CHAPTER NINE
Pushing Through
“Pete!”
I call after him. He dashes up the stairs and out of the room. I turn to Naveen.
“You gotta let me go after him!”
She blinks and her head nods. I’m up in the air within moments, and she guides me back out to where my chair is.
I land awkwardly in the chair, and quickly rearrange myself. I roll out of the nightclub; my head turns in search for Peter.
“Pete!” I shout.
There aren’t many people on the street, and the ones that are look at me strangely as I call out his name.
I have no idea where I am. Whether this is even Brooklyn or the city, I’m completely lost.
I decide to go right. I wheel down the sidewalk, continuing to shout his name. I make it to the end of the block, and I shout his name again.
“I’m in here,” a weak little voice says.
It’s coming from an alleyway. I roll down it, the muddy puddles splash onto my sweatpants and chair.
Next to a dumpster is a huddled figure. He squats in a pile of trash and dirty water. I sigh.
“Dude, seriously?” I pant. “You actually ran away?”
Looking for him gave me a serious workout.
Peter doesn’t reply. His eyes don’t really focus on anything.
“Pete, it’s dark,” I tell him. “Let’s go back, yeah?”
He lifts his head up at me, shock over his face.
“Did you listen to anything back there?” he asks.
I shrug. “So your mom and dad aren’t your real parents,” I say. “So what?”
He swings his arm out to the side, and points in the direction we came from. “I have a brother. An older brother who I never even knew about! How am I supposed to be calm about it?!”
Peter shakes his head. His arm comes in and he hugs his legs closer to his chest. “I’m part of a world I never even knew about. A grandfather. And people are hunting me for something I don’t remember! Why is this happening to me?!”
I stay silent. Peter buries his head in his arms. “I’m done, John. I’m done.”
He slowly gets up. He starts to walk past me, my head hung low. “Let’s go home.”
My hand reaches out and I grab his shirt. Before he notices what’s going on, I pull him forward. I let go, he lands back into the puddle of trash.
“Hey!” he cries out.
I look down on him, a sneer on my face. “Don’t be a fucking whiner.”
Peter’s face is a mix shock and confusion. “Wha-“
“Don’t give me that crap,” I sneer. “Go home?! You going home to hug to snivel to your not-biological parents won’t change the fact that you’re being hunted by weirdly named but evil organisation!”
Peter shifts his gaze. “But it’s not my problem…”
I lean forward and grab his shirt. I pull his face close to mine. “It is your fucking problem! And since you dragged me into that incident at the bar, it’s become my problem too!”
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SIDEKICK
Teen FictionWhenever someone, out there, creates a story that involves a hero, they'll always be someone in the form of a sidekick. Male, female, young, old, alien, paranormal, dog, whatever. Anything. But there's something that no one is aware of. You see, in...