Bloom

Chapter 5: 'Friend?'

"Mom? Dad?" a young girl with electric green eyes asked as she wandered a dark hallway. She had no idea where she was, but she had a bad feeling and really wanted to get out. As she cautiously walked along the hallway, a hand suddenly grabbed her wrist, preventing her from moving. She screamed and looked up to see Dr. Lawrence. "Naughty little girl! You're not supposed to be out of your room. Come along, little one," he said dragging her by her wrist, his grip tightening. "But I want to see Mommy and Daddy!" she said, trying to fight his grip. The little girl resorted to biting his hand, making him cry out in pain and frustration as he struck her with his hand, leaving a red mark. The girl cried out as he picked her up, tossing her into a dark room surrounded by wires and needles and she her vision grew dark.

"NO!" I screamed, shooting up from my bed with ragged breaths. My green eyes shone through the dark and from seeing my breath, I looked up and suddenly realized there were frozen droplets of water splattered on the wall, my bed, and on myself from the now empty water bottle on my nightstand. I sighed knowing I had to get ahold of my emotions better. I stood up and walked over to my window and climbed out, sitting on the firescape to watch the lights that somehow calmed me down. Was that a nightmare or a memory?

It was 1:48 a.m on a Monday, a week after I'd first come here in the first place. I'd continued to befriend Peter and follow him when he took off as Spider-Man, occasionally lending him a hand before leaving another daisy for him to see. It all began to become a bit of routine until this night, er, early morning. Despite the time that's passed, I can't get over what I was going through. And the fact that my parents were the one's who sold me over to those monsters has never broken my heart or filled me with that much hate in my life.

I sniffled, feeling a few tears roll down my face that I quickly wiped away. I couldn't dwell on this now. I had a job to do and I had to keep it together. A song that always calmed me down had been Rocket Man by Elton John. I haven't sung in years but how else would I cope? "She packed my bags last night, pre-flight. Zero hour nine a.m. And I'm gonna be high as a kite by then..." The cracks in my voice were as evident as day but I continued on, sniffling the more I thought about everything.

"I miss the Earth so much, I miss my wife. It's lonely out in space. On such a timeless flight..." I thought about my parents' faces, feeling a strong pang within me. "And I think it's gonna be a long, long time 'til touchdown brings me 'round again to find. I'm not the man you think I am at home. Oh no, no, no. I'm a rocket man." Why did it have to be that way? I looked at my hands, seeing small sparks emerge from my fingertips at the rage and betrayal I'd begun to feel and clenched my fists to stop it. I didn't ask for this, I never wanted this.

I was crying now, feeling my body shake and jerk with every oncoming wave of pain and anger. I cursed at myself in my head, knowing I'd broken the promise I'd made myself to never allow it all to bother me to a point of breaking down but I couldn't stop myself now. And it kept on this way and I never knew someone had been watching me from their own window this entire time.

~~~

"Jenni. Jenni, wake up. Jenni, class ended....Jennifer? Jenni!" I jolted awake, grabbing the hand that had shaken me and twisting it, hearing someone cry out an 'ow!' When I looked, I saw Peter clutching his wrist and looking at me confused. "Oh, I- sorry," I grumbled, scrambling to get my things. I felt bad for twisting his hand like that but with the force I used, the damage shouldn't be too bad.

"You okay, Jenni? You've slept through half of the class periods," Ned asked as we walked out. I sighed and shrugged, trying to make them brush it off but it evidently didn't work as I walked to my locker. "Wait a second," Peter said, grabbing me by my arm. At the touch I involuntarily flinched, thinking back to the memory of Dr. Lawrence. Peter, of course, noticed and sent me a concerned look but didn't further question me and yet it didn't stop Ned.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Ned asked, stealing the words from his mouth. The two boys stared at me concernedly and I faked a smile. "I'm fine. I, uh, stayed up too late watching movies," I lied, reassuring them. Peter's eyes fell on me and stuck there like glue and I knew he didn't buy it. Ned seemed hesitant to believe as well but pretended to go along with it for my sake and the rest of the day seemed to go on like any other until Aunt May insisted on giving me a ride home along with Peter, which was awkward.

I tried to go straight to my apartment after thanking Aunt May but Peter trapped me. "Would you like to stay for dinner, sweetie?" she asked but as I tried to politely decline, Peter interrupted me, putting his arm around my shoulder. "Uh, actually, Jenni and I were planning to do homework together so she'd love to. Anyways, we'll be studying in my room," he said as he pushed me into his apartment and into said destination.

"Peter, what the hell are-?" "Come on, pop a squat. Make yourself comfortable," he said patting the space next to him on the bed. I raised my brows at him and sighed, going over. Taking a seat, I turned to him as he looked into my eyes with his brown ones boring into mine. "Listen, I, um, I know it's only been a week but you know you can trust Ned and I with anything. Um, last night, I heard- saw something," he said. Goddammit, he knows. "Peter, let me explain-" "Is everything okay? I know it isn't any of my business but, you know, it's what people do when one of their friends are upset," he explained.

"'Friend?'" I asked him. "Well, yeah. I mean, we hang out very often and things like that so...Well, unless you secretly hate us, I guess we're not your friends but you sure are one of ours," he spoke with a glint in his eyes "And being a friend entails being a shoulder to cry on, a rock of comfort, someone you can talk to-" "Peter, what're you talking about?" I asked, clueless. "I heard something in the middle of the night. Singing and, uh, I had to check out where it was coming from and, well, I saw you crying," he revealed. Shoot, no one should've seen that. I stammered for something to say, not used to people looking so concerned over me. They shouldn't be. No one should be, I can take care of myself.

Thinking that, I could feel my lip begin to quiver and gathered my stuff. Not here, you're not allowed. "I gotta go," I breathed out shakily. "H-hey, wait, it's okay. I-I'm sorry for bringing it up, I was just worried about you-" "I can take of myself-" "But you don't have to!" at those words, I froze as I turned the knob on his door and left him after asking "Then, who will?" I ran to my apartment and slammed the door shut. I couldn't risk it. Not now, not ever.