The concrete stairs leading up to the school's main entrance looked strange being empty. Everyday, for the past five weeks Jennifer had mounted those steps, and everyday they had been littered with people and rubbish. Right now though, thirty minutes after school had finished, they were bare, and Jennifer was able to walk down them without having to worry about being pushed or trampled.
When the school bell had signalled the end of the day, every single pupil had rushed out of class to swarm the corridors and exit the building – that is, every pupil except Jennifer. For weeks her teachers had been pressuring her to chase up the office to get her name on the register, and so, sick of weaselling her way out of situations, she had headed straight for the office.
The great thing about being in such a large school was that it was impossible for everyone to know everyone, so the office staff hadn't doubted Jennifer for a moment when she said she had been a pupil at the school for a couple of years and had somehow been booted off of the register. Sporting the true American spirit, the staff hadn't bothered to check the records and had simply slid a form across the desk and went back to talking between themselves. It hadn't taken Jennifer long to fill out the form, the majority of the fields being left blank, and after her name was put on the register for her selected classes, Jennifer was on her way.
What she had done was illegal, but didn't every teen do something illegal at least once? (In all honesty, if it wasn't for her situation, Jennifer probably could've gone her entire life without ever committing a crime.)
Being a normal teenager had come surprisingly easier than expected. Every Tuesday Jennifer and her newfound group of friends would travel into the centre of town to the diner where they would spend hours complaining about homework and gossiping about people that Jennifer had yet to meet. Being able to talk so freely was amazing, what with her only other source of conversation being her boss, who only really ever asked how school was going.
To answer that question, school was certainly improving, although it didn't always seem that way. It took a great deal of nightly homework to get her to catch up with the curriculum, and despite the strain on her eyes from reading it in the light of a fire, it had certainly helped her out in the long run. One of the best rewards of her late nights was in fact centred around Mrs Beatson (a.k.a. human block of granite) who had been so impressed by Jennifer's work that she moved her back a couple of rows in the class, no longer deeming her untrustworthy and in dire need of help.
With the constant homework and studying , Jennifer hadn't given much thought to her transferring/healing power, other than deciding she needed a better name for it. There was no reason for her to bother with it anyway though – the world had been saved so she was (un)officially retired, as were her abilities.
"Hey," someone tapped Jennifer's shoulder, startling her slightly. She had been too busy basking in her achievements to notice that she wasn't the only person on the sidewalk.
"Sorry," the stranger apologized awkwardly for scaring her before extending out his hand which held a ten dollar bill. "I think this might be yours, I found it on the school steps."
He spoke fast, causing Jennifer to lag for a microsecond as she processed what he had said. Reaching her hand into her backpacks side pocket, she looked around with her fingers to find nothing except a large hole at the bottom. Eyes widening at this discovery, she looked up at the stranger. "Yes, it is. Thank you so much!"
Jennifer smiled gratefully as the note was placed in her hand. That was her bus money for the next few weeks, and while she had plenty of replacement notes, she couldn't afford to recklessly lose them. In other words, this guy had saved her an extra hour of work.
He, however, didn't see the big deal. "Sure." With an awkward smile he took a small step back, adverting his gaze at the same time. "Well, I have to go. Bye."
He gave a wave, so quick Jennifer spent the time it took him to cross the road debating whether or not it actually happened. Deciding it had, Jennifer took a couple of moments to watch the boy, his peculiar coloured hair and shiny outfit reflecting the weak light from the sun. She didn't have time to completely understand the interaction she had just had though, redirecting all of her concentration into walking at a fast pace to avoid being late for work.
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The sun had long since dipped below the horizon, but the streetlights in dire need of new bulbs had been following the curve of the road into town for hours. Through the haze of their dim glow, the starry sky appeared black, but the moon was not deterred, shining on brightly as it effortlessly rose above the small world.
On that street lit road, wrapped in numerous scarves, hats, and what may be the world warmest jacket, Jennifer wandered into the centre of town. Forty five minutes had passed since her shift had finished and in that time she had been to four grocery stores, all of which had empty shelves. How this had happened Jennifer had no idea – she always shopped on a Friday after she received her paycheque and there had never been any shortages.
She had decided to give up her search for food until the morning, when hopefully, the shelves would be full again. In the meantime, Jennifer refused to starve and so was breaking her usual routine to eat at the diner. She had enough money to eat out every day, but she was already spending too much on comfort, and it was disrupting her flow of money.
Arriving in front of the illuminated red lights, Jennifer entered the diner without hesitation, the atmosphere of the place hitting her like a brick wall – the smell of burgers and salty fries, the background music emitted by the jukebox in the corner, the buzzing of conversations and laughter, and most importantly, the iconic black and white tiles that decorated the entire area of the floor.
There was a small issue with the place though, it was swamped with people. Every booth, every table, had at least three people sitting at it. Glancing around Jennifer spotted a table, that broke the rule. It was still occupied, but only one person sat at it, and she wasn't going to let the opportunity for food to pass her by.
As she neared the table, Jennifer recognised the person sat in the booth as the stranger that had returned her ten dollar bill mere hours ago. What a coincidence.
Hovering a mere inch from the table, Jennifer tapped the table with one of her fingers, smiling as the stranger looked up at her. "Do you mind if I sit here?"
He swept his eyes across the room before they landed back on her, studying her suspiciously before shifting slightly in the booth. "Sure."
Beaming, Jennifer slid into the seat on the other side of the table, quickly picking up the menu that was safely lodged in a metal sauce rack and shrugging off her thick jacket. "Thanks. I'm Jennifer, by the way."
The stranger took a large bite of his burger, sauce smearing around the edge of his lips. Clearly he didn't worry about what Jennifer thought of him. "Peter."
His mannerisms were certainly strange, but it didn't bother Jennifer – it was actually quite nice to see someone that didn't care about other people's opinions, it made the world a bit more interesting.
A waitress walked by the booth and came to a stop at it when she noticed the empty space infront of Jennifer, flipping open her small notebook to take her order. "What can I get you?"
"Could I have a cheeseburger with fries and a raspberry milkshake please?"
"Of course." The waitress left the table, heading towards the kitchen.
Jennifer started to turn her head towards her hands that fiddled together on the edge of the table, but it soon changed course when she heard a disbelieving scoff from infront of her. "No one buys raspberry milkshakes," Peter spoke whilst lightly shaking his head.
Jennifer tilted her head. "Why not?"
"Because they suck!," Peter exclaimed. As the insult of her favourite flavour reached Jennifer's ears, her face exaggerated her horror and pain, causing Peter to laugh at her childish behaviour. "No one likes it! It's a bitter seeded strawberry, and it's like, really overpowering."
"Well, I happen to love it. Besides, strawberry is too bland, and chocolate is too sickly."
It was Peter's turn to be horrified. "Chocolate is the best!" To prove his point, he gestured to the three empty glasses on the table, all with shallow pools of chocolate milkshake at the bottom. Seeing that Jennifer hadn't budged an inch on her point, Peter sighed. "Can we agree that banana sucks?"
There was silence on Jennifer's end of the conversation, causing Peter's eyes to widen. "You like banana?!"
"I mean, it's sweet, but it's not too overpowering. It's a good balance."
Peter shook his head. "There's something wrong with you. Milkshakes are supposed to be overpowering, and they have to have a unique taste!"
Jennifer smirked. "Let me get this right. You want it to have a powerful taste, and be unique?" Peter nodded. "Like raspberry?"
Peter opened and closed his mouth like a goldfish, trying to argue Jennifer's perfectly made point. Watching him with a growing smirk, Jennifer perked her head up as her food was placed on the table. Thanking the waitress, Jennifer pulled her raspberry milkshake closer to her and look a long sip of it, keeping eye contact with Peter as she did so.
A single second later she removed her eyes and took a bite of her burger. Peter smiled in wonder before he did the same, neither of them having anything more to say, besides it was hard to think about anything other than how good the food tasted. The burgers were thicker than any Jennifer had ever seen, the seasoning was on point, the fries had just the right amount of salt, and the milkshakes (no matter the flavour) had the best consistency in the world. On top of all of this, the food was incredibly filling – so it shocked Jennifer when Peter ate two burgers in a very short period of time.
"Hey, do you know what the time is?"
Nodding , Jennifer glanced at her watch. "Eleven."
"Wow! Time really flies, huh!"
Jennifer scoffed. "You have no idea," she muttered while peering out of the window. The moon had disappeared behind thick clouds that were the cause of the heavy rain and wind. Turning back to the table, she chucked her last fry in her mouth. "Well, I've got to catch the bus." Standing and pulling her cosy jacket back on, she place enough money to cover her meal and a tip. "See you around?"
Peter slurped on yet another chocolate milkshake that Jennifer hadn't even seen placed at the table. "Maybe."
"Bye Peter," she chuckled at him as she turned and left the diner, yanking her hood up to stop the rain drenching her.
Her brisk pace got her to the bus stop in just a few minutes, and by a stroke of luck, the bus was already waiting there. Hopping on board and paying for a ticket, Jennifer grabbed a seat in the middle of the half empty bus. The darkened scenery rolled past the window, but rather than see which way the bus went, Jennifer watched the raindrops, betting on what one would reach the bottom on the window frame first. That was where her luck for the day ran out – not one of her raindrops won, causing her to abandon her gambling career and let her thoughts to wonder and remember everything about her day, including Peter. Especially Peter.
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I apologize for the lateness, but I spent my morning paint a fence and couldn't feel my fingers for about half an hour due to the cold. With it being the Easter holidays, I have should have time to edit the next few chapters and get ahead in writing again. Unfortunately, I also have to study and finish my final piece for Art & Design so who knows.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this, because I loved planning this chapter what with it being the first chapter Jennifer and Peter meet. What did you think of it? Did it meet your expectations?
If there are any errors please tell me cause I was in a rush to get this out.
Btw, thank you all so much for 1K!!!!!!!!!!!! It honestly means the world to me, and I'm so happy you all seem to like the story. In celebration I'll get the playlist out at some point in the next few days and I'll just update it as I go.
~𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐡