Spyder and The Avengers

Chapter 8 - Two Letters

I stepped off the edge of the roof and landed, without a sound, on my rather small deck. I was in a weird, yoga-like position, with one leg bent in and the other stretched out. My fingertips were touching the floor. It felt oddly comfortable.

And oddly reminiscent of a certain Avenger.

Panting heavily, I pulled the key ring out of my jean pocket and flipped to the one labeled as "deck." I unlocked the door and slipped in silently. Turns out, I was a full thirty minutes late. It was 12:30.

Where did time go, I thought as guilt threatened to lock me in a mute state. I shook my head and took a deep breath.

So I broke routine once. Hopefully, she won't be too upset. I mean, I'm a big kid now, and I can have lunch when I want. I can take care of myself.

The kitchen was connected to the deck, so Aunt Mae saw me as soon as I walked in. She was unpacking the day's finds. Mostly including food, like little packets of near-expired pretzel bites or a half gallon of marked down orange juice.

Her eyes widened and she rushed over to hug me. "Oh, Pepper," she said. "I was so worried. Any later, and I would've called your uncle, and then the police."

Cue mental facepalm.

Aunt Mae stepped back and looked me over worriedly. "Did something happen that I need to know about?" She asked, eyeing my dirty clothes, sneakerless feet, and minor cuts from web swinging.

"Oh," I answered hurriedly, my mind whirring. "I, uh, just fell in a puddle on the way home. And then, well, I took a wrong turn and got lost." I gave her a smile. "But here I am, safe and sound."

So please stop worrying about me like I'm five years old.

She raised an eyebrow. "How in the world did you come in through the deck, Pepper? Were you on the roof? It's too dangerous up there."

Oh. That.

I shuffled my feet, wracking my brain for an excuse. Lightbulb! "Well, Aunt Mae, I wanted to change up the routine, so I climbed the fire escape ladder to our deck."

She looked at me, eyes narrowed, and said, "Well, then."

Success!

Aunt Mae sauntered off to the kitchen, muttering about teens and their weird habits. She continued to unpack her finds "du jour" as I slipped down the hallway, past her empty bedroom and my bathroom. I breezed into my room and shut the door behind me.

I needed to, well, do something with my newfound abilities. I logged into our WiFi network and looked up "Spider-Man".

I clicked "IMAGES" and a bunch of pictures came up, mostly consisting of a masked young man in a red and blue skintight costume, with a black spider on the front and back and webbing designs all over. The spider was his icon, or symbol.

This wasn't news to me, but it was nice to have a refresher.

The red and blue was too flashy, though. If I were to design a costume and play as a female Spider-Man, I'd have more white and black. They would blend in well and look much better.

Red and blue is so seventies Superman.

Suddenly, Aut Mae burst into my room, waving two envelopes in the air. She was babbling incoherently and I knew something was up.

Putting my computer to sleep, I put my hand on her shoulder and sat her down on my bed. I stood in front of her, arms crossed. "What is it, Aunt Mae?"

She seemed to debate which envelope to hand me first, and decided on a formal white one from my school. She handed it to me excitedly. This is the most jumpy I've seen her, I thought as I opened the letter.

My eyes scanned the page.

Whoa.

I read it again, slower this time. I gasped; it was true!

Laughing, I dove to hug my aunt. "How did this happen?" She asked me after we had calmed down.

"Well," I started. "A few weeks ago, the entire high school took a test to see if anyone was intelligent enough to take a few college courses instead of next year's classes. My school did it more for law though."

I paused, checking the letter. "But, apparently, I was the only one who passed. Since this was done just once before, this letter got sent home. And it says I can go to college, starting this fall!"

Aunt Mae nearly burst into tears, and she hugged me so hard that I almost went numb. "I knew it was something good from school, I just knew it!" She whispered happily.

Then, I remembered the other letter. I reached for the sparkly zebra-stripe envelope.

Quaking with excitement, I sat back against the wall and opened it. I was cordially invited to the school dance this Monday, and the doors opened immediately after school was out.

Oh, yeah. The raffle tickets tickets I won on Friday. Maybe I'll actually win that cash prize.

I only really put the chance-tickets in the draw for the dance raffle because Aunt Mae said I needed to be more social. Oh, and because Chase was going, and Marcy got me a special "prom-and-rom-dress" at the beginning of the year.

Aunt Mae was so happy for me, she wanted to take me out to eat at a nearby chinese food place.

I declined, saying that she should save her money for something more important.

She creased her brow, highlighting her wrinkles from years of worry. She pulled the hair tie out of her bun and her beautiful silvery hair flowed down to her shoulders. Aunt Mae turned towards me.

"Pepper," my aunt said, slipping her hand into mine. "You deserve it. You have so much potential. You need to use it, honey."

If only she realized just how much potential I had, I thought, looking out my window.

Aunt Mae slowly got up from my bed. I stood up and opened my bedroom door for her. She nodded her thanks and shuffled off to make dinner for me and Uncle Ben.

I closed my door and sat down on the windowsill.

The two letters were on the desk with my laptop. I put my feet up on my bed, crossing them.

Aiming carefully, I shot a web at the party letter. It was off by at least a foot.

I shot another. Six inches away.

My third web attatched to the corner. I pulled the strand and suddenly I was holding the letter.

Neat trick, I thought, skimming the inside.

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<·<Pepper_B_Parker*Alias:_Spyder*Position:_S.H.I.E.L.D._agent>·>

Hey, me again. Another longish chapter. Whaddya think? Huh?