Dancing Around // peter parker

15

The elevator doors opened. I sighed, dragging myself into the hall. My bag had become heavier ever since I joined the school's newspaper. Everyone was always stressed, as if the school's newspaper were their sole purpose in life rather than just some flimsy thing no one actually read. There was even a girl crying once because she printed out something with a misspelled word. Everyone around her was treating it as if she had dug her own grave, ready to pull out their black mourning clothes. Everyone but me. I was secretly laughing at how ridiculous they were all being.

Was I a bad person for laughing?

I shook my head, not wanting to open that can of worms and instead heading to my door. I used my key and entered the small place, swinging the door shut and letting my school bag drop on the floor next to my desk before taking solace on my sofa where I pressed my face against the arm of it.

I never thought taking so many pictures of classmates would be so draining. Especially when they asked me if they could see the photo and then, after seeing it, ask if I could take another one. This happened over and over again, so much so, I wondered if I was stuck in a loop. I even considered if it was a bad idea to join the newspaper in the first place.

I would quickly decide no though, because without the newspaper I would have been sitting alone at lunch. Since Sally and I weren't on speaking terms, or even friend terms, and Cindy only spoke to me during soccer practice, the newspaper room was like my secret haven. I could sit there during lunch and watch funny videos while eating my sandwich. People didn't really talk to me either, probably because of the rumors that were going around about Al and me, but at least it was a smaller group of people staring.

I could handle a small group of people.

I shifted around on my sofa, looking back up at the ceiling. Unlike the walls around me and all the other ceilings in the apartment, the living room's ceiling wasn't an off-white color. It was navy blue. I had found it strange at first, but it had grown on me. It was like I was staring into the night sky just without the stars. I thought of adding those glow-in-the-dark stars. I thought that would be kind of cute, but if I did that my mom would get upset. Besides, maybe the sky didn't need stars. They were like futile details. They didn't really matter. It wasn't like the stars made the sky any better. The sky would still be the sky with or without the stars, right?

I sighed. I should do my homework.

I sat up only to lay back down. Later, I told myself. Later I would do my homework. But then I thought, no, I should do it. Later, I can lay down.

I stood up from the sofa, heading towards my bag. I reached for it when there was a knocking on my door. I looked through the peephole to see it was Ms. May. I opened the door. Her brown eyes were wide as she looked at me.

"Have you seen Peter?" She asked.

"Um, not since this morning. Why? Is something the matter?"

She let out a frustrated whine. "He's not picking up my calls. He skipped school."

"He...What?" I gaped. "But, he went to school with me this morning."

"The principal caught him trying to sneak out. He got detention, but then he left that!" She started to pull at the roots of her ruby hair. "I can't believe that boy! Now I can't get a hold of him. I have no idea where he could be."

I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to comfort someone. I thought back to Cindy's words. According to her, I should hug Ms. May and tell her that everything was going to be okay.

I looked over at her. She looked seconds away from bursting out of anger, not tears. Would hugging be inappropriate? The idea of hugging her made me feel uncomfortable like it was uncalled for. I decided not to hug her, instead, I took a step back and opened my door further. "Do you want to come in?" I asked.