Whitmore Prep

Chapter 34

        I don't say anything to him or Headmaster because what can I say? "Hey! You don't know about me, but I'm your daughter!" "Headmaster, that's so awesome that you're engaged to my father!"         "What? My dad help found the school? Am I, the daughter you do not know about, in the will???"
        Instead, I nod politely and pull Parker out of the building. I don't stop walking. We walk past the classrooms. Past the Dining Hall. Past the parking lot. I pull him into the emergency stairwell of the Dorms and take him all the way up to the top.
        I finally stop once we're on the roof, the spot of our second date. I can still see the sharpie drawn heart with: "C.H. and P.J." that Parker drew on the ground. I turn to him.
        "Oh my God, Park." I sigh, sitting on the ground. He doesn't move. The cold breeze picks up his hair, which has become a greasy mess. In the sunlight I can see how pale he's gotten, the bags under his eyes deep bruises. He's in a trance, staring into the distance, as he has been since that night in the woods.
        I've been so focused on myself I haven't even noticed how bad he's gotten.
        I stand again and move to hug him. He's limp under my touch, not reaching to hug me back. I'm disappointed, but not surprised. "You know I love you, right?" I sigh into his shirt, which is wrinkled. It doesn't smell like him.
        "Don't." He mutters so quietly I'm surprised it didn't float off in the wind.
        I look up at him, resting my chin on his collar bone. I can see his eyes filling up with tears. "I do." I whisper back.
        "I'm a killer."
        "No you're not."
        "Yes I am!" He shouts, grabbing my arms. I feel a sudden shock run through my body. It hurts, makes my vision go white for a second. I stumble back, shocked at what just happened.
        I stay a few steps away, but don't move. "You didn't kill Elise. Someone else did."
        "I killed Connor!" He sobs, wrapping his arms around himself. He doubles over, his chin nearly touching his knees. I crouch down next to him, but dare not touch him again.
        "It's okay, Parker. It was an accident. It wasn't you. It was your powers." I try to reason with him, but I don't think he hears me.
        "I killed him! And now Elise is dead! She's dead! Death follows me!" His head whips up to face mine, a look of pure shame and guilt filling every inch. I can't help it, I put out one of my hands to cup his face.
        "Don't get near me!" He waves his hand at me. I fly, landing on my back more than two feet away. All I can see is the sky, so vast and blue with no clouds as the wind is knocked out of me.
        I wasn't even touching Parker. His powers are getting stronger. I hear the air crackle with electricity. I see the sky fill with dark clouds. I feel prickles of shock coming from the ground, from all around me.
        Oh no.
        I hurry to stand. Parker is too. He has his hands next to him, palms facing out. Golden bolts streak between his splayed fingers, dancing. His eyes glow, and he doesn't look afraid anymore. He looks calm.
        The wind picks up, making it hard to hear myself think, "Parker!" I shout, running closer despite every survival instinct in my body. "Stop this!"
        Parker's mouth opens, the bolts streaming there too. My God, they're everywhere. "No."
        I need to get out of here. I turn and run, barely making it to the door before the first crack of lightning. I don't need to turn around to see it, the bright flash casting my dark silhouette against the cold, metal door.
        I run inside, feeling the handle shock me as I turn it. I don't look back. I don't stop. I make it two floors before the lights go out.
        It's pitch black. The emergency lights aren't turning on. I grab for the guardrail, before thinking against it. I put my hand on the cool concrete walls instead.
        My phone! I slip it out of the silly hand bag Ash always made me carry. The light shines a way; I find the door shortly after.
        The hallway is almost as dark, the only light coming from a window from the other side. I'm on the sixth floor, the first floor of Honors dorms. Unfortunately I'm on the boy's side.
        Boys start streaming out of their rooms, some wearing as little as a town around their waist. I turn against the wall, not wanting to see that. I'm not going back into the stairwell, it's too dark. The elevators are surely not working. I'm stuck here.
        I messily work my phone, my hands shaking too bad to be much use. "Adrian?" I start to cry against the screen. He comes over a few seconds later, appearing in front of me with a concerned look on his face.
        He's still in his suit from the funeral, but his jacket is gone along with his bowtie. I pull him into a hug, ignoring the fact that he quickly becomes invisible again.
        "What's wrong?" He gasps, uncomfortable.
        "It's Parker! He's on the roof, and he's causing a storm, and his powers are so strong I didn't know he could even do that! And he knocked out the power, and now I'm here and-" I gasp for air, unable to continue.
      "Come on," Adrian puts a hand on my shoulder and pulls me into the crowd. Boys are everywhere, talking about the lights and the funeral and whether or not their connected. I even hear one guy say that it's Elise's ghost who's doing this. They seem too busy to realize that I am here, which I'm thankful for.
        Adrian takes me to Parker's room, knocks on the door. Rolland opens the door, and is thankfully dressed. He spots my tears and the freshly visible boy behind me and welcomes me in.
        "Parker?" He asks as I walk past him.
        "Yeah." I stand there awkwardly. I've been here before, but never inside. Parker's bed is unmade, the comforter a giant ball in the center. His desk is messy, books stacked in piles next to papers in their own.
        Rolland's side is the opposite. He has his white sheets starched and pulled so tight I can probably flip a quarter on them. His books are organized in the Dewey Decimal system, his papers in individual folders. There is room on his desk for the toaster oven and skillet on top and a mini-fridge underneath. The only think the two sides have in common is the laundry basket, filled past the top with the two boy's clothes.  
        "I'm going to find Quinn, are you okay here by yourself?" Rolland asks, one foot already out the door. I look back and nod. He flashes me a smile as white as his teeth and leaves, pulling the door closed behind him.
        I stand there for a minute, taking in the room around me before I have the courage to sit on the edge of Parker's bed. Before I know it, I'm lying down, the comforter pulled around me.
        I'm half asleep when I hear the door open again. I feel the bed creak as someone sits next to me. I roll over and look up, finding Parker. In the dim light I see that some color has returned to his face, the bags under his eyes aren't as prominent.  
        I slide a hand on his leg, look into his eyes. "Are you better?" He nods, solemnly.
        "I'm sorr-" he starts, before I put a hand over his mouth. I sit up, slide to where I'm sitting on his lap.
        "Never apologize for breaking down." I tell him firmly.
        "What about the whole draining all of the school's electricity thing?"
        "Okay, you can apologize for that." We smile. I'm glad we're able to do that.
        I kiss him, light, soft. There is no shock, no normal spark. He used it all already. He puts his arms around me, pulls me close, holds me tight. He is forceful, but not rough as he trails kisses down my neck, slides the straps of my dress and my bra down my arm.
        I grab a pillow instead of his shoulder, not wanting to hurt him. That's how I spend the entirety of our time together, desperately trying not to crush him. But that's how we are, and I couldn't be happier.