Spyder and The Avengers

Chapter 11 - The Drama Mamma (Guess who?)

First, I stopped in the girl's lav outside the auditorium. Locking myself in a stall, I pulled on the white strapless dress Marceline bought for me earlier in the year. It was officially the only dress I owned, but I felt it was just too fancy-shmancy for me.

However, she had begged me to wear it, and I couldn't let her down. I shoved my school clothes in my gym bag and then placed that inside my backpack.

My heart was pounding. What would Chase think? Would he even be here? I slipped into the auditorium before I could change my mind.

The party room was crowded; jam-packed with peers. The music was blaring so loudly, I saw spots. My all-new spider-supersense-crap. Right.

I took a deep breath and immediately spotted Marceline. She was over in a corner, smiling and talking with her little clique of  friends.

I shuffled over and tapped her gently on the shoulder. She turned around, and gasped.

"Why, Pepper! You look amazing! I knew I picked the right dress for you," she said. "I am such great clothes matcher. Pepper, you are stunning."

I started blushing a deep red, and my ears were on fire. She smiled at me and walked me over to the empty bleachers. I sat down, head in hands and heart threatening to burst out of my chest. She sat down next to me and squeezed my hand.

"Was I a little loud?" She asked quietly.

"Maybe," I replied, the black spots threatening to overwhelm my vision. "Could... could I just have a moment.... alone?"

She hung her head and said, "Okay, then. I'm sorry..."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her heading back to her other friends. I felt bad, but Marceline just needed to learn to back off a little. And my head was pounding, right in time to the beat of the music.

Then, I saw Chase. My vision immediately cleared. He was dressed in black sweatpants and a gray t-shirt, but he looked, well, you know... Amazing.

Ugh. Did I really just think that?

He looked over at me and I quickly lowered my head again, so red and hot I felt like a volcano. Suddenly, there he was beside me. On the bleachers. Next to me. Me.

Crapballs.

"So, ah," Chase started awkwardly. "How are you feeling?"

I looked up, confused. "What?"

"You know, your headache. During our photo session at Osborne Labs, on Sunday. Yesterday. Remember?"

I wanted to slap myself, but that would be weird, so I did it mentally. "Oh, yeah, right. I'm d-doing much better, thanks."

He looked down at his sneakered feet and said, "Well, that's good. Are you, um, ready for the money drawing?"

"Oh, yeah," I said. "I guess s-so." Super smooth, Pepper. Just super. Now he's going to think you're a stammering, red idiot. Way. To. Go.

I was really on a roll.

Chase tentatively patted my back. "Okay, well, good luck. Bye, Pepper."

I loved the way he said my name, I thought as he walked away. Pepper. P-E-P-P-E-R. You know, me. The once-totally-normal-but-got-bitten-by-a-spider-and-now-has-superpowers girl. Yeah, that's me.

I decided to leave because, honestly, what's the point of sitting on the bleachers at a dance party? None. Exactly. So I picked up my backpack and walked quietly towards the door. Nobody even noticed I was going, not even Marceline who, mind you, was laughing so hard she was almost crying and surrounded by a cluster of girls. Wait a second, she was crying.

Dang it.

Oh, no. What had I done? I took a deep but shaky breath and headed over. I pushed my way towards the center, where she had now curled up into a ball, still sobbing. I asked eveyone to give Marceline and I some space, and they happily obliged and flounced off to another group of girls. Geez.

I hesitantly tapped her on the shoulder, biting my lip.

She whipped her head up, mascara smeared on her face. "Oh, it's you." She said. "I a-am so s-s-sorry, Pe-epper. I didn't m-ean to embarrass y-you. I, well, I just-"

Marcy broke off and put her head in her hands. Her shoulders shuddered with every breath she took.

"No, no, Marceline," I said soothingly. "It's okay. It was my fault. I hurt your feelings. I am sorry."

She looked up at me and rubbed a mascara-and-blush-smudged cheek. "Th-thanks, bestie. You were always so nice to me..."

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

So, another longer chapter.

Gotta love that stereotypical dance boy-girl-drama, right?

Right now, I am listening to Pompeii by Bastille, which is one of my absolute favorite songs. Random question: What is one of your absolute FAVORITE songs?