𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 [𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐫]

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲

The weekend passed and Monday rolled around. Madison had spent that Saturday with Michelle, getting to know her and what she was like.

When Madison came home Sunday morning, her father was there and she told him everything. Tony hugged her and talked with her all day, never leaving her side. The two spent the whole day together, and it made Madison feel better.

But sadly the good day had to end, and Madison had to go back to her new school. She was walking in the hall with Liz; explaining everything that had happened at the party.

Once she had finished, Liz practically had tears in her eyes, "I am so sorry. I didn't know that would happen."

"Neither did I, but it did," Madison shrugged, "It was terrifying. But I'm okay now. I promise."

"Good. Because if you would have gotten hurt I don't know what I would have done," Liz stated as she pulled Madison in for a hug.

Madison returned the embrace and gave a sigh. The girl didn't really like talking about it now, and she just wanted to forget about it. The two finally let go when the first warning bell rang, meaning they had ten minutes left to get to class.

Liz looked at the time on her phone, "I've gotta run. There is some stuff I need to get ready for homecoming. I'll see you later."

"Bye," Madison said as she turned away from her friend.

The younger Stark shuffled through the hallway, she was trying to find her locker. On the first few days she didn't have one because the school had to track down an empty one. But now she did, and she was having a hard time trying to find it.

Eventually the universe decided to give her a break and she found the one with her number on it. She gave a huff as she opened up her new locker and shoved her backpack inside. Madison was glad she didn't have to carry it around everywhere anymore.

Madison began to put the rest of her things in her locker, because there was nothing that she needed for the class she had that day. It was just workshop and everything she would need would be supplied for her.

After a minute she heard the locker next to her open as she closed her own. Madison looked next to her and saw Peter franticly stuffing his things into his backpack. The girl noticed a purple glow coming from the bookbag.

"Um, Peter. What's that?" Madison asked, stepping closer.

Peter spun around, zipped up his backpack, and shut his locker in a hurry, "Oh, uh, Madison. H-hi. I didn't- I didn't see you there."

Madison gave the boy a look, "Yeah, I guess my new locker is next to you. Funny how that worked out."

"Yeah. F-funny," Peter repeated.

"Peter, what is wrong with you?" Madison questioned, wondering why he was acting so weirdly.

Peter looked around and then shook his head, "What's your next class."

"Workshop," Madison answered, "Why?"

"I'll show you when we get in there. Ned is also in there so we might have to tell him you know," the boy stated as he walked away.

Madison followed him all the way to the class room. When she finally got there she only saw Ned in the classroom, getting a station ready to work on.

Peter walked over to Ned and looked between him and Madison. Ned gave a weird look to the pair. Eventually Peter spoke, "Maddi knows about the thing."

"She does?" Ned asked, "Are you just going around and telling everyone everything now?"

"No I have always known," Madison then brought her voice so low no one else could hear her, "I know because I'm Venus."

Ned took a step back, "Holy shit."

Peter gave an eyeroll, "You can ask her all of your superhero questions later. Right now I have to show you guys something."

More kids began to enter the classroom and Peter, Madison, and Ned began to work on the purple thing that Peter had pulled out of his backpack. It looked so familiar to Madison, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.

Minutes went by and the kids were still working on the device. Madison vaguely listened to Peter and Ned's conversation as they worked. She wanted to remember what was so similar about this glowing purple rock.

Eventually Peter hit it and made it knock out of the holding case. When he did so, a loud crash sounded. Which caused their teacher to say, "Keep your fingers clear of the blades."

"We'll go to the lab after class and run some tests," Ned stated, fully bringing Madison's attention away from the glowing object.

Peter gave a nod, "Let's do it."

Madison watched as the two boys did a complicated handshake with one another. Normally she would have smiled at it, but her mind was focused on Peter and the rock.

The bell rang and everyone began to leave. Peter turned around at Madison and tilted his head to the side, "You coming?"

"Uh, no. I have to help Liz for homecoming stuff," Madison replied, "And I don't think we should mess with this thing."

"What are you talking about? We need to find out what this thing is," Peter asked, his face scrunching up in confusing.

Madison gave a sigh, "I just don't want you messing with this thing. It's dangerous."

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Peter huffed.

"Because it's true," Madison answered as she stepped closer, "I just don't want you to get hurt."

Peter shook his head, "I won't."

"You might. And you're my friend. If you did get hurt, I don't think I could handle that. Not after everything that has happened in the past few months," Madison stated, stepping even closer.

The boy looked down at his feet as Madison continued to speak, "Just promise me you will drop it. Give it to my dad or something."

Peter didn't respond as he continued to look down. Madison then placed her hand under his chin, gently forcing him to look her in the eyes. "Promise me," she repeated.

"Yeah, okay," Peter agreed, "I'll leave it alone. I promise."

"Thank you," Madison breathed as she let go. The girl then said goodbye to Peter as she left the room, heading off to go see Liz.