golden | peter parker

twenty

Penny and Michelle were getting ready together at Penny's house for Liz's decathlon party. It was a semi casual event, meaning Penny curled her hair slightly, put on white skinny jeans, a nice striped tank top, and some black ankle boots.

Michelle on the other hand, put on a nice looking shirt, her signature green bomber jacket, black skinny jeans, and her doc martens.

They both applied mascara and made their way to the door.

"Woah, woah, woah, where do you think you're going?" Noah asked walking in front of them, trying to be intimidating.

"The decathlon team is meeting up, and we're going," Michelle said simply. Noah raised his eyebrow at her.

"And what time will you be back?" He questioned again.

A pair of laughs were heard from the living room. William and Sara tried their best to contain themselves, but Noah was being so cute.

"Noah, leave them alone," William said, walking towards them. "They're allowed to go out."

Penny then pushed him out of the way and closed the door behind them, William following so he could drive.

As they got in the car, William mapped the directions to Liz's house.

"So Michelle, how's school going?" He asked, pulling away.

"Easy, I spend most classes just reading. The teacher's don't even notice, too. It's like we're living in a patriarchal society, but the men have no real grasp and it's all a thin veil as the women let them believe they're in control. It's quite sad, really. Either that, or my teacher's just don't give a shit," Michelle answered.

William didn't even hesitate before responding, "Something tells me it's both." He was no stranger to how deep her comments could get. At first he was shocked that someone so young could have such strong interesting opinions, but quickly grew to love it as Michelle could always offer intellectual conversations. He also loved her dry sense of humor.

After that, it was just meaningless small talk as Penny and Michelle were both on their phones; Penny looking at memes on Instagram, while Michelle was on Twitter destroying everyone with a single sentence.

William finally pulled up to Liz's house, and they both got out.

"Pick you up when?" He asked, rolling the window down.

"11, please," Penny replied.

"Okay," William said driving down the street.

Michelle started walking towards the house, but soon noticed that Penny had stayed still.

"Pen, you have to go in. We didn't come this far for you to chicken out now," Michelle said trying to drag her friend inside.

"But what if he's in there already? What if he has more bruises? MJ, I care about him so much. He saved my life. I can't just, I just, I don't know. I probably sound really crazy right now. Sorry," Penny sighed, rubbing her temples.

"Look. I'm not going to let you tear yourself apart over some boy. You are Penelope fucking Collins. Resident badass of Midtown High. Pull your head out of your ass and realize that you don't have to put yourself through this. If Peter wants to keep secrets, fine let him. You shouldn't be tortured because of his actions. Now as your best friend, I'm forcing you inside whether you'll hate me or not, because this is for your own good," Michelle spoke, she was tired of Penny beating herself up. It was time she got her best friend back.

"You know what? You're right. Thank you, I really needed to hear that."

They walked arm in arm to Liz's front door, grins on both of their faces. They entered the small party and were immediately met with the smell of pizza.