TELEKINETIC │ p.p

Chapter Twenty One

As soon as Monday rolled around, they were all greeted by a new kid. Peter's stomach turned and twisted every time he saw the kid, noticing how much he eyed down Vanessa.

"Kate, walk her to lunch," Peter grumbled into the blonde's ear, storming out of the classroom with a somewhat hunched back.

"Hey, Peter, right?" the new boy questioned from behind him.

Peter spun on his heels, licking his lips. "Listen, bud," he spoke, his voice stone cold. "Quit staring down my friend."

"You're friends with that foxy woman?" the boy quizzed, glancing back as if she heard him and he could feel her glare.

"Don't call her that," Peter groans. "And keep your distance."

"Ah, I see," the boy chuckles. "You're trapped in the friend zone-"

"Shut up-"

"And if I jump in, there's no way she'd take you up on a date." Peter's eye twitched, his heart pumping with the sudden adrenaline rush. He could punch this kid right now, maybe beat him senseless. The kid's hungry gaze toward Vanessa really left him uneasy, and he couldn't imagine how uncomfortable Vanessa herself would be if she caught him.

"Stay. Away."

"Or what?" the boy challenges. "You don't own her."

"You're right, I don't," Peter calmly replies. "But I do protect her from creeps."

"How would you know if I'm a creep or not?" the boy remarks. "Sorry I'm like every other teenage boy going through puberty and can't help but notice a really attractive female when I see one."

"Doesn't mean you have to have a staring contest with her hair," Peter grunts.

"Don't be jealous, Parker," the boy teases. "Haven't you heard everybody wants a piece of your girl?" That. That comment sent Peter over the edge. Especially with the way the boy delivered it - his arrogance, as if he could get Vanessa with the snap of his fingers.

Peter got a few good punches in before the new kid pummeled him. Thankfully a teacher crossed their paths and stopped them, telling the crowd that had gathered to get back to class.

"Mr. Parker and Mr. Alan, principal's office now," the teacher grumbles before returning to class. The two boys trudged to the principal's, but only one came out with punishments. Peter really wished in this moment that he could freeze time, smash the new kid's face in, and then thaw time, acting as innocent as always.

"I heard what happened," Vanessa spoke as soon as Peter walked past her after exiting the principal's office. She jogged to catch up to his pace, then walked quickly beside him. "Wanna talk about it?"

"No," Peter mutters, glancing back over his shoulder. He saw Matthew, the new kid, checking Vanessa out. Peter wrapped an arm around Vanessa's waist and walked her back to class, saying he had detention after school for the rest of the week.

"That's not fair," Vanessa replied. "That kid was brutal." She poked Peter's busted lip with her finger, causing Peter to grab her hand and return it to her side.

"He'd be lucky if he never met my fist again," Peter comments before storming away. Vanessa huffed, allowing him to walk off. He needed to cool off before he returned to class, and she needed to go back to the lesson so she could teach it to Peter.

- - - - -

Vanessa sat at her lab table, noticing her assigned lab partner was home sick today. She sighed and looked back at Peter, who tried his best to give a warm smile.

"This seat taken?" a voice questioned. Vanessa looked up and shook her head. She felt her insides drop. "I'm Matthew." He extended his hand, but Vanessa didn't reach for it. She knew who he was now.

"Could you maybe sit elsewhere? I would prefer not to sit by the person who beat up one of my best friends," she retorts, glancing over her paperwork.

"He punched me first," Matthew remarked.

"Must've had a good reason," Vanessa chuckles. "Go on." Matthew rolls his eyes and does as told, joining a gamer kid, who preferred working alone but enjoyed the company of a cool outcast.

When the teacher assigned the lab, Vanessa raised her hand and asked if she could work with Peter and Ned. The teacher nodded, making Vanessa whip around immediately to join their conversation.

"What are we talking about?" she questioned with a bright smile.

"I thought you were just jealous before," Ned whispered to Peter, ignoring Vanessa's presence momentarily, "but now I see what you're talking about." Vanessa followed their glares, instantly feeling like the only way to feel comfortable again was to crouch under the table and curl into a ball.

Matthew had turned away by now, but his gaze was intense. So intense it created a nauseous sensation in Vanessa that she only witnessed once with food poisoning. She whipped back around and begged for the two to help her start the lab.

Throughout the entirety of the assignment, Peter sent death glares Matthew's way, as if Matthew was staring again. Vanessa finally reached up toward Peter's face, settled her hand under his chin, turned his face to meet hers, gave a warm, gentle smile, and rubbed her thumb on his cheek.

"Don't worry about him," she whispered. "I'm not interested at all."

"I know you're not," Peter growls. "That's why I'm trying to help him move along."

"Pete, I'm serious," she sighs. "Just act like you don't see him and he'll eventually go away."

"Okay. But if he ever touches you-"

"I'll allow you to give him a little taste of your own punishment, but you cannot kill the kid, okay?"

"Okay." Peter returned her warm smile, and didn't force it this time. This resulted in a warm, fuzzy Vanessa, who kept her smile on her face for the rest of the day.

- - - - -

"Good luck on your driver's test," Peter told Vanessa as she walked him to detention.

"Thanks, I'm gonna need it," she nervously giggles, trying to soothe her anxiety, at least a tiny bit.

"You'll do great," Peter smiles. "Try not to run over anyone," he teases, pressing a simple kiss to her forehead before turning into the room for detention. Vanessa grinned as she watched him sign in and take a seat, then went on her way to the DMV with contorted intestines.