Picking Up The Pieces

45. Sneaking Out For 'Morale'

   "Maybe we crash at McDonalds or something," Liz thought out loud as she laid opposite of me on my hotel bed. "Or sneak into the White House."

"Pretty sure that last option is illegal," I chuckled, hugging one of the pillows. I kept rubbing my metal fingers against the covers. I was almost starting to feel it, but it was just my imagination."Is there like... a rec room or something in this hotel?"

"Wouldn't doubt it," my friend shrugged. "But who wants to spend the day before a competition working out? And anything that actually would be fun is probably limited to the adults."

"Ooh, Liz is a bad girl," I grinned, giving her a nudge. "What, you go clubbing instead of doing your homework?"

"Oh, stop it," she giggled, nudging me back. "I feel like I get my adventurous side from my dad... at least, I think I do." Liz sighed. "Honestly, I don't know what I get from my dad. He's always gone on business trips."

"At least you see him every once and a while, right?" I tried to brighten the mood, and she nodded. "At least you don't take that time for granted, and I know you definitely don't."

"You know, people have said that to me before, but I feel like you're the only one who actually means it..." There was an comfortable silence between us before I turned around to give her a grin. "I got it-"

"The pool!" we said in unison before laughing at each other.

"Much better than crashing McDonalds," Liz smiled, giving me a high five.

"And sneaking into the White House," I added before my phone started ringing. My friend gestured for me to answer it. "Hello?"

"Hey, Belle, what does it mean when my suit says it's disabled by 'Training Wheels Protocol?'" Peter asked me, causing me to hang my head in disbelief. Liz gave me a strange look, but I waved her down.

"Have you tried flipping the off and on switch?" I said sarcastically.

"Ha ha, very funny. I'm serious though. How do you get this thing off? Ned is struggling."

"He's lying," Ned chimed in, and there was a soft fumble as I heard the phone get stolen away. "I unlocked it five minutes ago. He just-" There was a shout both through the phone and from somewhere outside our hotel room. "-Peter!"

"Is that Ned?" Liz scoffed, looking over at the door when she heard the noise. "Tell him to be quiet; we are not getting kicked out of this hotel."

"Ned, you need to shut up," I sighed into the phone, listening to him pant. "Why are you breathing like that?"

"No, I locked Peter in the bathroom," he huffed. There was a brief pause before he responded again. "He's literally ramming himself into the door."

"You shouldn't have stolen his phone then," I chuckled, moving over on the other bed and holding my phone against my ear.

"Am I allowed to call you Isabel now? Since I know your secret identity?"