Laurel laughed, then started when someone tapped her shoulder. A senior she recognized from school was standing just behind her. “Hey, this fell off when you stopped dancing. I figured you’d want it back.” He handed her a long white-blue petal.

Laurel stared wide-eyed at David. After a few seconds, David took the petal from him. “Thanks, man.”

“No problem. What did you make that out of? It feels like an actual flower petal.”

“That is a trade secret,” David said with a grin.

“Well, it’s seriously awesome.”

“Thanks.”

The senior ambled back into the crowd as David laid the petal on the table.

Laurel was strangely embarrassed to have it sitting there where everyone could see it. It felt intimate—as if David had laid out a pair of her underwear. “Did it just fall out?” David asked, leaning close again. “Did you feel it?”

Laurel shook her head.

“It couldn’t have been yanked out without you noticing, could it?”

Laurel remembered the excruciating pain when she tried to pluck one of the petals a few weeks ago. “No way.”

“Laurel,” David began, so quietly she could barely hear him, “isn’t this what Tamani said would happen?”

Laurel nodded quickly. “I didn’t believe it; I couldn’t. It was too good to be true.”

Her mouth said the words automatically, but her mind fixated on the obvious question. If he was right about this, was he right about me being a faerie?

David looked at the floor behind her for a second, then ducked down and sat back up holding two more petals. He grinned at the group and shrugged. “Looks like my creation is falling apart.”

“That’s all right,” Chelsea said. “Dance’ll be over in a few minutes anyway.” She smiled at Laurel. “It was gorgeous while it lasted.”

“David, can we go wait for your mom?” Laurel asked desperately.

“Of course. Come on.”

Laurel frantically picked up petals all the way to the door as David led her through the crowd. But every time someone bumped her, more petals fell out.

By the time they’d made it through the front doors, only a few petals still clung to her back, and her arms were full of them. “Did I get them all?” she asked, searching the ground around her.

“I think so.”

Laurel sighed and rubbed at her face. A shower of glitter sprinkled to the ground. “Shoot, I forgot.”

David laughed and looked at his watch. “It’s twelve o’clock. You gonna lose a shoe too?”

Laurel rolled her eyes. “So not funny.”

David just pushed his hands into his pockets and grinned.

“How does it look?” Laurel asked, turning her back to him.

“Can’t tell with the tinsel on.”

“Good.”

She paused for a long time and looked down at the armful of petals. Her throat felt dry as she looked up at David. “It’s true, isn’t it?”

“What?”

She shrugged but forced herself to say it. “I really am a faerie, aren’t I?”

David just smiled and nodded.

And for some reason, Laurel felt better. She chuckled. “Whoa,” she said.

His mom pulled up a few minutes later and they scooted into the backseat. “Oh, the wings fell apart,” she said. “It’s a good thing I already took pictures.”

Laurel didn’t say anything as she turned and picked up two more petals and added them to the pile.

They pulled into Laurel’s driveway and David got out to help Laurel to the door with her armful of petals. “There’s only five left,” David said, looking at her back.

“And those will probably fall out while you’re sleeping.”

“Ha! If they make it that far.”

David paused. “Are you relieved?”

Laurel thought about that for a minute. “Kind of. I’m glad I won’t have to hide anything anymore—except maybe a mark where the bump used to be. I’ll be glad to wear tank tops again. But…” She hesitated, gathering her thoughts.

“Something changed tonight, David. For a few hours I liked the flower. Really, really liked it. It felt special and magical.” She smiled. “You did that for me.

And…I’m really glad.”

“Remember, you’ll get it again next year. That’s what Tamani said, right?”

Her brow wrinkled at the sound of his name.

“We could make it a tradition. You can come out of hiding and be a faerie for everyone to see once a year.”

She nodded. She liked the idea more than she could have predicted before tonight. “The other girls will be jealous,” she warned. “They’ll all want you to make wings for them too.”

“I’ll have to tell them that only Laurel gets wings. They won’t know just how true that is.”

“You don’t think anyone will catch on?”

“Maybe. There’s always someone who secretly believes in myths and legends;

or at least parts of them. Those are the people who will look beyond the obvious and see things in this world that are truly wonderful.” He shrugged. “But they won’t say anything, even if they do. Because the rest of us who view the world as logical and scientific wouldn’t see the truth if it was posted up on a billboard.

I’m lucky you hit me over the head with it—I’d have never seen you for what you really are.”