The Best Friend

Chapter One: Peter, Nathan and Gabriel

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My family moved from a little town in New Zealand to New York City when my mother, Nancy, was promoted to Director of her department at the company she worked for. My father, Greg, got transferred over to the American department of his company and everything was basically hunky dory.

I was twelve when we moved and wasn't exactly very good at making friends, and so had no misgivings about moving to New York. I was enrolled in a very expensive private school called the Terence Howard School for the Exceptionally Gifted, a.k.a. the Exceptionally Rich. It went through every grade, from elementary to high school.

It was here I met my best friend, Peter Petrelli. Peter's father, Arthur, was incredibly rich and, it was rumoured, had connections to the mob. Thus people were nice to Peter but never really became close to him. The only person I knew of who tried to bully him was kicked out, pretty quickly.

I didn't know any of this, of course. And so when I saw him sitting all alone in the cafeteria (his table deserted) it was natural that I sit there. Plus there were no other spare seats.

I could tell he was surprised from the way he stared at me, his mouth open. I could tell he was having a lettuce, ham and cheese sandwich. A lock of his dark hair fell into his eyes. When he noticed that I was staring back he closed his mouth hurriedly and blushed.

And then I did something I'd never done before: I introduced myself.

He stared at me, his mouth wide open yet again. At least this time he appeared to have swallowed his food.

"Um...hi. I'm Rachel...?" I repeated myself just in case he hadn't heard.

He blinked and seemed to realise that I was actually talking to him. He pushed his hair out of his face, although it immediately fell back into place again, and stuttered, "I'm P-Peter."

At least I wasn't the only one who was nervous. This gave me just enough courage to ask, "Peter, why are you sitting all by yourself?"

I immediately regretted it when he blushed bright red with shame. "They're scared of...my dad," he muttered.

"Why?" I asked, genuinely curious.

Peter looked like he was being tortured. I wondered when the last time was that someone had actually talked to him like I was doing. "Uhh..." he began then paused. "I don't know."

It was my turn to blink. "You don't know? How could you not know?" Then understanding dawned. No one talked to him. His parents probably didn't feel like informing him that maybe he might not have many friends in school. Of course he wouldn't know. "Oh."

Peter squirmed in his seat. He looked like he was psyching himself up for something very big. "Umm...would you mind sitting here every day?"

I was surprised. No one had asked me if they could borrow a pen from me let alone asked me if I wouldn't mind sitting with them at lunch. Of course my answer was, "Okay."

Peter looked even more surprised than I felt. I wondered again how many friends he'd had. Scratch that. How many people had actually talked to him? At least people had talked to me.

And that was the beginning of our friendship. Peter, once I got to know him, was pretty cool. He had a huge house, with an actual TV room, complete with a video library. Because my mother is absolutely obsessed with anything to do with films or TV I always judge people on their taste in movies. Mum had nothing to worry about on Peter's score. He hated horror movies. And with that our friendship was sealed.

We didn't just watch movies, of course. Sometimes we left the room to visit the video store. As we grew older nothing changed very much. We sat together at lunch and discussed the latest episode of The X Files or what movie we'd seen in the few spare moments we hadn't been together.

I met his older brother, Nathan, a few times, as well as his parents. I preferred Nathan to Mama and Papa Petrelli (as I secretly called them) any day. However Nathan was only fun to hang around with when he let himself go. The rest of the time he was incredibly boring, discussing the latest news on Wall Street or the newest change in the law or whatever with Arthur, or discussing world politics with Angela.

Arthur and Angela (as they told me I could call them) were two of the worst parents I had ever seen. Neither seemed to realise that, before I came along, Peter was suffering big time. Or that Nathan would prefer watching movies with us than going to law school. I grew to despise them, although I never said anything like this to Peter, who, for all their obvious faults, still loved them.

When I was fourteen, however, my feelings towards Nathan changed dramatically. I'd already received that oh-so-wonderful gift that every woman receives when I was eleven but it wasn't 'til I was fourteen that my hormones kicked in. Oh yes, I'd found lots of boys attractive (not Peter, though. I just didn't see him in that light) but never Nathan. He was just Peter's older brother. Albeit an older brother with great taste in movies.

I was trying to lock the front door of the Petrelli mansion. Peter had gone on ahead of me pick out a movie. Mama and Papa Petrelli had told Peter that since they were going out that night and were thus giving the servants the day off he had to lock the door. He'd hoistered that lovely job off onto me.

Now I was hopeless at using keys. It freaked me out. Sometimes I didn't know what key to use, or which way to turn it. The latter always gave me problems. I might actually lock the door and then turn it and thus unlock it.

I was getting very frustrated when a hand came out of nowhere, took the key gently out of my hand, turned it in the lock and locked the door. He made it look so simple.

I already knew who it was and was glancing up to thank him when I saw what he was wearing. He was dressed to go to the same benefit his parents were going to, in a tuxedo complete with bowtie. He looked breathtaking.

He smiled at me and I realised that I probably looked a mess, having made myself red with frustration and added to that my mouth open in utter shock at how delicious he looked. I tried not to moan in delight.

"You better go up to Peter. For all we know he's picked out some complete crapper like Blonde Ambition."

That snapped me out of my daze. "Hey! I happen to love that movie!"

He grinned and left, after unlocking the door and then locking the door behind him.

I stood in the entrance for a while. The only words that passed my lips before Peter came to fetch me (sometimes I got lost in the mansion even though I've been there a million times) were, "Oh dear."

And "Oh dear" perfectly summed it up. Now whenever Nathan watched movies with us I'd surreptitiously sneak a glance at Nathan. These secretive glances soon turned into all-out gazing until the movie had ended and I was left to go, "Huh?"

Peter, despite my obviousness, never noticed a thing. Especially once we had added another member to our gang. I had heard (through eavesdropping, since, like Peter, no one talked to me) that a new boy was expected to arrive in the next few days. I ambushed Peter with the idea of befriending him the morning he was meant to arrive.

Peter vetoed the very idea. He was only ever really comfortable around me, his brother and his parents. He said he was fine the way things were and didn't want another friend.

"Oh, come on!" I said. "I remember when I was new and felt absolutely freaked about making friends. What if this new guy feels the exact same way? And," I added, knowing this point would sway him, "what if we can make another fan of Blonde Ambition?"

Peter hesitated but I already knew I had him. Grinning, I made my way to the school office, tugging him behind me. I offered our services as tour guides to the principal's secretary, who seemed pleased that she wouldn't have to talk to any of the students personally. She agreed immediately.

When Gabriel Gray (that was the new guy's name) exited the principal's office (well, pushed out was a more descriptive phrase) Peter's entire attitude changed. He stared at Gabriel, as though at a new species of porcupine. I mean, he all-out stared, like he had never seen another human being before.

I introduced myself and, after I realised that he wasn't saying anything impressive, Peter and Gabriel, in turn, introduced himself. He glanced at Peter, bemused, probably wondering whether Peter was normally like that, and then turned his attention on me.

That was pretty scary, let me tell you. He had the most expressive brown eyes you have ever seen. If I hadn't already been utterly in love with Nathan I would have fallen for Monsieur Gabriel Gray. Okay, he was pretty geeky looking, his brown hair brushed back rather severely and those intimidating eyes hidden behind glasses, but those intense eyes. Wow.

I had never really had a conversation with another guy who wasn't a) my best friend, b) his father, c) my dad, or d) my best friend's big brother so I was floundering a bit as I led him to his homeroom (which happened to be mine and Peter's. Coincidence?). Peter wasn't helping. When we were seated at our desks I kicked him on the shin. All he did was turn his stare on me and go, "Gah?"

I had to find out what was the matter. And so with five minutes of homeroom to go I excused myself and Peter to Gabriel, and Mr. Medina, and pulled Peter out into the hall.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I asked angrily.

Apparently being out of the presence of Gabriel had cured him of his daze because he blushed and looked at his feet in a very embarrassed fashion. "I don't know," he said, a wretched tone in his voice. "He's just so...hot."

Okay, I had to admit I was surprised. Yes, it happens to be very hard to find a guy who likes Blonde Ambition as much as I but I'd never expected anything like this. Or that my best friend would use the word 'hot' to describe anything, let alone a guy, who, I'll admit, does deserve it.

"Yes, he is, Peter," I said, trying to remain calm. "But that does not mean you have to act all..." I searched for a word. "...gah-ish."

Peter looked unimpressed. "Gah-ish? Is that even a word?"

I was annoyed, and could tell he was trying to steer the conversation in a different direction. "No, but it should be. That is not the point, though. This is big stuff, Peter," I continued, trying to sound serious. "I mean, you like this guy, right?"

"Like him? I don't even know him." But the blush that suffused his cheeks told a different story.

I snorted. "Yeah. Right. Peter, you like Gabriel. That is a fact. There's nothing you say against it," I added when he appeared to be about to open his mouth. He shut it immediately. "So stop acting like a complete idiot otherwise he'll never go out with you."

He looked at from beneath his hair. "You mean...you don't mind?"

"Mind? Why would I mind?" I asked, trying not to jump for joy that Peter had actually expressed an interest in someone. I had been about to give up hope.

He smiled. "Never mind."

And that was that. Gabriel was now officially part of our gang. You may be wondering what Gabriel was thinking about all this. We found out later that we were the first friends he'd ever had (I know, shocker). Peter then said that that was probably part of our membership criteria anyway. And he at least pretended an interest in Blonde Ambition, which was nice of him.