Adventures in Babysitting ↠ Peter Parker [1] ✓

17 | Party Trick

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ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING
xvii. PARTY TRICK

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  RILEY O'DAIR KNEW LOTS of things, which made her intuitive to an extent. She could see a lot of things coming most of the time, too. This was fairly helpful when it came to being an Avenger. However, if there was one thing she didn't see coming, it was befriending Michelle Jones.

   Don't get her wrong; there wasn't anything wrong with Michelle Jones. If anything, Riley thought Michelle was really cool in the way that she was so authentic to herself and didn't really care about what others thought of her. Michelle did whatever Michelle felt like doing.

   Holding one foot down with one hand and a book in the other, Michelle Jones multitasked by reading and listening to Riley talk about various things whilst doing sit-ups. That seemed to be how their friendship worked: Riley did the talking while Michelle did the listening. Though, sometimes, Michelle would always chime in with a comment or two that would keep the conversation smoothly sailing.

   "So are you going to Liz's party tonight?" Riley wondered out of curiosity.

   Michelle furrowed her eyebrows together, continuing to watch Riley do sit-ups. "Do I look like someone who goes to parties?" Michelle responded.

   "Well, no," said Riley, propping herself up on her elbows. She hadn't even broken a sweat. "But isn't that what you do? You know, do things for the irony of it? Come on, it'll be fun!"

   Michelle lowered her book, a thoughtful expression on her face. "The fact that you know me so well is a little alarming," commented Michelle.

   "I'm not obsessed with you," she mocked. "I'm just very observant."

   This was true, despite the joke she had been making. What kind of agent would she be if she wasn't observant?

   "If I die at this party, I blame you."

   "They're just teenagers, MJ," assured Riley. "Honestly, the fact that you're more afraid of them than the party is concerning."

   "I'm not afraid of them. I'm afraid of capitalism," Michelle declared before sighing. "Fine, I'll go. Just for you."

   Riley grinned widely. "Yes! I'm telling you, it'll be fun. Plus, there's always free food at parties. You have nothing to worry about—"

   "Peter knows Spider-Man!"

   Silence slapped the entire gymnasium within nanoseconds. Riley's eyes widened slightly as she and Michelle turned to see Peter stand up from where he had been doing his sit-ups. Ned scrambled after him.