Paparazzi - Lady Gaga
I'm your biggest fan I'll follow you until you love me
Papa-paparazzi
Baby, there's no other superstar
You know that I'll be, your papa-paparazzi
Promise I'll be kind
But I won't stop until that boy is mine
Baby you'll be famous, chase you down until you love me
Papa-paparazzi
By the time Friday rolled around, Amara had caught up with all of her homework, people recognised her in hallways, even teachers, which made Amara happy, knowing she was no longer an outsider.
It also helped that Amara was going on her first, ever sleepover at MJ's today. And Amara was slightly embarrassed to admit that she was actually very excited. She couldn't believe that she had gone from being excited about taking on a robot army to going to her very first sleepover.
When she had told her father, he was almost as excited as she was, maybe even more.
He had been working in his lab with Bruce when she walked in and told him she wouldn't be coming home after school on Friday and after seeing the concerned father look on his face, she clarified that she was going to a sleepover.
"A sleepover? You? This is awesome! You're gonna have so much fun and then you'll go again because you had so much fun to repeat said fun, it'll be a vicious, but effective fun cycle. And your gonna feel like a normal teenager who does normal teenager stuff, like not being an enhanced human who wears spandex."
"I do not wear spandex! My suit is made of a carbon polymer made to withstand the majority of bullets and knives out there and any dangerous circumstances my powers would put me in," Amara exclaimed.
"God, you're just like me, aren't you?"
"Yes, I am. Which means you can't even criticise me because, in your eyes, you're perfect!"
He had hummed in agreement before saying, "Go! Have fun at your sleepover! FRIDAY'll contact you if we need anything. Be a kid."
—————
Now Amara was approaching the end of the day, and she had 'coincidentally' bumped into Peter on the way out of school. If she was going to this sleepover, that meant she couldn't keep an eye on him for at least two days, so she thought it'd be best to just talk with him, maybe plan something so they could spend time together, strictly for professional reasons, of course.
"Hey, Peter!"
"Hey! What's up? Aren't you going over to MJ's today?"
"Yeah! I just saw you and thought I should say hi; I feel like I haven't seen you all day!"
"Didn't we just have calculus together?" Peter asked sceptically.
Amara blinked while she registered what he has just said, "Right! Yeah, I remember, I just - we didn't actually get a chance to talk, so... okay fine! I just wanted to talk to you! Is that...fine with you?"
Peter tried to stifle his laugh, but Amara caught it, "Yeah, what do you want to talk about?"
Amara froze, she hadn't actually thought that far ahead, yet, "Well, actually, I had a question... about... uh..." she thought desperately, trying to figure something out, then she remembered, "Calculus!"
"Calculus?"
"Yeah, I've been finding some of the work kind of hard lately, I didn't want to tell anyone cause I thought that they'd judge me, but you're my friend, so I can trust you, right?" Amara hated that she was lying to Peter, and she also hated how she was lying about her academic ability, which she had never had to do before. It felt belittling and childlike.
"Yeah, of course, you can, but I'm confused. I thought you liked calculus?"
"What? Just because I like something, it automatically means that I find it easy?"
"Okay, yeah, fine. What question were you stuck on?" He asked reaching for his backpack to get his work out when Amara stopped him.
"I thought I could come over to your place. And we could study together; maybe sometime next week, after school?"
Amara felt slightly cruel, asking him to spend time with her as Peter when she knew he went patrolling every day after school. But somehow, she felt that it would be good for him, to have a break from the fast-paced life of a superhero, and to just be... Peter Parker. She only hoped that he would see it that way and agree.
Peter scratched the back of his neck, "Um, I'm kind of busy after school, it's-"
"Every day?" Amara said, cutting him off. She didn't need to hear any of his excuses, because she already knew why he felt like he couldn't.
"No, not... not every day, just..."
"Just, what?"
"Just... why don't you ask Ned or... or MJ! Not that I'm not happy to help you, I am! I just think that they would be... better?"
"Because I wanted to ask you," Amara watched as Peter's face turned bright red as he blushed. "Look, I'm not gonna ask why you're busy, because that's your personal life and if you don't want to share that with me, yet, then that's fine, everyone has secrets."
"Thank you."
"But... can you really not take, just one evening off of... whatever it is that you're doing? Just one, for me?"
Peter looked at her with a look that said I'm thinking about it... then finally, he said, "Okay, fine. Wednesday?"
Amara smiled and hugged him, although she wasn't at all sure why she did that, it just felt like a good thing to do at the time. She was still standing in his arms when she said, "Yeah! Wednesday's perfect! Thank you."
Peter seemed to wrap his arms tighter around Amara's body and lean his head on top of hers after the initial shock of her jumping into his arms had worn off. It was strange, how safe and at peace, she felt in his arms, especially considering how safe and powerful she is without him.
Someone cleared their throat from behind them and said, "Uh, Amara? Am I interrupting something?"
"No!" Amara and Peter both said together while pulling away from each other. Amara hadn't realised how long they had been holding on to each other, when she broke away from him and turned to look at MJ's confused expression, the distance between her and Peter became much more prominent.
"What, uh- what are you guys doing?" MJ asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Nothing!" Amara and Peter hurriedly said at the same time, causing MJ to believe them even less.
Amara stepped in as Peter, once again, turned a bright shade of red, "Uh, I was just thanking Peter for agreeing to help me with some homework that I've been struggling with."
"Why didn't you ask me? You're coming over to mine tonight anyway," MJ asked, smiling at how flustered she was making Peter.
"It's calculus, and Peter's pretty good at calculus. Also, I ran into him first."
"...Right," MJ sounded unconvinced but she didn't seem to want to drag this conversation out either.
Amara quickly picked up on everyone's collective uncomfortableness, so she grabbed MJ forcing them both to turn the other way, "Okay! Bye Peter, we should get going now. See you on Monday!"
Amara didn't wait to hear Peter's reply before saying to MJ, "It really was nothing, I promise."
"Yeah...sure it wasn't."
—————
Amara and MJ had taken a cab to the other side of Queens, near MJ's neighbourhood, sitting in awkward silence the whole way there.
Her best friend had caught her hugging their other best friend for longer than she guessed was appropriate for a friend, and Amara had just told her that it was because she wanted his help and not hers - which was obviously not the reason!
And now she had no idea what to even say to her. At times, Amara glanced over at MJ to smile at her but realised just how awkward that was when MJ gave an uncomfortable smile back at her.
But how was Amara supposed to explain to her best friend that the reason she had gone to Peter for help instead of her was that she needed to keep an eye on him and learn more about him? That the only reason she had done what she did was that her mission required it.
The cab stopped to let them out and Amara cleared her throat as she closed the door, "You know that thing with Peter was not at all like it looked. I was grateful for his help so I hugged him, it was not that deep. I come from a huge family of huggers," She paused, that was not entirely true, Thor was the only real hugger out of the Avengers, and the rest of them had the same poor relationship with their feelings as Tony and Amara, "...So that's the reason, the only reason."
Amara was grateful when MJ spoke back, getting her bag out and slinging it over her shoulder, "Are you sure about that? I mean I swear I could see Peter, like... smelling your hair?"
Amara hesitated, "I... got a new...perfume..." They had started to walk in the direction of a nearby cafe.
"Uh-huh...And-uh what exactly was the reason you felt the need to go to Peter for help in a subject that you know I'm great at?" When Amara remained quiet, MJ said, "Amara?...Do you like, like Peter?"
"What?! No!" But it was too late she already sounded way too defensive to make MJ believe her. Even so, she repeated in a lower and less exclamatory tone, "No, I do not like Peter Parker."
MJ looked at Amara and raised her eyebrows at her as if to say, sure you don't, and for some reason it made Amara feel embarrassed, not because she was embarrassed by the idea of liking Peter - he's a great guy - but because, for some reason, it felt a little too accusatory for Amara's liking - she didn't have time for a high school crush, not between her mission, superhero life and school work on top of that.
But Amara didn't blame MJ, not one bit. She had put together an idea with what she saw and what she thinks she's seen - Amara going out of her way to spend more time with Peter, her getting flustered when trying to come up with excuses for why she needs to meet Peter so badly and especially when she would be seen staring at him for long periods of time (this was only at the beginning when she was having a hard time comprehending how Peter could possibly be Spiderman, but the staring had been taken down to at least a 2 since then).
"Here we are!" MJ said, breaking Amara out of her thoughts.
They were standing in front of a small building with a blush pink and teal colour scheme and a sign just above the small canopy that read, "Peter Pan Donut and Pastry Shop." Amara thought it looked like one of the coolest places she had ever seen, simply because Peter Pan had been her favourite fairy tale growing up. She had always dreamed of being whisked away by Peter Pan himself and taken to the incredible Neverland where she never had to grow old and she had no responsibilities... but then, reality settled in, and Amara realised that she couldn't run away from life, not when she'd barely lived yet. That was when she had decided to train and learn how to control her powers when she went in search of Ironman, the only superhero at the time who had ended up adopting her.
Amara thought of fate and destiny, how everything you have done and everything you will do has already been written for you. She thought about how lucky she must have been to end up here, being the person she is with the family she has.
They walked inside the little bakery and sat down at the nearest booth. Amara glanced at the delicious-looking pastries as they walked by.
"This place looks amazing. Do you come here a lot?" Amara asked MJ.
"Yeah, like once a week sometimes twice. My house is right around the corner so we come here a lot," she paused as if she was thinking of what to say next. "So... you and Peter?"
"There's nothing going on, I promise you. If there was, I would have told you already."
"Okay! So it may not be that, exactly, but there is definitely something going on. Something that I don't know about."
Amara's stomach flipped, "What do you mean?"
"I mean that you've been acting kind of secretive - like you're hiding something. You know you can trust me, right? And you can tell me anything, I won't tell! I promise!"
Amara thought about telling her the truth. What it would cause. It may put her in danger, but it would also be a huge relief for someone to know the truth. And she would only be in danger if someone knows Amara's identity, which they don't. She is very particular about her secret identity and extremely good at keeping it a secret. So what could possibly be the harm in telling one person that she trusts?
"Okay! Fine, I-" Amara cut herself off. She felt something, a disturbance, nearby.
"You...what?" MJ was extremely confused as she looked over at her friend.
Amara held up her hand and said, "Wait, something's happening, I can feel it."
"Something's happening? You can... feel it?! Look, if you don't want to tell me what's going on, that's fine-"
"No! It's not-" Amara paused, she had to figure out what was happening, even if it meant MJ would be left with even more questions than before. Someone could be in danger. "I have to go."
"What?! Why?" MJ asked, confusion covering her face as she watched her best friend get up to leave.
"I'm coming back, I promise!" She turned away and then looked back again, "Order me a croissant, will you?"
"What?! Amara!" MJ shouted at her friend as she ran out the door of the bakery and out onto the streets of New York.
----------
Michelle Jones sat in the coffee shop, where she had brought her friend, by herself. She wasn't sure what exactly had happened that had made Amara leave so quickly, but she was going to find out.
Order me a croissant, will you? That's what she had said before sprinting off and although MJ was confused and upset at her friend, Amara had also promised that she would come back and explain everything.
So she got up from their booth and went to the counter to order a cannoli for herself and a croissant for Amara, despite her annoyance over her friend's odd behaviour.
Then she looked out of the window.
On the other side of the street, MJ could see a group of people in ski masks near one of the many convenience stores. They must be trying to rob the stores... Is this what Amara saw when she left? But how would she have seen it? It looks like they only just got there, they haven't even gone inside the store yet. Maybe she heard them? No, that's ridiculous! I was closer to the entrance than she was - I would've heard it, too. And even if, by some miracle, she did hear or see these people, why would she get up and leave? What could she possibly do to help or make any difference? And why would she just leave me here? Not that I can't handle myself, but surely in this situation, it would've been a lot safer to stick together. What is going on? And what does Amara have to do with it?
That was when MJ saw Aura - The Aura! - descend from a nearby rooftop, obviously here to deal with these guys before they cause too much damage. MJ had always admired Aura, out of all of the Avengers, she is the youngest and she's a girl, but she still managed to make a huge name for herself. Plus she's also incredibly powerful.
Then MJ remembered her friend's abrupt exit and considered Aura's convenient and timely entrance that just happened to occur around similar times.
Am I being crazy and completely paranoid? Yeah, this is crazy! There's no way that Amara is - I mean, how much do I really know about her? But she's new in town, nobody knows a lot about her. I know the most! But, it's possible...No! It's not! What am I saying? There is no way that a superhero as amazing and incredibly busy as Aura has any time for trivial things like high school! Besides, I bet Amara just saw something happening and called the Avenger's hotline. Whoever came up with the Avenger's hotline deserves a raise! Like, come on! A special emergency number just to contact the Avengers when they're needed by the public! It's incredible!
MJ thought about this while she ate her cannoli, and then eventually, Amara's croissant.
I'll just get another one for her when she gets back, however long that's gonna take!
(A/N: I really hope that this chapter lived up to some people's expectations! I know that I've not been posting chapters as frequently as I used to, and I'm sorry for that. But thank you to those of you who stuck around this long! As always, Thank you for reading and leave your suggestions for the storyline in the comments. I already have a rough storyline in the beginning stages of a plan, but it wouldn't;t hurt to get some other opinions and suggestions! Thank You!!!!)