Rose took a drink from her water bottle, and sat on the bleachers of the gym. Rose noticed Peter staring at a group of girls behind her, so naturally walked over to him and Ned.
"Parker, you know them?" Rose asked, glancing at the girls.
"The one in the middle is Liz, Peter likes her," Ned whispered.
Peter elbowed Ned in the side, and Ned cursed under his breath. Liz and the girls around her were talking about Spider-Man, and that caught Ned's attention.
"Uh Peter knows Spider-Man!"
The entire gym went silent and looked at Peter. Rose immediately covered Ned's mouth with her hand and whispered profanities at him.
"Is that true Peter?" Liz questioned leaning forward.
"W-well sorta," Peter stuttered.
"I'm having a party at my place tonight, why don't you ask Spider-Man to show up?" She asked.
Peter agreed, Ned gave a supportive thumbs up, and Rose gave a very disappointed look.
"Really Peter?" Rose asked as they left school.
"What? I'm just going to show up in the suit that's all, after that I'll leave," Peter explained.
"You are using Spider-Man to get laid," Rose said bluntly, making Peter cringe.
"No no no it's not like that, god that's gross," Peter shuttered.
"Than what is it like?" Rose asked crossing her arms.
"I don't want them to think I'm a liar ok? People already..."
"Pick on you?" Rose questioned, finishing the sentence.
"Y-yeah... but it isn't like I can't handle it or anything! It's more of an inconvenience to me that I would rather avoid," he replied.
Rose clearly didn't approve, a stare that couldn't help but remind Peter of a disappointed parent.
"Why don't you come along? Then you'll see that it's not a big deal," Peter suggested.
"Fine, I'll go," Rose sighed.
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Rose had never been to a party, especially one with plenty of drunk teenagers. Rose stood against the wall next to the spiked punch, Ned was trying to talk to some girls, and Peter was trying to find Liz. A girl walked up to Rose. She had short blonde hair peaking out of a red beanie, and wore a white t-shirt with a flannel over top.
"You look bored out of your mind," she said.
"First party ever, and I hate it. What about you? You look done with this place," Rose replied.
"Yeah, my friend was invited so I tagged along," the girl responded as she stood next to Rose.
"Mine too," Rose sighed.
"When I say Penis, you say Parker! Penis!" Flash yelled into a microphone.
"Parker!" The entire crowd yelled in return.
"That's Flash Thompson isn't it? I'm glad I don't share a school with him, I feel bad for whoever 'Penis Parker' is," the girl said looking at Rose.
Rose noticed Peter leave the house with an annoyed look. She figured he would be showing up as Spider-Man anytime soon.
"Trust me, it's normally worse," Rose replied.
"Why don't you and I leave? We aren't responsible for our dumbass friends y'know," the girl pointed out.
"I'd like to know your name first," Rose said.
"I'm Kylie, and you are..."
"Rosetta, but Rose works."
"Alright Rose, I know an underpass nearby we can hang out at until this party is over," Kylie suggested.
Rose debated trusting her, then agreed.
Rose didn't want to hang around when Spider-Man showed up, she hated that Peter agreed to come. She and Kylie walked out of the house, and down the sidewalk towards a bridge.
"Yeah my friends and I like to hang out under here, it's only occasionally interrupted by college students drinking and smoking," Kylie said with an awkward smile.
As they approached it, Rose heard some men talking. She put a hand to Kylie's chest, and listened closely. The more she listened, the more she realized it was someone weapon testing.
"Kylie, let's leave," Rose whispered.
"What? Whoever is there can fuck off," Kylie said continuing walking.
"Whoever is there is dangerous, let's just watch from a distance," Rose suggested.
"Hmm... fine there's a spot over here," Kylie said walking behind some bushes.
Kylie and Rose sat behind bushes and silently watched what was happening. There was a van filled with some technology they had never seen before. One man was showing off one of these weapons to another man leaning against the van. The weapon fired some sort of blast, and there was a loud explosion. Kylie yelped a little, but Rose covered her mouth with her hand so the men wouldn't hear them.
"I'm going to get a closer look," Rose whispered.
"Are you insane?! Did you see that gun?!" Kylie whispered-yelled.
Rose didn't respond and snuck over to a nearby telephone pole. She climbed up it, then jumped over to one of the concrete pillars holding the bridge above them up. She hugged the pole with her arms as she slung her legs over to two metal beams crossed in an X formation intended to give the bridge extra support. Rose sat on the point where the beams crossed, and noticed she could see the van perfectly. They couldn't see her because of the darkness that surrounded her. Rose looked back at Kylie, who was speechless. Rose turned back to the van, and watched the men continue to talk.
"Illegal weapons dealing? I should stop them, but my mask is back at Aaron's. The least I can do is tell the police I guess," Rose thought.
Rose's thoughts were cut off by a web grabbing one of the men and pulling them away. One man pulled out a gauntlet and attacked the oncoming red and blue figure with the weapon. This easily knocked Spider-Man away, but he got back on his feet easily. A smile crept over Rose's face, and Kylie's eyes seemed to double in size. Spider-Man fought against these weapon which seemed to use some sort of alien technology, Rose didn't know if she should join in or not. Her question was answered when someone in a green metal suit, that looked like it had wings, tackled Spider-Man away. Spider-Man was carried away towards a nearby lake, causing Rose to panic. She jumped off the metal, and rolled when she hit the ground. Rose groaned as she stood up, and Kylie freaked out.
"Oh my god are you ok?! I think they heard you, we need to leave," Kylie said as he helped Rose up.
Sure enough the men turned in the direction of the noise, and the girls sprinted off.
Kylie was running back towards the party, but Rose turned the other direction.
"Where are you going?! If those psychos are after us hiding in a crowd is best," Kylie pointed out.
"You head back, I'll catch up."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
Kylie nodded, and they ran opposite directions. Rose sprinted towards the lake as fast as she possibly could, an odd feeling of panic causing her heart rate to spike. She reached the shore of the lake as someone fell into the middle of it.
"No no no no no," Rose muttered as she took off her shoes.
Right before Rose dove into the water, she heard what sounded like a small jet engine coming from the sky. She looked up, and the moonlight illuminated Iron Man flying into the lake. After a few suspenseful seconds, he flew back out carrying Spider-Man. Rose quietly put her shoes back on, and ran around the lake to the side that the two superheroes were. Before she got there Iron Man flew away, leaving Peter standing with his mask off.
"Jesus Christ Parker, don't scare me like that," Rose mumbled as she turned back around and ran back to the party.