NEXT LEVEL|PETER PARKER (2)

1.6

They made it to Washington and picked out their rooms. Jessie shared a room with both Liz and Michelle. Michelle kept to herself and stayed focused on her drawings while Liz talked about how excited she was to be out of state.

"What are we going to do? Sit in here all day?" Liz asked as she paced back in forth in the room.

"We could go swimming," Jessie smirked and Liz's eyes widened.

"Yes! That's a great idea! I'll go tell the others," She raced out of the room. Michelle glared at Jessie and her thoughts were so loud that Jessie couldn't help but laugh.

"Don't be mad at me. You don't have to swim. It would just be nice if you did," Jessie smiled at her and Michelle rolled her eyes.

"I wouldn't be caught dead," She said. "But I'll come with just to hang," She looked down at her drawing pad again.

Liz came back and told them that the others agreed to go, so they got changed and Michelle didn't bother. Michelle opened the minibar to find a load of snacks. "Aw, hell yeah," She said excitedly and took them before handing some out.

Liz and Jessie went first to make sure the coast was clear and ran into Peter on the way to the pool. "Hey, Jess. Liz," Peter said nervously as he saw them in their swimsuits.

"Perfect timing," Liz said. "We're gonna go swimming," She told him before waving the others to follow. The other members raced past them and Flash smacked Peter's bottom as he ran past.

"I was uh, I was gonna go study in the business center," He told them. Only Jessie knew that was a lie. He actually planned to go find the men who had tried to kill him. She didn't want him to go for fear of him getting hurt or not getting back in time, but she was still mad at him so she decided to keep her mouth shut.

"Peter, you don't need to study. You're like the smartest guy I've ever met," Liz told him and Jessie sighed. She felt like she was interrupting a moment so she left.

She met Michelle down by the pool and sighed. "What's up?" Michelle asked her and Jessie shook her head.

"Nothing."

Meanwhile, when Peter watched as Jessie left, Liz sighed and grabbed his attention again. "If you want to talk to her then come join us. I see the way you look at each other. There's something there," She smiled encouragingly and Peter shook his head.

"I don't think she sees it that way," He told her honestly.

"You never know until you try," She winked before running off. Peter really thought about it.

He watched as Michelle pushed Jessie into the water and then how she splashed around with a huge grin on her face. He was glad she could still be happy even without her powers and wished he could be the reason for such a happy smile.

But he had to find out who these guys were and what they were doing with such powerful weapons.

-

The next day was the Decathlon and Liz woke up both Michelle and Jessie. They walked to the Decathlon together after getting dressed and put their phones into the bin before walking onto the stage.

They sat behind their table and answered question after question. Jessie answering a few but making sure to give her teammates all a chance. "We have now entered sudden death. The next correct answer wins the championship."

The question was a math equation and Michelle was amazing at Math. Jessie smiled as Michelle pressed her button. "Midtown Tech?"

"Zero," Michelle shrugged as if it were obvious.