"Ally, relax. You have nothing to worry about." I say to Ally, who is currently freaking out about the competition in about an hour.
The bus rides over a bump and my backpack falls off of my lap. I sigh and reach down to grab it.
"Hey, have you seen Peter?" Harper asks.
I sit up and look around the bus.
"He isn't here," I say. Ally bites her lip.
"Where could he be?" She asks. Harper shrugs. I scoot down in the seat, deep in thought.
Where could he be?
"Oh, god. We're here. We're here," Ally says.
"Hey, calm down. You'll do fine. You're super smart." Harper tells her. I sit up as the bus pulls into a parking spot and stops. The door slides open and students start to file out.
"I'm going to do terrible. I'm going to give the wrong answer. I'm gonna-"
"We'll go out for ice cream when we get home. How about that?" I say, standing up and leaving my backpack on the bus. I slip my phone into my pocket and follow Ned down the aisle.
"Okay. Okay, yes. I can do this." Ally says as we get off the bus. I reach over and straighten the end of her yellow decathlon blazer.
"You look good in yellow." I say.
"Whatever." she replies as we start to follow the crowd inside.
Harper and I sit in the crowd next to Ned and a few other students that aren't on the decathlon team. Peter still isn't here.
"It's so quiet," I whisper. Harper casts a glance over at Ned, who is nervously tapping his foot and keeps checking his phone ever ten seconds.
"You good?" She asks him. He looks up at her and quickly stops tapping his foot.
"Yeah. Fine." He says quickly.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce Midtown school of science." The announcer says. Harper and I both give Ally wide smiles as the competition begins.
***
"And our final question to break the tie," the announcer states. "According to the modern synthesis, a change in allele frequencies in a population is called...?"
"C'mon, Ally." I hear Harper murmur. I sit on the edge of the seat, my elbows on my knees.
After a bit of discussion, Ally takes the microphone.
"The change is called the gene pool." She says.
"That is correct."
Harper and I stand up and cheer, and the whole team erupts into cheers for Ally. The rest of the crowd stands up, cheering for the team. She smiles the biggest smile as Liz Allan takes her hands and jumps up and down, and as Flash takes the trophy that the announcer hands to the team.
"See? You didn't do terrible. You did great," Harper says with a smile.
"My motivation was the ice cream." She says, flashing us a pretty smile. I chuckle as we step up into the crowd at the Washington Monument, the place our field trip is being held at.
"Peter, where have you been?" I hear somebody say. I turn around, and it's Liz Allan. She's holding her phone up to her ear.
"Okay, well, you missed the entire competition. We won, by the way. We're at the monument now," she says. "Yes, fine. Okay. Bye."
The tour begins and we step into the monument, entering the elevator that will take us up.
"The Washington Monument was first opened to the public in 1888, standing 555 feet tall. It contains fifty flights of stairs and weighs more than..." The tour guide begins. She has no emotion in her voice.
"Guys!" Ally whisper-shouts to Harper and I. "Tyler just asked me out on a date!"
"Over text?" I reply.
"Seriously?" Harper adds.
"Yes," she says, shutting her phone off and sticking it in her pocket. "I think it's sweet."
"What a douche," Harper murmurs into my ear. I stifle a laugh as Ally rolls her eyes and crosses her arms.
"Whatever. Let's just listen to the tour." She says, following everybody else into the elevator.
"The Washington Monument has survived an earthquake, a quite large one, actually. On August 23rd, 2011, a rare 5.8-magnitude earthquake hit the area, centered in Mineral, Virginia." The tour guide continues.
The tour seems to go by in a breeze, and everything goes by smoothly.
Which is why we're all shocked and practically jump out of our skin when there's a huge boom and the glass breaks, shattering and collapsing on to the floor. We look up and watch as something is cut into the top of the elevator. The metal glows red from the heat. The elevator jerks down slightly, just as we were getting to the next floor.
"Everybody, I know this is scary. Try to stay calm." The tour guide says, looking around the elevator and exchanging nervous glances with the coach.
The several of us start screaming, and the tour guide and the coach try to calm us down.
A part of the top of the elevator had popped open, the perfect size for getting out. There were several security guards on the floor we were just about to reach, shouting down at us.
"Help them crawl out!" One shouts to the tour guide.
Flash practically dives forward, still carrying the trophy. The elevator jerks again.
"Flash. Flash!" Liz exclaims. "Forget about the trophy. It doesn't matter now!"
"Seriously, Flash!" Somebody else calls.
The coach gives him a lift, and he chucks the trophy to one of the security guards, ignoring Liz. He crawls out just as the elevator jerks again. He manages to reach up and grab the guard's hand, being lifted safely out of the elevator. The coach helps Liz next.
"It's gonna fall. The cords are gonna split," I say quickly, exchanging worried glances with Harper and Ally. My heart pounds in my chest as the elevator jerks down again. Slowly, people start escaping the elevator.
"Next one! Hurry!" The coach exclaims. I shove Ally forward and watch as she is safely lifted out of the elevator.
Another jerk. The cords split, and we go flying down.
The four of us start screaming and I clutch onto Harper for dear life, my eyes squeezed shut. Then we stop.
We all slowly look up, and I realize that the elevator is being carried by a web.
"Spiderman," I whisper in awe.
"I did it!" We hear him shout. Then, the doors he's holding onto with his feet break and we descend again. Harper and I haven't let go of each other yet, and we scream in each other's ears.
Spiderman falls straight into the elevator, landing in the middle. We scream louder. Quickly, he shoots a web up, and it lands at he top, holding the elevator up. He flies up and lands on the top corner of the elevator, looking down at the few of us.
"Hey, how ya doing? Don't worry 'bout it, I got you." He says, suddenly faking a low voice. Normally, I would've laughed out loud, but this is life or death, so I just cling onto Harper.
"Yyyeeesss!" Ned exclaims, jumping up and down. "Yes! YES!" Harper and I exchange confused and terrified glances.
"Hey hey hey hey hey! Big guy! Quit jumping around!" Spiderman exclaims, suddenly not faking the low voice anymore.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry, sir, I'm so sorry." Ned says quickly. Harper and I exchange glances yet again, terrified, confused, and on the verge of tears.
Spiderman starts to pull the web up, making it stretch. I watch as his arms flex, realizing how hard this must be. He brings the elevator up and everyone's rushed out of it, and I make sure everyone goes before me. I'm about to jump out, but it's too late.
The metal spiderman was perched on snaps, and I go flying down in the elevator, screaming on my way. He shoots yet another web, catching the elevator.
"You're okay, you're okay," he says, pulling the elevator up. My fists clench onto what's left of the metal bars, my eyes wide. He reaches his hand out and I stand on my tip toes and grab it with a slight grunt. He slowly lifts me up with his arm, and Harper and a security guard leap out and grab me. I land softly into Harper's arms as she squeezes me tight. I turn around, facing the spiderman.
"Is everyone okay?" He asks, the fake deep voice is back. I nod slowly, my eyes still wide. I'm face to face with the spiderman, his face is inches from mine. He stays there for a moment, and I can't help but feel like he's looking into my eyes.
Suddenly, his web gives out, and the elevator goes flying down. We watch as he perches on the side of a wall.
"Thank you," the coach shouts down. Flash shoves in front of me, still holding the trophy and looking down.
"Are you really friends with Peter Parker?" He shouts down. No answer. He's gone.
"Seriously, Flash?" Liz snaps. I turn around, just as Ally hugs me tightly.
"I thought I lost you two!" She breaths. I hug her back just as tight.
"We're here. We're here," I reply, looking at Harper, who is still staring down of what's left of the elevator.
***
"That was completely and utterly terrifying. I honestly don't blame Michelle for staying on the ground. Not anymore, at least." Harper says as the bus takes us back to Queens. Ally's head rests against my shoulder.
"I was so scared. It all happened so fast. One second I'm about to die in the elevator, then I'm pulled out of it, and the elevator falls and my two best friends are trapped in there." She says.
"Hey, it's okay. We're safe. Thanks to the spiderman," Harper says. I smile at her.
"Speaking of!" Ally exclaims, sitting upright. "What was it like? The way he grabbed your arm and stared at you all dreamy like." I snort at her.
"Okay, first of all, how do you know whether it was dreamy or not?" I ask. "He wears a mask, for god's sake. And, I haven't really thought about it much. It just happened so fast."
"Yes you have." They say at once. I burst out into laughter, and they just stare at me blankly.
"Okay. I have." I say, shifting my gaze to the back of the seat in front of us. Peter came back, after all that time. "It was amazing, actually. Everything you could hope for from a superhero."
"Wow," Ally murmurs.
"Juniper," I hear the smirk in Harper's voice as she says this. "Do you have a crush on the spider-guy?!" She exclaims, erupting into giggles, joined by Ally. I roll my eyes at the two.
"You two are incredibly immature." I say.
"Oh, like you aren't." Ally replies. I chuckle and catch Peter looking at me. When I return with a smile, he quickly returns his focus to the seat in front of him.
Where was he?
Author's Note
This chapter was so much fun to write omg. I really hope you like it!! I honestly suck at action but I hope I get better, considering I'm writing two spiderman stories, lol. I'm gonna add more parts with the three girls, along with Peter and Ned (which I'm super excited for) so stay tuned! Have a wonderful day :)