𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐔𝐒𝐊

15. 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀

"What? What happened?"

Eszter crosses her arms as she subconsciously searches for Peter--though she doesn't realize it. "He asked Liz before I could ask him."

"Dang," Ned pouts. "Can't believe he had the guts to ask her--I mean, I'm sorry about that."

The enhanced scratches a spot on her forehead, near her hairline. "That's not even the worse part," both Ned and Michelle perk a brow, but Eszter was cringing at herself. "I told him I was going with Flash."

There were two different reactions--Michelle burst with a bubble of laughter, whereas Ned gaped in disbelief. Neither of them had expected Eszter to say that, but it was hilarious.

"You told him you were going with Flash?" Ned exclaims, not sure how to feel. "Does Flash even know?"

But a loud cackle from Michelle cracks through, clutching her stomach as she tries to control herself. "Wow, that's just--that's gold. What else did you tell him?"

Eszter merely rolls her eyes. "No, Flash doesn't know. I never even asked him. I just . . . I don't know, I just panicked," the enhanced pouts at the thought.

Ned felt bad for Eszter; he knows she's been crushing on Peter for as long as he remembers, and now, their friend is going out with someone else. Although Peter doesn't know of Eszter's feelings, he doesn't know how much he had hurt the enhanced. If only Ned would've been a little more encouraging in the beginning, maybe been a little more upfront.

The two could've been a strong power couple, but no, Eszter didn't want that.

"So, Peter's not here?" Ned wonders.

Eszter shrugs, glancing from the entrance, then to Liz. "He should be. I thought he went to pick her up."

On cue, Peter walks into the building. The enhanced senses his familiar presence--Peter has a specific life-force that Eszter can feel from miles away, one that attracts to her more than anyone else. It's strange how easy it was for Eszter to know, but she assumes that it could be that he's not as normal as people think he is.

However, Peter didn't appear as excited as he did earlier in the morning; he looks frightened. Eszter didn't think too much about it, assuming Liz's dad might've given Peter the talk because he's going to the dance with his daughter. Eszter nearly laughed at the thought. Peter robotically walks past people as he kept his gaze forward, stiff as a board as his feet moved accordingly.

But something didn't sit right with Eszter. She could feel something was wrong, especially with Peter, and it was starting to concern her. Frowning quietly to herself, Eszter excuses herself from Ned and Michelle before she walks away without waiting for a response, too concentrated on Peter's well-being. She nears her friend, sneaking up from behind when Eszter touches Peter's shoulder to get his attention, but instead, she catches him off-guard.

Peter jumps in surprise, eyes shot wide open as if he were expecting someone else, but merely sighs in relief when he sees Eszter.

"Hey, are you okay?" Eszter frowns as she furrows her brows, tilting her head. She avoids the topic of sensing his emotions.

"Yeah, I'm--" But then Peter stops as soon as his eyes meet Eszter's. His heart was racing as it did before, and he could feel his palms sweating on cue--stomach filling with butterflies as he stumbles over his words, making Eszter's frown deepen. Peter wanted to compliment the way Eszter looks in her dress, but he was too taken back by how amazing she looks--never mind the fact that she's wearing an off-the-shoulder dress. Of course, Eszter always looks amazing--wait, what? Peter is at a loss for words. Confused, to say the least. He's staring. "I'm okay."