Tales of a Shapeshifter/C7 7. When Did You Two Become Best Friends?
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Tales of a Shapeshifter/C7 7. When Did You Two Become Best Friends?
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C7 7. When Did You Two Become Best Friends?

I woke up and the light shined on my face. I felt totally refreshed.

“Helix! You’re finally awake! I thought you died yesterday!” Santana shouted.

“I’m alive. I was just tired.”

“Yeah! We were worried. We almost called the ambulance on you.” Sarah yelled.

“Sorry for worrying you. What day is today?”

“Sunday, my dude. You slept for a really long time. When we woke up, you were sleeping and didn’t move until a few minutes

ago.” Santana said to me.

“Oh, it’s Sunday? What time?”

“1:27 PM”

“Oh. Then I should get going. My 30 hours and 20 minutes of sleep recovered my energy. Did you guys go to the party?”

“Yeah, but we left shortly after because everyone was drunk. We took a cab and went to sleep right away when we got home.”

“Oh, that’s good. How was it?”

“It was really fun. I enjoyed it at the beginning, but then more drinks were poured and yeah.”

I hummed in amusement.

“Oh, well. Like I said, Santana. No running on weekends. I’ve got somewhere to be in 30 minutes. See you two.”

“Oh. Bye! We’ll see you later then.”

I soon left, not bothering to change into new clothes.

Mark didn’t have work on Sundays, so I was sure he was home.

I walked to their house and reached it within 30 minutes. I walked to the door and knocked.

It took a few seconds, but the door opened and Mark popped his head out.

“Hey! Welcome back. You look like you just woke up.”

‘How perceptive.’

“I did. Glad you noticed.” I said sarcastically.

Mark let out a deep laugh and welcomed me inside.

When we reached the kitchen, Mark asked me to sit down at the bar lining the edge of the kitchen and got me a glass of water.

“Hey, so I just wanted to thank you for bringing my daughter home. She’s been quite the rebel. If it weren’t for you, I can’t

imagine the repercussions that would have followed. You saved my daughter, and brought her home safely. For that, there’s

nothing I can give to you to truly show you how thankful I am.”

“No need to give me anything, Mark. You and Celia are good for each other. As long as Melody is safe and sound is all I can ask

for.”

“Thank you so much.”

Melody had just woken up, and she headed downstairs with a pounding headache. She heard Mark talking to someone else. She

only caught the last sentence that left Mark’s mouth. And continued listening from then on.

‘I recognize this voice.’ she thought.

Melody walked closer and caught sight of the person’s arm as they put the cup they had in their hand down. Many thoughts were

running through her head at the same time:

‘Who is this person?’

‘Why are they here?’

‘Why is Mark thanking this person??’

‘How does the guy know where I live?’

‘What happened at the party???’

She sneaked her head around to catch a better look at the person whom her proud step father was thanking.

“HELIX?!” she blurted out.

Helix’s POV:

I honestly wanted Melody to be safe, but I think I needed to clarify my meaning.

“I just want her to learn from her mistakes, but she probably won’t remember it. Please keep what I’ve done a secret from her. I’d

rather not create unwanted feelings, both good or bad.”

I knew she was watching, but I said this in a low voice that only Mark could hear.

He nodded and I heard my name randomly being called out.

“HELIX?!”

Mark and I turned to look at her.

“Morning, Melody.” I greeted.

“Afternoon.” Mark corrected.

“Oh, right. I just woke up myself. Time is running differently for me.”

“I get that.”

“So. I came here to pick up my clothes, and return yours.”

I stood up and Mark answered back.

“Yeah. They’re ready for you. You can also keep the ones you have on. They don’t fit me anymore, so I won’t have any use for

them.”

“Alright.”

“While you wait for me to return, think of my proposal and give me an answer when I’m back.”

“Sure thing.”

When he left, I was now alone with Melody.

“Come sit down please. It’s awkward for you to keep standing there.”

She sat down where I was. I went around the bar and into the kitchen. I went to the fridge and got a glass and filled it with water.

I set it down in front of her, and she looked at it with a confused expression.

“Drink it. It’ll make you feel better.”

“Okay.”

She drank the water.

Meanwhile, Mark returned with my clothes and stood next to me.

“Here you go, Helix.”

“Thanks, Mark.”

“So, about my proposal. Do you accept it? I really want a partner. It makes pumping iron so much more fun.”

In Melody’s head:

‘Partner? Proposal? Is Mark… gay? Pumping iron? Is that another word for se--’

She couldn’t even finish the thought and her face turned red.

Back to reality:

“Sure. I get off from school at 2:45. I can make it here at 3:00.”

“Great, then we can hit the gym after you arrive.”

“I’ve never been to a gym before, so you’ll have to show me the ropes.” I said as I put my hoodie and joggers on with the clothes

underneath.

“...”

“...”

‘Did I say something wrong?’

“You’re telling me that you’ve never been to a gym before, and your body looks like that??”

Melody snapped out of her trance.

“What do you mean, like that?” she asked.

“You were alone with him for 5 minutes and you never noticed his body?” Mark questioned.

“No. I have a boyfriend. I don’t look at other guys.”

I was just standing to the side, watching this odd exchange between step dad and daughter. I caught her words very clearly.

Boyfriend, she said.

‘Your boyfriend tried to rape you, and you still call him that. But then again, you probably don’t remember what happened.’

“Boyfriend? If it weren’t for He--”

The fun exchange between funny insults was now heating up and Mark was getting mad. I decided to stop him before he said

some unnecessary things.

I went behind Mark, covered Mark’s mouth, and whispered in his ear.

“Some things should be left unsaid. Nod if you won’t say anything about it to her and we keep this between us.”

He nodded and I let go of him.

Melody’s face was in shock.

“Why did you do that? How could you do that?”

“It’s okay, Melody. He and I just had to come to a small understanding. Right, Mark?”

“Yes.”

Our Q&A left Melody dumbfounded.

“Anyways, Mark. Want to go to the gym now? It might be a good release of tension from you job I bet.”

“Sure. I’ll be ready in 30 minutes. You can stay here meanwhile.”

“Alright. Take your time.”

He went upstairs and got ready, and I went over to the couch and sat down.

Melody kept staring at me like I had multiple heads.

I was at the end of the couch, so I put my elbow on the armrest, rested my head on my hand, and closed my eyes.

Melody tried striking up a conversation.

“So, what happened?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, how did you know where I live?”

“I run by here sometimes. Happened to see you.”

“Are you the guy who was running here two weeks ago?”

“Probably.”

“Why didn’t you tell me who you were when we met at school?”

“You didn’t ask.”

I was talking with my eyes closed the entire time because I couldn’t be bothered to open them. Knowing Melody for 12 years, I

could predict her expressions, so it wasn’t needed for me to read her.

“When did you and Mark become best friends?”

“I wouldn’t say best friends.”

“Fine, then when did he meet you and recognize you as someone worthy of his respect?”

“Some days ago. Is this interview ever going to end?”

She flushed and said, “Fine. One last question.”

“Okay. Choose wisely.”

“What happened two days ago at the party?”

My eyes opened suddenly and I glared at her.

“Nothing much.”

“You know something, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“What is it? Tell me.”

“Now’s not the right time.”

“When is the right time?” she pushed.

“Not now.”

I closed my eyes again.

“You said one last question. You lied.”

“I didn’t! I just wanted to find out more…”

I grunted in response. This girl drains my energy

Mark had finally come down, dressed in his workout clothes.

“I’m ready, Helix. Let’s go.”

“Got it.”

We left for the gym, and Mark got me in as a guest.

When we were inside, Mark asked me what workouts I wanted to do.

“‘I’ll follow you since I’m new here.

“Alright. Follow me.”

We arrived at a bench press. He did his first set, and it was my turn.

“Do you want to go higher or lower with weights?”

“I’ll do your weight. Saves more energy.”

He gave a nod, but what was written over his face was “Yeah, right.”

I laid down and started the first rep.

‘Lighter than expected.’

Mark’s face fell. His expression that once said, “I don’t believe you” now said, “What monster have I just discovered?”

I finished the first set.

“Hey, what weight was that?” I asked out of curiosity.

“200 lbs..”

“Alright, thanks.”

We finished bench press and ended at 400 lbs. It was quite the experience, watching Mark dumbfounded each time.

We moved onto squats. I decided to let Mark decide the first weight.

We completed the first set at 300 lbs.

It was light. Mark then added more weights on and finished his second set. He squatted about 350 lbs.

I did the same.

We continued like this for another 3 sets before him challenging me.

“Hey, how much can you squat? Try and beat me. We’ll do one squat per turn.”

“Okay.”

We ended the sets before at 500 lbs. He added another 100 lbs to it, and did one squat.

I was impressed. I did the same weight. And it was his turn to be impressed.

We continued the competition and people started to gather around us.

Right now, we were at 800 lbs. Mark was well known in the gym for being one of the highest lifters. To see him competing with

another person, and a kid at that, was entertaining.

We waited two minutes before starting again. Mark added another 100 lbs and did one squat.

I followed and squatted. He added another 100 and did one. I followed again. He tried to add more, but failed. I guess 1,000 was

his limit.

“Can you continue? You don’t the least bit tired.”

“It’ll sink in later.”

“Can you lift more?”

“Don’t know.”

“Try it.”

“Okay.”

He added another hundred and I squatted it easily.

“Okay, can you do more?”

“Don’t know.”

He added another 100 lbs and I squatted it as well.

I was getting tired of this. It was really boring, doing the same exercise for an hour straight…

‘How do people like this type of activity?’

I decided to fail the next one and get it over with.

At 1,300 lbs, the bar dropped and the safety lock caught it. A bang resounded throughout the gym and everyone looked at me.

A few seconds later, they all started cheering.

“Woah! How old are you? You lifted more than Mark!!”

“You could become a world champion!!”

“Dude! That was insane!!!”

“Wow.. I never expected Mark to lose to someone in the gym..”

“What’s your name, mini champ?"

“My name isn’t important. Thanks for the support.” I replied.

I turned towards Mark. He was staring at me with huge eyes.

“Woah, Helix! What did you do before coming to a gym?? Can you teach me?”

“You sure?”

Mark nodded his head.

“Okay, then we’ll start in 3 days. You’ll probably be sore, so don’t work out until then.”

Mark nodded again and we both left to go back to his house.

At Mark’s house, we entered and Melody was on the couch, on her phone.

She was laughing and smiling at the messages.

“What are you doing, Melody?” Mark asked.

“Texting.”

“Texting who?”

“My boyfriend.”

Mark was about to run over there and break her phone, but I stopped him.

“Let me.” I said quietly. “I’d rather her hate me than her hate you.”

Mark nodded and calmed down.

I approached Melody.

“Hey, can I borrow your phone?”

“Why?”

“I don’t have one.”

“Why can’t you use my step dad’s or my mother’s?”

Mark answered for himself, “Mine’s dead, and your mother is sleeping.”

“See? I have to call my family members to tell them I’m alive.”

“Okay.”

She pulled up the dial screen and handed it to me.

I took the phone and started dialing Santana’s number, which I memorized because it was on the fridge.

Before I hit call, I sneakily went to the contacts screen, changed Jack’s name to “Asshole” and blocked his number. I also cleared

the text messages so Melody wouldn’t be able to find it in her recents or be able to search for the conversation through a keyword.

After I finished that, I went back to the dial button and acted like I forgot the number and had just remembered the end of it. I hit

call and called Santana.

As it rang, I looked around aimlessly. Soon enough, he picked up.

[Hello? Who is this?]

“It’s me, Helix. I don’t have a phone, so I called you on a friend’s.”

[Oh, Helix! So that’s where you were. You skipped breakfast and lunch. You want me to make you something, or did you eat?]

“Ha! I didn’t eat, but I’ll make you guys a nice dinner. Can you go out to the supermarket for me and get whatever you want to eat

this week?”

[Sure. So, why are you calling?]

“No reason. I just wanted to let you know that I’ll be home in an hour or less.”

[Got it. We’ll be back from shopping by then. See you.]

“Mhm.” I replied and he hung up.

Since I wanted to avoid all suspicion, I spoke some more about random ingredients.

“Yeah, then I need some paprika, pepper, salt, and lemon. Hello? Santana, you there? Sa--”

I cut off my sentence and took the phone off from my ear. I tapped it a few times to make sure it worked.

That’s what they saw. What I really did was input her password incorrectly 6 times. That was the limit before the phone would

lock you out.

“Oh, I think it broke off, but I think he gets the general idea of what I want to make. Here.”

I handed the phone back to her and sat down next to her.

She was looking at me weird, like why I sat down next to her and didn’t leave.

She was putting in her password and I looked over her shoulder. As she was going to press the last digit, I said her passcode in the

correct order out loud to her.

“12345..”

She flinched in surprise and pressed the number next to the correct number. The phone immediately locked and shut down.

“Noo! I got locked out! What did you do, Helix?!”

“I don’t have a phone, so how could I know what happened?” I defended innocently.

Mark was watching the scene in surprise.

‘What a sneaky kid. Good job!’ he thought.

Melody was pissed, so she threw a punch at my face.

I caught it, of course, and pulled her arm. This made her lose balance and fall on my lap.

She was indeed pissed at me, but seeing that I was much more powerful than her and could restrain her easily, she calmed down.

She didn’t move her head from my lap though. She just stared up at me while I looked down at her.

She blushed and moved away from me faster than the speed of light.

I stood up and approached Mark. When I was close enough, I whispered low enough only that he could hear.

“Blocked, changed his name, cleared conversation, and locked her phone. Make sure she doesn’t go near him please. I’ll help out

at school.”

“Got it.”

Then I stepped forward to pass him and turned around

“Mark, do you have a plastic bag or something I could put these clothes in?”

I pointed to the hoodie and joggers I was wearing.

“Yeah, give me a second.”

He went into the kitchen and gave me a plastic bag he found from there.

“Thanks. I’ll change in the bathroom, I guess. It’d be inappropriate here.”

And so I headed to the bathroom to change.

Once I got out, the clothes I had on top of the sportswear Mark gave me a couple days ago, were in the bag.

The three of us left the house.

“You sure you don’t need a ride?”

“I’m sure. I didn’t run today, so I could use a light jog.”

And they sent me off.

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