Chapter 62: Changes: Drama Becomes Reality "Seriously, Peter," Sarah said, leaning forward like she needed to get a closer look at me to make sure I was still the same person. "You’re driving better than Dad ever did." 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞 "Better than anyone I’ve ever seen," Emma added, and there was something like pride in her voice, like she was already planning to brag about her brother’s mysterious driving skills to her friends. Madison was smiling beside me, clearly enjoying my sisters’ shock more than she was trying to hide. "I told you he was special." ...Special. If they only knew how special. This driving exhibition is like showing them a magic trick while hiding the entire fucking circus. Wait until they see what else the system downloaded into my brain... * When we pulled into the Lincoln High parking lot, the reaction was immediate and intense—students stopped walking mid-conversation, turned to stare like we were some kind of exotic animals that had escaped from the zoo, and some actually pulled out their phones to record what was apparently the most shocking thing Lincoln High had seen all year. ...Ladies and gentlemen, Peter Carter has entered the building. In a Range Rover. Driving like a professional. With Madison Torres riding shotgun and his sisters in the back looking like they own the place. The social hierarchy just got completely fucking demolished... The combination of me driving Madison’s Range Rover with my sisters in the back was apparently breaking several unwritten rules of high school social physics—poor kids didn’t drive in rich kids’ cars, nerds didn’t display competence in anything that required coordination, and nobody’s sisters looked that comfortable in a stranger’s luxury vehicles. I parked with the precision of someone who’d been doing it professionally for years, sliding into the space with the kind of smooth confidence that made the small crowd that had gathered look genuinely impressed, like they were witnessing some kind of performance art. ...Look at them. Analyzing my parking skills like I just performed surgery. Apparently driving in a straight line becomes impressive when you’re behind the wheel of a six-figure vehicle and everyone knows you used to ride your bike to school... "Ready for this circus?" Madison asked, and I could see her cataloging every face in the crowd, every whispered conversation, every phone pointed in our direction. "Let’s give them something to talk about," I said, opening my door and stepping out into the morning air that suddenly felt charged with possibility and danger. ...Time for the grand performance. Peter Carter’s social evolution, live and in living color. Hope everyone brought popcorn because this shit is about to get entertaining... At least for now. As we got out of the car, the whispers started immediately, creating that background buzz of teenage gossip that meant someone’s world was about to change forever: "Holy shit, Peter Carter was driving Madison Torres’s car." "Look at how he’s dressed today—that’s definitely not Walmart clearance." "Peter Carter’s sisters just got out of a Range Rover." "Since when can Peter Carter drive like that?" ...Since I got supernatural upgrades, you absolute peasants. But thanks for noticing the glow-up. Wait until you see what else I can do now that the system has rewired my entire existence... Sarah and Emma climbed out of the back seat looking like celebrities who’d just arrived at their own premiere, walking with that newfound confidence that came from arriving in luxury and realizing that maybe their family wasn’t as pathetic as they’d thought. "This is the best morning ever," Emma said, grinning at all the attention like she’d been born for this moment. Madison walked around the car and took my hand naturally, like we’d been doing this for years instead of days, completely ignoring the stares and whispers but I could tell she was cataloging every single reaction for future reference—rich girls didn’t miss social dynamics, they collected them like weapons. ...Madison Torres held my hand in public while half the school watched. Fame was a flaming sword with your name etched on the blade. It burned too hot. It exposed too much. But fuck it felt good to finally be seen as something other than invisible... As we walked toward the school entrance, I spotted Jack Morrison by his Tesla looking like someone had just told him his trust fund was imaginary—that particular expression of confusion and rage that meant his entire understanding of social hierarchy was crumbling in real time. Somehow even now, even knowing I am soon going to become his step-dad, Jack’s precense was still intimidating thanks to years to him bullying me. ’Makes the feeling of being his stepdaddy even more thrilling. You finger dick piece of...’ Connor Hayes was nearby with his phone out, probably already filming content about "Peter Carter’s transformation saga" for his three followers and his desperate dreams of influencer fame. "You good?" Madison asked quietly, noticing the way I was scanning faces and cataloging reactions like I was preparing for war, trying to hide that Jack intimidated me. "Yeah," I said, and I actually meant it because for the first time in my life, I wasn’t afraid of being noticed. "Just enjoying the show." A week ago I was the school’s punching bag, the kid who ate lunch alone with Tommy and pretended to be sick so I could skip PE and avoid getting humiliated in front of everyone. Now I was walking into Lincoln High holding hands with Madison Torres while her Range Rover I as driving sat in the parking lot like a monument to my complete social evolution, and the same kids who used to pretend I didn’t exist were now watching my every move like I was the main character in their favorite show. Sarah and Emma split off toward their own friend groups, both walking with that swagger that came from arriving in luxury and having a brother who could apparently drive like a professional race car driver. "See you at lunch, Peter!" Emma called out, waving like she was greeting her adoring public instead of just saying goodbye to her brother. Madison and I walked through the front doors of Lincoln High together, and I could feel the weight of every stare, every whisper, every shocked expression following us like we were trailing some kind of invisible spotlight that turned everything we did into theater. "Think you can handle being the center of attention?" Madison asked with that knowing smirk that meant she already knew the answer. The truth was, I’d been training for this moment my entire life without knowing it—every day of being ignored and overlooked and treated like I didn’t matter had been preparation for this exact moment when I’d finally step into the spotlight and show everyone what they’d been missing, what I’d been hiding, what I was capable of when I stopped trying to be invisible. Every humiliation had been building toward this—the moment when Peter Carter stopped being invisible... "I was born for this shit."