THE DAY AFTER HOMECOMING, Nina expected giddy texts from the two of her friends. Maybe Betty calling them over to celebrate in one of those smoothie places she loved so much. Maybe, a small part of her expected Liz to be gushing over the wonderful time she and Peter spent together, dancing at the even that Liz had micro-managed.
What she didn't expect was this. Liz obviously sullen, voice just on the edge of cracking as she explained her whole situation which even for Nina, was way too fucking much: 1.) Peter Parker ditched her, not even a minute in Liz's presence as Space Age Love Song played in the background. 2.) Her dad got arrested. 3.) Her leaving New York and moving to Oregon since her dad doesn't want her family to be there at the trial. 4.) Her unable to see either Betty or Nina at the moment since she was busy packing up all her stuff and the only reason she'll be going to school on Monday was to grab all her stuff - then it's straight to Oregon.
It's fucked up. It's thoroughly fucked up on so many levels and there's a part of her chest, angry and bitter at the boy for just leaving Liz like that. Although the two of them became friends in a very unconventional way, Nina has grown to love the presence of Liz, as cheesy as it might sound, and knowing that Peter had started her downward spiral of the night made that bitterness worse.
So despite planning her escape route with the one sister she'd never thought would be on her side, Nina spends a couple of hours consoling her best friend who was crying on the phone. If she could just walk up to Liz and take that pain away from her at that very moment, she would.
Well, technically, she could do it. But emotions are what make us human. Make us real. (It was ironic, really. Here she was, running away from her emotions and shoving them down into a pit in her stomach - she was the last person who should be talking about emotions.)
"She finally done crying?" Valeria enters the kitchen with her trusted laptop eleven minutes after Liz ended the call to pack up the rest of her personal belongings. "Can we talk about the plan now?"
"Don't be such a fucking bitch, Valeria." Nina snarks aggressively, setting her chicken sandwich down. It wasn't Delmar's, but it was okay.
There's no weird tension between the two of them like Nina initially thought this whole thing was gonna be: since Valeria was also a mentally ill teenage girl who ran away from her emotions, the two of them chose to pretend like the last night of the two girls in their most vulnerable states never happened.
It gave Nina that small sense of normalcy that she clearly needed before everything goes to shit, so she wasn't complaining.
"What?" Valeria defends herself, grabbing the sandwich off Nina's hands and taking a huge bite of it. "She was crying so loud."
"Her homecoming date ditched her, dad got arrested, and she found out that she needed to move to Oregon all in one night. I think that's a valid reason to cry. Give me my fucking sandwich." Nina quipped, taking the meal out of her sister's fingers just when she was about to take another bite.
"Look at you. Maturing and all that shit. Couldn't be me."
"Cmon. You'd cry too if you found out that you'd be moving to Oregon."
The two of them exchange soft giggles, remembering just why the two of them hated it - they were supposed to live there after London for a bit, but then in a visit, they all suddenly realized that Oregon is really, really, really white. And when you get outside of Portland, really, really, really conservative. It almost gave Illiana a heart attack.
"Okay, so..." Valeria started, shutting her laptop down as she faced her sister. "Mom and Samara think I went home to hide your body. They're coming back on Tuesday. Then we do it."
"We do it." Nina repeats with a determined nod of her head, relaying the plan over and over in her head. The two of them were sure that it would work this time - because they had the element of surprise.
There was the original nervousness that almost caused another ledge between the two girls since Valeria pointed out that Samara could easily kill the two of them in a heartbeat and was possibly the strongest one out of them, but Nina shook her head and explained that no matter how strong their oldest sister was, that strength was nothing if Nina could use her powers on her.
That caused another argument, which, unfortunately, Nina had lost. The girl had tried convincing her sister to save Samara - even coming up to a point where her eyes glowed to do it against Valeria's will, but a slap on the face is what had brought her back to reality. Samara wasn't a good person, despite admitting that she wasn't much of an angel herself, but Samara wasn't good.
Scratch that. Samara was a bad person.
It took a while, but Nina was convinced to bring Samara out there as well. The plan was to mind control them, send the two of them to Tony Stark (she already called him. All she needed to do was keep the two in the penthouse until Tony came) since Nina was 90% sure that the billionaire had connections that could land Illiana and her sister in a proper jail and take down HYDRA. Easy peasy.
She almost felt like a hero. The girl knew nothing about current politics, but didn't the Avengers try to take them down multiple times?
"What are you gonna do once you're on your own?" her own voice interrupts her train of thoughts, glancing at Valeria. It was a question that had itched her mind since the night before. Valeria was always a wild card, Nina never knowing what was going on in that mind of hers, so she genuinely had no idea what her sister had planned.
Mindlessly, Valeria's eyes followed the flock of birds flying overhead, straight towards the horizon. "I dunno. Travel a lot, I guess."
Nina narrows her eyes, "Why?"
"All my life, I've been under Illiana's wing. That's all I could remember. Working for her. All my life, she made me feel like a fucking loser and I guess I don't want that anymore." Valeria shrugs helplessly, "Maybe it's finding my way around a busy city. Or ordering a meal when I don't speak the language. Or zip-lining. But I want to challenge myself and I want something different."
A beat of silence passes. "You?"
Pausing at the question, Nina takes time to contemplate the decision. What would she do?
The first thing that popped up in her mind was the last English lesson when her teacher described the feeling of Cloud Nine. The ninth cloud – cumulonimbus – is the highest of all clouds. So, being on cloud nine means you're as high up in the sky as you can be.
That's what she felt in those short hours of roaming around the city, helping all those people sort their shit out. Maybe it was because of self-worth which she guesses is one of the best feelings one can get.
Feeling like she helped somebody makes her feel like she's actually been doing something. Illiana kept her stuck in this bubble her whole life, doing work for no one but her, so it was a bit enlightening to feel like she's doing something not only good but it makes her feel that she's actually important to this world.
Sure, people are pathetic, but with her help... she made them less pathetic.
"I'm staying in New York." Nina concludes, "But I'm moving out of Manhattan into somewhere more rural. Queens, maybe. The delivery services here are shit and it takes me two hours just to get Delmar's sandwiches so maybe somewhere close."
Valeria clicks her tongue teasingly. "You're boring."
"Unlike you, I actually have friends here, so..." one which was moving to Oregon in a day, but she didn't mention that. Betty is her only friend at this point. Nina decides that it would probably be better to get more friends. Makes her seem less of a loser.
(There's also a short millisecond where a certain brunette pops in her head, but Nina would never admit it.)
"Mom's coming back at six in the evening tomorrow, so..." Valeria stands up and grabs her laptop, "We still have a bit time to kill before we possibly get killed. Do whatever you want."
...
"- and he just left her!" Betty exclaims, her normally very soft features all concerted in anger as she recounts the night of the ball. To Nina, it's a big surprise that Betty is barely even tired considering the two of them were speed walking on their way to school to catch Liz before she leaves for Oregon. "Who does that? Now I kinda get your hatred for him. At first, I thought you had a weird crush going on but god he's such an ass!"
"To be fair, I kinda just hated him for no reason." Nina lies, huffing the slightest bit when the two of them run up the stairs towards the campus. "But I knew there was something fishy about him. I just knew it?"
Betty nods in agreement, distaste for Peter Parker manifesting further and further. The normally very bubbly and cheery girl was about to make another snide comment before she spots a car in front of the school - a very familiar car. "Liz is here!"
The pair share a frantic look before they straight up bolt towards the campus, running past the wave of students who blocked most of the hallways.
"Wait, Betty, where are we going?" Nina calls out, ignoring the looks of confusion being directed at the two girls. It may have looked a bit funny from an outsider's point of view: two Sophmore girls, running around the halls as if their lives depended on it.
"The Principal's Office!" Betty yells back as if the answer is obvious, feet continuing to bring her to the area.
They already exchanged goodbyes last night in a very sad facetime call- which included Betty crying, Liz crying, and Nina opening her eyes for three minutes straight without blinking to give the illusion that she was teary-eyed. Despite that, Nina and Betty had decided to say goodbye one last time in the flesh - nothing dramatic, nothing drastic, just a proper goodbye and a hug.
Again, Nina befriended Liz out of spite, but it still hurt to see her go.
The two of them finally pause in the hallway when they see Liz, the most sullen look on her face.
"Oh god, I think I'm going to cry again." Betty pauses for a few seconds, "On the other hand, I think I cried too much last night and now I'm physically incapable of crying again."
Nina grabs Betty's soft hand, offering a smile of comfort. It was the least she could do. "Cmon, let's say goodbye, yeah?"
"Let's make it quick." Betty adds, "I don't think I can let her go if I stay too long."
They share a look of pure understanding, no words needed to express their emotions before the two girls run toward Liz and engulf her in a bone-crushing group hug. There's someone who calls out Liz's name in the background but honestly, Nina's too distraught to care.
They were hugging like it was the last time. In fact, it was their last hug. Both Betty and Liz, who had been way closer before Nina was even in the picture, were breathing loud and sobbing again. They could feel each other smiling even though they could not see it.
"I'm gonna miss you," Nina mumbles, untangling herself from the sea of arms. "We both are."
The three of them smile at each other, one last time before they exchange their final goodbyes. It's a chorus of sad grins and soft sniffles before Betty drags Nina away in fear that Liz would see her cry once again.
Nina almost misses the way Peter sends her a lingering look before he comes up to talk to Liz, but she doesn't.
...
Five hours before she comes back home - and Nina distracted herself from her possible impending doom by actually listening to her classes.
Plus, she quit the decathlon team. To be fair, she never really wanted to join it in the first place and only bought her position since Illiana told her so, but she would much rather spend her time doing something better than spit out a bunch of scientific facts that literally had no use in the word.
Since she was in this new, weird spiritual mindset of being less of a bitch, Nina decided that some lonely nerdy kid would probably kill for her spot so that was also a factor.
See? She's practically a saint. Being good is so easy.
"I can't believe she's gone," Betty says once it's time for lunch, staring blankly at the seat that Liz always seemed to occupy. There was this weird tension in the air - it was like something wasn't right. Like something was missing. "I miss her."
"It feels so... quiet."
"Mhm."
The two of them sit in silence for a while, helplessly picking on their food to pass the time. There isn't really too much conversation topics they can start with - and Nina was a hundred percent ready to just sit with her mouth shut until Betty suddenly perked up, "Oh, by the way, two new students transferred today. I heard that they're from the Bronx Science Highschool."
"I'm guessing you know their names too?" Nina questions, knowing well that one of Betty's core personalities was finding out everything she wanted to.
"Yup. The boy is a junior. His name is Matthew Hayes and I heard a few people saying that he's cute but considering their standards in men, I wouldn't be too comfortable." Betty pauses, "there's a girl in our year. Alaska Kulkarni. I saw her in my AP Bio class. She's a hottie and I think she'll be your type."
"Sounds to me like she's your type," Nina points out, noting the way that Betty's cheeks flushed a bright pink at the mention of whoever this Alaska girl was. "I doubt you even know what my type is."
Betty, one of the few people who knew that she was actually into boys and girls, answered the question without a beat. "I'm getting the vibe that you're into baddies with girls but you're into those sweet smart and cute nerdy kids for the boys."
"I'm not..." Nina shook her head, "I'm not into nerdy boys."
"You definitely are."
"That's not true."
As if on cue, a boy enters the lunch room - and Nina looked up to see a tall (a very tall) and lanky kid who looks like he had just entered a maze. He was pale, wearing jeans and a simple white t-shirt that clung to his, she had to admit, rather fit form. He was wearing a red flannel - and Nina wasn't really fond of that type of clothing but it look good on him.
But what caught Nina's attention the most was his hair. Thick, chocolatey curls that complimented his face rather cutely.
Before she knew it, she raised her hand, shot him a saccharine smile, and pointed at her and Betty's empty table.
There's a small moment of contemplation where the unnamed boy points at himself to confirm - a part of Nina tells her that this was a bad idea, but what shoots her off the edge was the look Peter Parker was giving her from across the room.
When she nods, telling him to come over, Betty shoots Nina a knowing look.
"What?" Nina raises her brow - why the fuck was Betty looking at her like that, smug smile and all.
"Cute nerdy kid," Betty replies with a knowing smirk, pointing at the boy who was walking towards the table.
"What? I'm being nice. I'm inviting him over since he looks like a lost puppy."
"You and nice don't belong together in a sentence. It's weird."
Although Betty might have been true, Nina swats her hand away (out of good nature, of course) and smiles sweetly as the boy comes up the table, lunch tray in hand as he eyes the two of them up and down.
"Hi. I've never seen you before. You one of the new kids?" Betty immediately changes personalties in a snap - teasing nature gone completely and now replaced with a genuine kindness; it almost makes Nina smile a bit - maybe this why she and Betty were great friends.
"Yeah, um.." the boy fidgeted awkwardly for a second, before raising his hand in front of Nina. (much to Betty's amusement) "I'm Matthew."
Betty glances at her phone at the sound of a notification. She doesn't see his eyes glow a milky white.
...
"Nina!"
Usually, whenever one of them would hear Peter Parker's voice, it's Nina who has a scowl on her features and Betty whose all soft looking, but now, it's the complete opposite. Betty furrows her brows while Nina simply turns around, raising a brow at the curly boy.
"I normally don't promote negativity but you better give him a hard time for Liz." Betty whispers in her ear, the malice still an unnatural thing for Nina to hear. With that, she kisses Nina's cheek as a form of goodbye and skips away, saying something about wanting to catch a train.
Peter stands in front of her, curls all blown out as his lips formed into a tight lipped smile - he was in one of those ugly grandpa sweaters again.
"My sister's waiting for me in her car so spit it out, Peter." Nina mumbled, trying to ignore that fleeting feeling in her chest which she knew could be either along the lines of embarrassment or something else she couldn't explain.
She doesn't see it due to her eyes suddenly finding the concrete very interesting, but his ears perk up at the mention of his first name. "How are you holding up?"
Nina glances at her brown turtle neck long-sleeved shirt. Her throat was still a bit sore and the scars were still fresh in her arms, but overall, she was doing a bit better.
Her chest thumps. Nina inhales, wanting to get this over with. "I'm good. Is that all?"
Peter gulps, realizing that she probably had a million things more important to do than talk to him - and she must've hated him, especially after all the shit that happened: him ditching both her and her best friend all on the course of two days.
"I just wanted to say sorry."
Nina raises a brow, pretending to be confused. "Sorry? Is this about Liz?"
"There's a bunch of stuff I have to explain about Liz but... that and... y'know."
She knows exactly what he's talking about. "Huh?"
"Y'know," Peter turned around and lower his voice as if someone was trying to listen to them, "for... trying to kiss you and running away. I'm sorry."
Pang. "Peter, what are you talking about?"
He blinks. "Huh?"
"Tried to kiss me? That never happened... what are you talking about?"
At this point, he looks straight up defensive. "At your room... a few nights ago... what?"
"Peter, I think you're imagining things." Nina shot back blankly, trying to avoid any emotions rise in her voice. "Look, thank you for helping me. Do me a favor and get some sleep, yeah? Seems like you were pretty out of it that night too."
With a wave, she runs over to Valeria's car, ignoring the awestruck look on Peter Parker's face.
Deny, deny, deny.
...
NOTE:
the characters are for the second act :)
this chapter was crap bc im sickk