Unordinary: New Student

43: Lying

John's POV

I walked alongside Stephanie after school. "Hey, want to hang out with me and Sera at my place?" My mood had brightened considerably as soon as I had stepped out of school. No Isen. No bullying. No Arlo. Just a fun time with Sera and Stephanie.

Stephanie hesitated. "Urm, I have a test I should really be studying for." 

I sighed exasperatedly. "Really? Come on, take a break from the studying for once. We can do our homework and everything at my house! Plus, we have Sera to help us!" I grinned. "And it's been such a long time since we got the chance to hang out with Sera! Come on, please?"

"All right," she pretended to be cross, but couldn't stop a smile from appearing on her face, nor the lively glimmer from kindling in her blue eyes. "Maybe just this once." 

I laughed, and in a moment she joined in. It was great, just walking side by side with a friend. The exact opposite of the feeling I get in school. We reached the house and I reached for the doorknob. I thought I heard someone talking in there. Huh, that's weird. I turned the knob and opened the door, and my jaw fell open. "Whut the f-?!"

"D-dad?" I gasped. "What are you doing here?"

Dad smiled, giving me a slight wave. He was standing next to Sera, and they had been presumably talking. "Welcome home, John." 

"What are you doing here?" I repeated as Stephanie peeked around the door frame to see what was going on.

"What, I can't visit my own son?" Dad frowned, crossing his arms. 

"You could have at least told me ahead of time!" I groaned.

"How could I, when you wouldn't pick up any of my calls?" 

Sera coughed, probably trying to stifle a laugh. "Hey, you know what? I'm going to go charge my phone. Be right back!" She shuffled up the stairs toward her room.

As soon as Sera had left, Dad got more serious with me. "When I call, I expect you to answer! How else am I going to check on you?"

"I'm sorry," I sighed. "But look- I'm doing fine!"

"Yes, clearly," Dad rolled his eyes. "You've even got a girl living with you," he said, jerking his head upstairs where Sera had disappeared to. He then noticed Stephanie, who was still standing in the doorway awkwardly. "What, does she live here, too?"

As I turned red, embarrassed, Stephanie laughed, getting a little flustered. "No, sir, I live in my own house. I'm just here to hang out."

"I see," Dad extended his hand toward her. "What's your name? Call me William."

"I'm Stephanie. Nice to meet you." Stephanie's voice wavered as she paused before grabbing his hand. "Ah, sorry. Just... the last memorable time someone shook my hand, they tried to crush my wrist." She took his hand, shaking it briefly before pulling back.

"That's... somewhat concerning. Anyway, John," Dad turned back to me. "Care to tell me why there's a girl living with you?"

I knew I was turning super red at this point. "She's just here before she has nowhere to stay for the week! I wasn't about to just leave her on the streets!"

"Ohhhh, suree~" Dad chuckled, making me duck my head to hide how red I was. "She seemed like a nice girl, though. I enjoyed talking to her."

"Oh? What did she say?" I asked him, interested.

"That you got her suspended, and you talk about me a lot." He smiled as I gave him a withering glance. "Oh, I also asked her which one of you was more powerful."

My mouth was suddenly dry, and I could have sworn my heart had jumped into my throat. A strangled noise came from Stephanie. "You... you what?" I exploded. "Why would you do that?!!?" 

"What the hell?" Dad looked confused. "I just wanted to know..."

"Ah, sh*t." I glowered at Dad. "What was her response?"

"She didn't seem to take it very seriously." 

I let out a breath of relief, earning a confused look from Dad. "John, why are you acting so damn shady?"

"I-I'm not..." I said unconvincingly, my eyes darting around to find some way to escape. 

Dad seemed to be at the end of his patience. "Huh. Fine then. Why don't I-" he started for the stairs. "-go and ask Sera myself?"

"NO! DON'T DO THAT!" I leaped after him, latching onto his arm and holding him back. "Okay, okay, fine. I'll tell you." I sighed as Dad crossed his arms expectantly. "I... I requested to be treated as a cripple."

Silence. Then, "WHAT?!?" from Dad. "Why would you do that? Are you insane? The others will tear you apart if they think you can't defend yourself! That's the first thing I taught you! What the hell made you think this was a good idea?"

"It's just better this way...Back in New Bostin," I started slowly. "People would watch every move I made. Where ever I went, those idiots would always talk about me! About how I abuse my power. About how sh*tty of a King I was." I clutched my head. "I... I just wanted them all to shut up! I'm too weak for this power. I don't even deserve it."

"John," Dad placed a hand on my shoulder, his tone softer than before. "Whether or not you deserve it, it's still a part of you. You can't just ignore it."

Just watch me, I thought rebelliously. "Look, I'm not. I just think my current lifestyle suits me better. I have Sera and Stephanie. They don't judge me on how strong or how weak I am. I can trust them to have me back. That's all I need."

"But John." Dad's voice was stern again. "I don't understand. You're contradicting yourself. You talk about trust, yet you've been lying to Seraphina all along."

The words stabbed into my heart. That's right. I thought despairingly. She doesn't know. And... I don't know what she'll think about me if she finds out. When she finds out. I bit my lip. 

"You can't hide this forev-"

"I know that!" I burst out. I lowered my voice again. "I just... don't see any reason to tell her right now!"

We all stopped talking as footsteps sounded from the stairs as Sera came back down. "Sorry I took so long!" she chirped. "My charger got under by bed somehow and I spent a long time looking for it." She glanced around at us, seeming to notice the tense atmosphere. "Hey, what were you guys talking about?"

"Ah," I said nervously. "Just some stuff about school." I shot Dad a warning look. He frowned, but didn't correct me as I went on. "You know, just about grades... and stuff." I pretended to look calm and happy. "Oh, don't we have a ton of homework today? We should get started!"

"Yeah, I really need to start studying for that test I was talking about," chimed Stephanie. "Maybe you can help me organize my notes?" she asked Sera imploringly.

"Sure. Just tell me what it's about." Sera replied, seeming to buy into the whole 'talking about school thing'. 

"Oh, it's a history test. About the founding of this city, I think?" Stephanie and Sera headed upstairs. "Let's go get our stuff."

As they left, I turned to Dad. "Dad... I'm sorry for not picking up when you called."

"As you should be."

"And... I...I'll tell Sera one day. I won't mess it up again." With those words, I turned and followed my friends upstairs, avoiding the thoughts that plagued my mind. Sera... will you leave me when you find out?