Blue Flame, Gwen Stacy

11. Ivy Joins a Cult

By the end of their mini tour, they had reached Miguel's main office of sorts and she couldn't help but blurt out. "Did I just sign up for a cult?"

Miguel looked at her weirdly, as if she had just said the most absurd thing he had ever heard. "We're not a cult—"

Ivy cut him off before he could continue. "Because the way things go here really seem like a cult. If you end up asking me to do something crazy like, going on a man hunt for a sane person, best believe I won't be following."

Miguel sighed. "Look, kid, if you want to go back home that's okay—"

"I'll stay in your cult for a while," she interrupted him again, flashing him a cheeky smile. "but I do have free reign to leave whenever, right?"

The man eyed her warily, just for a second before nodding.

"Thank you, Mr. Miguel."

• ────── ✾ ────── •

Ivy arrived at Natty's dinner ten minutes late. By now, her best friend was used to her being late or having to skip plans last minute because someone just wants to rob the jewelry store down the block so badly. It still didn't make her feel any better for missing out on a special day like this.

She quickly buttoned up the rest of her cardigan after she rang the doorbell, praying silently that her best friend wouldn't rip her hair out. A warm light peaked into the halls and Ivy immediately began spouting apologies. "Nat, I'm so sorry—"

"Ah, you're just in time, Ivory." Natty's dad beamed at her, interrupting her practiced words.

She stared blankly at him, her mind not fully grasping the situation. "Oh, hello to you, too, Mr. Blake."

Mr. Blake, who was also captain of the police station, invited her inside their apartment. Ivy instinctively took her shoes off, placing them near the door. She had been to their floor about a hundred times, so each turn and room was burned to memory by now. Natty sat by her usual side of the table and shot her a knowing smile, as if amused by her confused expression.

The smile her mother gave her was utterly different, warm and welcoming as she pulled a chair out for her. "Sit, sit."

"Smart, aren't I?" Natty whispered, shooting her a sly smirk as she sat down.

Ivy played along, a light huff leaving her lips. "Very clever, you should do it more often."

Dinner at the Blakes was always nice. A lot of failed dad jokes, melodramatic neighborhood (or apartmenthood) gossip, and actual gossip from school. They were also surprisingly good with family dinners or meals in general, for a white family at least.

Natty practically begged her to stay the night, claiming it had been far too long since they had a proper girl's night, and who was she to deny her best friend?

So there they were, laying on Natty's bed with facemasks and nail polish across the bed. Ivy's hair had been pulled back into a bun and Natty kept hers in a french braid. A half eaten pasta salad sat on the fold out bed table, along with two cups of green tea. Her phone was connected to a vinyl inspired speaker Natty had, playing Taylor Swift's most recent album. 

"So, where did you go?" her best friend asked as she blew her nails dry. "More importantly, where did that scarecrow guy go?"

Ivy dismissed her worries with the wave of her hand. "He's gone, no need to worry about him anymore. And as to where I went..." she hesitated on telling her, wondering if it was breaking the rules of the society. But Miguel hadn't made her sign an NDA, so that was his fault. "You're not gonna believe me on this one."

"Oh, I probably will. I've watched enough episodes of Supernatural so, hit me."

Ivy was mildly surprised at how well Natty was taking all of this. Even believing her best friend was the city's own vigilante had gone over well with her. She nodded along at every cool fact she had learned, at every absurd version of the spider vigilante Ivy had seen during her little time at the Headquarters.

The topic soon changed to their daily sessions of lovers drama, where Natty rants about all the boys that tried to ask for her number and Ivy attempts to erase all possibilities of her heart fluttering over her friend across the universe (keyword, attempt).

Natty turned to her with a certain gleam in her eye, one she always had when she's excited or had a large batch of gossip. "So, you know the guy I went to find on new years eve?" Her smile grew even wider with each nod Ivy gave her. "Well, he texted me right before you came in and asked me out on a date!"

"Oh my god, really?" Ivy tilted her head, eyes wide and ready to congratulate her friend before a thought stopped her. "Did he wish you a happy birthday today?"

Natty paused half way through scooping her pasta salad, the elated expression faltering as she shakes her head. No.

"Ditch him," Ivy said, filing the ends of her nails.

A pout soon took over her features. "But that would be rude, V. I can just stand him up,"

The dark haired girl rolled her eyes, grabbing the nude shade of pink nail polish on a small table the two had dragged into the room. "Fine, give him a chance. But if he barely reaches the bare minimum—"

"I know, I'll ditch him."

By the end of the night, Ivy was still wide awake with a nagging feeling she couldn't quite put her finger on. She felt amazing, being invited to a multiversal spider organization that worked together for the better good. But something in the back of her mind told her things would go wrong at some point, the true nature of the society showing itself, and she couldn't help but agree.

author's note!

not a very long chapter, very much unedited and not proofread. i just wanted to get something out for you guys.

also it hasn't even been a week since i'm back to school and it's already a pain in my ass ughhh so that's partially a reason for the length of this chapter. y'all better wish me luck bc i'm running for vice president on the student council and it's against TWO popular ppl...

anygays, i love you sm and hope you have a nice back to school season <333