Alone

46: There's more to it

Peter POV:

I walked into school and went straight to principals office. I sat in front of the Principal not able to hear the lecture he was giving me. I was sore and all I could think about was seeing Elizabeth, all I wanted to do was hug her and tell her that I was sorry but I knew I couldn't take back what had been done.
"Peter you're a good kid and a smart kid, so just try to keep your head straight, Okay?" he said, I nodded. "Now get out of here."
I sighed and picked up my back pack and walked out of the office and stood up.
"Are you expelled?" Ned asked worriedly. I had told him everything that had happened yesterday.
"No i'm not expelled." I said as we began to walk to class.
"You're so lucky." Ned said, I sighed feeling quite the opposite.

Elizabeth POV:

I stared out the window of the car as Happy drove me to school. I kept thinking about having to see Peter at school. I sighed and rested my head against the window, I wanted to cry but I felt I had used all the tears last night, I felt drained and my heart ached.
Finally we arrived at the school and I grabbed my backpack and began to open the door before Happy began speaking, "Hey Elizabeth listen, you can call me if you need anything, okay?"
I nodded and smiled as best as I could then reached over and hugged him. "Thanks Happy." I then got out of the car and walked up the stairs into the school. Then I went to the principals office.
Once inside I sat down I began to speak.
"I'm so sorry, I- I wasn't thinking when I left school."
"I know and it's a shame that that should happen seeing as though you are a great student with great grades, Ms. Vornov I'm not going to suspend you, as long as this remains to be an isolated incident, is that clear?"
I nodded my head quickly, relieved to find out that I was being let off easy. "Thank you,"
"Now you still have detention so you'll be going to that." he paused, "I like you Ms. Vornov and I want you to remain a great student here, so don't disappoint me." I nodded and spoke quietly.
"Thank you so much, I promise it won't happen again."
"Okay well you best get to class," I nodded and stood up grabbing my backpack and walking down to my class which I gratefully didn't have with Peter, all of class I couldn't pay attention, I stared off into space with my thoughts going a million miles a minute. When it was time to go to detention I walked down to the room where it was held, I opened the door and stopped; Peter sat slumped in his chair, tapping his pencil on the desk, I stood for a moment and looked at him and my heart ached even more, but my sadness quickly turned to anger as I thought about what he said the night before, I had done nothing to him to make him want to stay away from me. I clenched my fists and my nails dug into my palms, until he turned and saw me, my eyes met his and the anger disappeared.

Peter POV:

I looked at Elizabeth and a wave of guilt washed over me. She looked tired and worn out like she had cried. I wanted to talk to her, to tell her why I had said those things and how I didn't mean them, but Mr. Stark was right, I put her chance at a normal life and her in danger and I couldn't do that to her. She shifted her eyes away from mine and walked into the room and to a desk in next to Michelle. When detention was finally over, Elizabeth stood up and grabbed her bag, as she and Michelle started to leave, I stood up reaching out and placing my hand on her arm. She turned around, and I could see how much I had hurt her, the truth was I didn't really know what I wanted to say other than I just wanted to talk to her, apologize to her, I wanted to tell her the truth.
"Lizzy-" I paused, "Elizabeth, please, I'm sorry, I-"
"Peter please," her words were soft but sad, "I can't do this right now," Her voice was shaky now, like she was about to cry, "I have to go." She then walked out of the room with Michelle before I could say anything else. I stood for a moment, I felt terrible as the realization of how much I had hurt her set in.

Elizabeth POV:

As Michelle and I walked down the hall, I felt my eyes fill with tears.
"What happened?" Michelle asked, calling me from my thoughts.
"I'll uh, tell you later."
"After school we can go to this really cool book store, and hang out for a little." I smiled and nodded, genuinely happy to be hanging out with Michelle.
The rest of the day was bland, and I watched the clock waiting for school to be over. When the bell finally rang, Michelle and I walked up the street a couple blocks to a small bookshop. Once inside we grabbed books and sat in the cafe area.
"So, you and Peter, what happened?" Michelle said looking up from her book.
"Well, um long story short he told me he didn't think we should hang out anymore... he told me to go away." I grabbed my water and took a sip waiting for Michelle's response.
"Why would he say that to you?"
"I don't know, it was out of nowhere." I paused, placing a bookmark to in my book and placing it down on the table, "I really thought that he liked me, I thought that maybe he and I could be.. you know..together."
"He does really like you, it's obvious." She thought for a moment as she placed her book down, "Its weird that Peter all of a sudden wants you guys to stop spending time together, it just doesn't seem like him. I mean today when he tried to talk to you, he didn't seem like he wanted to keep his distance."
"I guess you're right," I said as I began to see what she was saying.
"You should talk to him, maybe he'll explain."
Later that evening Happy picked me up from the book store and I thought about what Michelle had said. A part of me believed that there was more to why Peter said what he said.
"How was your day kiddo?" Happy said turning down the music, I turned and looked at him with a smile.
"It was fine I guess." I said now staring out the window. After a few moments I spoke up, "Happy, can i ask you something?"
"Of course."
"So I feel kind of conflicted. I feel like there's more to the situation with Peter, then I may have assumed."
"What do you mean?" Happy asked.
"I don't know, it doesn't seem like Peter to say what he said out of nowhere. I guess deep down I feel like there's something else I'm not seeing, you know."
Happy stayed silent for a moment, contemplating what to say. "What do you want to do about it?"
"I'm going to talk to him tomorrow, let him explain," I paused for a moment, "I don't want to lose him."
"I don't think you will." I turned to Happy who gave me a reassuring smile. I felt relieved, like everything was going to work out. Because I knew deep down that Peter would never had said those things unless he needed to.