Stronger

chapter three

Just to clear up any confusion, when Peter says "the kids" or refers to his "siblings", he means the kids at the orphanage, because he kind of considered them siblings, since he loved and lived with them (even though real siblings piss each other off).

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He woke up to the sound of his ringing alarm and was greeted by the warm air. Sunlight lit up his room and a warm, light breeze filtered through the small crack he left open.

It was a nice change; waking up in a big, soft bed with sunlight and fresh air surrounding him. Not being squished by ten other boys or having to hop across the floor to reach the light switch.

It was quickly replaced by a guilty feeling though. How can I feel so happy when I left all my siblings back by themselves with Demon?

The alarm ringing again pulled him out of his head, and he shut it off. He forgot to change his alarm, so he was up earlier than he needed to be to get to work. Normally, he'd have to wake up at this time, then wake up everyone else, makes sure they get ready, make them breakfast and lunch, and then he'd leave.

Now, he just had to get himself ready and leave. Yet he still got done quickly.

He didn't want to use more water than he needed to and raise their water bill, so his shower only lasted three-five minutes. It was a habit he'd developed from living in the orphanage.

He threw on the first clothes he grabbed and brushed his hair and teeth. Through the cracks on his screen, he read the time: 7:29 AM. He didn't have to be at work until nine but figured he'd leave early.

He grabbed his work bag and went out to the kitchen. It seemed that neither Mr. or Mrs. Wright were awake yet, but he'd learned that it wasn't smart to go without breakfast with his metabolism.

The mac-and-cheese last night was nowhere near the amount of food he needed to stay healthy, but he didn't want to make a lot of food or burden Mr. Wright, so he settled for it.

He grabbed a cereal bar before leaving. He felt bad about taking food without asking like Mrs. Wright said to do, but he didn't want to wake them up.

Normally, he rushed everywhere. He always walked fast to get where he was going on time. Rush to get to school on time after taking the kids, rush to pick them up after school, rush to and from work.

So walking to Delmars felt weird this morning. He wasn't used to walking slowly and taking everything in as he went.

Kids laughing at a table while their parents drank coffee. Smiling people holding hands while walking down sidewalks. Birds flying and singing from the tops of buildings or lampposts. Music from inside cute, small businesses.

The sight made conflicting emotions fight for control. Happy, that everything looked so peaceful. Sad, that he couldn't live like that. No. That's selfish and he shouldn't compare other's lives to his own.

Besides, I brought this upon myself, he thought. I couldn't save Uncle Ben, just like I couldn't save Aunt May. If I were better, maybe they'd still be alive. I can't wish for better when it was my own fault.

Without noticing, he'd ducked his head and auto-pilot took control in taking him on the familiar path to Delmars. So when he looked up, he was surprised to see he was already there, having been distracted by his own thoughts.

There was still about an hour until Peter's shift actually started, but Mr. Delmar was pretty chill. Either Peter would get to work an extra hour, in which he could make more money, or he'd get off an hour early. Probably the former, considering Sundays were usually pretty busy.