Chapter 21
Next day Principal Morita talked to us about the importance of studying and how we are nice and smart kids. Classes were ok and detention was last. Once again we watched the video of Captain America and his "cool" jokes. Michelle kindly handed me a sketch of my face with a grumpy expression. When I arrived from school my dad allowed me to do my homework but when I finished it he dragged me to his lab to start studying my powers.
Much to his dismay, my mom forced us to stop working on whatever we were doing there, by the way, he was surprised of what I can do and even if he admits or not, the notes Peter made when we were experimenting, were useful.
Next day was tolerable, Harley brought me cookies so you know what they say: One cookie a day keeps the sadness away or however, that goes... then at music Ned surprised Peter and me with his Lego thingy. Knowing me, I was following the manual but in just half an hour they build it and finally fricking detention. Honestly, I prefer to bear the load of work my dad obliges me to do in his lab rather than stay seated in detention hearing how Steve tries to be the good cop with us.
On Thursday, my mood was getting higher. I was once again focused on my homework but also focused on Peter. It was at fifth period when I realized I was staring at him, I mean, I've been staring at him in the other periods too but right now I'm creepily staring at him. Watching how his brows curve or his lips purse in a thin line, how he is playing with his stupid pen that says " Mr. Spock has a right ear, a left ear, and a final front ear". And that hair that falls perfectly in his forehead and that blue in the Midtown sweatshirt he's wearing... oh man probably I look so creepy right no-
"Miss Stark!" the teacher wakes me up "...care to tell us what type of vector this is" he points at the board and I sigh
"Yes, it's an Eigenvector, there's no scalar factor there" I speak up and the teacher nods leaving me in peace
I spin to Peter with the intention of daydreaming but he's looking at me with his thumbs up for my correct answer, I smile to him and probably that just made my Thursday better. Peter asks to go to the bathroom as I start focusing on the exercises. When he comes back, he hands the teacher the Hall Pass and cheerfully slumps in his seat.
I quirk my brow "umm did you met Stephen Hawking on the way to the bathroom?"
He shakes his head suppressing a smile "Nope... just happy... because I have a date for Homecoming"
I gasp "Stephen Hawking said yes?!"
Peter shyly laughs and tilts his head to me "Liz Toomes said yes" he whispers "I told her I like her, she said she knew that..."
My smile instantly drops as I rub my forehead
"I uh, totally forgot about Homecoming... it's this Saturday right?" he nods and I playfully poke his shoulder "I'm happy for you! Now only you need to learn how to dance"
"Ha-ha May has good moves... hey, you're coming right?"
I rapidly nod turning my eyes to my notebook "oh... yes, yeah"
"With who? please don't say Flash, please don't say Flash. I heard him talking about asking you!"
I cringe and wrinkle my nose "God no! I'm going with Harley"
Make him jealous!
"Oh yeah, he is a great dancer and he likes... uhum to dance and ... potatoes" I mutter and internally I slap myself
"Great! we can like double-date? or maybe double dance? I don't know how Homecoming works" he offers and I nod
The teacher shushes and threatens us to send us to detention but we're already there so, give me your best shot. When I arrive at my house I join my dad at his lab munching a protein bar knowing very well this is going to be the only source of food until night. I step inside and see him swiveling in his chair.
"Hey, T... I'm here uh finishing your gloves... No offense but the ones you designed is just synthetic fabric.... Mine are better end of story"
I hum and walk closer to the other glove seeing the metal layers and the shine it emits
"What re they made of?"
"Iron and cotton, quite comfortable... they have this part at the palm that bears the rays you flash, for maximum control"
I open my mouth to say something but he tuts his mouth at me "... and before you say something, no, it doesn't mean you are getting your suit back nor that you can pursue a career as a superhero... is just for emergencies"
I shrug and sit next to him "So, I'm supposed to come all the way to the house whenever I have an emergency?"
"Who do you think I am?... I already installed software that you can control with your body. You know, like summon the suit"
"huh? how? Oh no... did you injected me with those chips an-"
"-Just call for your suit T..." he smirks not denying nor confirming he did it "in your head, come on"
I focus as I "call for my suit" and I see how the clothing floats towards me and I see my dad with confusion.
"Your brain radiates an electrical field, with your powers it's stronger, your suit receives those signals and goes to you" he explains and the gloves instantly slide into my hands
I smile admiring them "... really comfortable. Thanks."
The gloves in a swift motion slide away and the suit float inside a closet. Well, I think that's the nearest I'll it from me. He nods and slumps in his chair. I stroll around his lab tracing my fingers over the various papers and metal parts.
"Just wait and then we're going to train..." He mumbles twisting a screwdriver
I stay silent and walk behind him leaning forward to see what he's doing.
"What do you want?" he says working on some cables "I sense you're about to ask for something and I'm gonna say no"
"Homecoming is this Saturday..."
He lifts his head as I walk beside him. He blinks and winces "Wait wha... I thought you were going to ask me for a Laser weapon system or a chemistry kit"
"No... I don't need a Laser weapon sys... ok, it's Homecoming, and I was invited, you know? dancing and..."
"Hormones... yeah, I skipped high school but I know about it" he nods "...invited huh? who?"
I cross my arms and sigh "Harley"
"That kid hasn't annoyed you yet? I'm surprised... yeah, ok, you go and you come home"
A pair of heels rumbles in the hallway. My dad swivels to look at the doors and deeply inhales
"HEY! PEP! OUR DAUGHTER'S GOING TO HOMECOMING!"
The heels stop and her blonde hair appears behind the door with a big cheesy smile plastered in her face.
"What? is that boy Peter taking you?"
My cheeks feel hot in a flash as I clear my throat and shake my head "No mom, another guy... Harley" I say and she nods stepping inside the lab
"a Junior" my dad adds clicking his tongue
Her eyes widen as she leans against the table in front of my dad "Well, we can go shopping right? when is it?"
"This Saturday"
My dad throws his head back and eyes me upside down "Who's gonna take you? is he giving you a ride on the subway or something?"
"I need to ask him that and yes, I want to go shopping with you mom" her eyes lit up and she grabs my hand taking me away
"Hey! no! I need her for something!!" my dad shouts at us
My mom stops in her tracks as she spins to look at my dad "uh uh Tony, she's mine too you know?"
The rest of the day we went to find a perfect dress for me, my mom made me some suggestions but my eye stopped at this beautiful dress. (A/N: at the end of this chapter there's a pic of how I imagine the dress. You can imagine it as you wish :) Later on, we found the shoes and then the accessories. We ended our day together eating tacos. This was a great distraction for my heart and mind to stop thinking about Peter and Liz going to Homecoming together. I mean, I should be happy for him. In a way, I am because he's so brave and now he told her he likes her... I just can imagine how happy he must be right now. That toothy smile is in his face because he thinks about her. Ok, see? I can't even stop thinking about him. The mere mention of his name makes me start thinking and thinking. But... on the other hand... she doesn't know him how I do, right?She's unaware of those little details of his life that make Peter being Peter Parker.
Huh, I feel better for that... To end my end I talked to Harley who stuttered through the line too excited for Homecoming, his mom would be the one dropping us and he told me that he already bought my corsage. With a roll to my side feeling the cold bedlinen I sigh. Social interactions, suck.
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Next day was almost a blur for me. Peter holding a sheepishly smile on his face each time he looked at the Homecoming cardboards. Ned debating to ask Betty Brandt but at the end decided he wanted to wait. To shake my thoughts away from that cute brunette beside me, I opted to spend recess with Harley that on our way to the bleachers accidentally spanked Flash who was passing by. An unforgettable moment that made me laugh until I got a six-pack.
Detention happened next where I talked to Michelle, I mean talk? Maybe more like trading sneer comments at each other and earning an "I think I almost like talking to you, Tannie". In the end, I offered Peter a ride but he told me he was going to buy a tie for his suit. With the final promise of meeting each other tomorrow at the doors of the gym.
"Hey Happy"
"mmm" Happy murmurs still not talking to me and starting the engine
I smirk and take a deep breath "Well, I have a very boring day, I hope yours was ok... by the way I think I'm going to kiss Harley tomorrow" I casually state and he abruptly stops the car turning his head to me
"What did you just say?"
I snort settling in the seat "oh, so you're talking to me now?"
"I swear to God Tannie Stark that if you kiss that boy... I... I"
I snort louder "Not even on the cheek?" I innocently say "...please talk to me Happy!"
"ooh yeah, uhum... like you talked to me huh? 'Hello Happy, you know what? I have powers and I fight criminals now, algebra was good but not as good as splitting ferries in half!' "
I roll my eyes and grunt "You're hilarious..."
He drops me off and I start doing my homework. My dad then arrives curiously peeking what I'm writing but then almost ripping some pages of one of my books for the speed he pushed me out of the room. The training is basic but still, he asks me to show him what can I do. He measures and tabulates and also dictating FRIDAY some numbers. Then he made me sit down to take a sample of my blood. Several pinches later because he IS NOT A DOCTOR! and couldn't find my vein. We began working and examining different theories he has about my powers and then he asked me to help him wiring some cables from his suit. Father and daughter bonding time.
"Tony! you're seriously not overworking her right?" my mom steps into the lab making us turn to look at her in sync "it's almost midnight!!"
My dad gasps "We already ate, we order pizza see?" he points to the empty pizza box
She flashes him a look and grabs my arm making me stand up "Tony, she's having her Homecoming dance tomorrow and she's going to have eye bags... what are you working on?" she peeks her head and my dad looks up
"umm she's helping me with some tech things... the last moving is tomorrow at night so I need everything ready"
"I'm fine, I don't need sleep" I state and my mom points a finger at him
"Did you give her coffee?"
My dad shakes his head and looks at me to not say anything "Uh, you know what? Yeah go and sleep. Your mom's right... eye bags are horrible, she knows for experience"
I open my mouth in shock and my mom slaps his arm for the comment but he laughs.
I slump in my bed, my stomach twisting in excitement. It's going to be a night to remember, I'm sure of it.
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I wake up feeling great, no school just a normal Midtown Homecoming. I didn't go last year because well, wasn't in the mood and even though people did ask me, I still wasn't in the mood. But hey, today all the people I know will be wearing fancy clothes and people will be dancing, smuggling alcohol into the punch... or at least that's what I heard last year.
I change to my workout clothes and stride to the gym. One hour and a half later I dive into the lap pool to relax my muscles. Then I showered and headed to the kitchen to have a big breakfast. Then to the TV, blah, blah, cartoons and finally I started preparing all the dress and the little things I'll be wearing tonight. For that moment on I began the self-care routine that consisted of not using my phone, not stressing about the lecture I haven't read or the constant thoughts of Peter in a suit and how I'm going to see him dancing with Liz while he places his hand on her waist as they flirt. Yeah, nothing related to that.
13:50
15:23
17:12
18:20
Ok, I think I should start preparing myself now. I make my hair trying to follow a tutorial but amazingly failing at it so I only create light curls and clip it at the back of my head. I start applying makeup and Oh man, what a hottie. I snort and wink at myself. I step into my dress and zip it by the side, then my medium heels as I stand in front of the mirror and shake my head in disbelief.
"Is that you Tannie Stark?... oh yes, it's me, I look great, huh?... yes you do!" I say pretending I'm talking with someone but I hear a small chuckle and turn to see my dad leaning on my door
"Beautiful..." he smiles and then points his finger at me "once the last song ends, you're coming here"
I huff "Yes, dad" I look at the small black suitcase beside him "where are you going?"
"Uh, something about climate change meeting in Finland but I'll be there for just three days... The jet is waiting outside"
I only nod as the crashing of heels echo in the hall "Hey, hey, is she gone?" My mom's heels stop beside my dad as she pushes him to the side "Oh, baby, you look so pretty!"
I smile and wink at her
she bounces on her feet "Is he here?"
"ummm... yeah, he probably is outside waiting now..." I grab my clutch and head to the entrance, my mom and dad following me
"Tell him to come inside!" my mom chirps
"Nope, bad idea sweetheart, we embarrass her" my dad adds but I spin to them
I point to my mom "you don't" then I point to my dad "you do" He dramatically gasps but I squeeze his shoulder "I'll call you when I'm heading back ok?"
They both nod and I start striding away seeing the glimmering lights of the car parked in front. I wave goodbye at them and with a final wave, I finally step closer to them. I quickly scan him in the glim lights of the night. Perfectly ironed black suit and a contrasting white handkerchief. And finally, his messy blonde hair is brushed back with a light coat of gel. He swallows as he steps closer to me.
"I'm sorry, I'm waiting for Tannie Stark, have you seen her?"
I shrug and shake my head "She's not here, guess I'm coming with you"
He snorts and hands me a light pink corsage "for you..." he opens the box and puts it right above the bracelet he gave me
Suddenly I hear the flash of a camera and both of us turn to look at his mom in front of the wheel taking a picture of us.
"Mom, come on.."
I wave at her leaning forward to place a kiss on her cheek "Hey Mrs. Reeves!"
"Hello sweet cheeks, you look mesmerizing, last time I tell you to call me Susan" she unlocks the door and Harvey opens the back door for me to get in
I step inside and move near the window. Harvey closes the door and the car begins moving.
"You look really pretty" Harley whispers making me spin to him
"And I'm starting to feel you are not Harley... but thanks anyway... you look handsome"
The whole drive Susan narrated us her favorite Homecomings. Minutes later when we approached the school grounds I smile seeing how different it looks at night, balloons decorating the entrance and stairs, many people outside talking or waiting for their friends.
Susan spins to us and sighs "Looks like this guy is not moving, is that ok for you to walk from here?"
"Of course, thanks for driving" I smile at her and Harley opens the door
He offers me his hand and I step out. The breeze fresh against my bare legs and my heels hitting the pavement, the low music can be heard all the way to where we are. Harley lowers himself to say something to his mom and the horn of other cars makes me jump back. The dude in front of Susan's car is still not moving.
"Harley! Dude you cam-"
I spin to see how his friends greet him so I start walking to the stairs careful of not tripping over for the heels. My head bumps with someone and I look up trying to apologize. Oh, it's Peter...
I start smiling seeing him so fancy but my lips drop as I notice his stiff posture, how his jaw tenses, a rush of tears threatening to roll over his cheeks and his eyes, brown orb lost in the crowd behind me. He looks at me and shakes his head, touching my shoulder to see if I'm really there. His throat throbs and gently he pushes me forward in front of the car he just got out of. The lights hit my face as I cover my eyes to look at him. I twist my face in confusion but Peter moves his eyes so I follow his eye line... My eyes adjust to the blinding lights and stop in the driv.. oh no, shit... what?
Oh my God. It's him
In a swift move, Peter strides to the beginning of the stairs. I open my mouth seeing how the car goes away.
"Peter hi!" Harley appears behind me and palms his shoulder "Tyler and Sam are there, I'll see you inside?"
I wait for him to get inside the school and my chest feels heavier than ever
"Peter... that's..."
He sniffs "it's Liz's dad, Tannie... we need to uh... go inside"
I walk beside him to the gym, my eyes not moving away from his absentmindedly walk. As soon as we reach the gym doors Peter stops and sighs. I scan inside, people already dancing having the time of their lives. Ned spots us and cheerfully waves at us and Michelle kindly gives us the finger. I spin to Peter and gulp.
"I-I think we need to do something"
"yeah, I know... oh, god" he touches his nose bridge
I lift my leg moving the strap of my heel and then rub my forehead "We need a plan..."
"Nice dress..." he whispers
"Huh?" I turn to look at him, slow blinks now and there
"Nice dress" he repeats but I step closer and grab him from his shoulder
"Yeah, nice tie knot. Come on Peter..."
He slightly wakes up and he opens the door for me to enter, blaring music and laughs.
"I'm going to speak to Liz and I'll meet you at that door" he points and I only nod
He disappears into the crowd of people dancing as I start searching for Harvey. I take out my phone calling him but he's not answering. Oh well... I send him a text saying I got sick and threw up in a trash can. Yes, extreme times call for extreme measures. I run to the doors he pointed and before I could spin to see where he is, he crashes next to me grabbing my arm.
We run as fast as we can through the hall. Both of us panting and our steps louder against the tiles. We stop in front of the pile of lockers
"Wha-what's our plan?" I ask him while he grunts tugging his tie with shaky fingers
"ugh stupid Windsor knot!"
I slap them away and start untying it "Wait...wait... wait...mmm got it!"
He mouths a breathy thank you and lifts the row of lockers to grab his homemade suit.
There's not even time for me to call the suit, not even time for me to change. It's only going to delay everything. I guess I'll stay in this dress. Because criminals won't wait... We run again but while doing it I vaporize those heels and change my appearance. Peter hastily slides inside a broom closet to change. Outside, I change the color of the dress to a black shade. Seconds later, he opens the door and I throw my clutch where his clothes are and shut the door.
"oh, let's go, back door!" Peter grabs my arm and we start running to the end of the school
We finally spot the door and we quickly crash into it stepping into the parking place. As we are about to round a school bus, someone shocks us from behind tossing us to the concrete. I groan in pain but stretch my arms to start hitting the oh-so-familiar man.
"He gave you a choice. You chose wrong"
Peter is laying on the floor next to me searching for his web-shooters "ah what the hell...Quantum..."
"What's with the crappy costume both of you..."
I pinch my lips as I run to him trying to smash him to the floor as he did it with us but he trows that teaser at my chest slamming me against a bus. I land on my hands and mutter an 'ouch' trying to stand on my feet.
"Quantum! my web-shooters...!" Peter yells and I begin to create a force field to the small artifacts but an instant boom makes me spin seeing how a bus slides to us.
There's no time for me to turn it to dust so I shut my eyes preparing for the impact but someone embraces me and the bus hits us on our side, I tighten my grip and we fly away only to again being slammed on another bus. Seriously man? I begin levitating inches from the floor
"I wasn't sure about this thing at first" the man looks at the teaser
"Good... it doesn't suit you" I start hitting him with various rays, he runs to where Peter is successfully throwing him inside a bus so I hit him throwing his body to the side of the bus
He squeals in pain and grips his teaser "Ugh... your turn lady... get down here come on..."
As you wish... I land and begin running to him, creating a small force field and slamming him on the floor. But he manages to grab my ankles making me fall on my back. I flinch at the sting on my stomach, he's kicking me and a whimper of pain escapes my lips. He lets me there as he runs to the bus Peter was thrown in. He punches the bus into the air forming a loud 'pllllffssh!' and glass shattering in the lot.
I trip over my feet trying to stand straight. Peter falls out of the bus crawling to his web-shooters. I don't hesitate and run to him to help him stand up.
"You're bleeding!" he whimpers looking at me
I shift his weight on my side and look at the man inches from us "Why did he send you here!?"
He smirks at us "Guess you'll never know"
But then a web attaches to the gauntlet and we spin to see who shot it.
"Nice shot!!" Peter and I say in unison
Peter pulls the web-shooter to himself and traps the man against the school bus with a web blast. I hobble to where his gauntlet is and turn it into dust. Peter jumps and makes me stride with him to Ned.
"Ned, the guy with the wings is Liz's dad!"
His jaw goes slack "What?!"
Peter nods "I know, man! we ne-"
"We need to tell my dad" I finish and Peter rapidly nods
"Call Happy Hogan. He's Mr. Stark's head of security. And, uh, get a computer to track my phone for me... let's go, Tannie!"
I start levitating, Ned's face couldn't be more in shock. I start flying to where Peter is flipping and gracefully landing in a streetlight.
"Are you going to be ok?" Ned shouts behind us
"YES!!"
"Hurry, we gotta catch him before he leaves town!!!"
I fly following Peter's swings "Where now?"
He stops and looks all around us "Uh... we need a car... there!" he points to a car arriving to the school
I fly faster as Peter flips three times in the air and our feet land on the bonnet of a convertible that instantly stops. We both look at the driver... oh this is great.
"Flash..." Peter makes a grave voice "We need your car and your phone"
"Please..." I finish
"Uh, sir, Miss, technically, this is my dad's car. So I can't..." he gulps looking at my unperplexed face and then back at Peter "ok, ok, come on Trish" he opens the door and runs to the street, the girl also steps out and we sit down.
He pants starting the engine and not so delicately turns the car to the other direction and he pushes the accelerator like a mad man hitting a row of bikes.
I gasp seeing how he starts dodging several cars in front of us "Uh, haven't you take your driving course?!"
"May doesn't want me... maybe next year, hey can you call Ned?"
"Uhum..." I grab the phone that fortunately is not locked and start dialing putting in on speaker
Peter tilts his head getting closer to the phone "Hello, Ned? Hey, hey, hey, hey, can you hear me!!"
I slap his arm and signal him to focus on not killing us
"Go for Ned" he replies
"Ned, I need you to track my phone for me! I left it intentionally at Toomes's car!!"
"Genius move. Okay, he just passed the GameStop on Jackson Avenue" Ned says "Where's Tannie, is she alive? did you see how she was flying?!"
"right here, Ned!"
Peter spins to look at me "Hey, where are the headlights on this thing?" I shrug "We're in Flash's car!"
"I'll pull the specs!" Ned mentions
"Okay, you're on speakerphone!"
"You stole Flash's car. Awesome!"
"Yeah, it's awesome" Peter stiffs trying to balance the wheel
"it's aw... WHOA! WHOA!!" I yell seeing how we nearly crash into a bus, the car sharply dodges it but now is over the pavement "Get out of the way! get out of the way!" I shout at the people there
"Guys are you ok?" Ned gasps through the line
"I've never really driven before! Only with May in parking lots. This is a huge step up... do you know how to drive Tannie?" he looks at me moving the wheel too much
"Uh-uh, Happy showed me once but I'm not a pro" I say and then gasp "TURN TURN TURN!" I shout and Peter forces the car to turn to the left
"Hey, talking about Happy... have you gotten through to Happy yet?"
"Yeah. I'm working on it. I just gotta backdoor the phone system" Ned says "...guy in the chair..."
I grip the seat with my spare hand "Hey, Ned, how we coming on with those headlights?"
"Uh... Round knob to the left of the steering wheel, turn clockwise" he answers and I do what he says successfully turning the lights
"Okay. Okay, perfect! thanks!"
Peter quickly turns to the left "So where's my phone now?"
"Uh, he stopped in an old industrial park in Brooklyn..."
"What? That makes no sense. I thought he said he was going out of town!" he shouts and starts dogging cars
"Weird. Oh, I reached Mr. Happy. Don't think he likes you, by the way. Doe she like you Tannie?... never mind, It sounded like he was catching a flight. He said something about taking off in nine minutes" Ned explains and I start processing it
"What?" Peter confusedly asks
"He was surrounded by a bunch of boxes"
and it hit me
"Boxes? Peter! It's moving day. It's moving day! It's moving day!!" I start jumping in the seat making Peter spin to me
his eyes widened inside his goggles and the car goes faster "Oh my God, He's gonna rob that plane! We need to stop him!"
I nod feeling how my chest sinks into the seat for the fast speed we're going. I look around and notice that we haven't even put the seatbelts on. I spin to look at Peter and cross my arm and tug it around his chest. He looks at me and what I'm doing.
"Good thinking... thanks!" I nod and then put my seatbelt on
As soon as we enter an empty area of Brooklyn, the car goes faster. If that's even possible, the engine roaring each second
"Okay, slow down. You're getting close..." Ned says "it's on your right!!!"
"WHAT?!" Peter says almost passing the turn
Oh fuck
"Turn right! Turn right!" I yell
Peter shoots his web to make a sharp turn and I slam on the seat by the force of the turn. We start screaming, it's like a Fast & Furious scene. The car crashes on a water outlet, then into a streetlight and the car is almost overturned by my side. I start screaming seeing the pavement inches from my face. The creaking noise of the car getting shattered as it slides down the road and finally screeches to a stop. I gulp feeling my stomach turn.
"Guys! are you ok?" Ned asks as I feel my dry mouth
"Tannie are you ok?!" Peter unbuckles his seatbelt and I wake up from the shock
"Just, never drive again..." I mutter unbuckling the seatbelt and jumping out of the car
"Ned, Just keep trying to get through to Happy!"
We start walking away to the building and Peter joins my side
"Are you ready?" he asks between wheezes
"Hell yes"