Chapter Two.

Amber

Amber had a great practice. She loved tennis. Coach Cable had finally let them go for the day. She grabbed her bottle of water, and left the courts. She saw Shelly Pennell and Ali Wade standing with a guy that she didn't know. The guy began walking towards her, like he knew her. She had never seen him before in her life. He got to her and spoke to her.

"Amber, hi, I'm Peter, can I talk to you, please?"

Her heart began beating faster.

"How did you know my name? Who are you?" Amber asked.

"I told you, I'm Peter, can I talk to you, but not here, in private." Peter said.

She wasn't convinced.

"You know Carla, don't you? She sent you to find us, and now she's coming for us." Amber said, taking a step back.

"I don't know any Carla. I'm here because of you. That's what I need to talk to you about." Peter said.

"What about me?" Amber asked.

"I can't say anything here, someone might hear, like your friends." Peter said, geturing to Shelly and Ali.

Amber smiled and laughed.

"They said that we were friends? We're just in some of the same classes, and we are civil, but not friends." Amber said.

"Is there any where we can talk?" Peter asked.

She was still not convinced, but she decided to let him talk.

"If you walk over to the school with me, we can talk. My mother is coming to pick me up, so until she gets here, we can talk." Amber said.

"You don't have a car?" Peter asked.

She shook her head.

"My mother hasn't taken me to get my permit either, so I can't drive. I don't mind though. The bus is fine for me." She told him.

He nodded.

They began walking to the High School.

"So, what do you need to talk to me about?" Amber asked, when no one could hear them anymore.

"I was wondering if anything had changed with you lately." Peter said.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Can you do things that normal people can't?" Peter asked.

"I don't think so. Like what?" She asked.

"Anything out of the ordinary." He said.

"Every once in a while I hit my opponet with the ball, but other than that, nothing. I can't do anything that anyone else can't do, maybe even less." Amber said.

"I don't think it's true. You're special, you just don't know how special yet." Peter told her.

She looked at him like he had grown another head.

"You're joking, right? How would you know if I'm special, or not? We just met today." Amber said.

"Everyone is special, but some are more special than others. You are more special than most." Peter said.

"Are you high? I'm not special. You don't know what you're talking about." Amber told him.

He stopped, and grabbed her arm to make her stop too.

"How can you say that about yourself?" Peter asked.

She frowned.

"Well, when it's beaten into you daily, after a while, you start to believe it. You get told you're stupid, you tend to believe it, even if you're a genius. Trust me, I should know." Amber said, diverting her gaze from him.

Peter shook his head and sighed.

"I'm sorr for what went on in your past, but you have to trust me, you are special." Peter told her.

"Why should I trust you? I just met you." Amber said.

"I know that you have no reason to trust me, besides my word. I'm hoping that will be enough for you." Peter said.

Amber just looked at him. He acted and sounded so sincere. Was he telling the truth though? She had never been good with knowing if a person was telling the truth, or not. Her heart was telling her to trust him. She sighed.

"Fine, why do you think that I'm more special than other people?" Amber asked.

"You have an ability." Peter said.

"What are you talking about?" Amber asked.

"An ability, a power." Peter said.

"Like telekenesis?" Amber said.

"Yes, but yours is different. You are an empath, you can absorb another person's power, without hurting them, and have the same power they do." Peter told her.

"And how do you know this?" Amber asked.

"Because I'm an empath too." Peter said.

"But how do you know I'm one?" Amber asked.

"I got a visit from my future self. He told me that I was to come here and protect you from people who want to use you for evil." Peter told her.

"You got a visit from your future self?" Amber asked.

"Yes, this is the part that you just have to believe me. I've come to protect you, I'm not here to hurt you." Peter said.

They began walking again.

"So, how are you going to protect me while I'm at school, and practice?" She asked.

"I can turn invisible, but you can't get too close, or else you'll turn invisible too, and we can't have you turning invisible during class." Peter said.

"You can turn invisible? That is so cool!" Amber said.

"That, among other things." He said.

"Like what?" She asked.

"Flying, reading people's minds, painting the future, healing myself, super strength, teleporting, and stopping time. Those among others." Peter said.

"Wow, you're indestructable." She said, in awe.

He gave a small, sad, smile.

"I guess so, but some try to kill me, and others like me." He told her.

"You don't seem to use your powers for evil though, why would they want to kill you? She asked.

"For my power. So be careful of who you meet from here on out. Do not let anyone know about your ability." He told her.

She nodded.

They had made their way to the girl's locker room.

"Okay, I need to change, but then I will be right back." She told him.

He nodded.
Amber went into the locker room, and to her locker. Since she was on a sports team, she got a big locker. She liked having a big one, more space. She didn't have to cram everything into one of the small lockers. Everything had it's own space. She grabbed her street clothes form the hook, and began changing. Suddenly, Ali and Shelly were next to her.

"So, where did you meet him?" Ali asked.

"Who?" Amber asked.

Shelly rolled her eyes.

"Your friend, Peter!" Shelly s aid.

"I was over at Southern Cayuga for a varsity softball game. He was there, and we just started talking." Amber said.

"Why were you at a Southern Cayuga softball game?" Ali asked.

"My mother coaches the varsity team, and she also teaches there. Peter was actually one of her students." Amber said.

"Is he single?" Shelly asked.

"I think so." Amber said.

She finished getting dressed. She put her tennis racket, and her practice clothes into her locker.

"Does he have a brother?" Ali asked.

Amber lofcked her locker, grabbed her water bottle, and stood up.

"I just met him myself, I don't know very much about him. I was very surprised to see him after practice. I'm sorry, but, I have to go." Amber said.

She walked away, leaving the two girls looking after her. She exited the locker room and found Peter leaning against the wall, waiting for her. She could hear loud noises coming from the boy's locker room. The boys must be done with their practice too.

"Sorry I took so long. Ali and Shelly found me, and bombarded me with questions about you." Amber said.

"What did you tell them?" Peter asked.

"That I met you at Southern Cayuga. At my mother's varsity softball game. They bought it, and I told them that I thought that you had a girlfriend, already. I figured that you didn't want to be bothered by people trying to ask you out." Amber said.

"Thanks. I owe you one." Peter said.

"I have to go to my locker, to get my things." She said.

"Lead the way." Peter told her.

She smiled, and led him upstairs, to where he first met Shelly and Ali. She went over to her locker. She grabbed her backpack, the books, and notebooks that she needed, then closed her locker.

"So, where are you staying?" Amber asked him.

"I haven't had a chance to find a place, yet." He said.

She stopped, and rummaged through her backpack. She pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. She put the paper against the locker, and wrote down a name and number.

"Here, call this number,they will have a place for you. You can move in immediately." Amber told him.

"Thanks, this will help a lot." Peter said.

"No problem, I'm glad that I could help." Amber said, with a smile.

They headed down the stairs, and out of the building. She found a spot on the grass, and sat down. Peter looked down at her for a minute, then sat down next to her. She opened her bag and pulled out her notebook for French IV and her French book.

"What are you doing?" Peter asked.

"My french homework. Just because you show up into my life, telling me that I have this power and that sometime in the future someone is going to use me and my power for evil, does not mean that I can just stop everything. I'm not that good of a student to do that. At times I'm barely getting by." Amber said, frowning.

"Sorry, I know that you didn't ask for any of this, but I should really begin training you, on how to tap into and use your powers." Peter told her.

"That's going to be a little hard." Amber mumbled.

"What do yo mean?" Peter asked.

"My mother has a rule. I can't go over to anyone's house, until she meets the parents. If someone were to come over to my house, then we wouldn't have any privacy. She is very over protecting. So, unless you can come up with a solution to this small problem, it's going to be a little hard to "practice" in private." Amber said.

"Don't worry, I'm sure I'll figure something out." Peter said.

"You should call that number soon." Amber told him.

"I'll get to it. If I don't do it today, I can always teleport to my apartmen for the night." Peter said, with a smile.

She smiled and shook her head.

She went back to her french. A few minutes later Peter cleared his throat. She looked over at him.

"Who's that?" Peter asked.

Amber looked around and saw Zack Dusseau and Malcolm Leonard were watching her and Peter. Amber rolled her eyes, and looked at Peter.

"The one on the left is Zack Dusseau and the other is Malcolm Leonard. They used to be on the soccer team with me. Then I switched over to cheerleading, and they moved to the football team." Amber said.

"Well rounded I guess. My neice was a cheerleader too." Peter said.

"Cool. So, you have a sister, or a brother." She said.

Peter smiled.

"Yeah, one brother, Nathan. So, are you friends with Malcolm and Zack?" Peter asked.

She laughed.

"I don't think so. They don't like me. They've made jokes about me and they would jokingly ask me out. It's not just them either, it's a lot of the guys here. Apparently, my looks aren't good enough for some people, well most people in my grade." Amber said, with a shrug.

Peter shook his head.

"I don't know about that, but they might like you, more than you realize." Peter said.

She raised her eyebrows. She looked from Peter, to Zack and Malcolm, then back to Peter. She began laughing.

"Yeah, I don't think so. Trust me, that would not happen, not to me." She told him.

He shook his head.

"You don't give yourself enough credit." He told her.

"Okay." Amber said.

She had heard that before, but all by people much older. She had never heard that from anyone around her age. Amber sighed.

She saw her mother pull in. She stuffed her book and notebook into her bag, and stood.

"My mother is here. I have to go. I'll meet you here, tomorrow morning." She told him.

He stood too.

"Okay." He said.

Amber slipped her backpack on, and headed for her mom's vehicle. She got in, and smiled.

"Hi mom."

"Hey, who was that you were talking to?"

"A friend. He was helping me with some homework. So, what's for dinner?" Amber asked.

"I'm thinking pizza from New York Pizzeria."

"Sounds good." Amber said.

They pulled away, and Amber gave a small nod to Peter as she passed him.

Amber and her mother headed for the pizza place.