Wow. Okay, really, wow. Let's try not to screw this up, shall we?
I'm going to call her. I'm going to call her now, as soon as I'm in. This is totally insane.
I swing down from my roof, in through my bedroom window, landing heavily on the floor. Normally I'm a little softer on the landings. I'm not thinking about what I'm doing. Well, either that or the nice new bruises I have courtesy of the Vulture are suddenly starting to hurt.
Okay, yeah, actually… ow. That is painful. Guess I sort of didn't pay much attention to that before. Ow.
I sit down on the floor and pull my mask off. And suddenly I'm laughing. Man, I have not been this happy in ages. Dating an X-Man. Dating Kitty Pryde. I kissed her and, I mean… wow!
The front door slams shut downstairs.
"Peter? Are you in?" Aunt May, back from work.
"Yeah, I'll be down in a minute!"
I scramble over to my closet, pulling the door open and flipping up the lid of the chest that sits at the bottom. I throw my mask in, along with my gloves and boots. Then I wriggle out of the shirt – this thing is so difficult to get out of. Seriously, lycra is a bitch to escape from. I finally prise it off my body and then throw it into the chest, along with the pants of my suit, and shut the closet door.
I catch my reflection in the mirror. Big purple bruises are dotted across my body. I wince a little as I bring my hand to my chest, touching one of the marks. Ow! Should all heal up quickly – thank you, spider powers – but it's going to be painful for a while. And chances are, just as it does heal up, I'm going to get another whupping like the one I got today. Oh, it's a fun life.
I go to my bag, yanking my clothes out of it and grabbing my cell phone. I type in the number Kitty scrawled on my arm and hold it to my ear as I pick up my jeans. It only rings a couple of times before she picks up.
"Hey!" she says.
"Hey, you okay?"
Turns out it's really difficult to put your jeans on while holding your phone with one hand.
"Yeah. Thanks again for swinging me home."
"No problem. Nice-looking apartment you've got."
"Uuuugh. Don't!"
"Oh, come on, it can't be that bad!"
"Did you see the X-Mansion? This is hardly a step-up."
"I know, I know, it must be so terrible not living in a mansion! My heart bleeds!"
"Shut up, Mr Parker! But I guess it is kinda nice just having the three of us here."
"Not missing the rest of the X-Men?" I'm doing some weird hopping dance thing, trying to get into these jeans.
"No! Imagine having to live with all the students in your school."
"I would honestly rather spend an afternoon fighting the Hulk."
"Exactly."
I try to pull up my jeans and trip on them, falling to the floor with a heavy 'thud'. Owww. The bruises are not helping! I bite down on my lip, trying not to groan.
"Peter? What was that?"
"Nothing," I say.
"You sure?"
"Mhmm."
"PETER!" It's Aunt May, yelling from downstairs. Suddenly I can hear her coming up. Crap. "Peter, what was that?"
"Gimme a sec," I say to Kitty.
I hold the phone against my chest for a second.
"Nothing, Aunt May!"
She's coming to my room. Getting caught in my underwear might not exactly be ideal, but having to explain the bruises would be beyond not ideal. Which is probably why I instinctively fling my hand out and web my door shut. Probably shouldn't have done that. I have no idea how I would explain that.
She knocks.
"Peter?"
"Nothing, Aunt May, I just… uh… knocked my chair over. Sorry! I'll be down in a bit."
"Okay. As long as you're alright…"
"I'm fine, Aunt May! Just give me a minute."
"Okay, Peter."
I hear her footsteps move away on the other side of the door. Phew. I pull my jeans up and put the phone back to my ear.
"Hey. Sorry about that. So, uh… you want to meet up again some time?"
"Sure!" says Kitty. "I mean, you know, if you want to. Don't, um, y'know, don't feel obliged."
"I totally want to."
"You mean that?"
"Today was… today was great. I mean, you know, apart from that bit where I fought a man dressed as a big green bird."
"Such lame villains…"
"Hey, if you want a second date, you're going to have to stop insulting my villains!"
I can almost hear her smiling. I'm certainly grinning all of a sudden.
"You need to get yourself some better villains then!"
"Like the X-Men have done any better!"
"Have you seen Magneto?"
"Well…"
"Mojo?"
"I don't even know what that is."
"Well, he'd kick your butt!"
"I don't need to take this!"
She laughs. I love that laugh. Why is every little thing about this girl getting into my head?
"Sorry. You still have cooler villains than the Avengers."
"Don't they just beat each other up?"
"This is true."
"I mean, they never seem to be around when I need them," I say, scooping up my shirt.
"They're probably all too busy being smug because they have their own tower."
"I want a tower…"
"You should come stay at the mansion. If we ever move back in."
"This is totally not fair. You get a mansion, the Avengers get a tower, the Fantastic Four get a tower… Know what I have? I have a house in Queens. And I don't even own the house!"
Kitty laughs again. And then…
"Could I come chill at your house some time?"
"You want to come over?"
"Sure. If that's cool with you and your aunt."
"Yeah. Totally! You around tomorrow?"
"I am around every day, because my schedule currently consists of sitting inside, pretending I don't exist, not talking to anyone."
"Well, mine is full of school and trying to sell photos for anything I can get and being a superhero everyone hates, so if you want to switch…"
"I'll think about it!" she says. "Tomorrow then? After school again?"
"I've got to swing by the Bugle first. Want to meet me there? I think it's actually closer to yours than the school is."
"Sure. What time?"
"Probably around five?"
"Okay. Daily Bugle, yeah?"
"Yeah. Meet me out the front. I'll see you tomorrow then?"
"You will see me tomorrow! Take care, Pete."
"Yeah, you too."
I put the phone down. I'm seeing her again. That's happening. Things are looking up for once. Ha! The old Parker luck is definitely changing!
I pull my shirt on and go over to the door. Which is stuck shut with a big splatter of webbing. Ah. This stuff is a nightmare to get off. I mean, that's sort of the point. Why did I web my door shut? Idiot! I grab the web with both hands, trying to tug it away from the door. It stretches a little, but it's stuck tight on. Oh, nice going, Parker. At least you know your web fluid works. I get my foot up on the wall as I keep pulling. It's still not yielding. I put my other foot up onto the wall, sticking myself in place as I yank on the web. It gives way. And I fall back as it does.
Thud!
"PETER!"
"I'M FINE!" Ow. Idiot.
"Sorry," I'm saying, as I hurry downstairs. "Got to move that chair."
"You've got to stop being so clumsy all the time," says Aunt May, as I come into the kitchen. "I was going to do meatloaf for dinner. That okay?"
"Mm."
"Mm? What does that mean, 'mm'?"
"Means mm, yeah, fine. Meatloaf."
"Fine like 'it will do' or fine like 'thank you, Aunt May, for cooking a lovely dinner for me'?"
"Meatloaf's good!" I say, grabbing a Coke from of the fridge. She's giving me the glare. "Thank you, Aunt May," I say.
I pop the can open and take a swig, feeling the fizz in my mouth. I really need a drink. My mouth has been so dry today.
"You're welcome. So, good day?"
Well, I went out with one of the X-Men and fought off the Vulture, so…
"Not bad. Uh, is it cool if I have a friend round tomorrow, maybe for dinner?"
"Sure. Which friend?"
"You don't know her."
"Her?"
"Yeah, her… Her name's Kitty."
"You know I'm working late tomorrow."
"I'm sure we can look after ourselves!"
"That's what I'm worried about."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask. She's giving me the glare again.
"I don't want any hanky panky."
"Oh my God."
"Peter!"
"Aunt May!"
"I mean it, Peter."
"I know! No, Aunt May, we're not going to… no!"
"Well, I suppose I can't exactly stop you having someone over."
Especially when that someone can walk straight through any locked door or solid wall.
"Thank you," I say.
"You sold any more pictures to Jameson lately?"
"I'm going to see him tomorrow," I say. "That should be fun…"