Whitmore Prep

Chapter 18

A few days later Parker, Jerome and I sit on the living room couch, playing video games when the door rings. I jump up to get it, already knowing who it is. Talia, my childhood friend, stands in the doorway, holding a wrapped present.

"Tine!" She shouts, running to give me a hug.

"Oh my God, I've missed you!" I pick her and spin around, which is easy now that I have the strength of multiple bears.

"Ah! Can't! Breath!" She gasps, and I hurriedly let her go. She's always been petite, almost a head shorter than me. It's going to be hard remembering to be gentle around her.

"Sorry!" I take a step back, "Got excited."

"Well you should be excited! This is the first time we've been able to hang since you left for school!" Talia sighs. "Why hello..." She perks up to something behind me. Without turning around I already know what this something is.

"Talia, this is Parker, from school." I introduce them. I feel one of Parker's hands slide around my waist while the other reaches out to shake Talia's, "Parker, this is my best and longest friend, Talia."

"Ooh, you shocked me!" She gasps when their hands meet.

"Sorry, it's from my electrifying personality." He waves the thought away.

"Yes, I can see that." Her eyes glance suspiciously at his hand on my waist.

"Can you stay the night?" I ask avoiding the conversation I know she wants to have.

"Sure thing! I still have my overnight bag in my car!" She bounces out the door.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Parker whispers in my ear.

"Why wouldn't it be? She's my best friend." I whisper back.

"Well you nearly hugged her to death and I shocked her." He sighs, "I just don't want her to find out."

"Don't worry; I can keep a secret from her. In the 8th grade, we both liked the same boy, but I never told her because I knew how much he meant to her."

"Yeah, but does an 8th grade crush compare to being able to literally crush her without giving it a second thought?"

"No... but it would be more suspicious if I didn't invite her to stay over." I argue as the front door opens again for Talia. "So are you okay with hanging out with Jerome for a bit while we catch up?"

"I am for you." He gives me a quick peck on the cheek before disappearing into the living room.

"Okay, you have to tell me everything that's happened since you left." Talia gushes, already heading up the stairs.

"Oh joy." I mutter under my breath as I follow her to my room.

~~~~~

"So he hit you with his car?!" Talia gasps a few minutes later.

"Yeah, he didn't see me walking behind it when he was backing up."

"That sucks! But hey, the scar makes you look like a bad ass."

"Thanks, I use it to strike fear in the hearts of my enemies." I turn to the side so she can get a better look at the scar, "Speaking of which, we just had the craziest Winter Formal for all the Honors kids." I pause for a moment for dramatics before continuing, "This girl totally spiked the punch. But with this weird drug that made us all act unlike ourselves. And of course we didn't notice until we were totally pumped with it."

"That's crazy!" She laughs, grabbing some chocolate bars from my secret stash.

"It really was! My friend Adrian, who's usually super shy, was getting all loud and freaked out. And my roommate Ash went psycho for it... she even tackled a guy for more."

"God, Tine! I didn't know Whitmore was such a stoner school!" Talia kids, but the look in her eyes makes me rethink our conversation. She really wanted to go to Whitmore with me...

"Yeah, but other than that it's so boring." I sigh dramatically, "And the classes are insane! Plus, the gym teacher had me wrestle this super buff perv." But it would have been unfair to make anyone else wrestle him, seeing as we both have super strength. "So how's school for you?"

"I'm glad you asked." Talia takes out her phone, "Look at what Tyler texted me last week! He literally had broken up with Dana two days before that! And now Dana's going around saying how I 'stole his man'. Girl, stay in your lane! I don't want your creepy ex! Oh, and Taylor got in a fight with-"

I nod along, trying to follow all the names of the kids I've gone to school with since Kindergarten. Man, is high school drama this annoying? The only real drama I've seen at Whitmore was between the normal kids. Maybe it's because the Honors kids know that there's more going on in our lives than who's dating who.

"-And so now I'm single. Technically... Jacob from English and I have been talking off and on for a while. I don't know, I'll see how that goes." Talia takes a deep breath marking the end of her story. "Speaking of relationships status..." She gives me a sly smile, "Spill. Now."

Well. I don't want to talk about Whitmore because it makes her sad. And because I might accidently say something about our powers. But... Parker isn't Whitmore. I've spent time with him outside of school; therefore he is not just associated with school.

"Parker? Oh, he and I are complicated. I mean we went to formal together, but we aren't really dating."

"Why not? He's totally hot. And funny."

"I've been going through a lot of anxiety lately, and it wouldn't be fair for me to dump all of that on him. Plus I really need to know who I am before I get to know who we are, you know?" I shrug, plucking one of the chocolate bars from between us.

"That's really cool, Tine. I respect that." Talia nods, her eyebrows crinkled together. "But have you told him that?"

"What do you mean?"

"God, he's so smitten for you! The hand on the waist. The kiss-"

"On the cheek!"

"It doesn't matter, he's falling for you! You have it all figured out, now you need to let him in on it."

"Hmm. This is why I need you." I sigh.

"What can I say? I'm the boy whisperer." She shrugs. "Woah, girl, loosen up on that chocolate bar!"

I look down at my hand, where I still held the chocolate bar from the pile. I have crushed it. The room temperature chocolate drips between my fingers onto my crossed legs. Whoops... Now I see what Parker was talking about.

"Sorry. I must be more stressed than I thought." I laugh uneasily, grabbing some tissues to wipe up the mess.

"Yeah... stressed." Talia doesn't take her off of the melted chocolate. Oh no. Red alert. Parker? Please tell me you can read my electrical brain waves. MAYBE IF I THINK REALLY LOUDLY YOU CAN HEAR ME PANICKING!!! PPPPAAAARRRRKKKKEEEERRRRRR JJJJAAAAMMMMEEEESSSSSSS!!!!!! SHE'S SUSPICIOUS! YOU WERE RIGHT!!! OKAY??!!??!! YOU WERE RIGHT!!!!!

I wait for a second... nothing. Parker can't read minds. I'm worried and relieved at the same time. "Hey." I turn to plan B, "We just got that new dancing game, do you want to go play it with Parker and Jerome? Jerome kills it, and Parker looks really funny."

"Yeah, okay." She nods a bit, still looking suspicious.

"Awesome, let's go!" I jump up and leave the room, not waiting to see if she's following.