"We need to talk," is the first thing that comes out of Eloise's mother's mouth. She walks out from her bedroom into the kitchen where Eloise is eating a bowl of cereal.
Her mind immediately goes into shut-down mode, not wanting to hear her mother criticize her yet again, but then her father walks out from behind her as he does his tie around his collar.
Mrs. Jones glances at her husband and says, "You too."
He walks around her and picks up his mug of black coffee. He sips on it.
"What are we doing for Thanksgiving?" The woman asks.
Eloise almost chokes on her cereal. That was probably the most motherly thing she's heard her say.
"What?" Eloise blurts.
Her mother side-glances at her. "Thanksgiving's coming up," she says slowly. "I need to know what we're doing this year."
Mr. Jones shrugs as he gulps down his steaming coffee. "What we usually do; you and I go out." He steps forward and drapes his long arm around his wife's shoulders. She leans into the man's side.
"Is that okay?" She asks Eloise without taking her sparkling eyes off of her husband.
Their daughter sighs. "Yeah. Sounds good." Eloise stirs the spoon in her bowl of soggy cereal and, suddenly not in the mood to eat anymore, stands. Her mother watches as she tosses the cereal and washes the bowl and spoon out in the sink.
"You sure? Maybe we should all do something together—"
Her father places his finger on her mother's red lips, silencing her. "Don't worry about it, you're already so stressed."
She smiles and melts in his arms. "I guess you're right." She gives Eloise one last glance before turning and grabbing her coat and purse. "There's leftovers in the fridge if you get hungry for lunch."
"Okay."
They don't exchange another word with their daughter and leave. The door slams behind the two, leaving Eloise alone.
She sighs and just stares at the door with her arms crossed. "Love you, too."
Eloise turns away. Hopefully whatever's supposed to come on the 22nd doesn't ruin their Thanksgiving.
🕸
"I come bearing food."
Ned looks up as Eloise swings the door open and slams it shut behind her. His eyes widen and he licks his lips when he sees the Panda Express bag in her hand. Both boys, before Eloise's arrival, were working hard on the case Peter's so obsessed with. He's been losing more and more sleep, his mind shutting out his personal needs, relationships, and school work to make room for bringing justice to Antonio Russo.
"Thank goodness, I'm starving!" Ned says, rushing over to Eloise and grabbing the bag out of her hands. He pulls out a box and a plastic fork before plopping down on the floor and digging in.
Eloise laughs lightly at his enthusiasm for the food and nudges Peter's shoulder. He glances up from the computer screen and looks at Eloise with his strained brown eyes.
"I got you something too," Eloise says. "You like orange chicken?"
Peter turns back to the screen. "No thanks."
Ned moans behind them as he chows down. "Peter," he says with his mouth full. "You gotta eat, dude."
"I'm busy."
"It's called multitasking," Ned retorts. "Plus, this stuff is really good. And you love Panda Express."
Peter's eyes trail to the bag beside Ned. He bites his lip. "Thanks," he finally says, looking at Eloise as he sits back in his chair. She smiles lightly and hands him a box of food.
"It's no problem. So," Eloise asks, clapping her hands together once, "what can I do to help bust these guys?"
Peter pops a piece of chicken in his mouth. As he chews, he turns and points to some pictures spread out on the floor. "Can you sort those by date? But, like, keep them grouped together by location?"
"Sure."
Eloise steps over a pile of wrinkled papers and sits criss-cross-applesauce in front of the pictures. There are some that were taken yesterday when Peter was spying on the exchange between Russo and that Hank character. A few others are of Russo in various places around the city, and some are of clues or pieces of evidence that don't make any sense to her.
She follows Peter's instructions and begins to sort the pictures by their time stamp. As she does, she occasionally takes a bite of food in her Panda Express box, as do Peter and Ned.
Peter continues doing whatever he's doing on his laptop and Ned goes back to looking up abandoned warehouses in southern New York where the weapons could possibly be stored. Ten minutes in, the Spider-Man mask starts beeping. The sudden noise causes Eloise to jump and fumble with the photo in her hand.
Ned picks up the mask and tosses it to Peter. He slips it on over his head.
"They left New York," he says.
Eloise's brow furrows. "Who?" She glances down at the pictures, at Russo, and looks back up. "Wait, did you put a tracker on him?"
"A small one," Peter replies, peeling the mask off. His hair sticks up. "That way, if he went to the place where all the weapons are stored, then we'd know where it is and shut them down." He plugs his mask into his computer with a cord. A new tab pops up on the screen. It's a map of New York and surrounding states with a moving blinking red dot, which Eloise assumes is Russo. Peter follows the dot with his eyes and taps it with the end of his pencil. "When he said that it was down south, I assumed he meant southern New York, but maybe he meant a different state entirely."
Ned's eyes light up. "Do I smell a vacation?"
Peter hesitates. "I think it'd be best if I go alone."
"What? No way," Ned argues.
"I agree with Ned," Eloise speaks up. Ned looks to Peter smugly when she sides with him. Peter starts to oppose, but Eloise cuts him off before he can. "It's dangerous, Peter. Plus, you could use all the help you can get."
"No," Peter finalizes. He points at Ned. "No." He points at Eloise. "No."
"But—"
"I can do it by myself!" He claims, voice high. "There's no reason to put you two in danger, too."
Ned crosses his arms. "Dude, it's too dangerous to do it alone." He throws his arms up and goes, "I'm your guy in the chair!"
"And I'm ..." Eloise thinks for a moment, stumped. What is she?
Peter and Ned watch her, waiting for her to finish.
"... your moral support," The girl ends weakly.
Peter gives her a flat look. "You're not coming." He stands and shoulders past Ned as he fits his mask over his head again. "Ned, can you make May an official-looking paper that says I'm off on another 'retreat' with Mr. Stark?"
Ned steps over and sits down in the chair. He scoots up to his computer and pulls up a new document. "How long do you think you'll be gone?"
"Don't know," Peter replies as he suits up. "Depends on how far the weapons are being stored. Just say, maybe, four days?"
Eloise pushes herself onto her feet. "Hold on, you're leaving now?" She asks, turning to Peter.
He shrugs. "Yeah."
"But what if he's leading you into a trap? What if he isn't even going to the weapons? What if he knows you're tracking him and you get ambushed and you're all alone and can't come home?" Eloise rapidly fires questions at him. She wills herself to not get emotional, but it's hard because this mission could be life or death—and she's not ready to lose him. "What then, Peter?"
He sighs. "Fine." He pushes the spider emblem on his chest and his suit fits his body. "Ned, you're coming, too."
"What!?" Eloise exclaims at the same time Ned goes, "Yes!"
Peter scratches the back of his masked head. "Look, it could be really dangerous and we're going to be gone for Thanksgiving. You should stay and spend the holiday with your family."
"But you guys are my family," Eloise tells them. "I never do anything for Thanksgiving with my parents; they always go out together and leave me at home alone to eat whatever I can nuke in the microwave." She steps forward. "Come on, I'll be useful."
Peter hesitates. Eloise pleads him with her crystal blue eyes. Walking into what could potentially be incredibly dangerous with two of her best friends by her side would be a lot better than spending the holiday alone, wondering if her friends are even alive or not.
Peter turns away. "No."
Eloise grabs his arm and turns him to face her. She can feel his eyes piercing through hers even though they're masked by the white Spider eye pieces.
Peter takes his arm out of her grip. "I said no, Eloise. I already have Ned and by bringing you along I'd just be putting you in harm's way."
Eloise throws her thumb over her shoulder at Ned. "And you don't care that Ned will be in danger too?"
Ned perks up at this. He glances at Peter, waiting for the answer.
Peter sighs. "That's different."
"How?" Eloise challenges.
"I don't know. I actually, like, need him."
Ouch, Eloise thinks. It's nice to know that she's of no importance to him and is kind of just there. Was the task to sort photos just so she'd get out of his way? Does he really not think that she can help? Eloise turns away from both of the boys, not wanting them to see the hurt twisting her face as she reaches for the door knob.
"Eloise, that's not what I meant—"
"No, it's okay," She says quietly, hand holding the knob and her eyes burning into the door. "I get it. I'm not necessary."
"El—"
She doesn't wait for him to finish before she twists the door knob and pushes, walking out of Peter's bedroom. Eloise hears footsteps following her, so she speeds up her walking through the apartment and within seconds she's entering the hall.
Eloise's hand doesn't even make contact with the door knob to her apartment when the door to the Parker's residence swings open.
"Eloise," Ned breathes.
She turns and stares at Ned, having expected Peter. He stands half-in and half-out of the doorway.
"You know that that's not what Peter meant. He just doesn't want to put you in harm's way is all."
"Then why did he say that he didn't need me?"
He hesitates. "It's ... complicated. But he didn't mean to say that to you."
She shakes her head and looks away, eyes starting to sting. Ned's just trying to make her feel better, but it's not working. What Peter said can't be unsaid. If he didn't mean it, then why would he say it? And it's obvious that Eloise isn't needed, anyways. Peter has already got a guy in the chair; why would he need her? But even if he did need Eloise, why did Ned come apologize instead of Peter?
"Have fun on your trip," Eloise says, unlocking the door and pushing it open. "Be careful. I don't want to hear about Spider-Man and his guy in the chair dying in the news."
She disappears inside and closes the door behind her before Ned can reply.
Eloise lumbers over to her bedroom and collapses on the bed. Silence buzzes in her ears and she burrows her head in her pillow. Just once she wishes someone would knock softly on her door, ask her if she's okay, and hold her when she says that she's not.
But no one knocks on her door. No one asks if she's okay. No one holds her.
Once again, Eloise is all alone.
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Attached Song: Constellations by The Oh Hellos
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