The Weight of the World (20 page)

“Penny,”
Peter finally said.

“So
who swung the first punch?” she asked.

“I
did.”

“What's
your problem, Peter? You want to get us all caught? Do you like
hurting people?”

“He
wasn't respecting you. He wasn't treating your right. You should have
heard the things he said.”

“As
opposed to the things you've done?”

“That's
not fair,” Peter said through clenched teeth. “That was another
life.”

“Well,
I remember it. So that makes it part of this life for me.”

“Why
are you with him?” Peter asked. “He's just a horny drunk. You're
better than that.”

“He
talks to me. He listens to me. He doesn't treat me with kid gloves.”

“I
listen to you!”

“Peter,”
Penny snapped. “Just because you're jealous doesn't give you the
right to start a fight in a family restaurant. You can't just attack
people who make you mad and you should trust me to be a big enough
girl to take care of myself. You don't need to protect me. Decking
anyone who says the wrong thing about me is not going to send me
flying into your arms. It's not defending my honor. I haven't done
anything to compromise it, and even if I had, punching Teddy wouldn't
change that. God, I thought we were past this! I thought you wanted
to be my friend.”

“I
do want to be your friend.”

“No,
you want to be my boyfriend, which is why you attacked Teddy. Don't
pretend you did that for me.”

“Penny--”

“No.
Listen. I don't want to be with you. If you can't accept that, then I
don't want to be your friend. I don't want to be worried that
everything I do around you is going to be interpreted as a chance to
make us something more.”

“Penny--”

“Stop
talking. Just walk away.”

“Penny,
look what you're doing!”

Penny
turned around. The grass around her feet had turned black, and the
bushes behind her were wilting. She crouched down on the ground,
frantic. Every plant near her was dying. “Look what you made me
do!”

Penny
looked up, but Peter was gone. His father was still dozing in his
truck. Penny looked around, but she couldn't see any sign of her
fleeing friend. There was no activity in the parking lot. “Coward!”
she shouted. She checked once more for spectators before focusing her
will on restoring life to the grass before anyone else saw it.

Peter
hadn't moved from the spot. Penny stared straight through him. He
looked down at his own hands, but they weren't there. He walked
quietly up to Penny as she stroked life back into every blade beneath
her feet. He watched her concentrate. It wasn't fair; he was doomed
to be forever punished for mistakes he made in another lifetime.
Peter's lip curled up in a snarl before he shouted right next to her,
“I love you!”

Penny
fell over in surprise and Peter took off, only marked by the sound of
his footsteps in the night.

Teddy
and his father came out of the police station. “I promise,” Teddy
said, “he attacked me. I was just defending myself.”

“We'll
talk with your mother,” Senator Wexler said.

“She's
not going to listen to me... Penny, why are you on the ground?”

“I
just had an argument with Peter... I uh... I fell.” She looked
across the street. Peter's father was getting out of his truck and
looking around for his son. “Sir, it's true. Peter just admitted
it. He threw the first punch.”

“It
was technically more of a tackle,” Teddy said.

“We'll
talk when we get home. Come on, Penny, I'll take you home.”

Teddy
and Penny slid into the back seat together. Teddy kept touching the
back of his hair. “Is that blood?” Penny whispered as they passed
a street lamp that illuminated the interior of the car.

Teddy
took out his cell phone and typed a message with acute dexterity.
Penny's phone buzzed. “Astin healed me,” it said. Teddy's fingers
continued to fly over the touch pad on his phone. More buzzing.
“Legit. I was out cold & then bam, I'm fine. He blacked out.
Thank God nobody but Adam saw it.”

Penny
texted back, glancing up at Senator Wexler in the front seat to be
sure he wasn't getting suspicious, “Adam saw?”

Teddy
nodded.

“So
much for feeling it out.”

“Tell
your Mom, OK?”

Penny
hesitated, before typing a reply, “Peter can turn invisible.”

“What?”
he asked out loud. Senator Wexler parked outside of Penny's house.

“Here
you are,” he said. “Teddy probably won't be seeing or texting the
outside world for a few days. So don't think he's blowing you off.”

Teddy
scrambled to erase the messages from his phone while his father was
focused on Penny.

“I
understand, sir. Thanks for the ride.” Penny hopped out of the car
and ran inside to fill her mother in on the latest developments.

Nick
finished putting his shirt on and reached his hand into his pocket
for his phone. He couldn't find it. He stood up from the foot of the
bed and rifled through the pink and purple bedsheets until he found
it. Nick looked back at the bathroom door. He could still hear the
shower running. He ran backwards through the contacts in his phone
until he found Valerie and pressed the little green phone button.

“Nick?”
Valerie asked. “Why are you calling me this late?”

“My
date with your friend Melissa is just winding down,” he said. “She
throws the L word around pretty easily. I hope I haven't just gained
another stalker.”

Valerie
was silent.

“Are
you there, Hess?”

“I'm
here. I'm just trying to wash that image out of my brain.”

“She's
not up to my usual standard, but I think that's why it was so easy.”

“You're
despicable.”

“I'm
setting them free.”

“No,
Nick, you're hurting them. To prove some perverted point to me.”

“Is
it working?”

“You'd
better be careful. You're going to hurt the wrong girl and some older
brother or father is going to make you pay.”

“Valerie,
girls in the abstinence club are never going to let anyone know that
they went back on their promise. See, that's the problem with
hypocrisy. They're going to go to the grave with this secret.”

“You
better hope nobody sends you to the grave, Nick.”

“Is
that a threat?”

“No,
it's common sense.”

The
shower stopped. Nick had to get off the phone. “I gotta go, Val.
Take care. Maybe next time I see you, you'll be ready to reconsider
my proposition.”

Astin
parked his truck outside his house. He had given Adam a ride back
home after Peter and Teddy's arrest. Adam had a lot of questions, but
Astin was able to dodge most of them and promise more answers soon.
There was no denying what Adam had seen. It was a miracle that he had
been the only one to witness it. He just needed the permission of The
Pantheon to show him what was behind curtain number one.

He
sat in the dark with his truck turned off, staring at his hands. The
air conditioning in the old truck needed a recharge, so Astin kept
the windows cracked.

A
car pulled up behind his truck. It belonged to Ryan Bear’s father.
Astin ducked down. It was minutes before curfew and Diana was coming
home from her date. Ryan ran around to the passenger-side of the
borrowed car and let Diana out. Astin turned to look out the back of
his pick-up. Diana had wrapped her arms around Ryan and they were
kissing.

“Are
you sure you're okay?” he asked her.

“I
had a really good night,” Diana said.

“Me,
too,” Ryan said. The smile on his face couldn't have been bigger.

Diana
stood up on her toes and grabbed his shoulders, pulling him down for
one last, steamy kiss. Astin clenched his fists.

“Goodnight.
See you tomorrow,” Ryan said, walking back to his car. Diana
watched him drive off. When he was down the street and rounding the
corner, Astin got out of his truck and slammed the door hard.

“Have
you just been sitting there?” Diana asked.

“Are
you sleeping with him?” Astin accused.

“It's
not really any of your business.” Diana turned to head up the front
walk, but Astin cut in front of her.

“You're
my sister. It is my business.”

“Get
out of the way, Astin. I want to go to bed.”

“What
do you think Dad would say, huh? Should I go wake him up and tell him
what his precious little angel has been up to?”

Diana
narrowed her gaze. He didn't have any proof. He was making wild
guesses. Still, she knew her Dad would trust Astin's instincts. “You
tell Mom or Dad anything and I'll tell them what really happened to
the Taylor. You can't become a rock star when you're grounded.”

Astin
had smashed his Taylor guitar over the head of his former lead singer
back in January. He had done this at a party where there was alcohol
involved. They thought that someone had fallen on it at a show, but
Astin knew that the truth about what happened to his fourteen-hundred
dollar Christmas present would enrage their parents, especially since
they had bought him a brand new Dreadnought for his birthday back in
June.

Astin
tried to think of a retort, but Diana had him cornered. He clenched
his fist and turned to head into the house ahead of her. This was
turning out to be one of the worst nights of his life, and Diana, who
was usually the person he turned to, was the biggest factor in all of
it.

“
He
who is unable to live in society, or who has no need because he is
sufficient for himself, must be either a beast or a god.
”

-Aristotle

xv.

The
town’s people had begun to worship her

and
to hold her beauty above the goddess.

Aphrodite
would not stand competition

from
a mortal girl.

She
called on Eros and ordered his service.

She
ordered him to strike Psyche with love

for
the most cruel and detestable creature

that
he could perceive.

But
when Eros went to Psyche’s bed chamber

to
execute Aphrodite’s bitter will,

he
glanced unparalleled beauty on her face.

So
he fell in love.

Aphrodite
was furious when she learned

that
her own son had disobeyed her command.

She
forbid him to ever visit Psyche,

so
Eros rebelled.