. "And I took a shower in the locker room this morning."

"Ah," Tiger nodded. "So what are you doing over here? Don't you usually eat with Wendy?"

"Yeah, she's sitting over with Mulan and Rapunzel now," Peter said. "I thought I could sit with you today, though—unless you're sick of me already."

Tiger smiled, "Why don't we all eat together?"

"That sounds like a great idea," Peter said, picking up Tiger's tray. "As long as Jane doesn't mind coming along."

"Of course not," Jane said.

"You two go ahead," Tiger said. "I invited this kid from my history class to sit with us today. I'll go find him and let him know where we'll be at."

Peter and Jane headed over to the table where the other three girls sat, and Tiger began looking around the food lines for Mowgli. She and Mowgli shared Mr. Ratcliffe's second block World History class. They were usually seated near each other and today they had gotten to talking and Tiger took a liking to him. He had a bit of an off-beat sense of humor and, yes, he was a little bit of a troublemaker. But he was more of the kind of troublemaker who didn't even realize that what he was doing wasn't in line with what was expected—and that's what got him into trouble. At the same time, Tiger got the impression he was having a little bit of trouble adjusting to the whole "high school" thing, so she decided to give him a place to sit at lunch. She found him standing in line to pay for his lunch.

"Hey Mowgli," she stepped into line beside him.

"Hey," he said, smiling somewhat shyly.

"I just wanted to let you know we decided to move to a different table," Tiger said. "My boyfriend invited us to sit with him and his friends, so we're going to be sitting over that way instead."

She pointed towards the table.

"Okay, I'll be there in a minute," Mowgli said, and Tiger headed off back to the table with a nod.

"He'll be right over," she said as she sat down next to Peter.

"What did you say his name was?" Peter asked.

"I didn't," Tiger said. "It's Mowgli."

"What kind of name is that?" Peter asked.

"Just don't make fun of him," Tiger shushed him. "He seems like he's having a kind of rough time and I wanted to do something nice. Plus he seems like a cool kid. I actually think you two will get along."

Mowgli sat down at the table less than a minute later and Tiger began introducing him to the others at the table. When she finally got to Peter, Mowgli looked at him in awe.

"Wow, Peter Pan," he said.

"That would be my name," Peter said.

"I just… I've heard about some things you did… pranks you pulled last year, and you were a freshman?" Mowgli said, looking admiringly at Peter.

"Well, I'm sure some of the stories have been exaggerated…" Peter said.

"Even if they were… wow!" Mowgli said.

Tiger looked at Peter knowingly. He was clearly pleased that his name had been recognized and that this kid looked up to him. And she was proud that he was her boyfriend. He looked at her and she leaned in for a quick kiss, almost forgetting where she was. She pulled away and looked back at her tray. The entrée was undoubtedly cold by now, but she at least had a bag of potato chips to hold her over until after school. She looked up and caught Wendy's gaze, and she didn't look happy. The expression struck Tiger, as Wendy always seemed so poised. Then she realized that Wendy was looking at Peter, and things seemed suddenly clear. She felt stupid for not noticing it before. She suddenly remembered the advice she had given Wendy earlier that day, and wished she could take it back. But then she looked over at Peter, who was looking at her, not at Wendy. It didn't seem like a concern. Truthfully, Tiger felt bad for Wendy—because she did like Wendy, and she didn't want to see her hurt. But she felt confident that even if Wendy did confess her feelings to Peter, it wouldn't change a thing.