Peter was the first one to make it into the house and was about to slam the door behind him. But a force pushed him back.
"Hey! Don't shut the door on me!" Nova yelled as she shut the door behind her. She leaned her back to catch her breath. She then glanced over at Peter, seeing he was standing before her, gapping.
"Nova, is that you?" he asked, stretching out his hand towards her face.
"Yeah… what are you doing?" she swipes his hand away. Causing him to scream out as he jumped back.
"What?! What is it, Peter?!" Startled by his odd behavior.
"You're invisible!!" He gasped.
Nova blanked as she quickly rushed to the hallway mirror. She stared at the blank mirror of nothing besides what was behind her. She screamed out, "Where am I?! How?!" she started to panic.
"Nova, calm down. We are going to figure this out," he looked around for her. Even though she was right in front of him.
"Calm down?! Calm down?!!" she laughs hysterically, "Yeah, some bald guy try to run us over. You somersault over the car, and I go invisible," she started to cry as she slides down the side of the wall. "Oh god… we're mutants… oh god," she huddled herself together, trying to figure out what happened.
Slowly, she reappeared, Peter sighed in relief now he was able to see her. He knelt in front of her, "It's okay," he brushed her bangs away from her face, "I'll figure it out, let's go to my lab first," he held out his hand to her.
Nova wiped away her tears from her face and accepted his offered hand as they both went down to the basement together.
Hours had passed, and the sun was setting. Nova sat on a long table, fidgeting with a fidget spinner, the only thing that could calm her down.
Peter was at his desk computer, searching on spiders and Osborn's research.
"Let me get this straight," Nova leaned back, "You think that spider was radioactive or was an experiment that might have escaped from containment?" she summons up their previous conversation. Her brain could not handle all the science that Peter remarked as he cheeked Mr. Osborn's back history and the source of research the man was doing. Mainly, she understood it was illegal stuff.
"Apparently," said Peter, as he leaned back in his computer chair, "We were there at the wrong place at the wrong time,"
Nova sighed, "And it had to be us," she flung the fidget spinner at Peter, who caught it with his index and thumb, while it was still spinning.
"I take it as a blessing," said Peter as placed the fidget down.
Nova looked over at him confused, "A blessing?" she gave out a sarcastic laugh, "You're kidding me, right?"
"Think about it," he turned around in his computer chair, "No one like Flash, will mess with us, and we can detect danger before it happens," his attitude changed. "No more feeling weak and helpless anymore."
Nova felt a chill up her spine seeing the different side of Peter. Did the spider bite changed more than we think?
"Uhm, have you forgotten," she raised her right hand, "I shatter his hand. The dude looked like he punched concrete!!" Her stomach twisted at the thought of it.
Peter smiled, "Yeah, and he deserved it," his eyes became dark and serious. Something Nova has never seen her cousin act before. "I think I should have done it,"
Nova opened her mouth to say something but was suddenly cut off when the upstairs door opened.
"Peter! Nova! Get up here! Right now!" yelled May down the stairs.
Both the teenagers looked at each other in horror, "Crap, School!!" they both gasped.
Together, they both dashed up the stairs. They saw May and Ben waiting for them, arms crossed over their chest. Nova shrunk down in shame and made sure she did not go invisible on them, even though she wished she could.
"I got a call at work today," said May, holding back her anger, "The principal office, from your school," she turned to her husband, who did not seem more disappointed. "They told me that both of you did not even show up!"
"Where have you two been all day?" Asked Ben, tapping his foot on the wood plank floor. His eyes trace over the two guilty teenagers, "Peter?" His eyebrows rise at his nephew, who is known to never lie.
Peter leaned his back to the wall, not daring to look at either of the elders' faces. "We were in my lab," he muttered, looking over at Nova. Who had the same look as his.
"Doing what?" Ben pressed on, as he looked over at Nova.
Nova looked at Peter and vice versa, they both spoke through each other's eyes if they should tell them.
"Oh god," May covered her mouth, "Were you both…. 'Hanky Panky' down there?"
Horror covered the teenagers' faces, "Oh God, No!!!" they both screamed.
"What the hell makes you think of that!!" Nova screamed as she was about to throw up at the thought of the two of them…. Doing it.
"Well, I thought..."
"No! No-never think like that Ever! Again!!" yelled Peter, as he waved his hands in front of him, "She is like a sister and that's all she is!"
"But it can still happen!" Continued May, "Since you two are not related,"
"Oh God no! Stop talking!" cried Nova, as she covered her ears and made her way to the staircase upstairs. But she still stays close by.
"But seriously," Ben raised in a voice that he has never done before, "Why didn't you two go to school?"
Peter leaned back onto the wall once more, "We didn't feel like going that's all," he quickly replied. Nova turned her attention to him.
Oh fuck, you didn't!
Nova looked over at her adopted parents, sinking behind the stair rails.
May looked at the two, "Didn't feel like going?" Then she started to laugh, "You heard that Ben? They didn't feel like going?!"
"Well, school isn't the party you think it is, alright?!" Peter snap, digging deeper into the whole the teens are in. Nova facepalm herself, luckily no one noticed.
Shut up! Shut up! You're making it worse!
She wanted to scream and slap Peter so bad. But she bit down her tongue and sit down on the lower steps. Leaning her head on the rails pool.
"Well, you're not supposed to be having a party, Young man!" Ben glared at his nephew, at his stupidity in choice of words, "you're supposed to be in school to learn!" He turned his attention to Nova, "Especially you young lady, you're already on the yellow line and we don't want the same thing that happened in middle school, do you hear me?"
Nova quietly nodded her head not looking at him, "Yes sir," she mumbled, "Won't happen again," she grip tighter on the pool, slightly cracking it with her grip. She quickly let go of it and stuff her hands in her pocket. Peter was tapping his fingers on the wall behind him, pumping with boiling rage all of the sudden.
"Now I know that what happened on the field trip was embarrassing. I can see that," said May, assuming that was the issue. Peter's tapping increased, his forehead now sweating, and Ben could see it.
"Are you feeling alright, son?" Said Ben, his voice once smooth. Speaking over his wife.
"I'm fine! Just shut up!" Peter snapping when suddenly there was a loud crackling sound. Nova looked over where she sat and saw five little holes in the wall where Peter was tapping his fingers on. It didn't take long for her to figure out what happened when she saw her brother rubbing his hand with a frightful shock look on his face.
"Peter!" Ben yelled, looking at the damaged wall. Peter could not utter a word.
"What is the matter with you?!" May nagged on top of Peter, waving her index finger at him, "Who exactly do you think you're talking to with that mouth?!" She didn't even notice the wall.
"Maybe you both need to go to your rooms for the night and think about things," said Ben.
"Go to my room?!" Peter turns at his uncle, "You're kidding right? I'm fifteen years old!"
Ben had that glaring look on his face, "Go now or I'll treat you like you're five over the knee!"
Peter screamed out with rage as he stormed past Nova up the stairs. Slamming his bedroom door behind him. The sound shook the whole house.
Nova sheepishly stood up, "I think I should go to my room too," as she quickly went up the stairs and went into her room. Softly shutting the door, that Ben fixed for her last night. She overheard her adopting parents whisper downstairs.
"Those kids had a tough week," said Ben, not sounding angry anymore.
"I know," said May, as she moved somewhere in the house.
"This too shall pass," she could hear him sigh slightly.
May hummed as the sound of the refrigerator opened, "Maybe I'll bring them some banana bread later," she said. Nova's stomach twisted at the thought of the unnatural gluten-free loaf.
Ben's chuckle was heard, "Putting them in their room is punishment enough," then it became serious. "I also received a call today at work as well. It wasn't pleasant," the sound of a kitchen chair scraping on the floor. Assuming Ben was sitting down. Nova leans on her bedroom wall listening closely to the conversation. "Those Thompson's lash out saying that we owe them twenty thousand dollars hospital bills and if we don't,"
The sound of something shattering cut him off. Startling Nova to jump back. And it was not the loud noise that scared her.
"What?!" May yelled out, but Ben hushed her to lower her voice. Even so, it did not matter at this point.
"And if we don't pay for it, they're going to sue us," Ben lowered his voice.
Nova covered her mouth.
"Sue?" May gasped, Ben hushed her to lower her voice again. "Oh my God, What are we going to do?"
"What can we do?" Ben sighed, "Let a lawyer bleed us dry on top of paying the bill or just pay the bill?"
"But"
"May," he cut her off, "Nova broke the kid's hand. What can I do?" Nova felt dizzy and went over to lay in her bed. She tried to not listen anymore to the conversation downstairs. But with her new developing powers, she could hear it like she was downstairs at the kitchen table with them.
"Should we bring her down and talk about this with her?" Asked May.
"No, let the kid be," said Ben, "She is already regretting it already, and beating down a dead horse won't help either."
"What should we do?" Asked May, getting worked up, "She can't keep losing her temper and fighting other kids to the hospital. This is like middle school all over again!"
"And she was protecting Peter in the process," the conversation went quiet for a moment. "I know what Nova did was wrong, but I do believe that boy deserved it. To be honest, I would like to light them on fire,"
May broke down in tears, "What are we going to do? Do we have the money?"
"Do we have it? We don't," Said Ben, "Can we use it on a card? We have to, but we are maxed out as well," Said Ben, also breaking down. Her entire life, Nova never heard him ever do. Even the thought of seeing him in that vernal state breaks her heart.
Nova curled in a ball in tears. Believed it was her fault. She looked at the palm on her hand. That was slightly transparent. If only she could disappear forever.