East of Eden | Peter Parker

「iii. truth issues」

CHAPTER THREE : WEEK ONE

By the time biology comes to a close at the end of the day, Eden's bottom lip is almost bleeding from all her anxious gnawing on it. Unfortunately, not even the nervous habit is enough to keep the stress bubbling up in her gut her from eating away at her. With each passing second, the meeting she'd set up with Peter comes closer and closer, and she has no idea what to expect from it. Will he flash his scared little smile and agree to save her life, or will his face fall apologetically when he says no? What will she do if he does? It's not the unknown that absolutely terrifies her; it wouldn't – considering what the past few years of her life have seen. No, the twisting in her stomach knows the real fear is of what will happen in the aftermath of a letdown. 

Yet another thing she'd rather never think about.

Trying to ignore the whispered screams of her mind, Eden stays glued to her seat after the bell rings and waits with bated breath for the boy two rows back to finish packing up his things so they can talk. She traces her thumb in messy circles against her wrist in an attempt to calm the racing of her nerves until she finally rises from her seat to face Peter. There's no turning back now.

"So . . ." he tries nervously once her gaze lands on him

Eden almost wants to smile when she realizes he's just as nervous as she is, but the apprehension clutching her lungs won't allow it. She does her best not to let it slip into her voice when she asks if he's had a chance to think everything over.

"Y-yeah," he says, stumbling over the first of his words in a surprisingly endearing way. "I did."

"And?" Eden's heart is barely beating as she waits for the answer.

"I think I can definitely help you out."

For a moment, Peter is the most beautiful thing Eden's ever seen in her life. Relief washes all the tension out of her muscles and she doesn't realize she's smiling until he's smiling right back.

"It'll pretty much always have to be at my place, though. And right after school. My aunt likes to leave me a ton of housework to do once I get back, and I need to get it all done before she gets home from work. Is that okay?"

"That's perfect. Thank you so much."

Peter turns a light shade of pink and Eden decides she doesn't ever want to forget it.

After a brief stop at his locker, she realizes there's one last detail to iron out. "Do you have a ballpark estimate of how much it'll be?"

"Oh! Um, not really. I'm pretty sure I'll be multitasking like crazy most of the time, so I don't think it's fair to ask for anything. I guess the only thing is that you've got to bring your own food if you get snacky. Does that sound good?"

"Yeah, that sounds great. Anything else?"

"Nope. I think that's it."

"Okay, so when do we start?" Eden asks as she hitches her backup up higher on her shoulders where they're starting to ache from the weight of the binders she'd dumped in before class.

"Uh, today I guess." Peter says after a moment of consideration. "Unless you already have plans for this afternoon?"

"No, I'm free until I have to be home for dinner."

"All right, great! I just wanted to check."

Eden nods and pushes through one of the front doors to the school, holding it open for Peter behind her too. His cheeks turn pink again and she doesn't think it's from the warm breeze they've just stepped into.

Silence falls over them once they leave the loud chaos of the school, and it's broken only by the sporadic sound of honking cars. Eden decides quickly that the background bustle of New York is nowhere near as nice to listen to as Peter's voice.

"You take the train home, right?" She asks when she finally can't stand the sound of the wind between them anymore.

"Yeah. You?"

"Most of the time. Sometimes I like to bring my bike instead though. Or when I don't have pressing afternoon plans I'll walk."

"Why?"

Eden's step falters. A dozen colorful curses fly through her mind as she realizes she needs to think of a convincing lie, stat. There's no way in hell she can tell him that it's the easiest way to hear the precinct's chatter. To find out what nefarious things people say to each other when they don't think anyone is listening. To find out which places to stick pins and dash lines in the maps she's hidden away behind her closet. To do her very off the books job.

In the end, her training doesn't let her down. She comes up with something in the nick of time, a story that still manages to retain the slightest bit of truth. "I, uh . . . I used to live on a really out in the middle of nowhere type farm in the country. I don't really remember it that well because I left when I was five, but I remember being amazed by how crazy it can get here in the cities the first time I saw it all. Walking around every day lets me hold onto that. One last rebellion against growing up and forgetting the wonders of the world I guess."

"Really?" Peter's eyes are wide with something that makes Eden wish that really was the only truth. "That's actually pretty awesome."

"Thanks."

"I don't know if I'm allowed to say this, but you're pretty different than I thought you'd be."

"Yeah? What did you think I was like?"

He shrugs, turning his face down to the subway steps to hide how pink it is again. "I dunno. I guess . . . you're just a lot more chill than I would have guessed."

Eden laughs. "Well we can't all be John Green characters. The most exciting part of my day is usually watching Andy Samberg's new show while I eat dinner."

"So you're not a party person?"

"I have a friend who is. That's enough for me to know I'm not."

"I don't blame you. They're never as fun as they look in movies."

"Honestly, when is anything?"

"That's true," he says, pushing through the entry gate. "No part of high school is the same as it is on tv."

"Yeah. Who would have thought that stuff from Norse mythology would be more realistic than The Breakfast Club?"

"Not me, that's for sure."

Eden misses the look in his eyes and the conversation dies in the rush to get seats on their train, but she won't let it stay gone for long.

"Anyway, what about you? We can't spend this whole trip talking about me. There's got to be more than cute t-shirts and a chore giving Aunt in your life. What's your deal, Parker?"

"You think my shirts are cute?"

She laughs a little at the surprise on his face. "I do."

He mumbles a thanks and Eden lets herself smile.

"No getting out of my question though. Tell me something about you."

"Like what?"

"Anything. The first random thing that pops into your head."

"Okay. I guess . . . one summer when I was, like, twelve I think, I got zapped by two different electric fences in the same day. That's pretty unique, right? I bet something like that's never happened to you."

Eden shakes her head. "You've got me there. I can't say it has."

She wishes it wasn't another lie. Reality really does bite.