"You're in danger now."
Aunt May set down the church flyer she had been reading and looked at Peter with a serious expression.
"I don't quite understand, Aunt May," Peter replied, pretending not to know what she was talking about.
Uncle Ben, who had been sitting nearby, quickly picked up his newspaper and hid behind it, clearly uncomfortable with the topic.
Aunt May fixed her gaze on Peter, her expression stern. "George called me last night. He said you and Gwen are dating."
Peter froze, but Aunt May continued, "Honestly, I have no objection. I like Gwen, she's a good girl." She paused, then added with a pointed look, "But you'd better not do anything foolish."
Uncle Ben cleared his throat awkwardly and said, "Well, the lawn outside hasn't been cleaned yet. I'll go take care of it."
Once Uncle Ben left, Aunt May folded her arms and turned to Peter. "At the very least, you need to protect yourself."
Peter set the banana bread he had been nibbling on aside and looked up at her. "Aunt May, nothing out of the ordinary happened between Gwen and me."
"Do you understand what I mean?" Aunt May asked, her tone shifting, and Peter was caught off guard.
"What?" Peter responded, bewildered.
Aunt May folded her arms and adopted the stern demeanor of a woman with a point to make. Peter, not sure what to say, quickly attempted to change the subject. "Maybe we should talk about something else, Aunt May."
But Aunt May was relentless. "Do you understand?"
Peter, a little flustered, thought for a moment and replied, "Aunt May, the internet and cable TV were already widespread when I was born. I get it."
Aunt May raised an eyebrow. "Get what?"
"Uncle Ben told me about it."
Aunt May dropped her arms, but before Peter could relax, she asked, "What did Ben say?"
Peter sighed, giving up. "Aunt May, forget it. I give up."
Though Peter wasn't entirely new to these types of discussions, Aunt May's directness was making him feel like a novice. It was clear that her natural authority was effective in making him uncomfortable.
Seeing Peter's embarrassed expression, Aunt May smiled a little. "Okay, but there's one rule: Don't do anything bad in this house."
"I won't, Aunt May."
"Are you sure? Nothing will happen?" she asked again.
"It shouldn't," Peter replied.
Aunt May nodded, walking over to him and gently patting his hand. "Gwen is a good girl. I like her. I'm not as old-fashioned as you think. And," she paused, her expression softening a little, "your parents knew each other in high school."
After the conversation with Aunt May, Peter was just about to ask Uncle Ben for some time off when his phone suddenly rang.
He picked it up and saw a message from Gwen.
"Peter, good morning. Did my father say anything to you?"
Peter paused, hesitated for a moment, and then texted back, "No."
He didn't want to worry Gwen about George's complaints to Uncle Ben and Aunt May.
"That's good," Gwen's reply came. "Actually, I have a question for you."
"What is it?" Peter texted back.
Gwen's message took a few minutes to arrive: "You don't think I'm a casual girl, do you, Peter?"
In her room, Gwen frowned at the phone screen. After waking up, she felt unsettled, wondering if her impulsive behavior the previous day had been a mistake.
"What stupid thing did I do yesterday?" she thought to herself. Her uncharacteristic behavior at the swimming pool, and the quarrel with her father, made her feel uneasy. Normally, she was more composed.
Though she cared for Peter deeply, she now regretted taking the first step and kissing him. Could it be that she was simply overwhelmed with emotion? Had Peter been right when he said she was "poisoned"?
She stared at the phone for a while before typing: "Thank you for your comfort. Maybe I really am poisoned. What I fear most is that things I can't control keep happening."
Peter quickly replied, "No, Gwen. It's just a coincidence."
Gwen continued typing: "Didn't someone say that when something happens once, it's likely to happen again?" She paused, then added, "Like how the government sends meteor observers to Korret National Park just because a huge asteroid fell there two million years ago."
She laid the phone down beside her and thought about the kiss from the day before. Despite feeling a bit unsure, a smile tugged at her lips.
"It wasn't all bad," she thought to herself.
She then recalled a dream she had had the night before. In the dream, she was driving a white van with a red cross printed on it, and Peter was sitting next to her. Their daughter, who was at least six years old, was sitting on the van's fender, staring at her with green eyes. The scene seemed so perfect, so filled with warmth.
Gwen looked down at the photo frame on her bedside table, a picture of her parents. "This is the scene I've dreamed of since I was a child," she murmured softly, "But I never thought it would be realized in the next generation."
Shaking off the wistful thoughts, she got up, took a deep breath, and headed out toward school. The streets still smelled of rain-soaked earth. As she walked, she unconsciously wrapped her sweater tighter around herself and pulled the hood over her head.
Just around the corner, a man in a black suit was watching her from a black car. He pulled out his phone and dialed, reporting, "Boss, the target has been found."
"Very good. Execute the plan, make it clean," came the voice on the other end.
The man hung up, put the phone away, and stepped on the gas, speeding off toward Gwen.
"Boom!" The sound of the car revving filled the air as it barreled toward her.
Gwen's heightened senses warned her just in time. With no hesitation, she sprang into action, performing a backflip that sent her flying over the car. She landed hard on the ground, causing a splash of water as her feet hit the pavement.
The car skidded to a halt, just inches away from where Gwen had been standing.
Though Gwen frowned at the car, she quickly realized that the driver likely hadn't meant to run her over. She dusted herself off and walked toward the stopped vehicle.
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