instantaneous ▲ tasm [SLOW UPDATES.]

s i x t e e n ; whatever it takes

SIXTEEN ; WHATEVER IT TAKES

Romina was stuck in a dreamy haze for the rest of the night. Seeing Harry that day reminded her just how much she missed him. She had missed the two of them and Peter spending time together. They were the best of friends before Harry had been sent to boarding school. She remembered how devastated she was when she found out he was leaving them. He had always been one of the most important people in her life and seeing him again after years made her realize that wasn't going to change, either.

"Ro," her mother calling her name broke her from her trance.

They were sitting in the living room with the TV tuned to the news. When Romina finally looked up at the screen, a news anchor was standing in the middle of Times Square, talking about Spider-Man. They cut to a scene that had apparently happened that night with a blue, glowing man facing off with Peter and some firefighters.

"Can't we have a normal, calm day in New York just once?" her mom mumbled from beside her, causing Romina to let out an amused scoff.

"There was never a normal day in New York, even before Spider-Man," Nic retorted, chuckling at his own joke.

Francesca narrowed her eyes at her son and shrugged. "Still, it seems like the guy does more harm than good. Day after day something is getting destroyed in this city and the spider boy seems to always be the cause. Or at least a big part of it."

"Is this still an argument? I thought after the giant lizard attack, that he saved everyone from, by the way, it was pretty clear his intentions are good," Romina argued. When her mother only shrugged, she sighed and stood up. "I'm gonna go to Peter's. I need to talk to him about something."

▲

When Romina arrived at his house, Aunt May directed her to the garage where he had apparently disappeared to just minutes before she got there. She found Peter there, at the workbench with his laptop open playing a Youtube video about batteries. His eyes were trained on the video and she figured he didn't even notice her enter.

"Having fun there?" she asked, hoping to catch him off-guard but he nodded in response. A beat later, he handed her a pair of goggles, still barely acknowledging her. "Wait, what's happening?"

Romina watched as Peter hooked several wires to a small battery that powered his webs. Quickly, she put on the goggles and took a step back. Her eyes grew wide as she watched Peter attach jumper cables to the web. A second later, the battery exploded and he jumped back, nearly knocking Romina over. He mumbled a quick, "sorry," then leaned over the workbench again to get a closer look.