Adventures in Babysitting ↠ Peter Parker [1] ✓

17 | Party Trick

   "I can't believe you guys are at this lame party," Riley overheard Michelle say. Michelle had been holding a piece of toast as she spoke to Ned and Peter.

   Riley tried not to physically frown when she saw Peter, knowing that he was still ignoring her to an extent due to what happened.

   "But you're here, too," Ned pointed out.

   Michelle narrowed her eyes. "Am I?" Then, she took a bite out of her toast and walked away, a book clad under her arm.

   Riley was about to go after her, but she had to keep reminding herself that she needed to fix things with Peter.

   Nodding toward Liz after she had just greeted the boys, Ned hissed, "Dude, what are you doing? She's here. Spider it up!"

   "No, no, no. I can't—I cannot do this," Peter stammered. "Spider-Man is not a party trick, okay? Look, I'm just gonna be myself."

   "Peter, no one wants that."

   "...Dude."

   Riley raised an eyebrow at their interaction. Did Peter tell Ned about his secret identity?

   With that being said, Peter took only one step forward before Flash Thompson started to blare airhorn effects, followed by numerous roasts toward Peter. "Penis Parker! What's up?" Flash yelled. "So where's your pal Spider-Man? Let me guess: in Canada with your imaginary girlfriend? That's not Spider-Man; that's just Ned in a red shirt!"

   Peter sighed, but Ned just gave him two thumbs up and walked away after saying, "I'm gonna go tell everyone you're calling Spider-Man!"

   Once Ned left, Peter started to make his way out of the party, but Riley stopped him before anything else.

   "Hey, are you actually doing this?" she asked, her voice filled with concern. "Weren't you the one that said Spider-Man isn't a party trick?"

   Peter hesitated, lips pressed together. "I know, but... I... I guess I'm just tired of being treated like a joke."

   She nodded slowly, deemed speechless for a moment, leaving the two teenagers to awkwardly stand before one another. It was almost as though the other wanted to say something, but they didn't know what to say.

   Reaching into his back pocket, Peter pulled out a small, folded-up object. "You... You dropped this the other night. I figured you would want it back." He cleared his throat as she took it, unfolding it carefully to reveal the faded image of her family. "I didn't realize you were telling the truth about your parents."

   She gave him a sad smile. "You'd be surprised at how much of our friendship was real," she mumbled. "If you're gonna do this, you should go now."

   That was the end of their conversation. They parted ways, feeling even more unsure about the other than before.

   Riley decided to go around making sure everyone knew that Peter Parker had gone to "find" Spider-Man. Although they had hit a rut in their friendship, she was determined to make things right.

   In the midst of talking to another person who had been skeptical about Peter knowing Spider-Man, Ned pulled Riley to the side, saying, "Oh, you and Peter must be on the same page, right? Hey, just out of curiosity, do you have a guy in the chair?"

   Riley eyed him. "...What are you talking about, Ned?"

   "I keep trying to tell Peter that Spider-Man needs a guy in the chair and how Valor probably has one, but then we kept talking about it and we realized that neither of us actually know if you do, so—"

   "Hang on," interrupted Riley with widened brown eyes. She stood straight with alarm coursing through her veins. "What!? He told you!?"

   Ned slapped his hand over his mouth. "I... Um... Well..."

   Riley ran a hand through her raven hair. "Dammit, Peter! Did he tell anyone else? You better be telling the truth or, I swear to God, I'll—"

   "No, no, no! I—He—We didn't tell anyone else! Honest! It was the night you two got in that fight and he was really upset and I was there when he got home and I saw him in his suit," rambled Ned, "and then he ranted about you and then he talked about how cool it was that he was friends with Valor and... I should stop talking now."

   Sighing, Riley unhappily said, "It's fine, Ned. Just... Please don't tell anyone, okay? I'm already on thin ice with Peter knowing everything."

   Ned saluted her. "Roger that, Miss Valor!"

   Snorting, Riley pulled his hand down from where it had been raised. "You don't have to salute me," she told him. "Just Cap."

   With that, Riley turned on her heel to find Michelle or something else to entertain her. Ned's eyes widened as she said that. "Wait, Captain America!?" he exclaimed. "Riley? Riley!? Wait! Is he cool in real life? Riley!"