He couldn’t believe how natural it all seemed. The five of them sat around a large table outside eating late-lunches. Peter focused on the umbrella above them, rooted to the metal table; under this shade, he sat right next to Katie Asher, and he wasn’t even acting like a fool.
Aaron rapped his knuckles against the table. “I told you you wouldn’t regret coming!” He stole a glance at Peter and then smiled.
“Who’s regretting what?” Jake asked after sitting back in his chair. His plate was almost completely clean. Peter wondered how Jake had been able to scarf down two large burgers and a side of fries, and not end up needing the Heimlich maneuver.
“Don’t worry your pretty little head about it,” Aaron said with a laugh. Peter nearly smiled as his face burned. He was almost certain that Aaron had planned the outing just for him.
Jake winked but quickly turned to Rachel, a friend whom Katie had invited out with them. The girls had ordered smaller meals. Ironically, everyone else had a clean plate. Though, he thought grimly, no one should ever eat as much as Jake, especially because as the star Pitcher at Hennepin high, he had to keep himself lean.
“You can have it...,” she said feebly. She shook her head in a constricted manner, shoulders tense.
Jake cracked his knuckles and scooped the plate within his claws. Peter turned away and found Katie looking at him. A girl with glimmering green eyes, and a few freckles. He sat behind her in English, but now they could see one another easily.
“Check, please!” Aaron screamed giddily. “Before he starts eating the rest of us.” Jake glared at Aaron but continued to feed.
Katie sighed and then fiddled with her small black purse. Peter smiled but looked away before they met eyes. Despite Jake distracting the others, Peter had barely a word on his tongue. He wanted to say something to her but as he caught her eye he blushed. Striking a conversation outside of school was improbable.
Instead, he let his eyes wander to the street adjacent to them. The weather was warm, with only a few clouds. Peter was more apt to bike to Hennepin High in the spring. His bike was on the Douglas Family Van. As much as Peter liked to bike, he felt he wouldn’t be up to it after visiting the city. Something was different, making him feel like he had to stay.
“Peter,” Katie said. He turned his head quickly, nearly forming a crick in his neck.
He nodded. His heart was beating as fast as when they'd left school together earlier.
She slowly reached a hand toward his. “We’re going to be seniors. Isn’t that crazy?”
He smiled and had a rush of memories. Some were of report cards, and others of embarrassing classroom presentations. Katie popped up a lot though, a face in the crowd...or in the class. She'd bee there since the beginning of high school.
“Yeah, it's been a long time,” he said. They looked at each other again. “I feel a bit...there are some things I want to do before I regret them.” He felt a clamp tightening over his mouth.
Katie smiled a little and her eyes sparkled. “Well,” she said, leaning into the table. She took a side-glance to the others. “I...” She focused her gaze upon him.
He leaned in closer.
Katie bit her lip. “Do you ever think—”
Sirens.
Five Police patrol cars sped along the street. Peter only had the time to register the sound before it nearly deafened him. He covered his ears and watched the vehicles turn right at the next intersection.
And then two ambulances followed suit the next moment. Katie’s face had frozen when Peter looked back to her.
“What,” he said as quietly as a mouse. He might not even had said anything for all her expression said. Her eyes looked so sad.
“It's nothing,” she said. She nodded up to where the enforcers had turned. “What do you think happened? I've never seen so many cops like that before.”
Peter gulped as her question flew through him. He wanted to know what she was going to ask, but with her eyes averted he guessed she wasn't going to visit that moment again.
Katie nudged Rachel and nodded inside. The two got up and Rachel said, “Bathroom” to a confused Jake.
Peter felt an ache within, but he couldn’t pin it down.
A moment later, Aaron sighed and scratched his beard. “How’s it going, then?”
Jake looked between the two of them.
Peter met Aaron's eyes. Best friends were a nice invention. Except when they weren’t.
“Come on, Peter,” he said. He nodded to Jake. “Tell me at least you’ve noticed.”
“If you mean my fast-ball, yes. I broke a record recently, but, it wasn’t in a game. I’ll have to show off next weekend at the Championship.”
“Not that”, Aaron said as he tossed a ball of air at Jake. He glanced inside the restaurant and then back to Peter. He tapped the umbrella’s pole and said, “I know you know this is for you. So, are you two enjoying yourselves? You’re running out of time, otherwise.”
Peter was thankful his brain wasn’t infused with metal, otherwise the Aaron microwave would have blown him to bits. “I get that you did this for me,” he said quietly. He looked Aaron straight in the eye. “It's the same as usual.” He locked his jaw and shrugged his shoulders. He wanted a bit of secrecy. His relationship with Katie—whatever that meant—was only their business.
“Man, I wish I had real siblings,” Aaron said.
“They’re not always wonderful,” Jake said. “My younger sister keeps dumping water on my face in the morning. You'd think she was trying to put out a fire.” He scratched his buzzed hair and yawned. He sat back in the metal chair and then burped.
“Lots of skill,” Aaron said with a laugh. “But isn't she six?”
“Yes, but that doesn't make her any less devilish. If I wasn't so manly she'd have torn me apart by now,” Jake said.
“Yeah?”
“Anyway.” He turned to Peter, who promptly dropped his smile thinking about Jake getting owned. “It's not as if your grades are falling or anything, so why don't you put yourself out there?”
His face was very hot, now. He opened his mouth but no words came out. He wanted to say something tough, or at least clever, but couldn't. They were right. He wondered what she’d wanted to ask him...
“Okay, enough about you,” Aaron said. “I wanna know about those cops. You think it's on TV?”
Jake made a contemplating face and nodded. “Probably. Plus, we have to meet the girls and pay.”
They then went inside, Peter as the caboose. Aaron was about Peter's height, but Jake, who was in the front, towered over them.
It wasn’t nearly as quiet inside. There were numerous booths and a few tables in the center of the establishment. It was a pretty good size for a restaurant in the city, and the head-count was high.
The TVs along the dark-green walls were all turned to the news.
He watched as the Police Lieutenant, James Jameson, called out to the crowd. There was a bank heist. Thirty hostages.
Peter wanted to listen but his head began to hurt. He looked down and massaged his temple. Then the dotted carpeting turned into a swirl of psychedelic colors. He knelt to the floor, trying to concentrate. It was too hard, and the headache was now piercing, but it was deeper...like an attack on his mind.
“Peter?”
He groaned and put his hand on the carpet.
“Hey! Peter!”
He felt a pull. It was trying to suck him in.
