The Pretenders (ON HOLD)

Chapter 26

As soon as the period ended, Peter gently grabbed hold of Wendy’s arms. Leaning in so no one else would hear, he said, “Come on, I want to get out of here.”

She nodded in agreement and quickly packed her bag. Surprisingly, she didn’t seem to notice that her textbooks were missing. Wendy and Lily apparently had this super fast, silent conversation because Lily just gave Wendy this weird look that Peter didn’t understand. She didn’t try to ask them what was wrong, she just slowly packed her things. Peter was just leaving his desk when the teacher called his name.

“Ah, Peter? I’d like you and your girlfriend to stay behind, please,” the teacher said sweetly. There was something cold about his smile that unnerved Peter.

“She’s not-I mean- we’re not- but-” Peter stammered, finding his words stumbling over each other.

“It’s ok, you don’t have to correct him. I don’t care what he thinks,” Wendy soothed quietly, placing a warm hand on his shoulder. Peter nodded, to show he appreciated what she said, as he pulled Wendy behind him protectively, still keeping a soft grip on her arm. They waited behind their desk until everyone had left. Lily was one of the last students to exit the classroom, and as she did she shot Peter and Wendy a look of concern and confusion. Wendy smiled at Lily reassuringly, but Peter could see that beneath her smile, Wendy wasn’t as confident as she seemed. In her eyes, he could see that she was fighting the scared young girl that was threatening to break through to the surface.

It hurt him to see that part of her, and he silently vowed, that whatever trouble he’d gotten her into he was going to get her out of it.

“Look,” the sub began, “I’m not going to even pretend that I’m planning on give you detention. You both know that’s not why I’m here. I can see it in your eyes.”

Peter’s body tensed as all hope left his body. He actually thought for a second, that the man might be a real teacher. He mentally scorned himself for not taking Wendy and running while he could. He could hear Wendy breathing beginning to quicken so he turned and put his arms around her, keeping his head facing the substitute teacher.

“What do you want?” Peter asked with a pleading voice. All he could think about was getting Wendy as far away from the school as he could.

“You know what he wants,” the sub spat, looking annoyed.

“He?”

“Yes, my boss. My employer. My master. Alright? Now stop pretending you don’t know what I’m here for.” There was an obvious edge of anger in the sub’s voice now. It made Wendy shrink against Peter’s chest in fear. She was gripping so tightly to Peter’s shirt, it made him sad, because he knew that meant she was relying on him. But what could he do? If the sub tried to attack, how could Peter defend Wendy without showing her his…powers.

“I don’t know what you want and I don’t know who your boss is so please let us go,” he begged, more for Wendy’s sake than his own.

The sub’s mouth curled up in frustration.

“Don’t make this hard for me. I’d rather not have to hurt anybody. Just give me the formula, Peter.”

Wendy looked up at Peter expectantly but he could only shake his head unknowingly. What formula? He frowned trying to make sense of the situation. All that he could figure out, was that there was someone who thought he had something, a formula apparently, and they wanted it. Only Peter didn’t have it. And if he did, then he certainly wasn’t aware of it.

“I don’t have what you want,” he practically yelled, trying to convince him he was telling the truth. Surely that man could see innocence in their eyes. But it slowly dawned on Peter that men like that don’t see innocence. They see fear. They manipulate it and use it to break their victims on the inside, before they break them on the outside.