"Peter, are those... red tights?"
"Nope."
"Those definitely looked like red tights."
"I... do ballet?"
---
•The sole thing illuminating her path were the wispy rays of moonlight as she tripped over a trashcan and...
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Three rings were all it took for May Parker to pick up her phone, cake batter in her hair and vicious fits of coughing sizzling the speaker. Eloquin had to pull the phone away from her ear for a moment just to protect her eardrums, and she could almost smell the smoke from the phone.
"Hello, Ellie. What's up, sweetie?"
Eloquin froze, her clammy hands clenching around her skirt. "I-I... uh... I needed to tell you something about Peter..." She began, her tiny voice shaking. The tone of May's voice completely changed, worry lacing every word she frantically said through the phone as Eloquin's fear translated onto her.
"Why, what's wrong? Is Peter okay? Is he hurt?"
There was silence on the line as Eloquin paused, a million thoughts running through her mind like thunder after lightning. The sparks popped through her brain like bombs going off, bursts of light making her heart hurt. All she could imagine was the future where May knew. It was miserable, the tired woman who had already gone through so much being forced on the brink of panic every night as she waited for Peter to come home in one piece, just like Eloquin did. Nobody deserved to be put through that.
In a flash of a moment, a second of clarity passing through the storm, Eloquin shut her eyes tightly, letting go of her death grip on the hem of her skirt and sucking in a breath.
"I just wanted to say how great of a person Peter is. You've really raised him well. Bye."
Before May could even begin to reply, Eloquin slammed the end button, killing the call before she could go any further. She had almost done something that could've ruined the lives of the people she held most dear, and her hands were still shaking from it.
________
The next day after school, Eloquin skipped her last period of school and slipped out early. Usually, at this time of day, she would be rushing through crowds of people in Times Square trying to push past to get to her Internship on time. But preparations for the move upstate had put her internship on hold. So, instead, Eloquin had time to wallow by herself in Central Park, surrounded by trees, grass, flowers, and singing birds.
Just the thought that she was about to reveal Peter's biggest secret to Aunt May the other day made her shudder, clasping her hands in disbelief. How could she? It was like she betraying herself, her mind a mess of panic as she took someone else's decision, someone else's life in her own hands.
Eloquin tried her best not to let her mind wander there, throwing her head back and letting it rest on the trunk of the tree she was sitting against. But without Peter to occupy it, her mind claimed another victim to prey on. Her grades. Oh god, her grades. While playing vigilantes best friend and handling her horror story of a love life, keeping secrets from her friends and making a fool of herself in front of her idol, Eloquin had completely forgotten about what used to be her whole life.
