Freaks

III

Your POV:
"Did that really just happen?" I said pacing in my room, recalling the events that had happened only hours earlier.
Peter definitely saw me, but on the other hand, I definitely saw him. Every sign he's shown has pointed towards mutant, but nonetheless he could know about me...he could tell.
I grabbed a jacket and jumped onto my bike, riding far away from the house.
When I arrived to my favorite spot, I pulled my cassette player out from my pocket and walked forward into the brush of trees.
No one ever enters the forest. It's calm. It's safe. It's where I go to temporarily run away. Because when you live in a world where being yourself could get you killed, the idea of running away is constantly on your mind.
I pulled out a cassette tape that Bo had given me. "Let it Be," by the Beatles.
I fabricated a plan. I would stay as far away from Peter Maximoff as possible, hopefully he would eventually forget and I could go back to being invisible.
But what if he asked questions?
The dog was lying there the whole time. No! I'm actually a dog whisperer, it's a gift.
I sighed.
You'd think by now I'd be better at making excuses.
I lost track of time and the sun had already disappeared. I mounted back onto my bike and transfigured some of my emotions into a ball of energy. The energy mass's glow radiated from my hand; it's light cutting through the darkness.
I quickly dissipated the energy into the air before riding into the lit streets.
                                         *

Another school day done. Only another month to go.
I was anxious to get out of high school, to move on to the real world. I had plans to go places, to travel far away. Maybe even meet people like me.
But for now I was stuck, and even worse, stuck and alone.
I opened up my locker and a slip of paper fell out and onto the hallway floor. The ink was severely smudged, indicating how fast it was written. I looked around and picked it up.

Meet me at the diner down the street.
-Peter

Well, so much for going unnoticed.
I slung my bag over my shoulder, shut my locker, and made my way out of the building.
The bell attached to the glass door of the diner rung as I swung it open. Peter was sitting in a red leather booth in the back by the window. He nodded at me and popped his gum with a snap.
I sat down, taking in his calm energy and fearing what he was going to say.
I began, "So why did you ask me to—"
He cut me off before I could finish and asked bluntly,
"Are you a mutant?"
I froze, stunned by his frankness. That was the first time that anyone had ever asked me that. I scrambled for an answer,
"What? What makes you think—No! I mean, of course I'm not."
"If you're scared I'm going to tell anyone ___, I'm not. It's just, when I saw what happened with that dog yesterday..."
"I'm not a mutant, Peter."
He shrugged his shoulders.
"Alright, if you say you're not, you're not."
"Well, what about you, huh? How did you get from the staircase to one foot away from me in a matter of seconds?"
"I was standing there the whole time," he repeated from the day before.
A waitress walked up to our table with a notepad in her hand and a pen in the other.
"Can I get you something?"
"Two milkshakes," Peter replied before turning back to me.
The woman walked off and he asked,
"How come you're not in any clubs or anything? I don't even see you taking to people in the hall. I mean, I've been going to the same school as you for four years and I had to look up you're name and locker number in the office."
"I try to go unnoticed. But the same can be said about you, I mean you're practically absent half the school year."
He chuckled,
"I guess we're both kind of loners, huh?"
I gave a bittersweet smile,
"I guess so."
The lady returned with two glasses and placed them down on the table.
"Thanks," I said as she replied with a smile and walked off.
"So how long have you been a dog whisperer?" He said with a grin, leaning back and putting his arm around the side of the booth.
"I never said I was a dog whisperer..."
"Really? Because it looked that way to me."
"Oh yeah, did it look that way when you were, quote, 'standing there the whole time'? C'mon Peter, we both know you were on the steps."
He stood up, placed money on the table for the milkshakes and said before walking away,
"And we both know you're not a dog whisperer, ___."
He was right.
I'm not a dog whisperer.