❝ She's in my head and has you on her radar. You either leave and forget who I ever was, or live to kill me. ❞
❝ Is there a third option that doesn't involve losing you? ❞
. . . in which Rhea's fear of her own mother becomes so unruly that a masked...
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THE HALLWAY WAS perfectly chaotic as Rhea remembered it, like a movie. There was the couple always indulged in smushy public displays of affection on the left side of the hall, about ten feet further down, the cliquey cheerleaders, and next to them, were her friends.
Upon seeing Rhea making her way through the crowd, many of whom gave her side glances and shared gossip-filled whispers with each other, Eva's pace hastened towards her and crushed her in her arms, nearly knocking the breath out of her. Nonetheless, Rhea was wrapped in a warm swaddle of Eva's arms, and she snuggled into her friend's hug. "I'm so sorry, Rhea. I'm sorry for snapping at you, I'm sorry for being so incredibly selfish that all I cared about was the stupid letter on my report card, I shouldn't have done that to you."
"Eva, it's okay! I've already forgiven you each umpteenth time you apologised in the group chat." A smile grew on her lips, much like a spring flower blooming. She was glad she lived today to experience this, seeing her friends in person again, and beyond relieved it was her in control, although she didn't know how long it would last this time.
"Welcome back to school, after like... a week?" Ned grinned, reaching his hand out to her for their iconic handshake that he and Peter created. This sense of familiarity was what made Rhea realise that their friendship was the kind that grew from the seed basking in warm soil, to a vast tree with many ups and downs - many, but not enough to conceal the sheer beauty of such a tree.
Perhaps what she did was right after all, compromising. For her own selfish intent: her unwillingness to leave the people she's come to love so much more than she did anyone. Whether this decision was right or wrong, she was only allowed to believe she wouldn't regret the choice she made.
Organising her locker, Peter came to mind. She suppressed a smile and her cheeks became a color that could rival the rose-pink hue of her notebook cover. How on earth did she survive that day? The brush of his lips against hers, the way they pulled apart and took shaky, shallow breaths, and how his scent was all that filled her senses. How?
"Hey, where's Peter?" She blurted out as she turned to her friends, immediately eliciting a playful smirk from Eva who commented on the redness of her face.
"He said he'll be late-" Ned began, only to be interrupted by sirens that severed the air like a butcher's cleaver on a carcass. As everyone turned towards the entrance of the school, flashing red and blue lights of two police cars were seen under the morning dew.
"What is the police doing here?" Eva muttered under her breath, everyone just as curious as she is at the unusual event on what everyone expected to be a typical school day. Rhea's gut twisted at the fear she felt clenching her chest, while she frantically tried to grasp at her memories, thoughts, anything to reassure her that she wasn't the reason why the authority was here. Oh God, what did I do? What did she do? Rhea felt the air around her strangling her, and all she wanted to do was escape and hide. I'm innocent, I'm innocent, I didn't do anything wrong, her brain chanted over and over, feeling the panic building like an unstoppable snowball in the pit of her stomach.
She was jolted from her thoughts at a hand firmly gripping onto hers, cold and clammy. Facing him, she realised it was Peter, her source of solace, looking like anything but comfort. And she knew, he too felt the same way she did. He was panting, eyes wide with fear and his every sense on high alert. (including his Peter tingles)
"We have to go now." He didn't give her time to respond or even a momentary second to catch her breath before he pulled her along with him on a grueling pace she struggled to keep up with, but tried without complaint. They ran, ignoring the other kids' suspicious gazes, exchanged words and rapidly increasing noise level. Her legs were on fire and her lungs threatened to burst, but the adrenaline flooding into her system like it was on an intravenous drip fought to keep going.
Reaching the back gate of the school, they slowed and came to a short, eventual stop. "Peter, what's going on?!" Rhea asked in utter distraught between her huffs of air and her painful distress from being oblivious, yet knowing she was at fault for something she didn't want to do.
"Listen, the police... they're here to arrest you for the attempted murder that happened in the alleyway a month ago. The asshole who punched you and she tried to murder? Yeah, he reported it as soon as he escaped but had no evidence, until today when he saw you walking to school and followed, then he called the cops," Peter uttered quickly, his chest heaving as he struggled to force every single word out clearly enough for her to understand, "I'm breaking you out of school, and I need you to go back home. He doesn't know your name, only your face." He took a navy blue cap out of his bag and placed it on her head, making sure it covered her face sufficiently. "Now hold on to me."
She couldn't process everything that he was saying, but she trusts him, and that was the only thing that mattered. She hastily put her arm around his shoulders, and she felt his hand sturdily resting on her waist while the other went behind her legs. Scooping her up in his well-built arms, he looked up at the tall gate that stood before them and jumped, causing Rhea to bury her face into Peter's chest.
Landing on his feet on literally the other side of the gate, he carefully put her down and readjusted the cap on her now-tousled hair. "I'm sorry Rhea, that you had to be welcomed back like this." His eyes were soft, but crestfallen as he returned to the opposite side, the gate being the only thing preventing Rhea from pulling him into her arms where nothing has to be said to soothe her quivering heart.
He held her hand tightly through the gaps, looking at her one last time before making his way back to school, where the police had begun their search for the girl who unintentionally intended to murder.
Did I really make the right choice?
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qotd !! ; what do you think of far from home if you've already watched it? i'm really interested to see how others feel about the movie! (spoilers-free please, for anyone who hasn't watched it)
