Pepper texted Riley at 8 o'clock sharp. Aunt May went to her bedroom to get dressed, saying goodbye before she went. Peter walked Riley to the door. "I had a ton of fun tonight," Riley said to him.
"Yeah, so did I," Peter said, smiling back at her.
"We should definitely do it again," Riley said. "See you in school, Pete."
When Riley got into the car, the heat felt good. Pepper turned to her immediately asked her. "So, how was your date with Spider-Man?"
"First of all, it wasn't a date, and second, it was really fun," Riley said, rolling her eyes and then smiling.
"That's what it'll start as," Pepper said. "Soon, they probably will be dates, and if it does happen, I won't mention it to your dad because he'd freak out."
"Yeah, obviously. But why are you assuming that we are gonna become a thing?" Riley said, furrowing her brows.
"You're both young and both of you know that if you date is probably gonna have to kept in secret because your father would kill both of you," Pepper says, and every word she says is true. "Also because I saw him looking out his window making sure you got in the car safely and you shouldn't let go of a guy like him."
Riley smiled and looked back up to see if he was there, but he wasn't. Riley smiled and they headed back to Long Island. About an hour later, she was home. Her big house was kind of familiar to her. It faced the ocean which was really cool. She and her dad also had balconies which were used pretty often. They also had their own bathrooms. She was so lucky to be this privileged.
Her house always smelled of candy apples, which was strange because they were in the middle of winter and they did not have candy or apples. Maybe, it was a candle or something. Pepper dropped her off and then left. Riley walked into her house and began going up to her room when her dad called out to her. "Riley, is that you?"
"Yeah," she yelled back. She heard his light footsteps jogging up the stairs and then he appeared at the top of the steps.
"How did it go with Peter?" he asked her. He looked super tired and she just wanted him to go to sleep. Sometimes she wished they could just be over-protective rich family, not celebrities. Most people didn't know she existed, but everyone knew her dad.
"It went good," Riley said. "We did some studying and watched a movie. His Aunt May is super sweet and didn't seem too amused when I said you were my father."
Tony let out a laugh and then said, "That's strange. Usually, middle-aged women have crushes on me."
"Dad, that took it a little too far," Riley said, cringing.
"Whoops, sorry. That's good that you and Peter are friends. Anything else happen between the two of you?" Tony said, hinting at something 'more than friends' would do.
"Nope," Riley said, loudly. She was unsure of her feelings for Peter. She had never really had a guy friend before so maybe this is just her reaction to it.
"Good," her dad said. He turned to go back downstairs to finish whatever he was working on.
"Dad, wait. Please go to sleep," Riley said. "You look super tired."
"You're right. I am really tired. But, I'm always tired, things don't change," Tony said. Riley raised her eyebrows. "Fine, I'll come up in a few minutes. I just have to finish making a modification to the suit."
"Okay," Riley said, smiling a little. "Goodnight." She headed up to her room and got in her pajamas. However, she stayed up for a little bit thinking that her life had changed completely. Because it had. Her morning routine changed, so did her social interactions, and so on. Then, she dozed off to sleep.
However, Tony broke his promise to his daughter. He ended up staying downstairs until a little past 1 o'clock in the morning and when he got upstairs to say goodnight to her, she was already fast asleep.
The next morning her alarm woke her up at 6:30 a.m. She really didn't feel like getting up, but she did anyway. It took her 30 minutes to get dressed, brush her hair, and make herself look presentable. She headed downstairs, her father still asleep. Riley would discover that in the next few weeks their schedule will have flip-flopped. Her father would be the one waking up at 10 and Riley would be the one waking up early.
She skipped breakfast and then Happy drove her to school. Her father had a business meeting at 3 o'clock, so no one could pick her up. She decided to just stay after school until the meeting was over. Before she knew it, the day was halfway over and it was lunch. All of her classes had been fairly challenging that day, but she still understood them. It was just a lot of information to take in.
Once again in the cafeteria, she sat with the Queen Bees. Alice asked her, "How come you left with Parker yesterday? Please tell me you aren't a nerd."
"We found out we had the same roster and he gave me a small tour around the school," Riley said. "Nothing else happened, you have nothing to worry about."
"Okay," Alice said. "There's a Student Council meeting today, and I expect you guys to be there. Even you, Riley."
"Why me?" Riley asked. She didn't mind staying after school because she had to anyway. But, it was just weird how she was guaranteed a spot on Student Council just for being a Queen Bee.
"Because you deserve it," Liz said. "You know, being a Queen Bee isn't all fun and games, it's serious. You have to maintain your image, grades, and your social life."
Riley guessed she had interpreted it wrong. Being a Queen Bee was pretty serious. "Thanks, so I guess I deserved this spot at the table?"
"Yup," Alice said. "And don't make me regret it."
Halfway through lunch, she made it over to Peter's table, where the same four people were there. Michelle, Ned, Peter, and Anastasia. "Ugh, it's you again? You must be pretty stubborn," Anastasia said.
"I could say the same about you. But, a little stubbornness is good once in a while," Riley said, trying to compliment her, knowing it probably won't change anything.
Anastasia sighed. "Fine, sit down. There's no use in trying to make you go away, you're too nice to people."
"Thank you?" Riley said, taking a seat between Ned and Michelle once again.
"That was a compliment in Anastasia world," Peter said, laughing a little. Riley could tell Peter was a little more comfortable around Anastasia. Riley guessed it was just his best friend giving him moral support.
Michelle, who was taking a nap had just woken up from the sounds of laughter around the table. "Oh, hey, it's the new girl again. What's up?"
"Nothing really," Riley said. "How about you?"
"I didn't really care what was up with you but as you could tell I was in the middle of a nap and you guys interrupted it. I'm going to go away now and sleep in the library," Michelle said, grabbing her bag and heading out of the lunchroom.
"What's her deal?" Peter asked, looking at her as she walked away.
"I have no clue, she's been acting really tired all day, probably just some typical high school procrastination problems," Ned said, shrugging.
"If I was her, I'd probably go into hibernation mode. I'm usually up until like 1 every night, but last night I went to sleep at 10, I was so tired," Riley says. Peter immediately thinks about the night they had spent together. Was that what made her so tired?
"Yeah, I would assume. Being homeschooled isn't that stressful anyway," Anastasia said. "I can't imagine what finals week is gonna be like for you."
"Actually, it is pretty stressful. Have you ever been homeschooled and know what it's like?" Riley says, firing back at her. This girl really had no filter and it took a lot of willpower to control herself
"Well, no. But, I'm pretty sure it beats this hellhole," Anastasia said, gesturing to the student body.
"I guess," Riley said, shrugging.
Ned finally speaks up. "So, what are you guys doing tonight?"
"Probably nothing as usual," Anastasia said.
"I have the uh, internship," Peter said, feeling awkward if he said Stark because she was sitting right there.
"I have a student council meeting right after school, but I'm free after that," Riley said, then they gave her kind of a strange look.
"You know, it's really weird that they are actually letting you sit over here, student council is reserved for those at the top of their group," Anastasia said, raising her brows.
"So I've heard," Riley says, sighing. "I actually think I might go to my locker for a second, I just realized I forgot to get my books."
As soon as she left, Anastasia said, "Does she know?"
"I don't think so," Peter said.
"Well, let's make sure to keep that way, okay?" Ned said.
"Why do you have to be so harsh on her?" Peter asked Anastasia.
"Well, first of all, I was trying to scare her away, but that is clearly not working so now I'm just gonna be hard on her because I know you like her," she said, laughing.
"You're being way too obvious, Peter," Ned said. "It's like Liz all over again."
"You're right! But this time it's worse," Anastasia said, laughing.
"Stop it, guys," Peter said. She's definitely not Liz.
Riley walked out of the lunchroom and as she said, she went to her locker. Riley knew better though. But, if she wanted to, she could have kicked Anastasia's ass. She didn't only have her power, she also knew how to fight. You can't have one without the other.
As she closed her locker door, she faced a tall handsome guy. "Hi, I'm Dean, you're in my AP Chem class and I wanted to say hi."
"Well, hi," Riley said, taking in his details. He was well-built, with a sexy sharp jawline that could cut a credit card in half, and he had blue eyes, with dirty blonde hair.
"So, I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me tonight?" Dean asked, completely taking her off guard.
"It's Tuesday," Riley said, laughing. "Wouldn't you rather do it on a Friday?"
"Well, I'm throwing a party, and I was going to ask you if you wanted to come to that too," Dean said, giving her a smile that made her stomach flip. Then, she took notice of his letterman jacket. He was on the football team. So, these were the parties Ned was talking about.
"Okay, Dean, I'll go with you, to the date and to the party, but only if I could bring a few friends to the party on Friday," Riley said, negotiating with him.
"I'm pretty sure they're already invited," Dean says, probably thinking that she means the Queen Bees.
"Actually, I'm not that sure. It's Peter Parker, Ned Leeds, Anastasia Kinsley, and Michelle Jones," Riley said, looking at his face change when she started the first name.
"They're your friends? Okay, they can come. You're lucky that you're super cute and nice," he said, giving her his heartbreaker smile. They exchanged numbers and addresses and he said he would pick her up at 7, despite the fact she lived an hour away. God, he was so hot. Hopefully, tonight she would get to know him better, because personality-wise, he was kind of a jerk. Then, as he walked away, the bell rang. She made her way to her next class, and before she knew it the day was over. She got her things and headed to the Student Council meeting in the faculty room. As she walked in, the room became immediately silent.
She took notice that the whole Student Council was girls. "Hey, Riley!" Liz said.
"I heard that Dean Stroman asked you out," Alice said, smiling at her. "He's super cute and really nice once you get to know him. I heard he's really good in bed."
"Okay..." Riley said awkwardly. Then, they proceeded on with the meeting. When Riley imagined a student council meeting, this was nothing like it. The whole meeting they just gossipped about people she didn't really know. After it was over, and they did absolutely nothing to benefit the school, she realized why everyone thought the school was shit. It was because of people like this.
Then, Happy picked her up from school. She went home then realized that it was two hours until her date with Dean. She was nervous, but kind of excited for it. She didn't want to change her outfit completely, but at least change out of her school clothes. Her dad came upstairs just as she finished putting her hair up.
"You look more decent than usual. What's up?" Tony asked her.
"I have a date," Riley said, hoping he doesn't go into over-protective dad mode.
"Wow, it's a little late to tell me that, how long have you known?" Tony said, raising his eyebrows, a little annoyed.
"I just found out today, also do you think I can go to a party this Friday?" Riley asked.
"Whoa, hold up, you're throwing all this stuff at me at once. Who even is this guy?" Tony said.
"His name is Dean Stroman and he's a pretty nice guy, the party is also gonna be at his place, and Peter is most likely going to be there, so if anything bad happens, Spider-Man will be there to save the day," Riley said, giving her dad a sarcastic look, which made him laugh a little bit.
Then, the doorbell rang. Tony and Riley made eye contact and raced each other down the stairs. Tony won, and when he opened the door, Dean was standing there with a single rose. "Hi, is Riley here?"
"Yeah, I am," Riley said, peeking her head over her dad's shoulder.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Stark," Dean said. "Sorry for the late notice about the date."
"It's okay, I guess. Listen, if you do anything to hurt my daughter, I guarantee you that I will-"
Riley cleared her throat. "Dad, it's okay, I'll be fine."
"Be home at 10 and no later," Tony says, staring them down, especially Dean.
"Okay, bye, love you," Riley said, kind of dragging out the "you" after she walked out of the door.
"I take it you didn't tell him until 5 minutes before I arrived?" Dean said, laughing a little.
"How'd you guess?" Riley said, beginning to walk down the ten steps to get to the sidewalk.
"His vibe was pretty strong," Dean said, smiling a little. When they got to the bottom, he opened her door for her. When he got on the driver's side, she asked the question she had been wondering all night.
"So, where are we going?"
"Mini-golfing," Dean said. Riley was actually really good at mini-golfing, so this should be fun.
Back at Ned's place, the gang was waiting for Peter to arrive. He arrived 1 hour after they had told him to meet up, which made them all pretty frustrated.
"Is there ever a time when you aren't late?" Michelle asked him when he walked through the door.
"Mr. Stark keeps me pretty late," Peter said, shrugging.
"We could report him for overworking you, you know," Ned said.
"No, I'm good, I promise," Peter said. "Don't worry about me."
"Okay, guys shall we?" Ned said, pulling a Star Wars lego set from his box of stuff in the corner of his room.
"Wait, before we start, did you guys here that Riley is on a date with Dean Stroman?" Michelle said.
Peter nearly choked on his breath. He was speechless. His jaw dropped open for a second then closed it, he didn't wanna be weird. "Where did you even hear that?" Anastasia asked in disgust.
"I have my sources," Michelle said, picking at something in her nails.
"Peter, you okay?" Ned asked him.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine," he said, obviously not. He was overly excited to do the Star Wars lego set earlier, but now his fun had been ruined over a stupid girl. No, she was not stupid, though. She was perfect. He thought that she and he could have really been something. But, not anymore. The whole night he couldn't focus on the legos, he was thinking about Riley. What were they doing right now? Would their relationship last?
He left Ned's later that night, still having her on his mind. He was going crazy over this girl he's known for two days. What had gotten into him?