Chapter 1: Generation Why?
"Are you going to order something?"
Kamala's normally bouncy and energetic mood had caved into a mood of sour frustration and annoyance. Leaning on the countertop of the Circle Q, she eyed her nemesis with a glaring look, challenging her to make the order and leave instead of staying here to belitter her.
Zoe Zimmer was a senior at Cole's Academic High, just a year older than Kamala. She was thin, lithe, and pretty wearing an obviously influencer based outfit of a yellow leather jacket over a white shirt with some swirling pattern and a striped skirt that went down to half her thigh. Her bright blonde was tied into a bun at the back of her head, and streaks of purple die flowed across various strands of hair. She was currently being draped by her boyfriend Josh, a big muscular senior wearing his football varsity jacket and clean-cut jeans, with a strong jawed face and perfect golden hair. They were Cole's popular power couple.
To Kamala, they were both Iblis incarnate.
"Yeesh, Camelia! We're just thinking," Zoe said with a grin of mischief and maliciousness, "Do you know if the Pork Sandwich is any good?" Kamala just continued to glare in annoyance and bitter anger.
"No…" Kamala just said. The image in her head of what she must have looked like felt like something from a cliche high-school show…like those weird musical TV movies she and Nakia were briefly obsessed with when they were younger. It was the scene where one of the hero characters had to work in a fast-food place or carnival, and usually gets stuck wearing a ridiculous outfit. In this particular mental movie shot, she saw a 17-year-old brown skinned girl wearing an orange collared t-shirt stuffed in khaki pants, and a white apron with the red Circle Q logo on it. Her face had a hooked nose between almond-shaped brown eyes, and her short, boy-like hair with really short sides and a blended top was covered with an orange Circle Q baseball cap.
A brown teenage girl working behind a deli in a bright orange work uniform? No wonder Zoe liked to pick on her in particular.
Zoe gave a mock surprise at Kamala's single word answer.
"Oh that's right!" she said as if she was remembering something she didn't already know, "You're not allowed to eat American meat!"
"Oh yeah!" Josh chimed in, "Something about getting honor killed if you so much as touch the meat, right?" Kamala took a long breath, her knuckles clenching to try and keep her anger in. Throwing a fist fight is not good company policy, nor is it a good thing for a Muslim to do.
"Okay, first of all…" Kamala began, "I'm allowed to eat meat, but just not pig products. Second, I am wearing gloves when I handle the meat here because it's part of my job. Third, there's no 'honor killing' in Islam, its just something the extremist terrorists do and we do not accept. Fourth…and I've been saying this for years…it's pronounced Kamala!"
Zoe just smiled, obviously satisfied with Kamala's flustered look.
"Oh, that's how it's pronounced?" she asked, "I'm sorry about that. It's just that Arabic is such an exotic language!"
Before Kamala could scream at Zoe's perfect face "It's URDU, not Arabic!" Bruno stepped to Kamala's side and shot his arm forward, with a filled plastic bag hanging from his hand. Bruno also wore the same work uniform as Kamala, and despite being the same age, was taller than her. He had light tan skin with some hairs on his arms, and his head was covered in a bed of thick wavy brown hair that fell to his shoulders. His nose was pointed and his long chin was covered with minor stubbles of a beard he was trying to grow.
"Here, just take your order," Bruno said with a stoic face. This certainly caught both Josh and Zoey by surprise, as their gleeful smiles dropped to confused frowns.
"Uh, we didn't order any-"
"You guys come here every other day and always end up getting the same thing, the BMT," Bruno said.
"And that's after you guys make racist remarks towards Kamala." Nakia had just entered the Circle Q and stood beside Kamala, leaning on the counter with her arms folded. Kamala was surprised with how quick and quiet she was. Nakia wore a gray long-sleeve shirt over black smooth pants, effortlessly tucked into her white and blue sneakers. A hijab was covering her olive skinned head, light blue today to compliment her outfit.
"Hey, we weren't being racist!" Josh said angrily as he just grabbed the bag, "We were just wondering more about how Kamala works here considering she's-"
"A Muslim?" Nakia finished with her eyebrow raised. Josh was about to retort something, but Zoe just put a hand on his chest to stop him.
"It's okay, babe," Zoe said before turning to Nakia, "Can I just say that I really love that head scarf? Where did you get it? Is there some kind of thrift store for Muslim scarfs or something?"
"Actually yes," Nakia said with a smirk, "It's the same place you went to get that ridiculous skirt." Zoe looked down at her skirt, seemingly hurt, but huffed and went back to her cool attitude.
"Anyway, the real reason I'm here is because I wanted to invite Camel-a to the Halloween bash my parents are throwing by the pier," Zoe said with a grin, "You guys should totally come too! There's apple bobbing, pictures, even a costume contest!" Zoe then gasped as if she just had a revelation.
"You guys should come too!" Zoe said, "It would be so much fun for you guys!"
"Let me guess," Nakia said with an unchanging expression, "There's going to be alcohol and drunk people right?" Josh gave a "Seriously?" kind of scoff.
"Don't tell me your religion doesn't let you drink?" he asked. This time, Kamala, Bruno, and Nakia answered simultaneously with the same annoyed groan.
"NO!"
Zoe shrugged in response.
"Well, suit yourself," she said, "But you will all be missing out. You should see the costume I have planned! I'm going to be winning that costume contest with my Captain Marvel costume!"
Kamala's annoyed attitude at first suddenly changed to one of flabbergasted. Zoe? As Captain Marvel? But that was my costume? Since when was she a Captain Marvel fan?
Kamala wanted to blurt out all these questions, but Zoe just gave a shrug and flicked some hair from her forehead.
"Listen, I gotta go," she said, "But if you're interested, it's at the docks! You'll know it when you see it." With that, both Zoe and her lug Josh walked out of the Circle Q, laughing as they closed the door behind them. A chilly silence was left in the air, as Kamala's brain was still reeling from Zoe's costume declaration.
"Did she just say what I think she said?" Kamala asked.
"Unfortunately, yes," Bruno said, "Zoe really needs to learn humility. What she and Josh said in front of your face about your religion was just wrong!" Kamala turned to Bruno.
"What? No!" Kamala said before quickly correcting herself, "I mean, yeah that stuff was messed up, but that's not what I was talking about. She's going to dress up as Captain Marvel?" Bruno just gave her a confused look. Kamala turned to Nakia hoping for some sympathy, but even she had a look of confusion.
"And that's a problem because…?" Nakia said. Kamala groaned in frustration.
"That was MY costume!" Kamala said, "We've been working for weeks on it, and suddenly Zoe just DECIDES to dress up as her?"
Kamala's brain began operating at motor speed as she continued to rant without properly taking a breath.
"I mean, she doesn't even like Captain Marvel! Remember in sophomore year when I did a presentation on her? Zoe called her a twinkly frisby girl and got her whole friend group to laugh at me! Now she's just going to go ahead and dress as her? And how she's going to make the costume? I bet you she's going to just make a sexualized version of her! Bear thighs and everything! At least I was willing to put in the research and make the most accurate costume I could for Captain Marvel! Zoe does not deserve to dirty her name with a slutty outfit! Argh!"
Kamala was finally able to take breaths. Bruno and Nakia just stared at Kamala, both surprised at her outburst but also trying to refrain from bursting with laughter.
"You finished?" Nakia asked.
"Yeah," Kamala said breathlessly, "Yeah, I'm good." Bruno leaned on the counter and faced Kamala.
"Hey, who cares what Zoe dresses up as or how," he said reassuringly with a smirk, "You're Kamala Khan! The biggest Captain Marvel fan out there! Your costume is going to blow Zoe's right off the face of the Earth!"
"But it won't get that many likes?" Kamala pouted.
"Who cares?" Bruno shrugged, "It's still going to be much better!" Kamala stood there, letting the words sink in before blooming with a beaming smile.
"You know what? You're right!" Kamala said, "Besides! The costume is going to be a hit with everyone else when we go trick or treating!" Bruno's face both dropped as soon as she said that, and Kamala could tell that the mood changed, not for the better.
"Yeah…um, I won't be able to go with you guys," Bruno said glumly, "The Circle Q wants me to host the booth for the dock party."
"The dock party?" Kamala asked, not liking where this is going, "The same dock party Zoe is going to?"
"Unfortunately yes," Bruno grimaced. Kamala groaned in disappointment, while Nakia just glared at Bruno.
"And you're telling us this now?" she said, "Right after all the bullying Zoe just did?" Bruno grimaced further and buried his head in his hands.
"When you put it that way, I really screwed up, didn't I?" he groaned.
"No," Kamala answered to Bruno, "No you didn't. It's just…I thought we were going to be going as the trio like we planned! I was going to be Captain Marvel, Nakia was going to be Black Widow, and you were going to be Moon Knight!"
"Technically it was Bruce Banner," Bruno responded, "And I'm still allowed to dress up. I just…won't be trick or treating with you guys."
"Yeah, instead you'll be serving food for a bunch of drunk people in scanty costumes at the docks," Nakia said grumpily. Kamala turned to her.
"It's okay Nakia," Kamala said, "We'll send pictures okay?" Bruno briefed a slight sigh of relief.
"Phew, I was worried you guys would get mad," he said.
"Oh we're mad," Kamala said.
"Extremely," Nakia followed up with.
"But after what happened with Zoe, I think we'll take the high road," Kamala finished.
"Actually," Nakia interjected, "I'm just too mentally exhausted to be even more mad." The three chuckled in laughter at the jab.
By the time the conversation ended, Kamala's shift also ended. Kamala slipped off her apron, and so did Bruno. They also took off their caps and their name tags, dropping them in their respective backpacks.
With everything packed up, the trio proceeded to walk down the streets of Jersey City, towards Kamala's home. It wasn't yet evening, but instead a golden afternoon, with the redding sun now covering the streets and skyscrapers with an orange light. Some of it caught the various windows of the different buildings, which all shined brightly with their reflections like bright stars.
As the trio walked, they began to chat amongst themselves. Not about Zoe or the Halloween party, instead it was about a new monster movie that Nakia discovered, which led to a debate about movie monsters and horror directors. Nakia has been an aficionado for the old-school horror monsters, made largely with practical effects. Bruno liked the newer horror flicks with the newer effects and more creative ideas, which Nakia highly doubted. And Kamala continued her belief that the best movie monster will always be Godzilla. But he's not even a horror monster! Kamala didn't care. Godzilla was awesome!
It was a postcard moment for Kamala Khan, a born and raised Jersey City resident and proud of it! And being with her two friends further cemented the moment for her.
Kamala knew Nakia the longest, but at the time, she never thought to consider her a friend. Because believe it or not, Nakia was a troublemaker, often pulling pranks, being rude to her teachers and generally complaining about life all the time. But since she was the only other brown girl in Kamala's kindergarten, she was the one Kamala's parents encouraged her to try and befriend. It was rough, but one summer in elementary school, it all changed. Suddenly, Nakia transformed herself from a troubled kid to a full on child of faith. At 11 she was wearing hijabs to school and was constantly being the initiator for new charities and fundraisers around the school, a true force for change. Kamala often joked since then that Nakia had the makings of a future President of the United States.
Bruno was introduced to Kamala and Nakia in elementary school, the new kid having moved from Chicago. He was by children's standards pretty weird. Introverted, shy, mostly into comics and action figures. It didn't take long for the two brown girls to connect to this strange boy, and since then the three of them have been as thick as thieves. Especially when they all realized their most common interest…superheroes.
Throughout middle school and high school, the trio really dove into their superhero fandom, constantly researching and cataloging all of the superheroes they could identify, especially the Avengers who have been around since forever! Bruno's sciences allowed for him to create home product versions of some of the Avengers coolest gadgets, Nakia brought a fashion sense to accurately recreate the colorful costumes, while Kamala brought in the research, the lore, and the attitudes necessary to bring the heroes to life. Halloween has always been unstoppable for these kids!
But this was the first Halloween they were doing where they weren't together. The revelation did weigh down Kamala's spirits a bit, because they always did Halloween together. The three of them put in their best efforts for their costumes, and Bruno designed them some amazing props to go with their costumes. They were going to show them off down the streets, delighting kids, some of the Aunties, and even their parents. But Bruno wasn't going to be with them.
Kamala gave her head a little shake, pushing the bad thought from her brain. Halloween day is not over, and she still plans to make the most of it, with or without Bruno.
That's it for my first chapter of Spider-Marvel. I know, not a lot happens, but its a start, establishing our protagonist Kamala Khan and her friends. How will fate lead her to become the hero she was destined to be? They should be answered in the next chapters! In the meantime, feel free to share a kudos! A like, or a comment to let me know what you think so far! Constructive feedback is greatly appreciated it! And I hope to see all of you next time!