The Perks of Being a Freak (Editing)

36. The Mystery Of The Guy In The Hoodie

Benny: So this guy was just staring at you.

Me: Yes.

Benny: Without saying anything?

Me: Yes.

Benny: And you were laying on your stomach.

        Me: Yes.

Benny: Maybe he liked the view.

Me: Screw you.

Benny: Sure. When and where?

Rajeev: Guys this might be serious.

Tony: Did he see you fly?

Me: No, but he might have seen Emily running at half the speed of light.

Rajeev: That would be around 150 million meters per second. I doubt Emily was running that fast.

Me: It was an expression.

Rajeev: Oh…

Tony: But you’re sure that this creep didn’t see you fly?

Me: No, he didn’t. 

Benny: Why is it such a big deal if someone sees her fly?

Me: Well, it’d be fine if someone saw Emily running fast; they’d just assume she was a runner. But if they saw me flying they’d call the police or animal control or something. Besides, now he knows my name, so it’d be even worse if he saw something… freakish.

Rajeev: How does he know your name?

Me: Emily screamed it to the sky.

Emily: He’s harmless. For now.

Benny: That doesn’t make me feel any better.

Tony: We want him to be harmless forever, Em.

Rajeev: Since when do you call her Em, Tony?

Tony: Surprise, surprise, the nerd is butting into other peoples business again.

Me: Shut up, Tony. 

Benny: Yeah, man, your attitude sucks.

Tony: Sorry for hating the people I’m stuck with for the rest of forever.

Emily: You don’t hate me.

Tony: No… I don’t.

Me: Awww. You two are adorable.

Tony: I’m going to break your jaw.

Me: Only if you can catch me at twenty-thousand feet.

Benny: She’s gotcha there, buddy.

Tony: We’re not buddies.

Rajeev: What we are is off-topic. We need to be thinking about how to deal with this guy.

Me: You’re right. If this guy saw anything or heard anything, we might be in trouble.

Benny: You’re sure he didn’t see you fly?

Me: One-hundred-percent. I flew to Emmy’s and then we walked.

Tony: So he doesn’t know that you’re a total freak.

Me: He still might’ve seen Emily breaking Usain Bolt’s record for every sprint ever.

Benny: But the wings are a dead giveaway.

Rajeev: Could he have seen them through the hole in your sweatshirt?

Me: How do you know about… what?

Rajeev: I figure that since it was kind of chilly out last night, you would have worn a sweatshirt, and when you opened your wings, it would have ripped it. Could he have seen your wings through the sweatshirt.

Me: I don’t… no. It was too dark. I could barely see him, and I have surgically corrected vision.

Benny: You have what?

Me: Oh… did I forget to tell you? I found stitches in my eyes and don’t need contact lenses anymore.

Tony: How did you manage to “forget” this small tidbit of information?

Me: I think I was angry, so I just went to sleep and forgot about it the next morning.

Tony: Smart.

Me: Rajeev’s the smart one, not me.

Benny: So they sewed wings onto you, and cut open your eyes. Anything else?

Me: Not yet. 

Rajeev: Tell me if there are any other side effects.

Me: Sure thing.

Benny: So what are we gonna do about the creeper?

Tony: Forget him for now. Emily, Lia, stay inside at night.

Me: Sorry. That’s not gonna happen.

Tony: What if he sees you? What if anyone sees you.

Me: I’ll stay in the cloud cover. 

Benny: Be careful.

Me: Duh.

Tony: Alright. Just don’t fuck up.

Me: Don’t tell me what to do. Ever.

Emily: So much anger.

Me: Go to sleep, guys. It’s gonna be a long day tomorrow, ‘specially for you, Ben.

Benny: Why?

Me: Swim practice. You gotta hide the wings.

Benny: Fun.

Me: That’s just our life now. Tons and tons of fun.

The sad thing was that I wasn’t even sure if there was genuine sarcasm in my mental-voice.