From the Shadows | PETER PARKER [2]

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The afternoon sun illuminates the sidewalk Eloise walks down, its warmth heating her bare arms and face. Her shoulders feel lighter than they have been, though her heart is still heavy. She's on her way back home from having lunch with Alev and her mother. Visiting the two used to add to the weight, but the atmosphere was so much lighter this time.

The back of Eloise's neck heats up as she feels the tingling suspicion of someone's eyes on her. It is a familiar sensation now, and though she usually ignores it, she decides she's tired of feeling like she's under a microscope.

Eloise whips around, almost getting whiplash at the speed of her turn. Her eyes catch a figure quickly turning around and ducking behind a building at the end of the street.

"Gotcha," she whispers under her breath as she takes off towards the stalker. Her sneakers smacked against the sidewalk, her arms pumping to make her go faster. There's no way she's letting them go now.

Eloise accidentally bumps into a passerby's shoulder, but she doesn't pause or acknowledge the fact. The person mutters something about the new generation being rude before walking away, shaking their head. Normally Eloise would apologize, but she's on a mission and she's not letting the figure slip from her fingertips.

When she turns the corner, she spots the figure—a five-foot something male with blond hair and an expensive-looking jacket. He tries to duck into a building, but Eloise uses her powers to make him freeze in his spot.

"Hey!" She calls, ignoring the people on the street's glances. She jogs up to the figure as he tries to fight against her grip on his body's control. She lets it slip so it's less obvious that it's her invisible force holding him in place.

Before he can get away, though, Eloise grips onto the back of his shirt and pulls him into an alley. She presses him up against the brick wall with her arm against his chest to trap him.

When she gets a good look at the boy in front of her, her eyes widen in shock.

"Mason?"

The blond boy seems surprised at her strength pinning him against the brick. He sheepishly looks away, breaths ragged from his running.

Eloise presses him harder against the brick and demands, "Why are you watching me?"

"I wasn't," Mason blatantly lies.

She doesn't fall for it. "Then why did you run away when I caught you following me?"

Her eyes narrow as she waits for his answer. Mason sighs, finally looking her in the eye. "Okay, fine. You've been ignoring all my texts and Snapchats, and I wanted to see you but I knew that you wouldn't listen to me."

"So you decided just watching me would be okay?" Eloise asks incredulously, blinking at how creepy it sounds and wondering why he'd ever think that it was okay.

Mason's eyes fill with shame as they dart to the ground embarrassingly. "I can see how it looks, but I just—I just feel bad about how things ended between us," he confesses, looking back up at her. "I would really like to start over and get to know you better."

Eloise's brow pulls forward. She's pretty sure the last time they talked, Mason called her a bitch. She wonders if Mason knows about her and Peter's relationship.