8

Peter firmly believed that nothing of consequence ever happened in the town of Hicksville, and he absolutely hated that he had to live there.

Being ten, he knew he had little choice in the matter. He went wherever his parents went, and they seemed to go a lot. This was the third move he remembered; there had been two others while he had still been in diapers, and Peter was thankful he had no memories of those days.

He remembered his first school, and his first day of school. He was a walker, and his mother walked with him on the first day, to make sure he'd make it. It was only three blocks from their little suburban ranch to Gwinnett Bierce Elementary, a slightly more sprawling suburban ranch. It was on that day that Peter first realized that his mother was...different. By seeing the reactions to his mother in the eyes of others, his own eyes were opened, and he could not, no matter how hard he tried, close them again.

Peter could picture how they had looked. Himself: slight, pale, with light brown hair and brown eyes. Dressed as neatly as ever in pressed khaki pants and blue polo shirt, an oversized Peanuts backpack pulled over both shoulders and holding his matching Peanuts lunchbox, a new box of crayons, school glue, and a lucky rock he had found the week before.

His mother: tall, thin, pale, with large brown eyes and dark brown hair carefully brushed into a bob. She was wearing a sunny yellow vintage dress with simple brown flats. Peter remembered his mother getting ready early that morning and checking her dress in front of the mirror. "How do I look, Petey?"

"You are beautiful, Mommy," he had replied, and she was. To him, his mother was the most beautiful woman ever, which made the reaction of his teacher extra baffling to him.

They had walked hand-in-hand right into the school and to his classroom. Peter knew now that it was unusual for crowds to part the way they always parted for his mother, but he didn't notice it just then. Groups would also silence upon their arrival; again, unnoticed at the time.