The Mystery of Denial
"Hold on, I'll be right there." Peter hung up and glanced one more time longingly at the coffee shop before racing behind an alley and soaring up into the clouds, soft wind billowing his thick jacket and rippling his dark hair gently. He'd just talked to Claire, his illegitimate niece, which he never did, since Peter could tell that his brother, Nathan, was kind of embarrassed about the whole 'illegitimate' part.
Claire had said something about 'a normal life she didn't have' and 'don't know what to do with her life', everything else that came with the meltdown of shouting, crying, and sniffling that every girl in his life seemed to have. Girls were so emotional.
Ever since Peter had learned that the scared high school teen was actually his niece, he'd had second thoughts about how adorable she looked with her sad, sweet smile and bright blue eyes. Besides, he thought as he pushed the thought aside, she probably has a guy of her ownby now. Bet he doesn't know about her ability, he thought and smirked. Peter suddenly wondered what kind of issue had disturbed her so much. He hadn't known Claire for very long, but he had figured she wouldn't be a 'cry every day' type of girl.
By the time he reached her large house in Costa Verda, he could see a scowling, dark haired teenager leave the dwelling by way of-wait. Was he…flying? Curious, Peter took off behind the teen slowly and quietly. The young man looked to be only about 16, around Claire's age. Maybe he went to her high school.
The guy was alert; that was certain. Peter would need to be cautious. One wrong move and he'd be onto him. Suddenly, Peter's jacket started flapping against him loudly. Great. The young man abruptly whirled around mid-flight and glared at Peter ruefully.
"What do you want?" the teenager snapped, but his disguise was failing. Peter could somehow sense the hurt, the uncertainty about him that lay just beneath his tough-guy act. Peter replied in a calm voice, "I just want to know what you were doing at my niece's house."
The teen smirked. "Wait a second…you're supposed to be Peter?" Confused, I nodded. "Yes. Why?" The boy tilted his head slightly, saying in a know-it-all way, "Dunno. Kinda just…thought you were gonna be older." A thought flashed through Peter's head that he didn't much mind. 'This is ridiculous.' Peter thought and grabbed the boy by the shoulders, suddenly plunging down towards the earth with powerful strength.
As they plummeted downwards, the teen screamed, "Okay, I got it! What do you want?!" Peter stopped, screeching to a hovering halt a mere foot off of the ground. Setting him down politely, he brushed off his own coat simply before drilling, "Okay, cut the crap, kid. I care about Claire, and I don't want to see her hurt. Especially by someone like you. So just tell me what happened, and you're free to go, okay?" Spelling it out so clearly was all Peter needed to get his point across; it had always worked.
"And if I don't?" the young man snarled in defiance. Peter smiled sweetly and held up my hand that was filled with electricity, emitting a familiar blue glow. The teen gulped, nodding quickly. Though this boy was weak, he was definitely strong-willed. In the back of his mind, Peter wondered if this was the sort of boy that Claire needed in her life.
Switching to amiable chatter mode, "So, are you kind of like her…?" He had to choose his words carefully. "…boyfriend?" The teenager rolled his dark eyes in contempt and admitted, "Well…sort of. Wait—no. Not anymore." The kid looked away, in a regretful, bitter way.
"What's your name?" Peter finally asked. The boy shrugged slightly. "West Rosen."
Peter looked West straight in the eye. "You gonna tell me what happened in there, or do I have to ask you and Claire at the same time?" West stared back with equal force. "You shouldn't do that. She and I are having what you'd call a 'break'" Peter rolled his eyes and ran his hands through his hair impatiently. Had this whole thing really been about a stupid breakup? But, Peter reasoned, some weird sense of his told him this wasn't just about damaged feelings.
West glared at the house with disdain, sneering, "I never should have trusted Claire. To think that her father of all people…" He uttered a stream of curse words, insulting Claire's father. "Hey," I said forcefully. ", that's my brother you're talking about." West shook his head. "No, her other dad." He said with a venomous edge. "The guy with the horn-rimmed glasses."
Yeah, this was a problem. Peter knew Noah well enough to know that if someone was scared of, or hated him, they had good reason to.