⚝ Peter's POV ⚝
Time: The day (Y/N) escaped, afternoon, outside D.C
I felt so lucky to get her back; I didn't know what to do if I couldn't hang out with her again. I knew she was mad at me for stealing things, but I couldn't help to thieve. I'd been doing this for so long; only if I knew this would make her suffer from her stepfather.
That didn't matter, as long as I got her attention back on me, and I would try to reduce the frequency of stealing. Or, I could probably make up for her.
As usual, I ditched school, but I still got to go there when it was over. I'd already wasted the opportunity to hang out with her, so I needed to offset those time, using every second if permitted. Slipping on my headset, music on, and goggles ready, I dashed towards the school gate before the bell rang.
According to expectation, the bell would ring right after 3, 2, 1- there; groups and groups of students started to exit the gate. Some boys with super cool hairstyles strode out; next were the hot girls, and nerds with books in their hands followed behind.
Weird, she was normally on time, right at fifteen and five seconds. Was she punished for being late again? Wondering, I quickly slipped on my goggles, making a run to the detention-arranged classroom when no one noticed me.
She wasn't here. Where was she? Did I overlook her? That couldn't be happening, though I wasn't so sure. Guess I just had to take a look at the cassette store. So I ran there, and guess what? She wasn't there either.
Did I mess up with her schedule? She went to the convenience store yesterday, the one at the filling station. Wait. Wait, I got it.
The news of her was still spreading in town.
-Flashback-
Awaking from my sleep at seven a.m. or so, I went upstairs for breakfast and saw mom and my two sisters, Wanda and Lorna, all gawking at the news on television. What's so interesting that made them all look like that with the expression? Their eyes were wide, mouth agape. The local news didn't usually terrorize me; they were all quite the same, robbery, robbery, or involved with the authority.
Funny, if I got reported on the news for stealing things like that on the TV, bet they wouldn't watch the news with those stupid faces.
Walking past them to get the milk, I overheard the report.
''Can you describe the scene earlier this evening, sir?''
''Certainly, I tell ya', it was horrible! That girl used the mutant power with her fingers to erase the memory of those men! She's dangerous; hell knows what else she'll do if I hadn't tackled her first?!''
''Madam, how do you feel about the mutant girl you just encountered?''
''It was a bit scary at first, I meant — this was my first time seeing a mutant performing power right before me.''
Typical. People tended to get scared of things they couldn't control, or the things beyond imagination. But all (Y/N) did was protect the victims. As if she did something horrible, like shoplifting, my kind of habit.
''Look! That's Ms. Smith!'' exclaimed Lorna, pointing to a lady at the reporter's immediate right. Indeed, the lady was Ms. Smith. I recognized her because mom told me to pick up Lorna at her school.
''What's your opinion about this mutant girl, miss?''
''I was shocked, honestly. I can't tell what she exactly did to those men, but—'' she gulped, trying to calm herself down.
''I tell ya', mutants are dangerous species!'' interrupted the man, who got interviewed by the correspondent earlier, ''Arrest them, cops! I say we need to take them to the lab'; let the scientists do a hell of a lot of experiments on them! Break their powers, turn them back to normal humans!''
''We got it, sir. Alright, folks, I believe our authority will take immediate action to prevent people with a mutation from hurting people. I am Sandy Hsu, reporting live at the—''
''Wait,'' cried Ms. Smith, hand clutching tightly on the microphone, ''I know this sounds ridiculous, but the mutant girl shielded me with her flesh and powers from the bullets! It's true! One of the robbers trying to kill me with his gun — I just wanted to say—whoever you are, young lady, thank you for saving my life and other victims' in the store.''
Bzzzzzz- the television was turned off by mom. She sighed, urging Lorna and Wanda to get ready for school.
''Mommy, that lady is so cool! She saved Ms. Smith from bad guys!'' squealed Lorna. ''I want to be like her when I grow up!''
''Only if you get your power,'' stated Wanda. ''What's with that face, bro? You look...perturbed? It's kinda disgusting to see you like this. Afraid of your power might expose like that girl?''
Wh-did I just show the disturbance on my face? Did I make it obvious?
I fixed my face instantly, retorting, ''More as you get frightened by the news, sis. It isn't me who can't control my powers, yet.''
''That's because your power is not as strong or cool as mine!'' Wanda barked with teeth-gnashing.
''Come on kids; don't fight. Let's hope the girl is alright...'' muttered mom, patting my shoulder as an indication to bring Lorna to school.
-End of Flashback-
That's it. Some anti-mutant organizations were probably going to get (Y/N); no wonder she wasn't at school or the workplace. She must be afraid. I could still recall her shocking expression when she saw me standing in front of her, on the first day we met. Not to mention, (Y/N) had that memory-elimination ability or something; she didn't leave a trace once.
I should've knocked out the man who tackled her and let (Y/N) erase all witnesses' memories, instead of only saving her from the scene. Technically, this wasn't all her fault because part of the blame was on me too.
She could be curling up on her bed, regretting not wiping out the memories of those witnesses for good. Perfect timing to comfort her; I hoped that her stepdad wasn't at home at the current. Holding onto that thought, I dashed directly to her house.
When I got there, I knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer. On other days, I couldn't wait; in all seriousness, I thought that was a waste of time. Since this had to do with (Y/N), and she would get pissed for my rudeness, like breaking, I just had to wait.
Two seconds passed. How long would it take a person to answer the door? The wait was killing me; even my mom answered the door faster!
About ten seconds later, the Turk junior cracked the door open a little, looking alert and irritated before greeting me. ''Can I help you?''
''Er, is (Y/N) home? I didn't see her in school today, so I was wondering-''
''She's not. I'll inform you when she gets back,'' replied Byron, trying to shut the door, so I reached for the handle, hindering his act. ''What do you think you're doing? Let go, Maximoff!''
''Ha, so you do remember me!'' I smirked, then pressed on to the topic of (Y/N). ''Can you tell me where she went? She didn't go to work today, too; I've checked the cassette store.''
''I don't know,'' muttered brother of (Y/N). ''She isn't at home, I already told you; stop eyeing the stairs.''
''What do you mean by don't know?''
Byron then looked over his shoulder to avoid someone from hearing our conversation. ''Mom sent her away; she won't let us know where she took (Y/N), too.
''I don't know where she went nor when she'll return.''
-
It's been two months since (Y/N) left. A long-lost friend I had searched for for years, now disappeared from my sight, again. Why was she always like this, suddenly vanished into thin air? Sometimes I thought it was fate, a game to play with time or timing. Whenever I tried to cherish the moments spent with her, it seemed like I couldn't keep up with her.
Checking her presence by her house was my daily routine, despite Turk junior and his dad shutting me out every single day since I did not get a chance to meet her mom. After being forbidden to go to their house a couple of times, I went in straight without caring if anyone was inside. Breaking sounded like a good plan, especially when I tried to get hold of her whereabouts, an address, a number, or a city.
Though, I'm not even sure why I insisted on finding (Y/N). I often wondered about that girl since I lost contact with her at the age of seven. My feelings towards her had always been a kind of attraction. Don't get me wrong, what I meant was, a sense of admiration. I'm still trying to find the correct word because I knew there's something more than that, probably the impression of being lonely for such a long time affected to respect point of view towards her.
(Y/N) wasn't just a girl I wanted to be friends with. She is naiive, so considerate to anyone than herself. I was pretty sure this had to do with her power since hers weren't like Wanda's or mine, or the ones which could combat one-on-one with the enemies. Her mutant powers were more like healing and assistance types. She could ignore those people and walk away, yet she didn't.
I'd seen it twice, her rescue.
I was getting frustrated when mom and Wanda told me it was time to believe she was gone for good. It annoyed me when I couldn't keep up with her pace. It gave me creeps when I found myself so sentimental. It sucked when I had to wait for another day to get to her front porch. I meant, Christmas was around, so she couldn't be skipping celebrating this day with her mother, or Turk, with whom I thought (Y/N) might have developed a great sibling relationship.
Anyways, that's not the main point. Last week, around late December, I found an ad about a PONG competition in the amusement arcade, which was just a couple of streets away from my house. It said, whoever got the highest ranking would receive a budget of 15 dollars.
I recalled the expression on (Y/N) when she saw a bag of products I stole from random shops, disappointment, and sorta betrayal. She got me a tape, but I only had a haul of groceries in return, which she wasn't happy about. I knew I could steal the Jim Croce tape on my own, but with her working in the shop, I felt pretty bad to sneak out the tapes. I had a hard time just accompanying her behind the counter with my hands kept in my jacket pockets whenever she did the night shift.
Hence, I owed her at some point.
The competition lasted a week, so I chose to go there on the last day, playing two rounds of PONG. The first time was to figure out some specific rules, and by the second round, I already understood how to play, so reaching the highest ranking was a piece of cake. I knew using my power was considered a way of cheating, but hey, I didn't care; I just needed the money. At least I tried to 'make' money instead of stealing.
The shop owner confirmed my name on the board and gave me the cash. I thanked him and ran straight to the cassette store beside the diner.
I chose the Beatles tape, the one with Let it Be in it, as I thought she was too skimp to purchase her collectibles. Plus, she probably didn't have the allowance to afford the tape, considering she needed to buy the bandages and give her paycheck to her stepdad.
I caught her softly humming the Beatles songs several times while working; that's how I figured out her favorite band. I've never heard her mention other bands. What a shame; she should hang out with me more often; she would know there are other fantastic musicians than just the Beatles.
There was still some money left after I bought the tape, so I went to the mall and bought some stuff for my mom and two sisters. They sure were gonna be surprised if I told them that I'd bought the things with my cash, not by force or stealing. Their expressions would be priceless; maybe I should also prepare a camera before handing them the gifts.
As for (Y/N)'s gift? I guessed I had to wait for tomorrow. If she had returned, I'd give the tape to her; if not, I'd have to keep waiting.