𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐔𝐒𝐊

25. 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀

"Whatever, Michelle. I'm not interested."

"Tell him that."

Eszter glared at her friend and was getting ready to retort a new comeback, but Ned shuffled his way toward their row of seats, fiddling with his fingers. However, once Eszter sensed his presence, his emotions instantly became an open book, granting the enhanced a look inside his mind.

"Hey," Eszter greets, reading his emotions. "What's up?"

"Oh, uh, hey, guys. Uh, there's an old lady in front of us wearing a crazy amount of perfume, and it's kind of setting off Peter's allergies," Eszter tilts her head at that, but the enhanced could feel liar practically oozing from Ned. However, Eszter ignored that with a bit of concern, wondering if Peter's allergies were acting up--wait, he's allergic to perfume? "Uh, Betty, or MJ, you know, if one of you could switch seats with him, that would be--"

Betty interrupts him. "He's allergic to perfume?"

Ned stood in silence, baffled as he hadn't gone that far into his lie. "Yeah. Yeah, because it--it makes his eyes water, and he can't really--"

"Since when had Peter had a perfume allergy?" Eszter looks at Ned with a knowing look. Once he meets her gaze, Ned's eyes widen in realization, forgetting that Eszter could sense him--she could practically read his mind at this point.

"Well--"

Michelle snorts as she looks at Eszter. "Dude, he's your boyfriend, and you didn't even know he was allergic to perfume?"

Eszter glares at her, rolling her eyes with attitude. "He's never mentioned my perfume," then, she glances back at Ned with a subtle look as she crosses her arms. "'Sides, I would've known."

Suddenly, Mr. Harrington poked his head above the head of his seat. "Peter as a perfume allergy?"

The teens turn their heads toward Mr. Harrington with four different reactions.

However, Ned stammers over his words, struggling to gather the situation back into his own hand, but it was rapidly getting worse. This wasn't what was supposed to happen. Ned hadn't planned for Mr. Harrington to suddenly butt into their conversation, but he should've taken it into account.

Then, Eszter found herself chuckling. "Roger, are you eavesdropping on our conversation?"

"Yes--" he abruptly responds, though he doesn't acknowledge Eszter calling him by his first name. "--and I'll tell you from experience, perfume allergies are no joke," Mr. Harrington jumps out of his seat in a hurry, glancing between the students. "I can feel the hives breaking out. MJ, stand up."

"Yeah, that's not happening," Michelle mutters to herself. Patting Eszter's shoulder, she flashes the enhanced an irking smile. "Eszter, get up."

Eszter's jaw slacked. "What? Are you serious?" She glared at her friend when all she received was a light hum and a sharp nod, forcing Eszter to take the bait. "I hate you."

Trudging up from her seat, Eszter shuffles out from the row before she stood in the middle of the aisle, unsure of what she was supposed to do. Ned seemed to be just as confused as Eszter, but he was freaking out because Peter would not be happy.

Finally directing the student about, Mr. Harrington motions for Ned. "Ned, take Eszter's spot. Eszter, you take my spot."

Looking at the seat Mr. Harrington once sat, Eszter's eyes trailed to the figure sitting next to the empty seat--Brad was her new plane buddy. A part of her dreaded the flight even further than she had once thought, but knowing Brad has a blind crush on her, Eszter was prepared to spend the next few hours beside him. However, the enhanced wasn't going to let that spoil her mood, so Eszter picked up her chin and squeezed through the row.