Power

Part 42

Beep. Beep. Beep.

I snoozed the alarm and groaned. I physically couldn't open my eyes or get out of bed, I was so tired... But I didn't have a choice. I rubbed the sand out of my eyes and wobbled towards the bathroom. The tiles were cold under my bare feet. 

I washed my face, brushed my teeth and changed into an oversized hoodie and leggings. I looked in the mirror. Dark circles framed my eyes, my hair was frizzy and greasy-looking. I brushed through it's knots and tied it into a messy ponytail.

I looked awful, and I knew it. I was skinny and my face looked peaky, not to mention I was as pale as a ghost. I felt sick for no reason as I covered my dark circles with concealer. To be honest, it didn't look much better, but just when I was thinking about trying on more makeup, I heard a knock on the door.

"Hannah! Hurry up, Clint's waiting for you downstairs!" Nat said.

I felt my knees weaken. No, I couldn't go to school. I couldn't see Peter, or MJ, or...

I hurried towards the door.

"Hi...I actually don't feel that good, do you mind if I stay home today?" I asked.

Nat smirked.

"Unless you have a fever, you can't miss school. Your mom's rules."

She pressed a hand to my forehead.

"You're good. Grab your backpack and let's move, you don't wanna be late."

"But-"

She turned around and gave me an encouraging nod.

"You'll be fine".

I smiled, even though I felt like throwing up. It's been 3 weeks. I have forgiven them. I trained every day with Nat and Wanda. I talked to Pietro, Tony and Steve. I tried to joke around with Bucky or Loki. But there was always this sound in my head:
"Nothing. Is. The. Same. Anymore." They all knew it. And I hated to feel their pity. My mom always said, "if there is pity, there isn't much room left for love". And it was true. I didn't want anyone to feel bad about me. It just sunk me even deeper into my ocean of agony.

"I know" I said, as I stiffened and walked past her. 

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"Morning!" I opened the car's front door and threw my backpack on the back seat.

"Morning! Buckle up" said Clint, as I closed the door after me.

He drove off in a cloud of dust.

"So...uh, how'd you sleep?" he asked, leaning forward to see the traffic light.

"Good" I lied. "You?"

"Eh, I had to stay up all night and sharpen my arrows".

"Oh" I laughed.

The light turned green and he pressed the pedal.

"Excited for school?"

"...not really" I muttered.

"Yeah, school sucks, thank God I'm done with that".

If only he knew that wasn't the problem.

"Lucky you!" I stated, staring out the window.

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