Craig Pierre Jr.

We're suited up. We're groomed and shaved. We're smelling fresh. We were ready for the night.

I was all smiles as we cruised through Manhattan. I was behind the wheel of my Toyota Highlander. The city was looking extra pretty to me as I looked out the window. During this, Peter and Ned were singing along to the song that was playing through the audio system.

You said, "Drink from me, drink from me"

When I was so thirsty

Pour on a symphony

Now I just can't get enough

Put your wings on me, wings on me

When I was so heavy

Pour on a symphony

When I'm low, low, low, low

I had no worries. I wasn't worried about The Accords. I wasn't worried about Justin Hammer. I wasn't worried about any crime happening. Any criminal that wanted to act up would have to see the rest of the New York-based heroes. The only thing I cared about tonight was this dance. I was in a great mood. And why wouldn't I be? I was rolling with people I loved and I was basically going to be paid to have fun. The only thing that could've made things better was Carmillia being with us. But, it is what it is. She's doing her best to stay extra safe, and I was fine with that. The way I saw it, I could spend time with her another day. But on this night, I wasn't going to let anything kill the vibe.

We pulled up to Betty's building. I looked at the place as I put the SUV in park. I smirked.

"You think they're ready for us?" Peter asked.

I looked over at him, smirk still on my face. "Well that depends, homie," I replied. "Do I think they're dressed already? I say yeah. But are they ready for how sharp we're looking?" I shook my head. "NAAAAAAH!"

Maybe I was feeling myself a bit. But I really liked how our outfits turned out.

Ned wore black slacks and dress shoes with a matching turtleneck, complete with a gold chain. Over the turtleneck was a dark blue blazer adorned with flowers and palm fronds in bright blue, dark orange, and dark green. It was a pretty unique look, and one that Ned pulled off nice.

Peter was donning a red suit with a matching tie, a black dress shirt that matched his dress shoes, and a midnight blue vest. If one looked closely at the vest, they'd see a webbing pattern. I thought Peter was pretty bold for going with that. But considering that Peter, when he didn't have his shirt off, looked like a rather scrawny kid – respectfully – I figured I was just overthinking things.

As for myself, I was wearing was wearing a black suit with a burnt yellow vest and a tie over a black shirt. On my feet was a pair of black brogues with a burnt yellow sole. Sticking out the pocket on the left side of my jacket was a pocket square that was – you guessed it – burnt yellow. Can you tell I like the combination of black and yellow? Well, it was kind of my way representing the X-Men without outing myself.

Ned chuckled from the seat behind us. He moved into the middle as Peter and I looked at him. "We are looking great, but I'm still curious to see how the ladies look," he mused.

Peter pressed his lips together as he nodded. "I think we all are."

I chuckled. "We ain't gonna find out in here. Let's go."

We stepped out of the vehicle. After I use the remote on my key chain to lock the SUV and arm the alarm, we made our way into the lobby, allowing Ned to lead the way.

"You never been inside of Betty's building before?" I asked Peter as we stepped inside of the library.

"Betty and I weren't as close before the You-Know-What as we are now," he explained.

"…Huh…"

Ned hit the button. The elevator's doors closed before it ascended. Once we reached Betty's floor, Peter and I followed Ned out into the hallway. I took in my surroundings. The place didn't look too shabby. It wasn't as high scale as the place that Scott, Kitty, and I live in, but I've seen a lot worse.

"This is it," Ned said as he came to a stop in front of the door. As he knocked on the door, I looked both ways down the hall – force of habit from my evening activities. The three of us waited patiently for some seconds before the door opened. Greeting us was Betty, who was donning this black dress with a golden brown thread pattern that ran all the way down to the bottom. It reminded me of those large patterns that they had in South America – Nazca lines they were called? I made a mental note to look that up later. I had to say, it was a great looking dress. Her hairstyle was pretty simple, sporting a ponytail with bangs that covered the sides of her forehead. I looked over at Ned, seeing him smirk as he looked Betty up and down. "Mahal ko, you look stunning!"

"And you as well, Buttercup!" Betty replied with a huge smile before she stepped forward and planted a kiss on Ned's lips. During the kiss, Peter and I looked at each other, a bit caught off guard by Betty's apparent pet name for Ned.

Buttercup, I mouthed to him. He shrugged, as surprised as I was. I looked off to the side before I shrugged. With how lovey-dovey the two of them were, I probably shouldn't have been surprised by it.

Speaking of lovey-dovey, I looked back at Ned and Betty, seeing that they were both kissing.

"A'ight now," I spoke up. They continued to kiss. I looked over at Peter and pointed at them in disbelief. Peter pressed his lips together and shook his head as he held back his laugh. I looked back at Betty and Ned spoke up again, this time a bit louder. "A'ight now!" Ned and Betty pulled apart and looked at me a bit sheepishly. "I'm glad you guys are happy to see each other. I really am. But Peter and I need to pick up our dates, so if you would kindly…"

"Yeah, sure," Betty said quickly. She stepped aside. "Please, come in!"

"Thank you," Peter replied with a nod before he, Ned, and I stepped inside. I took a moment to look around the place. It was pretty roomy – I'd venture to say that it was a two room apartment. There was a cream and coffee brown color scheme in this place that gave it a cozy feel. I nodded.

"Nice place," I complimented. Suddenly, a pair of hands covered my eyes.

"Guess who," a voice commanded. I chuckled. Of course it was…

"Kitty." I smiled widely. "Is that you, Kitty?"

"You know it!" She removed her hands from my eyes. I turned around and looked her up and down. As she brought her arms and posed, I took in her outfit. She donned a white button up shirt that was untucked and had its collar raised. Her shirt was hanging over her black plants, which were tucked into her thigh high brown boots. Over her shirt was a long red coat with golden shoulder pads with matching laces hanging from them. Completing the look was a black belt around her waist that was held together by a metallic red buckle that looked like a dragon's head. Kitty's hair was down and given an Octopus cut.

Octopus cut.

Seriously, who is coming up with names for these hairstyles?

"How do I look?" Kitty asked.

"Like the best looking pirate I've ever seen," I jested. Kitty made a tsk sound as she tilted her head and glared at me. I smiled. "Seriously, you look great, KitKat."

"Thank you." She looked down at herself. "I wanted to do something a little different from the typical dress." She looked back at me. She brought her hands up and grabbed my tie, adjusting it. "You don't look so shabby either. It's giving me 1930's mobster vibes."

I shook my head. "Ain't no way Bumpy Johnson would be cool with me, given what I like to do at night. Such a shame, I say – he seems to be an okay guy otherwise."

Kitty hummed in agreement as she lowered her hands. "A shame, indeed." She looked off to her left. She then looked at me and jerked her head towards that same direction. I turned to my right, eyebrows raised. I then smirked with approval. Kitty and I watched as Peter stood in front of MJ. From the corner of my eye, I saw Ned and Betty do the same thing.

MJ was wearing this dress that, as I would find out some days later, was made out of silk and velvet panels. Some of the panels were black. Some of them were different shades of blue green. Her hair hung in thick braids and her eyelids were colored with blue-green eyeshadow. Peter was awestruck.

"Cat got your tongue, Loser?" MJ jokingly taunted as she looked Peter up and down.

"No," Peter replied as he shook his head. "…But you do, though." MJ averted her gaze, trying to hold back her smile as Peter blushed.

Smooth, I thought to myself in amusement.

"You look beautiful, Em," Peter continued as he dropped his gaze towards the floor.

"So do you, Tiger," MJ whispered back.

I raised my eyebrow. "…Tiger?" I questioned.

MJ looked at me and shrugged. "It's my nickname for Peter."

"And how'd you come up with that nickname for him?" Kitty asked with a coy smile.

"That's classified!" Peter blurted out quickly as he looked at Kitty. Everyone looked at him. He lowered his head in embarrassment.

I really wanted to tease the boy. I really did. But I decided to have mercy on him. "Alright, it's none of my business," I relented. "But we need to dip, though. Everyone ready?" I looked around as everyone gave their confirmations. "Okay. We rollin'!"

We were about to leave until I heard the sound of the front door unlocking. I quickly turned around. For a moment – just a moment – Frictor started to come out as I changed my stance, ready to charge at whoever was coming through the door. And then I felt like a whole fool when the door opened and a blonde-haired woman stepped inside.

"Don't mind me, guys," she said as she removed her shoes, looking down as she did so. "I realized I forgot to grab my wallet and…" She trailed off as she looked up and saw us. "…Oh, hello."

She looked about forty to me. Immediately, I saw the family resemblance between her and Betty. I figured the woman was Betty's mom.

"Hey, Mom," Betty greeted.

And I figured right.

"I take it these are the gentlemen that will be taking you ladies out," Betty's mom noted as she eyed us.

"Yeah, we are," I replied. "I'm Craig." I beckoned towards Peter. "This is Peter. I'm guessing you already know Ned."

"Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Brant," Peter added.

Mrs. Brant smiled. "The pleasure is all mine, I assure you." I looked around the room at all of us. "I understand that you guys have places to be. I just wish I had time to get know all of you."

"We can do dinner one day," Ned suggested quickly. "But, I can definitely tell you that these guys are amazing!"

"Some more than others," MJ quipped. I looked over my shoulder to see MJ wrap her arms around Peter's shoulders, causing the boy to smile. I looked back at Mrs. Brant, who looked amused at the sight.

"Well, I would like to have dinner with you all," Mrs. Brant said. "But, before you go, I have a couple of requests for you. Number one, I want you all to take a lot of pictures. I want to see my daughter having fun."

"Consider it done," Peter replied. "I have my camera with me."

"Good. And as for the second request… I understand there are certain activities that people of your age indulge in. I would much rather you didn't partake in it, but things happen. If there is any drinking involve, please make sure you all get home safe. And if you guys have to crash anywhere – here or another place – just let me know."

"I'll take care of that," I promised. "I'm handling transportation anyway, so I'll be the designated driver." I wasn't much of a drinker anyway. Going the whole night without alcohol was going to be easy for me.

Mrs. Brant nodded her head in approval. "Thank you. Well, go on ahead then. You have a great evening."

I smiled back as well. "You as well, ma'am!" I looked at the others. "Let's make moves!"

After we made our way out, we piled into my SUV and drove over to Midtown High. Once we parked in the designated area, we hopped out and took a few minutes to take pictures – one for each couple, one that had just me and Kitty, and a few that had all of us in there. After that, we made our way inside of the gym. I was a bit surprised to see that there were a few students already there. However, it was mostly staff there. They were setting up things, like the food and drink and table, the last bit of decorations, the eating area, and the like.

I looked around until I saw DJ Veras over in the corner. I turned and faced the others.

"I have to clock in," I told them. "I'll see you guys soon. Just keep Kitty company till then, alright?"

"We got you, man," Peter replied with a nod. "See you soon."

I nodded before I made my way over to Veras. She was unstacking her crates as she looked up at me. She smiled as she stood up.

"You're here!" she noted jovially.

"Yeah, I am," I replied with a smile. "Everything good?"

"Everything is copacetic!" She beckoned towards the crates. "I got all my records on deck!"

"Sweet!" I clasped my hands together. "What do you need me to do?"

"After I get the turntable set up, we'll handle the speakers, cords, and everything."

We did just that. After I helped Veras get the turntable situated, the two of went about dealing with the A/V stuff like placing the speakers at the right angles and running the cords. Once that was done, we made our way back to the table. As a test, she grabbed one of the records and placed it on one of the turntables. She put the needle to record and hit play. I watched as the record spun. Then the music played through the sound system.

"Recognize the instrumental?" DJ Veras asked.

I looked up towards the ceiling for a few moments. "…This is Souls of Mischief," I began. I narrowed my eyes before I slowly nodded. "…93 'til Infinity."

"You got it." She playfully punched me in the shoulder. "I figured this beat will set the ambience, you know?"

"I think it does the job."

"You got a date for tonight?"

"Kinda." I nodded towards my friends, who were having a conversation at the punch bowl. "Kitty is my date. We came with our friends. Three of them are Midtown students." I looked back at Veras, who looked puzzle.

"I thought your trip to California went well," she said.

"It did," I replied.

"So how come you're not here with her?"

"She's taking a few extra precautions. And besides, I promised Kitty I'd be here when I heard that we're working this event." I smiled for a bit. "So, anything else you need me to do?"

"Yeah. Go have fun with your friends."

I tilted my head. "You sure?"

"I'm sure. Just make sure to check your phone every now and again. I'll message you if I need anything. Other than that, just be a teenager tonight."

I stared at her for a few seconds. I then nodded. "Aight, bet. Thanks Veras."

"No problem."

I smiled at her before I turned and walked towards my friends.

Tonight was going to be a great night.