I Can Not Tell a Lie But I Kind Of Have To
5 AM
"So when are you and Ashely tying the knot?" Eric asked Kyle, the next day at school. Daniel and I laughed at Kyle's grim expression.
"According to her," he said, "we're getting married when the celestial Pluto and Mercury align."
"Um… Has she ever been to see a psychiatrist?" Daniel asked.
"She speaks with Dr. Renolds three times a day through e-mail and phone calls." I glanced at Eric and Daniel's faces before we burst out in laughter.
"You're fiance's a nut!" I laughed.
"We're not getting married!" he shouted at us. "It's not as if your love lives are going great either." We stopped laughing and glared at him.
"Come on," he said, "Daniel's in denial that he and Charlotte are a perfect couple-"
"We are not a perfect couple!" Daniel shouted. "We hate each other!"
"See? Now you've moved onto the second step; anger," Kyle said pointedly to a speechless Daniel. Eric snorted. "And you Eric. You go after every single girl that walks by and-"
"Hey Veronica!" he shouted to the tall red-head that passed by. "You know you want me!"
"Like that! And they just laugh at you too," he said as Veronica and her friends walked away giggling. "And don't get me started on you Neil."
"What? I have no problems with girls," I said.
"You seemed to have overlooked the biggest problem of all," Kyle said.
"And that would be?"
"You have no love life whatsoever! No girlfriends! No dating! You don't even flirt with them!" Because I don't want to flirt with just some random girl. And right on cue, Leah and her friends entered the hallway and walked over to Leah's locker, when was down the hall from mine.
Mary Stuart must have said something funny because Leah laughed and showed her prize winning smile. She tucked her curly brown hair behind her ear. Charlotte tapped Leah on the shoulder and pointed to me, staring stupidly at her. I smiled idiotically, and they burst out in laughter. Leah shushed them and walked over to me.
"Hey," I said, pretending that i wasn't just gawking at her.
"Hi Neil," she said so sweetly. "Look, I really like you, and I can't wait for you to make a move so…"
"Yes."
"Movies? Friday?" Her enchanting, brown eyes smiled at me.
"Sounds good." She smiled shyly and walked back over to Mary Stuart and Charlotte. Daniel hit me on the arm.
"Way to go man!" he said.
"I finally have a love life!" I said happily.
"Well, that's just great," said a far away voice. I opened my eyes to see Millie standing next to my bed.
"Did you know you talked in your sleep?" she asked. I wiped my eyes and groped for my clock.
"5 AM? What could you possibly want to do at 5 AM?" I asked, pulling the blankets over my head.
"Training starts today," she said, yanking the blankets off of the bed.
"But at 5 AM?"
"The sooner we start the better," she said, picking through my CD's. I groaned and laid back down.
"Aw! Come on man!" she whined. "Sleep when you're dead!" She hopped up on my bed and started jumping on it.
"Okay!" I said, sitting up. "I give in!" She smiled and jumped down off my bed.
"Get dressed squirt," she said, throwing a shirt at me. "We got a long morning of training ahead of you." I pulled the shirt over my head and jumped into some jeans.
"Wait." I stopped tying my shoe. "How did you get in my house?"
"I can control heat, duh?" she said. I slid down the banister and got to the front door. I reached down for the doorknob but it was deformed and… melted.
"You melted the door knob?" I whisper-shouted. She opened the door and walked through it.
"What was I supposed to do, break a window?" I heard the door click behind me.
"Okay. I'm out here. I'm awake. I'm completely stupid," I said. "So what am I supposed to do?" She held out her hand, revealing my car keys.
"Why do you have my keys?"
"You must learn stealth in order to be a good hero. That's exactly how I got your keys out of your back pocket just now." She is really starting to freak me out.
"You must also learn to cope with your fears."
"But, I'm not afraid of anything."
"Except your dad." Shit. I don't like where this is going. She walked around to my backyard and looked up at my parents window.
"I'm going to throw these keys into your parents' room, and then you must go retrieve them."
"Okay, two things," I said. "One. That window isn't open. And two. How do you know that's not my window?"
"I have visions," she said. "Most of the time, I don't know what they are showing or when they will happen. But I'm learning to control them a little bit each day. I somehow got a vision to show me where your house is, which room your parents' room is, and…" A gust of wind blew by, opening the window.
"And that. That was in the vision too. So…" She tossed the keys through the window. "The rules are simple. Get the keys without waking anyone up."
"No problem," I shrugged it off. I walked to the back door and jiggled the door knob. It was locked. I glanced at Millie, who was standing with a sarcastic smile on her face. I walked to the front door and it was locked too. I ran to the backyard.
"Okay, so if all the doors are locked, then how do I get in my house?" I asked Millie.
"Let's think about this. Why exactly are we training?" she asked.
"To develop my powers…" I trailed off. Right. Super powers. I flew up and through the window and touched down softly. Man this room is a mess. Keys. Keys. Where are those keys? I scanned the clothes covered floor and walked over to the treadmill in the corner. Where are they? I looked at the bed and of course, there they were. Lying next to my dad's pillow, on the inside.
I slowly reached over his head and picked up the keys with my thumb and forefinger. A hand grabbed my wrist. Dad glared at me.
"What the hell are you doing?" he mumbled.
"Getting my keys," I whispered, shaking them in his face.
"And why are your keys in my bed?"
"Um…"
"Never mind, I don't want to know," he said, pulling the sheets back over him. "I'm going back to sleep."
"Okay." I left the room, but not before I distinctly heard him mumbling "dumb ass." I went back outside to Millie, jangling the keys.
"I'm impressed," she said, smiling.
"Really?" She stopped smiling.
"The whole point of throwing the keys in your parents room was so you could stand up to your dad if he woke up!" she shouted. "Which he did! But you did nothing!"
"Well, he asked me how the keys got there," I said. "What was I supposed to say? My superhero trainer threw them up here so I could better train my own superpowers?"
"See? You did have something to say," she said. "But you chose not to say that. We're going to have to work on your excuses and lying skills."
"What?"
"And your communication skills, so you can learn to stick it to the man!" She stopped for a second, considering something.
"You know what I just noticed? That all men have horrible communication skills."
"According to her," he said, "we're getting married when the celestial Pluto and Mercury align."
"Um… Has she ever been to see a psychiatrist?" Daniel asked.
"She speaks with Dr. Renolds three times a day through e-mail and phone calls." I glanced at Eric and Daniel's faces before we burst out in laughter.
"You're fiance's a nut!" I laughed.
"We're not getting married!" he shouted at us. "It's not as if your love lives are going great either." We stopped laughing and glared at him.
"Come on," he said, "Daniel's in denial that he and Charlotte are a perfect couple-"
"We are not a perfect couple!" Daniel shouted. "We hate each other!"
"See? Now you've moved onto the second step; anger," Kyle said pointedly to a speechless Daniel. Eric snorted. "And you Eric. You go after every single girl that walks by and-"
"Hey Veronica!" he shouted to the tall red-head that passed by. "You know you want me!"
"Like that! And they just laugh at you too," he said as Veronica and her friends walked away giggling. "And don't get me started on you Neil."
"What? I have no problems with girls," I said.
"You seemed to have overlooked the biggest problem of all," Kyle said.
"And that would be?"
"You have no love life whatsoever! No girlfriends! No dating! You don't even flirt with them!" Because I don't want to flirt with just some random girl. And right on cue, Leah and her friends entered the hallway and walked over to Leah's locker, when was down the hall from mine.
Mary Stuart must have said something funny because Leah laughed and showed her prize winning smile. She tucked her curly brown hair behind her ear. Charlotte tapped Leah on the shoulder and pointed to me, staring stupidly at her. I smiled idiotically, and they burst out in laughter. Leah shushed them and walked over to me.
"Hey," I said, pretending that i wasn't just gawking at her.
"Hi Neil," she said so sweetly. "Look, I really like you, and I can't wait for you to make a move so…"
"Yes."
"Movies? Friday?" Her enchanting, brown eyes smiled at me.
"Sounds good." She smiled shyly and walked back over to Mary Stuart and Charlotte. Daniel hit me on the arm.
"Way to go man!" he said.
"I finally have a love life!" I said happily.
"Well, that's just great," said a far away voice. I opened my eyes to see Millie standing next to my bed.
"Did you know you talked in your sleep?" she asked. I wiped my eyes and groped for my clock.
"5 AM? What could you possibly want to do at 5 AM?" I asked, pulling the blankets over my head.
"Training starts today," she said, yanking the blankets off of the bed.
"But at 5 AM?"
"The sooner we start the better," she said, picking through my CD's. I groaned and laid back down.
"Aw! Come on man!" she whined. "Sleep when you're dead!" She hopped up on my bed and started jumping on it.
"Okay!" I said, sitting up. "I give in!" She smiled and jumped down off my bed.
"Get dressed squirt," she said, throwing a shirt at me. "We got a long morning of training ahead of you." I pulled the shirt over my head and jumped into some jeans.
"Wait." I stopped tying my shoe. "How did you get in my house?"
"I can control heat, duh?" she said. I slid down the banister and got to the front door. I reached down for the doorknob but it was deformed and… melted.
"You melted the door knob?" I whisper-shouted. She opened the door and walked through it.
"What was I supposed to do, break a window?" I heard the door click behind me.
"Okay. I'm out here. I'm awake. I'm completely stupid," I said. "So what am I supposed to do?" She held out her hand, revealing my car keys.
"Why do you have my keys?"
"You must learn stealth in order to be a good hero. That's exactly how I got your keys out of your back pocket just now." She is really starting to freak me out.
"You must also learn to cope with your fears."
"But, I'm not afraid of anything."
"Except your dad." Shit. I don't like where this is going. She walked around to my backyard and looked up at my parents window.
"I'm going to throw these keys into your parents' room, and then you must go retrieve them."
"Okay, two things," I said. "One. That window isn't open. And two. How do you know that's not my window?"
"I have visions," she said. "Most of the time, I don't know what they are showing or when they will happen. But I'm learning to control them a little bit each day. I somehow got a vision to show me where your house is, which room your parents' room is, and…" A gust of wind blew by, opening the window.
"And that. That was in the vision too. So…" She tossed the keys through the window. "The rules are simple. Get the keys without waking anyone up."
"No problem," I shrugged it off. I walked to the back door and jiggled the door knob. It was locked. I glanced at Millie, who was standing with a sarcastic smile on her face. I walked to the front door and it was locked too. I ran to the backyard.
"Okay, so if all the doors are locked, then how do I get in my house?" I asked Millie.
"Let's think about this. Why exactly are we training?" she asked.
"To develop my powers…" I trailed off. Right. Super powers. I flew up and through the window and touched down softly. Man this room is a mess. Keys. Keys. Where are those keys? I scanned the clothes covered floor and walked over to the treadmill in the corner. Where are they? I looked at the bed and of course, there they were. Lying next to my dad's pillow, on the inside.
I slowly reached over his head and picked up the keys with my thumb and forefinger. A hand grabbed my wrist. Dad glared at me.
"What the hell are you doing?" he mumbled.
"Getting my keys," I whispered, shaking them in his face.
"And why are your keys in my bed?"
"Um…"
"Never mind, I don't want to know," he said, pulling the sheets back over him. "I'm going back to sleep."
"Okay." I left the room, but not before I distinctly heard him mumbling "dumb ass." I went back outside to Millie, jangling the keys.
"I'm impressed," she said, smiling.
"Really?" She stopped smiling.
"The whole point of throwing the keys in your parents room was so you could stand up to your dad if he woke up!" she shouted. "Which he did! But you did nothing!"
"Well, he asked me how the keys got there," I said. "What was I supposed to say? My superhero trainer threw them up here so I could better train my own superpowers?"
"See? You did have something to say," she said. "But you chose not to say that. We're going to have to work on your excuses and lying skills."
"What?"
"And your communication skills, so you can learn to stick it to the man!" She stopped for a second, considering something.
"You know what I just noticed? That all men have horrible communication skills."
♠ ♠ ♠
uggh... i'm so depressed! i'm posting this on the very last night of summer. well, the last night i can stay up until 1:55. school starts on tuesday. zip-a-dee-doo-da. comment. pass on the story. whatever.