Chapter 17
I walk to the infirmary to grab some ibuprofen from a cabinet. Then I stroll to the kitchen to eat breakfast, I grab a bowl just when a small drone floats beside me making me squeal in panic. Friday displays a hologram with my dad's face.
"Miss Stark, your dad is calling"
Oh man
"Hello? Tannie?" my dad's disembodied voice appears
I clear my throat and spin to the fridge "Hey dad! How are you?"
"Oh I'm so great I'm in India, there's this Gulab Jamun and I ate too much I probably gained like 4 pounds"
I sigh leaning my head against the cold surface of the fridge. Good he seems clueless about yesterday.
"That sounds great, the part of the Indian sweets... what are you doing there?" I ask pouring milk on my bowl of cereal
"Yesterday I went to this fancy wedding and today I have a meeting with an important sir... I forgot his name, just wanted to see if you were ok"
"Oh yeah, so good dad, yesterday I was doing my homework... nothing too interesting"
"hah, I knew you were doing that... you're such a good student T, unlike me to be honest, you're more like your mom in that thing. By the way. how's your mom?"
"Busier and bossier each day but she's fine. You should probably bring her some of that Gulab uh..."
"Gulab Jamun... yeah, good idea T. Need to go but be careful, study hard, kick asses" he ends the call and the drone flies away
I sigh once again rubbing my temple and taking a spoonful of cereal. Minutes later I receive a text. I quickly unlock it hoping it's Peter but it's not.
I take my stuff and jog to the car. Happy was not happy today. He narrates me the ups and downs, mostly downs of the assets management thing which is harder than he thought. He questions me why I'm rubbing my head so much and I notice I've been doing it unconsciously. I explain that I fell from the bed. Oh, wait no. A fricking trash can hit me while I was being dragged through the street along with Spider-Man.
In Economics, Peter was nowhere to be seen. I couldn't make any jokes so it was boring. I waited patiently for the second period but he wasn't there, third... he wasn't there. If I text him? isn't that clingy? I then went to recess with Harley, he distracted me from the worry growing in my chest and stomach. The bell buzzes and I run to my next class but my shoes shriek at the abrupt stop. I think I've been wasting too much time debating what to do... What if he's injured? alone? I grab my phone and dial his number
"Tannie hey!... yeah it's Tannie" He whispers and I frown
"Parker...you missed three classes"
"Yeah, I know, I'm here with Ned at the woodshop trying to know what the hell is that thing we got from yesterday..."
I slap my hand in my thigh and start walking "I thought you were dying or something...! not fair! what about me?"
"Well, one I thought you didn't want to miss three classes, two it's too dangerous"
I stride all the way to the woodshop and end the call with a grunt. I don't care if it's dangerous. My steps resonate against the stairs as I jog downstairs. Mr. Hapgood doesn't even bother to tell me to go away.
"Hellouu" I slowly walk around the table and place myself across them
Ned cheerfully waves at me "Hey, Tannie!"
"What are you doing here?" Peter asks
I snort leaning my arms in the table "Good morning! How are you feeling Tannie?"
Ned suppresses a snort as I stand next to an eye-rolling Peter. I look down at the weapon spread in the table. Peter grabs a hammer and starts hitting the metal armor over and over again until a little light flies echoing all over the room
"Oh" I whisper curious than ever, Peter touches the exterior trying to break it apart
"By the way, thanks for bailing on me the two of you"
"Yeah, well, something came up," I say
"Tannie's here, Peter... now can you tell me what is that?" Ned exclaims
I turn to Peter who struggles to break the core "Some guy tried to vaporize us with it"
Ned taps my shoulder "Seriously?"
"Yep" Peter and I say together
"Awesome!!" Ned smiles and Peter and I shoot him a look
"I mean, not awesome. Totally uncool of that guy. So scary"
"Well, look, I think it's a power source" Peter mutters and I peek my head closer to that thing but he grabs my shoulder getting me away of it
"It's connected to al these microprocessors..." I mention and Ned quickly nods lowering his face next to mine
"Exactly, Tannie, That's an inductive charging plate. That's what I use to charge my toothbrush"
"Whoever's making these weapons is obviously combining alien tech with ours" Peter huffs and I nod analyzing the situation
"That is literally the coolest sentence anyone has ever said. I just want to thank you both for letting me be part of your journey into this amazing-"
But I jump back when Peter hits the metal case with too much force that the glowing core pops out from its place. I turn to look at the teacher who's reading a book not altered by the sound.
"Keep your fingers clear of the blades" Mr. Hapgood slowly remarks and I turn my head to look at the small stone
"I gotta figure out what this thing is and who makes it"Peter's eyes shimmer with determination as he leans to grab the core
"You know... I can look at my dad's notebook? Maybe there's som-"
"No way" Peter cuts me off
I wince and stare at him "ugh, seriously Peter you need to stop that, you sound like my father... do I remind you he was scolding you last night?" I whisper to him, both of us without taking our eyes from each other
"What? your dad was there? you need to tell me exactly what happened yesterday!" Ned murmurs
Peter shakes his head and finally gives in "Ok, let's do it" He extends his arm to Ned and I step back and see their complicated secret handshake
"Sorry Tannie, you share a huge secret with him but I share a secret handshake with him" Ned shrugs and we take our stuff to go to the lab
Walking upstairs I see Peter avoiding my stare so I walk around reaching his side while Ned is searching something on his backpack.
"What's into you, huh?" I ask him
Peter turns his head and blinks "Nothing!" his squeaky voice betrays him and he sighs "ok, ok... I think all of this is too dangerous and I don't want you to get hurt"
"Well, Peter. I don't want you to get hurt but you're still going to web yourself to the danger, right? Let me remind you that I was beside you yesterday fricking flying. I decided to be there with you... I know what I'm getting into"
"Yeah, I know but your dad doesn't!" He exclaims earning a grunt from me
"Parker, do you want me to get shot only for you to realize I'm with you in this?" He glares downs and shakes his head
"Sorry to interrupt but I say we put the glowy thing in the mass spectrometer" Ned mentions
I snort looking back at Ned "First, we gotta come up with a better name than 'glowy thingy' "
"You're right Tannie" Ned nods as well but then Peter grabs me from my front and carries me quickly behind a wall
"What was that?!" I say but he covers my mouth
"Crap!" he says without taking his hand "Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on" He crooks his hand at Ned who is confused about the sudden movement
I moan to Peter to take his hand away, he does it and I peer my head to see what he's seeing. Oh. Crap.
"That's one of the guys who tried to kill us!" I whisper to Peter
"What?" Ned squeals looking at the hall
"Yeah"
"We gotta get out of here!" Ned panics but I stop him
"No, no, no, no, no. We gotta follow them. Maybe they can lead us to the guy that dropped us in the lake"
Ned gasps "Someone dropped you in a lake?"
"Yeah, it was not good," I say remembering the freezing part
Peter warily tiptoes to the wall across us. I follow but Ned calls for us. I spin and signal him to stay there. We run to the classroom they just got in, coincidentally, it's Woodshop. Our feet barely touch the wooden stairs careful not to make them creak. We crouch to see the men. We land on the floor and slide behind the first set of tables. I run to the other table ignoring Peter's soft shouts to go back next to him.
I peek my eyes to see them at the bottom of the room while they're rummaging... Oh. They are looking for that glowy core! So maybe that thing it's leaving a trail of energy... but what kind of energy?
"Can you imagine what the boss would say if he knew where we were?" one of them says
"It's saying there was an energy pulse right here"
I squint my eyes to catch a glimpse of that energy detector in his hands. I see Peter's head peeking higher, I read his body language and I start shaking my head at him trying to tell him not to get closer but he's a dork, so he gets closer.
"There's no sign of the weapon. And even if it was here, now it's gone...."
"So are we..."
I quickly drop my head and crawl to the corner between a locker and a stack of old carton boxes. I curl myself into a tiny ball and cover my mouth muting my breathing. I open one eye to see whatever I can through a small raft. They walk further to the stairs and their steps quickly fade. I wait some seconds and uncurl myself
"Peter??" I whisper and see how he unsticks himself from under the table
He grunts standing up and gently pushing me to the stairs "Let's go to my place, I put a tracker on them"
"Hell yes"
"You're going to skip classes, Tannie..."
I spin stopping in the middle of the stairs "But we are getting some answers, Peter..."
We return to Ned who is talking to Tiny and some other boy. He sighs seeing us alive and unbruised.
"Peter put a tracker on them... come on, we're going to his place"
We take the subway. Peter reassured us that May's at her work. Ned spent the way creating different theories about the glowy core making Peter and me shush him several times earning judgy stares from the people around us.
"Want something?" he offers while pouring some water on a cup "Ned, top drawer to the right... there's a bag of Doritos"
"That's why you're my best friend" he sighs putting his backpack down
Peter spins to his fridge frowning at the sight "Tannie, I have umm... apples or Thai's leftovers?"
"I'll take that apple," I say and he throws the fruit in the air and I grab it
I enter the room, Ned is settling on the floor next to the bunk bed, Peter quickly passes by me and haphazardly takes his clothes from the bed.
"So uh, you can sit here" he shoves his clothes aside as I step closer
I yawn as soon as my side lays on his mattress. Peter drags his hand inside a drawer and hands Ned a black square that quickly lights on showing a hologram of the city.
"This is so awesome..." Ned's eyes widen while he pokes the hologram
"I know right!" Peter cheerfully exclaims and spins to me pursing his lips at my not so amused face
"It is cool," I say making Peter smile again
I see Ned poking the map and it becomes more defined. I open my backpack and grab a package of Skittles.
"here" I throw it at the floor so everyone could take some "something tells me we're going to be here all day"
Ned nods and takes out his notebook. "I'm gonna study, Warren is going to fail me" He starts reading while stealing glances at the hologram that is still on.
Peter walks next to the bed I'm in and he slumps on the floor, he rests his head on the edge and looks at me.
"Sorry for today" he whispers at me
I yawn and rub my eyes "It's ok... do you... do you mind if... take a nap?"
"No, no, go and sleep. I'll be here... we'll be here" Peter nods
I slowly nod and lay my head on the clean scented pillow. I close my eyes and start to fall asleep.
----------------
I flutter my eyes stretching my arms to my sides. I take the scene and notice that night has already fallen. Without moving too much I peek at Ned who's still laying on the floor and the dim desk lamp illuminates Peter's body while he swivels on his chair. With a final sigh, I try to sit upright but my head crashes with a metal structure.
"Ouch!!" I squeal slumping back to the mattress "right... a bunk bed"
Ned spins and waves at me "Hey, sleepyhead,"
Peter slowly approaches the bed "Hi! it's not that late, seven o'clock and it was chilly so I..." he points at me and I see he covered me with something
I reach for the white fabric and see it's the Pythagoras Theorem shirt "Thanks...May's here?"
"No, she had a meeting... the men were near Staten Island..."
Ned points to the map "They're leaving Jersey now..."
I rub my eyes trying to shake the sleepiness from my face. I swing my legs to the floor and hide my face in my hands.
"mmhh, your shirt is a little up..." Ned says and I look down at my exposed skin.
I tug it down with a soft gasp ad Peter awkwardly clears his throat. I move forward kneeling on the carpet, my eyes watching closely how the tracker is still moving. Ned grunts standing up saying that his butt is numb for being seated. He lays on the bed I was previousñy sleeping in. I stand up and lurch to the chair.
My fingers lazily trace the wooden edge of the desk as I start swiveling side to side. Peter sighs and jumps, skillfully sticking himself on the ceiling. I grab the apple from the corner and start eating it.
"You were tired, huh?" Peter asks as I tilt my head to look at his upside-down face
"I'm not used to fighting on school nights or even flying on school nights... good thing your cells evolve faster, your organism is capable of doing more, you are not sore or tired, I saw how easily you did that crunches..."
Peter winces "So, are you in pain right now?"
"Nah..." I stand up pacing forward "... just a little... " I admit
Peter webs himself lower to the ground still upside down "Do you need like uh, a compress bag?"
I smirk at my idea "No, thanks... I just... Now that I think about it..."
"What?"
"Your cells evolve faster... human body is made of cells... cells are made of protein which is a molecule...where the DNA and RNA reside, molecules again... so molecules are made of atoms, right?"
Peter narrows his eyes reading my face "Yeah, yeah, sounds right to me"
I bounce on my feet and laugh "Maybe I can change myself on a molecular level, my cells will evolve as well"
"Oh right Tannie, your face is doing this thing... you look like a mad scientist. What you're saying it's true, completely but maybe it could be tricky. Promise me you won't experiment without me? please?"
I nod "Uhumm, of course"
Peter kindly smiles and webs himself again to the ceiling. I pace back to the bunk bed and look down at Ned.
"I'm so tired... of eating and not studying..." Ned whispers
"Well, you ca-"
*beep* *beep* *beep*
I jump to the hologram and grab it "They stopped"
Ned quickly sits upright wearing... Spider-Man's mask? Sideways I see Peter who webs himself down and spins to us to see the map in my hands.
"Maryland?" he says looking at the tracker
"What's there?" I ask him
he shrugs "I don't know. Evil lair?
"They have a lair?" Ned asks through the mask and I quirk my brow at him
"Dude. A gang with alien guns run by a guy with wings? Yeah, they have a lair" Peter explains and I catch how his upside-down hair waves for his sudden movement
Ned nods "Badass"
"But how are you gonna get there if it's, like, 300 miles away?" I ask him and Peter pokes my shoulder and points at a poster hanging beside his desk "Academic Decathlon?"
He flashes a simply grin and shrugs "it's not too far from D.C"
Ned claps and removes the mask "Let's do it!"
"I can't go... I'm not part of that thing..."
Ned turns to me and tilts his head "Just curious... you are so smart Tannie, why you're not there?"
Peter breathily laughs "I was thinking that too! Stop reading my mind, bro!"
"Well, haven't thought about but thanks tho..." I squeeze Ned's shoulder and sigh "I can help from here... you're gone for what? two days?"
"One and a half yeah..." Peter nods and tries to untangle himself from his own webs but fails and falls on his back "ouch..."
I snort and stand up beside him and lower my face to him "I'll see you in one day and a half... maybe less" I wink at him and wave at Ned "Need to go, kick asses on your decathlon"
I step to the street where the oud horns start beeping all over the streets. I take a cab and stare outside. I can't fight with fricking jeans... I need to make a new suit or something...