I've had this written, not sure why I didn't post. Sorry if anyone was waiting, I'm the worst. I'll be posting the next chapter tomorrow.
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Words: 3,008
A: Can't tomorrow. My dad's dragging me to some fancy event. I didn't care enough to learn what it was for.
P: :(
A: I'm sorry. Next time, okay?
P: Next time. Need to catch up on homework anyway.
A: School first, kid!
P: You can't call me that, I'm older than you.
A: Pfft, whatever.
"Who are you texting?"
"Uh, just people from school." Ada answered her father, sliding her phone under her leg before Peter could reply.
"Stay off your phone at the table." Nathan told his daughter before turning his attention back to his food.
"Right, sorry." Ada spoke just loud enough for him to hear across the unnecessarily long table, her gaze turning down to watch her fork push her food around her plate. "Do you...want to watch a movie or something after dinner?" The teen asks hesitantly, peeking up from under her hair.
"Can't, I have a conference call in an hour I can't miss. And you need to study, we don't want a repeat of your last grades." The older man says without looking up from the paper he was reading.
"Yeah." Ada whispers to herself, her heart sinking further than she thought possible. "I'm done, can I be excused?"
"Yes." Nathan nods, waving his free hand at her.
Wasting no time, Ada stands and pushes her chair back under the table before grabbing her plate. Ms. Rosa would've cleaned it up for her, but the teenager always felt rude leaving things lying around when she could easily put them away. So washing off her plate, Ada places it in the dishwasher before walking to her room.
Sighing, the teen falls back onto her bed and closes her eyes. "Ugh." She groans, turning onto her stomach as she pulls out her phone.
P: You ever been to the top of the Statue of Liberty?
A laugh escaped the girl as she reads the text, her hands holding either side of the phone, allowing her to type her response, a weight lifting from her chest.
"Oh, Rosa, you didn't have to." Ada tells the older woman as she sets a plate a food down on the teenagers desk.
"You work too hard, niña." Rosa says with a smile, brushing some of the teenagers hair behind her ear.
Leaning into the woman's touch, Ada lets out a sigh and drops her pencil. "Well, you know how he gets if I'm not the best at everything."
"He just cares about your future."
"Could've fooled me." Ada says with a humorless laugh, leaning back in her chair.
"It's been a lot, since your mother." Rosa tells her. She'd been with this family since Ada was a baby. Emma had been a great mother, anyone who met her daughter could see that. She'd been the only one who could ever talk any since into Nathan. He was a stubborn man but he loved his wife. After she died, he lost himself.
"He's not the only one who lost her." Anger seeped into Ada's voice but it was short lived and the girl slumped in her chair. "I just miss her so much." Tears fills her eyes but the teen blinked them away before they could fall.
"Oh, I know, sweetie." Rosa cooed, moving forward to hug the teenager. "I miss her too."
"Now, how about you put those books away and take a break, yeah?" Rosa suggests as she pulls away from the girl, hands cupping the teen's cheeks, wiping a stray tear away with her thumb.
"Yeah." Ada nodded, trying to smile up at the woman. "Thanks, Rosa."
"You are very welcome, amor." With a kiss to her forehead, the woman turns and leaves the teenager alone once again.
Sighing, Ada rubs her hands over her face before pulling out her phone.
A: You busy?
A: It's okay if you are.
A: Was just wondering.
Throwing the phone onto her bed before she could make an even bigger fool of herself, Ada throws her head back and closes her eyes. "You're pathetic." She tells herself with a shrug, jumping to her bed when she heard her phone ding.
P: Not busy. What's up?
A: Nothing.
A: Want to swing by?
A: Pun not intended.
P: I'll be there in 20.
A: See you then.
Throwing her phone back from where she'd previously retrieved it, Ada spins around in her desk chair until she started to feel sick. "Ew, bad idea." The teen mumbles to herself as the room moves around her.
Once she was sure she wasn't going to throw up, Ada stands from her chair and walks over to her window, opening it for when Peter arrived. The teen caught herself in the floor-length mirror between her closet and bathroom door. Her hair was thrown into a messy bun. A random T-shirt hanging over some shorts. She looked like crap but couldn't bring herself to care.
Falling back onto her bed, Ada stares up at the ceiling and rests her phone on her stomach. The glow in the dark stars she'd hung there with her mother many years ago are still there. They still glowed, just not as brightly as they used to.
A knocking at her window made Ada turn her head Peter sitting there. He wore normal clothes but his mask was held in his hand. "Hey." She whispered to him before turning her head straight.
"Rough day?" Peter asked as he lied next to her, his gaze following hers.
"No more than normal." Ada sighed, twirling her phone between her hands. "You?"
"No more than normal." Peter repeated her words, smiling when he heard her snort.
"I don't want to go tonight." The teen mumbled into the silence, letting a deep breath out through her mouth.
"Where is it going to be?" Peter asked curiously, turning his head to look at Ada with furrowed brows.
"Some fancy building, I don't know. I stopped asking after like, the fifth one." Ada shrugged, turning her own head to look into his eyes with a curious look. "Why?"
"I think Mr. Stark said something about Ms. Potts forcing him to some overrated gala with a bunch of rich snobs." Peter explained before quickly adding. "His words, not mine."
"No, no," Ada shook her head. "He's right. I'll be sure to say hey if I see him. But who knows if it's even the same event."
"Hmm, yeah." Peter hums as he rolls his bottom lip between his teeth. "Maybe I could kidnap you. That's a good excuse not to show, huh?"
"Ha, yeah, I might take you up on that." Ada laughs, sitting up and looking down at him when she got an idea. "As much as I'd love that, it's better for everyone if I just suffer through a few hours of boring conversations. What you can do for me though, is help me find what to wear."
"When did I get dubbed as the gay best friend?" Peter asks while sitting up, watching Ada open her closet.
"About five seconds ago." She calls over her shoulder. "Only one problem with that, you're not gay."
"I could be." Peter says in mock offense.
"Not dressed like that." Ada tells him, her eyes scanning his outfit.
"What's wrong with how I dress?" Peter questions with furrowed brows, looking down at his quickly put together outfit.
"Nothing, it's adorable." Ada sighs offhandedly as she emerges from her closet, holding a dress in front of her for Peter to see.
"No." He shook his head, pulling out his phone when the girl disappeared back into her closet.
"Fun fact about me," Ada started as she emerged with another item of clothing. "I dislike dresses. I mean, I think they're pretty, I just don't like wearing them."
"Yeah, me either." Peter said as he climbed to his feet, smiling as Ada burst out laughing. The image of Peter wearing a dress clouding her mind. "Not that one either."
"Okay, fine, fashionista. You pick." Ada throws the dress in her hands onto her bed and gestures to her closet. "What?" The teen called out in question when she heard Peter chuckling.
"Oh, nothing." The boy says with a grin as he emerges from the closet, familiar clothing held in his hands. "What's this?" He asks, even though he already knew.
"Absolutely nothing." Ada is quick to say, jumping off the bed, snatching her school uniform from Peter's hands and holding it behind her back. "Forgot I put that in there."
"I think it's great." Peter shrugs, ducking when Ada threw a pillow at him, laughing as he once again disappeared into the closet. "I have no idea what I'm doing but I found the perfect shoes." Peter called.
"You did, did you?" Ada stands from her bed and walks into the small room, raising a brow as Peter presents her with the red hightops he collected from the shoe shelf.
"Perfect." He smiles at her, shuffling forward until he stands in front of her, holding the shoes out.
"I'll have to wear a long dress to cover them. My dad will not approve." Ada takes the shoes from him, holding them in one hand as she looks through her dresses. "Haven't worn this one in a while." She mumbles, spinning around to show Peter the long, black, v-neck dress.
"Gonna be completely honest, it looks like a dress." The boy says, looking the clothing item up and down with a shrug.
"You're so much help." Ada remarks sarcastically and decides the dress in her hands was as good as any other.
Peter ended up leaving a few minutes before Ada needed to get ready, saying he wanted to start his patrol early. It didn't take nearly as long as it used to for the teen to finish. She'd been doing this for long enough now, getting ready for a black-tie event in under an hour was one of her skills. She was sure to send Peter a picture of her wearing the shoes he'd picked.
Her father arrived back home just in time to get changed himself before they were both heading out the door and into the awaiting car.
"Hello, Charles." Ada greets their driver with a smile from the back seat.
"Good evening, Ms. Ada." The middle-aged man nods back with a small smile.
"Drop the Ms., would you?" She asks for the millionth time, smiling up at him when he only shakes his head, attention back on the road as he drove.
Nathan sat beside his daughter, as quiet as ever as his stay glued to his phone. The teenager sometimes wondered if he could even hear them when he was so focused on something else or just chose to ignore them. Other times she couldn't care less.
The ride wasn't any longer than Ada was used to. Traffic was the same. It was all the same and they soon found themselves pulling to a stop in front of the building that hosted tonight's event. Whatever it was for. There were other people just like them, dressed in their fanciest clothing, all walking inside, a few others stopped to converse. Ada even thinks she spots someone sneaking off with a cigarette.
"Thank you." The teen says politely as Charles opens to door for her, offering his hand to help her out of the vehicle.
With a smile and a nod, Charles leaves the girl's side to join Nathan's, sharing a few words with the man before he disappeares back into the car, leaving father and daughter alone.
Silently, Ada took hold of Nathan's arm when he held it out to her. Entering the building, the familiar sounds of chatter and glasses clinking together reached the teen's ears. She'd felt fine all day, maybe a little bored until Peter arrived. But now all she felt was tired. The need to just go lie down was almost overwhelming.
Painting on her best smile, Ada nods in greeting to the people her father started speaking with. She tries to pay attention to what was being said but she had zero interest so the words went in one ear and out the other. The teen decided to put all her energy on making herself look present instead of actually listening.
Taking hold of her father's arm again, Ada moves alongside him as he approaches another group of people. As always, he barely introduces her before launching into whatever they were talking about.
When the teen notices no one in the group was paying her any mind, she let her attention drift to other things. There were a lot of people there, some she recognized, some she didn't. A bar in the distance to her right. Also, people milling around with trays of champagne among other things. Nothing caught the girl's attention until her gaze landed on a head of strawberry blond hair. Ms. Potts. If she was here, then...Tony Stark stood about ten feet from the woman, looking even less interested than the last time Ada saw him.
Excusing herself to the bathroom, Ada leaves her father's side and the small group of people around him and makes her way across the room. She lost sight of her target for a moment but found him soon enough. Thankfully, he had gotten away from whoever he was talking to, Ada was too tired to come up with an excuse to get him away.
"Surprised to see you here." Sarcasm leaked into Ada's voices as she walked up to Tony's side. Although the man himself would've sworn she teleported.
Smiling the first real smile of the night, Tony meets the teen's eyes as he speaks. "Good surprised?"
"Hm, haven't decided." Ada says with a thoughtful look, chuckling when the man rolls his eyes in a very mature manner. "Enjoying your night, Mr. Stark?"
"About as much as I bet you are." The billionaire answers, knowing full well that the teenager wanted to be here even less than he did. "Nice shoes." He commented when he catches sight of the bright red items peeking out from under the black fabric.
"Thank you." Ada looks down at her shoes as well, pulling her skirt back to show them more. "A friend picked them out."
"Not exactly black-tie apparel, is this a form of rebellion?" Tony questions, ignoring but noting the change of tone in her voice at the word 'friend'.
"Does it count as rebellion if he doesn't know about it?" Ada asks as her eyes catch onto her father from across the room, the man still in deep conversation with someone she vaguely recognized.
"Yes." Tony answers after a moment, his eyes following hers to land on Nathan. "How's life, kid?"
"Oh, you know, same old." Ada shrugs with a deep sigh. "Made a new friend though."
"Oh, yeah?" Mr. Stark asks before sipping his non-alcoholic drink. He had an inkling to who she was talking about but chose not to say anything.
"Mhm." Ada hummed. "You might know him, he likes to spend his evenings swinging around Queens while dressed in a red and blue suit." The teenager was sure to lower her voice enough that Tony was the only one who could hear her. Even is she didn't use Peter's name, she was still careful.
"Sounds vaguely familiar." Tony smiles with a shrug. Peter may have let it slip that he'd been back to see the girl but not much else was said. "He's a good kid."
"And an even better friend." Ada nods in agreement. She'd never been good at making friends, but it was easy with Peter. She never thought she'd find that person who she could be so comfortable with. Never thought she'd find a best friend. But for the short time she'd known the young hero, she believes she's done just that.
"Ah, Pep, you remember Ada." Tony says to his fiancée when the woman joins his side, his arm going around her waist.
"Of course, it's nice to see again." Pepper smiles to the girl, leaning into Tony's side.
"Likewise." The teenager nodded to the woman with a smile. They made a good couple, she thought.
"Enjoying your night?" Ms. Potts asks politely.
"Hm, honestly?" Ada questions rhetorically, her gaze sweeping over the people around them before looking back to meet Pepper's. "No." Normally she'd lie and tell whoever asked that she was having a great time. But she didn't feel the need to lie now. It was a nice change of pace.
"If only everyone here could be that honest." Tony mumbles into his drink, earning him a playful hit from Pepper.
"But alas, it doesn't matter." Ada mutters to herself as she catches her father's eye across the room. "It was nice seeing you both again. If you'll excuse me."
"What a nice girl." Pepper comments as she watches Ada leave, feeling the vibrations rumble through Tony's body when he hums in reply. "Very polite."
"Yes." Tony says as Ada reaches her father.
"Were you talking to Tony Stark?" Nathan asks his daughter when she stood next to him. It wasn't unheard of that Ada would speak a few words with people at these events, but it was rare.
"I just ran into him, thought I'd say hello." Ada says simply with a smile, taking her fathers arm when he nodded, her head turning back to meet Tony's eyes before looking straight once more.
Sorry for any mistakes, I'm sure there are some. I won't be offended if you point them out and I'll fix them as soon as I can.
Thanks for reading! It means a lot and I really hope you guys are enjoying this story so far.
Until next time, freinds. Stay safe.
'-'