I don't own Avengers or its characters. I only own Riley Stark and other OCs that appear in the story.
Take on the World
Chapter 38: Model Student
Despite the gossips spreading about and various homework to complete, Riley enjoyed attending Midtown High.
It was a Tuesday, so the first lesson she had first thing in the morning was Chemistry.
Upon arriving into her Chemistry Class, Riley couldn't help but deeply confused upon seeing Gwen appearing to be sleeping in her desk.
Again.
The Stark heiress went over to her best friend and lightly tapped her head, making her wake up.
"Hey, Riles."Gwen greeted simply.
"You okay, Gwen?"Riley questioned in confusion."This is the fifth time I've seen you fast asleep."
Gwen laid back on her chair while covering her mouth to yawn.
"I ended up finishing my maths homework late last night and wasn't able to catch enough Z's."Gwen complemented.
"Since when do you have sleeping problems?"Riley sneered."That is so unlike you."
Gwen simply shrugged as she took out her textbook from her backpack.
"It's best to tell you later."Gwen admitted with a smirk.
Despite confused, Riley simply nodded at Gwen.
"Okay."Riley chuckled.
Riley took her seat next to Gwen as their other classmates began chatting about Spider-Man and Ghost Spider.
"Spider-Man is totally cool."Flash praised with a hint of excitement."I happen to be his biggest fan."
"I am totally a fan of Ghost-Spider."Hobie informed proudly."She's hot."
"I wonder if she has a boyfriend."Kenny sneered.
Gwen nearly choked on her water bottle at the gossip she was hearing before swallowing her beverage down her throat, making Riley look at her with a bewilderment expression.
After a couple of minutes the gossip died down, when Mrs Harris arrived and the lesson started.
Just as the science teacher was starting her lesson on Electrochemistry, the door of the classroom opened and Peter arrived into the room, earning everyone's attention.
Mrs Harris rubbed her temples out of annoyance, but not entirely surprised by Peter Parker's late arrival.
"Mr Parker."Mrs Harris said with a frown."Would you like to explain to me why you're late to my class?"
Peter gave an awkward smile.
"Sorry, Mrs Harris."Peter apologised."I overslept."
"Alright."Mrs Harris answered with a small sigh."Just be sure that it doesn't happen again."
Peter nodded before making his way to the desk where Ned was before Mrs Harris continued her lesson.
Despite writing the chemical in her notebook, Riley couldn't help but share a smile with Peter.
2 months had past since the Civil War between the Avengers.
The Battle at Leipzig-Halle Airport ended with Team Cap's allies getting captured and detained at the Raft prison.
Tony provided Rhodes with exoskeletal leg braces that allowed him to walk again while Steve broke his allies out of the Raft with Natasha's help.
But Riley was deeply hurt how the Avengers had broken up and silently cursed the Sokovia Accords for ruining everything.
Though the Stark heiress had a feeling that didn't mean Earth's mightiest heroes would not be together again.
And when that day comes, the Government was going to regret how they treated the Avengers.
However, for right now she decided to enjoy her time attending high school with her friends and being an older sister to Morgan than a superhero.
Peter would be lying if he said he paid attention to the Drama Club.
His main focus had always been on things that were more on the standard educational side, not the arts side.
So when he sat beside Ned in the back of the auditorium, watching Riley as she rehearsed, he appreciated the Drama Club a little more.
Most of the students seemed to know what they were doing while very few of them still were resorting to their scripts.
Riley was on the stage, auditioning for the school's upcoming play, 'Midsummer Nights Dream'.
The spotlight was on her, but the Stark heiress wasn't nervous one bit.
Drama Club was her second favourite club after Music Club.
"How hard could it be? Doubt thou the stars are fire."Riley declared, her hands clasped close to her chest."Doubt that the sun doth move. Doubt truth to be a liar. But never doubt I love."
The sound of clapping was heard in the background as Riley looked to where the seats were and saw the drama teacher, St. John Devereaux clapping at her performance.
"Such spirit. Such passion."Mr Devereaux praised."Now that's the kind of audition I like to see. Thank you, my dear. The cast list will be posted tomorrow. Next."
On the above level where the spotlight machine was stood Tristan, who was also impressed with Riley's acting.
Riley gave a small wave to Tristan as she left the stage to join Gwen and MJ.
"You should ask her out."
Peter snapped out of his gaze on Riley as he brought his attention on Ned.
"I'm sorry, Ned."Peter apologised."What were you saying?"
Ned frowned at Peter.
"Seriously, Peter. You should ask Riley to be your date for the homecoming dance."Ned insisted."You like her and she probably likes you."
Peter let out a scoff.
"Come on, Ned."Peter lied, trying to sound convincing."Riley is just a friend to me like Gwen is."
"Right."Ned responded and then pointed at something below."So you're okay with that?"
Peter followed to where Ned was pointing to, just in time to see Tristan going over to Riley.
"Hi, Riley."Tristan greeted."You're performance was great."
Riley smiled shyly at Tristan's declaration.
"Aw. Thanks, Tristan."Riley thanked as she placed a bit of her hair over her right ear."Besides music, I am a fan of Shakespeare."
"I can see that."Tristan agreed with a nod."So if you're not busy I was wondering if maybe. I don't know-"
Just before Tristan could finish his sentence, Sally appeared and tackled him in a hug.
"Tristan. You promised you would help me with my Algebra homework."Sally remarked as she began to drag Tristan away from Riley."A promise is a promise."
Tristan gave Riley an apologetic smile as Sally dragged him away.
"I'll talk to you later."Tristan assured.
Riley sighed in disapproval upon seeing her conversation with Tristan was ruined.
Whenever she had a chance to speak with him, the snobby cheerleader had to come by and ruin the moment.
When Drama Club ended, Riley met up with Gwen in the girls' toilet room.
Gwen made sure no one was inside, but her and her best friend.
"Good."Gwen murmured."There's only us."
"So what is it you wanted to talk about, Gwen?"Riley asked.
Gwen smirked. "This."
Before Riley could say anything, Gwen did a big jump and dangled upside down in the wall.
Riley's eyes widen in utter shock at what she was seeing.
"Qué cojones?!"Riley gasped.
Gwen crawled on the wall a bit before landing safely on the ground while Riley kept looking at her in silent shock.
"Gwen since when did you have superpowers?"Riley demanded.
"It's a long story."Gwen chuckled."But I can tell you that I am the other web crawler that came a few weeks after Spider-Man's appearance."
Riley's shocked expression became one of disbelief upon realising exactly who was the alter-ego of her best friend.
"Y-You're the Ghost Spider?"Riley assumed.
"That's right."Gwen agreed.
"Does your parents and Paul know?"Riley questioned.
Gwen shook her head.
"No. They don't know I have a double time and I don't attend them to know either."Gwen declared and glanced at Riley with a serious expression."You won't tell them, right?"
"No."Riley answered while shaking her head and became curious."Do you attend to join the Avengers?"
"Not exactly."Gwen answered as she went to the mirror to brush her hair a bit."I attend to work solo at the moment."
Riley smiled in delight.
"That is still awesome."Riley remarked happily."Believe it or not, my dad sees Spider-Man as a potential Avenger."
Gwen raised an eyebrow at Riley.
"He does?"Gwen asked.
"Yeah."Riley commented."Besides the strange lenses, I still think Spider-Man is cool and the same goes to you."
Gwen placed her hairbrush back inside her backpack before putting it on again.
"Hey, Riles."Gwen spoke up."May I ask you something?"
"Sure."Riley insisted.
"Do you know who Spider-Man is?"Gwen asked.
This caused Riley to become completely nervous at her best friend's question.
"Well…uh…"Riley said, struggling to find an answer.
A scoff escaped from Gwen's mouth.
"Come on, Riles. You can tell me."Gwen retorted."We're best friends, aren't we?"
"Yes. Of course, we are. Absolutely. Best of friends."Riley remarked with a confident smile."It turns out that this Spider-Man is actually a boy around our age and-"
Gwen suddenly felt her spider sense tingling and quickly shoved a liquorice candy into Riley's mouth while holding up her nose.
Liz looked at Gwen and Riley with a confused expression as the blonde haired girl let go of her best friend's nose to make her breathe again.
Riley gasped for breath before coughing a bit upon swallowing the sour candy that Gwen forced her to eat.
But the young brunette quickly used the sink to wash her mouth to remove the bad taste while Liz came into the girl's toilet room.
"Hey, Liz."Gwen greeted.
"Hi, Gwen and Riley."Liz responded."What were you two doing?"
"Playing truth or dare."Gwen exclaimed smugly as Riley kept washing her mouth."I dared Riles to plant a big wet kiss on Spider-Man's ass or eat a whole jar of liquorice candy. She tried to eat one and it turns out she can't handle a single piece of loser candy."
"Ouch."Liz giggled.
Riley filled her mouth with water and began to gargle in the bathroom before spitting the liquid out of her mouth.
"And they weren't joking when they said black liquorice is a candy that should inspire caution."Riley muttered in disgust."But no way in hell, I would ever kiss someone's ass. Not even a superhero's."
Liz lightly laughed at Riley's misfortune.
"I doubt anyone plays truth or dare anymore except you, Gwen."Liz remarked.
Gwen smirked. "True since I always end up winning it."
Riley shot Gwen a glare as she wiped her mouth with a tissue before she brought her attention to Liz.
"So what's up, Liz?"Riley asked."Were you looking for us?"
Liz nodded in agreement.
"That's right."Liz agreed."I'm having a party in my house soon and I would like you two to come. Almost the whole school is."
"Even Flash Thompson and his jerk-tourage?"Gwen guessed.
"They're not that bad, Gwen."Liz assured with a smile."I even invited Peter and Ned."
"It sounds fun, Liz."Riley praised."I would like to come to your party."
"Me too."Gwen agreed with a casual smile."Though I have to make sure Peter and Ned don't get torn to shreds by the bulldogs."
"Great."Liz replied in approval."See you both there."
Liz headed out of the girls' toilet room as Riley and Gwen shared a glance with each other.
"You do realise both of us have to still find a date for the homecoming dance?"Gwen reminded.
"I know."Riley responded.
After another day in school ended, Riley sat in the desk in her bedroom while humming the song 'Dance Away' from the anime movie, Project A-ko.
Her homework was spread out across her desk table while her iPhone laid near her pencil case.
Just as Riley finished doing the last questions on her maths homework, her iPhone started ringing.
Riley frowned in disapproval.
She didn't have time to be answering useless phone calls.
But she couldn't resist to see who was calling her.
The Stark heiress picked up her iPhone, only for her eyes to wide when she saw who the caller was.
A big smile spread across Riley's face, her heart racing with excitement.
"Auntie Nat!"Riley remarked in joy.
A sigh was heard on the other line.
"Hey, Riley."Natasha responded.
"I've been waiting for you to call me back for weeks!"Riley retorted, her voice mixed with relief."How is everyone? Tell them I miss them!"
Natasha hummed in response to this.
"Well, that was sort of the goal."Natasha exclaimed."Everyone's great, actually. Pietro's the only person that hasn't gotten on my nerves yet, funnily enough. You'd be surprised with how much free time you have while running away from the American law."
Snorting, Riley leaned back in her chair.
"You know, I think Uncle Pietro and Aunt Wanda has changed."Riley complemented as she fiddled with her pen with her free hand."But on the bright side, they're not in house arrest anymore."
The young brunette could hear Natasha softly chuckle.
"So, what's this I've been hearing about you and that Spider-Man kid?"Natasha asked.
And so, Riley went into explicit detail about everything she'd done for the past two months.
"And, now, I don't know what to do because I can actually feel myself getting attached to Peter."Riley admitted."I've always seen him as a friend. But with the homecoming dance just around the corner, I don't know if I should-"
"Did you tell your father that you need a date?"Natasha questioned.
Riley blushed in embarrassment.
"Not exactly. But I told Pepper about it."Riley exclaimed and began to smile sheepishly."I am even trying to figure out which colour should my dress be? Emerald green? Ruby red?"
"The colours that suit you more are actually dark colours than the light ones, Riley."Natasha declared."But be sure the dress you buy for the dance is not too frilly and girly. And when you go out, you don't want to wear too much makeup. Because otherwise the usual boys would get the wrong idea. And you know how they are. They're only after one thing."
Riley nodded at Natasha.
"Understand, Auntie Nat."Riley responded with a grateful expression."Thank you."