Soooo Not Normal

P E T E R

The room is dark and silent. Dust is everywhere. I walk to the desk, trying not to disturb anything. I pick up a picture on it and dust it off. I'm alone with my thoughts, and they aren't pretty.

Why? Mr. Stark, I know I'm supposed to help protect people and keep them safe, but what if I don't? What then? The emptiness I had started to get away from came back as if it had never left.

I don't know how long I've been sitting there when my phone pings. I pull it out.

Hey, are you with Tessa? It's from Emma.

Um, yeah, kinda. Why?

What do you mean kinda? It's a yes or no question!

Umm, I mean, Tessa is upstairs and I'm downstairs?

WHERE ARE YOU?!

Umm, a place?

Seriously Peter? TELL ME!

We're not doing anything wrong, I swear!

Then why won't you TELL ME WHAT YOU'RE DOING?!

Because...

Because why?!

Because I can't.

Why?

Cause...

That's it.

What's it? Emma? I wait for her to text me back, but she doesn't. Oh, shoot, what is she going to do? I quickly run up the stairs, opening the door and making it halfway to Tessa before I realize that she's crying. Oh no. She turns around and quickly wipes her eyes when she sees me.

"Sorry. I spend a lot of time up on the roof of my place when my parents fight. This brings back a lot of memories, I guess. They got divorced after, you know, the blip."

"Why?" Did she get blipped too?

"Cause Emma and I got blipped. They got remarried again when I came back, but it still sucked." That really does suck. "I mean, they basically told me that they were only together for my sake. It would actually be easier for me to just have them get a divorce! Then I could actually be friends with Emma without my parents hating her all the time."

"Emma!" I start, realizing that Emma was somehow on her way here. "Emma texted me, and she knows that we're, um, you know, hanging out?" Man, that sounded awkward, even to me.

Luckily, Tessa doesn't seem to notice. "I know how she found out."

"How?" I don't actually think that Tessa knows, but she may have a guess.

"She installed an app on my phone that tracks me. It's like Find My Friends, only you can't shut it off. She created it herself."

"Seriously? That is both really cool and sort of scary." What am I talking about? It's Emma, of course it's scary.

"I know, right? I have no idea how she got it on my phone without me noticing."

"Are you sure she isn't your mom in disguise?"

"Yeah, no. My mom doesn't care about me. Emma is more like the older sister I never had. Well, a very protective older sister."

"She's older than you?" I mean, she sure acts like it.

"Contrary to popular belief, I am 25 days older. But who's counting, right?" I stifle a laugh.

"Obviously not you," I say, finally giving in and laughing. She smiles, clearly thinking that I'm insane. But for once in my life, I don't care.