Betty Brant
"Betty! Just the person I was looking for!"
I closed my eyes and rolled them. After that, I closed my locker and turned around, putting on my best fake smile as I looked at Brad Davis.
"Good morning, Brad," I greeted. I really didn't want to talk to him at the moment. Mostly because I was about eighty percent sure I knew what he wanted to talk to me about. "How are you doing today?"
"I'm doing fine, how are you?"
"Dandy." It took me a lot of effort to keep the sarcasm out of my voice. "So, what's up?"
"I need your help with something… or someone."
"And who would that someone be?" I asked as if I didn't know who this person was.
Brad smiled at me. "MJ, of course." I took in a breath. He held up his hands pleadingly. "Just hear me out. Just hear me out, please." I really didn't want to hear him out. But, I didn't want to be mean. So, I leaned back against my locker and beckoned him to speak. He lowered his hands and smiled. "Okay, so the dance is this weekend, right? From what I understand, MJ doesn't have a date. Now, I know that MJ already turned me down once…"
Multiple times, I corrected internally.
"…but, maybe you can put in a word or two for me?"
I stared at Brad for some seconds. A part of me felt sorry for Brad. MJ was taken, and happily so. However, that was something only two people at Midtown High knew – those two people being Ned and myself. While MJ never explicitly told us to keep her relationship with Peter a secret, she never told anyone else at school and we respected that. So, unfortunately, Brad had no idea that MJ was in a relationship, let alone one that was basically a marriage at this point. And as much as I wanted to – albeit more for MJ's sake than his – I couldn't. However, I was mostly annoyed because Brad just didn't get the hint. MJ was not into Brad. She curbed him so many times that it was a running joke amongst the girls at school. But every couple of weeks or so, he'd try to ask her out. And I was afraid that one day, MJ will go off on him in the worst way.
I sighed before I shook my head slowly. I gave Brad a sympathetic smile as I stood up from the locker.
"Brad," I began slowly, speaking in a gentle tone. "I understand you like MJ a lot. And I get it. She's an awesome person when you get to know her. With that said, though, the feeling isn't mutual Brad. It wasn't mutual the first time you tried to ask her out, and it wasn't mutal the second, or the third time around. And MJ can only let you down nicely so many times before she goes off on you." I leaned towards him as I raised my eyebrows. "Word to the wise, Brad – accept the fact that you're not going to be anything more than a friend to MJ and find someone else who's looking for a date for the dance, or even go by yourself. You'll be much happier in the long run." I straightened myself up before I smiled at him once more. "Have a good day, Brad." I walked past him before I made my way to class, ignoring the look of disappointment on his face.
Later on that day, when I got home, I was sitting in the living room table, doing homework. The TV was on, but I wasn't paying attention to it – at least not at first. However, a news report came up about one of the members of the Tracksuit Mafia facing even more jail time over real estate violations. I looked up and watched the report. Apparently, the violations were uncovered by Jessica Jones, one of Hell's Kitchen's heroes and probably the most known private investigator in New York City. I looked at the footage of Jessica walking past reporters and ignoring their questions as the photographers snapped pictures. I continued to watch until the report was over. I went back to doing my homework. However, a seed was planted in the back of my head.
Fast forward to Saturday, the night of Midtown High's Valentine's Day dance – Kitty and I were sitting in the living room of my parents' home. We were waiting on MJ to finish her makeup. I was a bit antsy about tonight. This was the first time I been to a dance while Ned and I was a couple. We did plan on going to Homecoming, but Michelle wanted to stay home that day, and Ned, being Ned, didn't want her home by herself, so we decided to spend the night at Ned's watching movies and playing video games. Of course, a lot has changed since that night. Peter was back in our lives, even if the three of us don't remember our respective relationships with him. And I ended up befriending three more heroes in Scott, Craig, and Kitty, the latter two completing our little sextet who I dubbed The American Idiots.
During the month of January and the early part of February, the six of us went through a lot. In one way or another, the each of us had to deal Justin Hammer and Scorpion, The Friends of Humanity, and the fallout of Peter confessing about The Spell. Our friendships were tested, our lives were at risk, but we pulled through. And after all of that, we just had the dance to worry about. I wanted to be happy that we were all finally going to the dance, and I was. However…
"Penny for your thoughts?" Kitty spoke up. I looked over at her, seeing her smirk. "You look like you have a lot on your mind."
"I just been thinking about something the last few days," I confessed.
Kitty nodded towards me. "What's up?"
"I was just… I was just thinking about what Craig told Ned, MJ, and I back in California."
Kitty tilted her head. "Remind me… was it when we were still on the Airbus, or was it right before we entered our hotel rooms?"
"The latter." I sighed. "I just have been brainstorming ways on how to keep that promise. I don't know how I'm going to do it yet, but I have a few ideas, I think."
"You'll have plenty of time to figure that out." Kitty looked towards the door of my bedroom, where MJ was getting ready. "I'm sure you'll figure it out. Worse comes to worst, I can teach you the ways of being a ninja."
"…Don't tempt me." I smirked. "Though I'm sure Ned would have no problem with me wearing something like your skintight cat suit."
Kitty chuckled. "You're right."
I closed my eyes and shook my head in amusement. I couldn't help but picture the look on my boyfriend's face if he saw me in that kind of outfit. No doubt his jaw would be on the floor.
Perhaps I'll do it one day for a Birthday present, I mused internally.
Still, the idea of not being a liability for when I feel the need to help Peter was still echoing in my mind. One of the ideas I was pondering popped into my head.
"Um…Kitty… what's your opinion on Jessica Jones?" I asked.
Kitty scoffed a bit as she shook her head. "She's a tough pill to swallow." She looked at me and grimaced. "Just like every hero based in New York, she has a lot of baggage – both new and old. And she deals with it in her own way. I don't want to go into too many details since a lot of what I know about her is not my place to say. But, because of it, she can be rather gruff… caustic even. She even gives Peter and MJ a run for their money in the sarcasm department. Underneath it all, though, she is a good person, and she's great at what she does."
"Do you consider her a friend?"
"If we're not, then we're heavily acquainted." Kitty raised her eyebrows at me. "Why do you ask?"
"…You see… I've been pondering my future, lately." I looked forward. "Journalism is the route I want to go. That's the reason I joined The Daily Bugle as an intern." From the corner of my eye, I saw Kitty give me a pointed look. I looked at her and smiled. "I know, I know, The Daily Bugle is hardly the beacon of journalistic integrity, but I've been learning a lot since I started." My smiled faded. "Though, there are skills I want to pick up, especially if I want to get into the investigative side of things. And considering that Jessica Jones is probably the best P.I. in New York, I figured she'd be a great person to learn from." I raised my eyebrows. "Do you think you can…?"
"I can put in a word for you," Kitty said with a smile. "As a matter of fact, I'm sure there's a favor or two she owes me, so I could cash one in for you. But, just know, she's not easy to work with. So, be prepared to deal with her more… unsavory qualities."
"I'm sure I can handle it." I smiled widely. "Thank you!"
"Anytime, Betty."
Finally, the door opened. The two of us stood up and looked at MJ as she walked out slowly. Her eyebrows were raised as she looked back and forth between the two of us, a nervous expression on her face.
"…How do I look?" she asked quietly.
Kitty and I gawked at her for a moment. We looked at each other briefly, then back at MJ.
"…Peter might have a heart attack," complimented as I smiled. I then tilted my head. "Or are you hoping he has another H-word?"
MJ gave me a warning glare. "Betty…"
"Seriously, MJ, you look awesome," Kitty commented. "Peter won't know what to do with himself once he sees you."
I nodded in agreement. To be honest, I was on the Peter/MJ bandwagon since the of St. James incident. There was just something about their dynamic. The two of them easily brought out sides of each other that they don't really show – specifically, both their playful sides and their vulnerable sides. Of course, I'd understand why they were so compatible later on, but even when things were looking shaky between then, I remained in their corner.
They deserved to be happy.
MJ looked down towards the ground. However, I could see the small smile on her face.
"Thanks," she said quietly. She then cleared her throat as she lifted up her head and looked at us. "They'll be here soon, right?"
Kitty took a moment to fish her phone out of her pocket. She looked down at the screen and checked the time. "According to Craig's text, they should be here in about twenty minutes," she informed. She put the phone back into her pocket and looked at MJ. "I just wished we didn't have to be there so soon."
"We all do," I said with a tone of understanding. "But Craig has a job to do, and that means he has to help set up." Still, I frowned. "It's a shame, though. I was hoping to make an entrance."
MJ made a noncommittal noise as she nodded. "A shame," she said. "But entrance or no, we'll have fun, won't we?"
"Oh yeah, the whole night is ours. We'll dance, we'll go to Flash's after party…"
"I thought you guys hated Flash," Kitty pointed out as she tilted her head in confusion.
"We do," MJ confirmed. "However, his parents' place is nice, we can raid the fridge and commandeer a room for ourselves, and we can mooch off of their Wi-Fi and streaming services."
"And we may or may not raid their liquor cabinet," I added.
"Teens indulging in underage drinking," Kitty said with a smirk. "Tale as old as time."
"Maybe then we can discuss the You-Know-What?" I suggested.
"Absolutely not," MJ said with a shake of her head. "If we're going to talk about our future, I'd much rather we didn't do it in a place where we could be possibly under the influence." She tilted her head briefly. "Besides, Carmilla won't be with us tonight."
I raised my eyebrows as I nodded. "I almost forgot about that." I looked over at Kitty. "How come she's not going?"
"Carmilla is in hiding, Betty," Kitty explained as she sat down on the sofa. I sat down as well as MJ slowly walked over. "She's always extra-paranoid after going through something like The Skirmish at Ravencroft. So whenever that happens, she keeps an extra low profile. The only person who knows where she is now is Scott. I haven't seen her since we left our safe house in The Bronx."
"…And Craig is okay with this?" MJ asked as she sat down next to me.
Kitty shrugged. "He's not thrilled by it, but he understands. I talked to him about it yesterday, and he stills happy to go and have a good time with me. After all, he's technically my date for tonight."
I nodded in understanding. Still, it kind of sucked that Carmilla wasn't going to be there with us. I didn't know her as well as the others, but my heart went out to her when I found out her experiences with school dances were rather… grim. I wanted her to have at least one good memory at such a function, especially with Craig. But, what could we do?
"Being a government agent must suck half the time, huh?" I thought out loud. I then smiled. "Perhaps we can all go to prom together. That'll be our last hurrah before summer rolls around. And from there, we do all kind of things before we head off to college." I looked back and forth between Kitty and MJ. "Preferably something NOT superhero related, I'd say."
"One could only hope," Kitty stated as he raised her eyebrows briefly. "Honestly, even with the many heroes we have in New York, it's hard to take a break at times. But I'm sure we can do something fun."
"Like go to Alaska," MJ grumbled.
I looked at MJ curiously. "What's up with Alaska?"
MJ scoffed. "I told The Loser I'd go with him to Alaska if he went 30 days without getting shot or stabbed, and he just barely made it a couple of days ago." She pouted. "I didn't think he'd be able to do it, but now I got to pay up."
I chuckled. "Well, let this be a lesson to you MJ – never doubt Peter."
MJ grumbled, but didn't say anything more, prompting Kitty and I to laugh. After that, I heard the sound of something vibrating. I looked over at Kitty, who pulled her phone out of her pocket. She swiped the phone with her thumb a few times before she read the screen. She then smiled as she looked over at MJ and I.
"Craig is on his way," she informed. She smiled even wider as she put her phone away and clapped her hands together. "It's happening!"
"Yeah it is," I replied in agreement as I stood up. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready to see jaws on the floor."
