Adventures in Babysitting ↠ Peter Parker [1] ✓

18 | Midnight Surprise

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ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING
xviii. MIDNIGHT SURPRISE

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  THE WEEKEND OF THE Academic Decathlon snuck up on the students of Midtown High. Riley's time in high school was flying by. She wasn't sure what exactly she was expecting from this mission, but ending up in Washington D.C. to participate in some nerd competition was certainly not what she was anticipating.

  She was in Washington, standing outside one of the many hotel rooms assigned to her and her classmates. She leaned against the wall, yellow school blazer clad on her body after a long day of studying with the others. The Decathlon was in less than 24 hours and instead of taking it easy before tensions shot skyward in the morning, she was getting yelled at by her so-called legal guardian.

  "Can you stop yelling at me and tell me why you're so upset in the first place? Seriously, I haven't seen you with this much energy since Pepper tried to offer you a Motrin for your hangover," Riley scoffed. 

  "The kid got the smart idea to go after the guy making those weapons that I told you about," Tony explained. "He nearly drowned the other night from the whole thing!"

   "Technically, you didn't tell me about the weapons; Peter did," Riley corrected. "He's a lot smarter than you all think he is. Trust me. Anyway, why are you so worked up?"

  "That's the thing! I know he's smarter than everyone thinks he is," Tony rambled. "I just don't want him to get hurt before he's ready to take on real enemies. He kept going on and on about how you've fought aliens and robots before becoming an adult. He just doesn't realize that you were born into this life. He's too young!"

  Tony was trying not to show he cared too much about Peter, and he was failing miserably. Peter had grown obsessed with some guy with wings and his highly advanced weaponry. Riley didn't know too much about it, only the very few details he mentioned to her in passing, but she figured he could handle it himself.  

   "I literally got my ass handed to me by a God before I was a teenager," Riley pointed out. "But if I can do that and walk away somewhat normally, I'm sure Peter can handle some guy with wings. Either way, he last-minute decided that he wanted to come with the Decathlon team to DC this morning, so I doubt he's planning anything. You don't have anything to worry about, Dad."

   She froze.

  Dad.

   She quickly added, "Okay, I'm gonna go. Bye!"

  "Wait, Riley—"

   With wide eyes, she smashed the red button that would end the call, shoving her phone into her pocket. Riley shook her head. It was just the slip of the tongue, Riley told herself.