Eli clutched Tiffany's hand tighter as he eyes the shining black metal of the schoolgates. They were hanging lazily open, like a crocodile's maw, begging him in.
He shuddered.
"Are you hurting? You know, they'd let you stay off for the whole month if you asked, can we go home…?" Tiffany had been worrying more and more by the day.
The less Eli told her, the more annoyed and worried about him she grew. It wasn't the best situation, and since the girl had an uncanny ability to feel out his lies and half-truths, he felt constantly uneasy.
'...How can I trust someone when I barely remember meeting her?'
Eli shifted, "I'm not in pain. I'm simply not looking forward to the reception."
Who wouldn't want to talk to a classmate that had, according to rumour, had an encounter with a true, blue blooded superhuman.
Tiffany nodded, and placed a caring hand on his shoulder as they walked on, through the gates. It didn't do much for his anxiety, and his body remained stiff.
Eyes were boring straight into him. It wasn't evident, as the peanut gallery had to maintain decorum. But he did feel them. Every way he looked, the usual little groups glanced his way, a few people covered their mouths.
He understood. This morning, Eli had gotten the first look at himself he'd had for who knows how long. It had helped, in a way. To solidify him, to see his own body. It reassured him that he really was himself.
But it didn't come without difficulty. His face had grown rather unfriendly, and the outline of his skin was marked with small, barely perceptible marks from where the mask he had donned pierced him. His black, shaggy hair had fallen to his eyes, though that was hardly a grand change.
Finally, the first peanut wandered over. Eli didn't know the boy, so far as he knew. He had come to realise, most people he knew in passing had faded away.
He only just remembered his father existed when he had come home.
"Hey, Eli? What was Miss Ma-... woah, are those scars? That's kinda awesome, man!" The boy clasped Eli's shoulder, throwing on a subdued smile.
Eli scowled, "Yeah, and it fucking hurt to get them."
The boy dropped his smile, "Oh- sorry man, I didn't-..."
Eli pushed his hand off him, and frowned, "If you didn't mean to, then why'd you say it? The fuck are you anyway, why do you think you're my friend-"
"Eli!" Tiffany tugged his arm, but he pulled away.
"Just because you think it's cool that I suffered? You know I could've died? Fuck off. Actually, I'm going home." Eli spat, shaking his head.
He turned on his heels, and marched out without a second glance. His breath was heavy, and his eyes were set steady, with dark focus.
Behind him, Tiffany turned between the two boys, bewildered, "I-I'm sorry-" She muttered, before quickly slinking behind Eli, catching up with a light jog.
By the time she managed to get to Eli's side, they had made it out of the school grounds and back into the streets. She grabbed his shoulder, and turned him to face her.
In the shadow of the brick tower beside them, for the first time in her life, Eli's face didn't comfort her.
"What the hell was that? Why were you so aggressive?" She frowned, staring at him incredulously, "You're not like that! You- you're kind, you're funny, you're smart. You aren't… whatever this is."
Eli shook his head, "You'd know Eli better than myself." Eli took a small breath, and the crease of his brow weakened slightly, "But you don't know me."
Tiffany took a step back, "See!? What does that even mean- you are Eli!" The girl pinched the bridge of her nose, and sighed, "I'm sorry- you… you should call that psychiatrist. Do you want to come with me back to the doctor?"
"Tiff. I forgot who my father was. I forgot where I lived, where you lived, and my own name for a while." He sternly listed his points on his fingers, "I even forgot who you were for a while. Even now, I feel like a worm in my own brain."
He shook his head, rubbing his fatigued eyes.
"I don't know if I can return. And right now, that doesn't even scare me, because I don't really remember who I was. I was a blank slate for all I care. Why would I miss something I don't remember? Now, I'm me."
Eli turned, and walked out of the shadow of the apartment building, in the direction of nothing especially.
"Don't wait up. I don't know why I know you, so I'm sure I'll forget you soon enough." He called out, waving over his back.
Then, he disappeared behind a small, ordinary corner, behind the body of a corner-store.
At that mundane corner, on the plain sidewalk, Eli had decided to change his life. He didn't look back for several miles as he weaved through Paigetown's organically developed roads, through alleys and desolate one-way roads.
He wandered and loitered the entire day away, looking for something he didn't know, and probably wouldn't recognise. He knew that he had made the right call, that it was the best option.
He simply couldn't understand how he had been happy with his life before. He was brilliant, an unparalleled mind, a teenage Ordinary compared to a superhuman.
Yet his life was so… plain. He went to a normal school, lived in a shitty neighbourhood, barely had any friends.
What genius wouldn't leave that behind, when such a bright future was ahead of them? He knew he could make it. He'd been through things harder than most, what was sleeping rough for a while?
Nothing, is what it was.
So, evening came and went, then the veil of night descended upon the seedy streets of Paigetown. As the moon rose, Eli had set himself down across a once-used cardboard matting.
He was shivering, he was alone, and he was afraid. His heart had been aching since this morning, and his refusal to face any emotion besides hunger and fatigue left him where he was now.
Sleep came to Eli by the time the moon half-filled the sky. He slept to the sounds of late-traffic and distant sirens.
He missed Dogbot, but he could pick him up when he found his home.
He missed Tiff. But nothing could be done.