Life After High School
"It gets better."
He didn't know why he'd said that. It had just been an impulse, a need to say something encouraging to her – to that smart, lonely girl. He felt an instant connection with her, and he didn't even know her name.
"What?" She turned, confused but smiling, wondering exactly who this strange young man was to say something like that.
He saw by the look in her eyes that she was a tough one, that she would stay true to herself through the difficult years and come out the other side in one piece. But still he said it.
"Life after high school. It gets a lot better."
He had lied. Lied to the lonely girl with the friendly smile, just to give her hope. Maybe for her it would be better, but for him it was just… different.
He'd been fairly quiet as a kid, living in the shadow of his elder brother. His brother, the one who managed the miracle of being both smart and popular. His brother the war hero. His brother the lawyer. Their father had made no secret of the fact that he preferred his elder son. Although Nathan was often away, his presence had hung over Peter like a watchful hawk throughout his teenage years.
At school Peter had been tolerated, he'd had a few friends and a few girlfriends, but he had never been popular, and his grades had been average rather than good. He'd worked to get out of there and finally be able to start his own life.
He did just that, joining nursing school and working to pay his own way. He'd cut himself off from his father as much as possible, knowing he didn't approve. He was never entirely sure if he hadn't picked nursing partly to spite his father. But now he was older, Nathan made a sudden reappearance, wanting to spend more time with his little brother. They had always been close, throughout childhood. It had stayed more or less that way, and now they slipped back into the easy familiarity of being friends as well as brothers. That time was good. For once he could do what he wanted, and did – he partied as much as anyone, and became popular for the first time in his life.
But Nathan never truly understood what Peter wanted from life, as much as he tried. He was too much like their father. In trying to be encouraging, he came across patronising. The little comments he made seemed designed to put Peter down. And Peter was sure he didn't know he was doing it. He was only just realising himself.
That was the problem with Nathan. He didn't think how his words came across to Peter, didn't realise that the teasing hurt more than it should do at twenty-six, when his jibes were carelessly juvenile. He managed to weather Peter's confidence to dust, grind him into the dirt, leave him hanging onto his every word in the hope of praise and approval.
And now Peter had something he really truly cared about – he had a mission, he knew what he had to do – save the world. With his new-found sense of purpose he could see the world through different eyes. Only it still didn't look the way he wanted it to.
Maybe life after high school would get better for Claire, but not for Peter. Not even now he knew he had a purpose, because it was still Nathan that had the talent, the power – and he always did.