Echo [11] (ON HIATUS)

Chapter 1

"Come on, Tessa! We're gonna miss the waves if we don't leave," Stephanie whined.

 "Alright, Steph! Just let me get my board," I ran into the garage, grabbing my surfboard with a wave design on it. 

"Andy and Mel are gonna meet us there," Steph said as I appeared. I was already in my swimsuit, I just had some shorts and a cropped t-shirt on over it. My family lived near the beach, so we were just able to run down the sidewalk to the beach nearby.

In Rostock, most people preferred to stay in the city, especially during the middle of the day, so I and my friends often surfed then.

 "Tessa! Steph!" Andrea, one of our friends, was waving from beside our other friend Melanie.

 "Come on, it's prime time for surfing," I said, pulling my hair up into a ponytail.

 "You got your suit?" Mel asked, and I nodded. I pulled off my shorts and t-shirt, dropping them onto my towel before running towards the water.

"Tessa! Langsamer!" Andy called. I put down my board, paddling out into the water. A good wave was appearing, so I got into position and as it hit, I stood up on my feet. 

"Woo, go Tess!" Steph called from where she was riding a few yards away. I got distracted, and the board pitched forward, sending me into the water. I paddled back up to the surface, wiping my wet hair out of my face.

 "You okay?" Mel called, and I gave her a thumbs up. 

We kept going for about another hour, catching a lot of good waves. I had only fallen off my board once, which was a record for me. I was coming up on the best wave of the day, standing up on my board.

But, the wave was too big for me and I fell off again. 

It was nearing the end of the day, so I slid onto my board and paddled back to the shore. "That was too bad on that last one. It would've been epic to ride that wave," Andy said, wringing seawater out of her hair.

 "Well, you win some, you lose some," I shrugged.

 "Hey, let's have a bonfire. It's the last Friday of summer vacation anyway, we have to go back in two days. Let's have some fun," Steph suggested.

"That sounds fine. Anyone have objections?" Mel asked, and we all shook our heads.

 After 15 minutes, we had a bonfire going and were sat in the sound, warming up and catching our breath. We were chatting and having a good time, I had my arm wresting on my knee with a coke in my hand, but it was cut short when a suited man approached.

 "Is one of you Teresa Panzer?" He asked, and I set my drink down.

 "Yeah. You need something?" I asked, standing up and turning to him.

"I need to speak with you. It's quite urgent," He said. I exchanged a wary glance with my friends but followed him.

 "Who are you?" I asked as we stepped away from the group.

 "My name is Agent Phil Coulson. I'm here on behalf of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy," He said.

 "S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy?" My brows furrowed in confusion.

"We have been getting reports of an Inhuman in the area. Eventually, the identity of the Inhuman was revealed to be yourself," He said.

 "Inhuman? What does that even mean?" I asked. 

"You were born with a certain hidden ability, which is currently dormant. But, if any bad groups got a hold of you, who knows what they would do to you. The S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy offers protection to people like you if your parents and yourself agree," He explained.

 "Dormant? Then how do you know?" I asked. 

"Our scientists recently developed a program that can identify Inhumans before they go through the process that grants them their powers," The man explained.

"Um...you'd have to talk to my parents about this. I'm not allowed to make decisions myself," I said, and he nodded. 

"Can we return to your house?" He asked.

 "Let me grab my stuff," I said, jogging back to the others. 

"So, what was that about?" Mel asked. 

"I gotta go home. You guys have fun without me, in Ordnung?" I asked, and they nodded, glancing at each other.

I tucked my board under my arm after pulling on my clothes, meeting back up with Agent Coulson. I gestured for him to follow me, and we trudged toward my house. We arrived at the large, over-extravagant front door and I banged the knocker against the door in the pattern of 'a shave and a haircut, two bits,' which was the signal that it was me. Martha, the woman who took care of me most of the time, opened the door.

Martha was a sweet, plump older woman with a kind smile and a warm hug.

 "Teresa, you're home!" She said.

 "Hi. Are my parents here? This man needs to speak with them," I said, gesturing to the agent behind me. 

"Yes, they just returned from Berlin. Come in, come in. Would you like a cup of tea?" She asked the agent. 

"Thank you," He said, smiling as we stepped inside.

"Mr. and Mrs. Panzer! Someone is here to see you!" Martha called into the living room, then bustling off to the kitchen to get the tea ready.  I silently ran to the garage, set my board against the wall, kicked off my flip-flops, and ran back to the entrance hall. 

My parents, Clara and Arthur Panzer appeared in the doorway.

 "Hello, sir. It's a pleasure to meet you. Ms. White said you needed to see us?" My father said, offering a hand.

"Please, if we could step into the living room," He said, and they vanished again. I padded to the kitchen, where Martha was hovering over the stubborn black kettle that was her prized possession. 

"Did you have fun?" She asked, and I nodded. 

"Here, I'll get some cups," I said, reaching towards the familiar cabinet that housed the teacups. I pulled out 4 cups, setting them on the counter. The kettle whistled loudly, just as I was adding filters into the cups for my parents. Martha added the water into the cups with the filters, and I added leaves to the water. A minute later, she poured it into the remaining cups, and I added lemon juice and honey before adding them to the tray alongside some finger sandwiches.

 "I'll take it, Martha. It's no problem, I'm going anyway," I said when she fussed about me picking up the tray. 

"Go get some rest. You don't have to do anything else tonight, you deserve it," I said, smiling kindly at her.

"Oh, bless your soul, Teresa,"