Home Is Where The Heart Is (Peter Parker)

[8] Venice's Water Monster

I got off the plane before Ned and Peter did. Ned was off before Peter but when Peter finally got off the plane he approached me and Ned, worried.

"Hey, did you see Brad and MJ on the plane? They were watching movies and laughing the entire time." He says watching them.

"Dude, don't worry, okay? I'm sure that's nothing." Ned responds as Betty walks over to us.

"Hey, babe. Can you hold this?" She asks and hands him her jacket.

"Yeah, of course."

"Thanks."

Betty walks away and Ned turns to watch her.

"What was that?" Peter whispered to me.

"I dunno." I respond and Ned turns his head to look at us again, seeing our shocked expressions.

"Well, we got to talking on the plane, and it turns out, we have a lot in common. So we're boyfriend and girlfriend now."

"Huh." I said, still confused.

"Whatever happened to being an American bachelor in Europe?" Peter asks.

"Peter, those were the words of a boy. And that boy met a woman, a very strong and powerful woman. And now that boy's a man."

I look at Ned with an even more confused look on my face.

"Babe?" Betty calls to him.

"Coming, babe!"

I give Peter another look before we head out but as we walk away a security dog comes and sniffs Peter's bag, so he was required to get his bag searched. I followed him because what else am I supposed to do? Hang out with Ned and Betty until he gets back? No way!

"There's nothing in there I swear." Peter states.

The security woman opens his bag and there lies his suit. We exchange a surprised look and look back at the woman before she reaches into the suitcase and grabs a rotten banana.

"This, no." She says in her thick Italian accent.

"Sorry. Sorry." Peter says and gathers his things.

We walk away from the security table.

"What is that just doing in there?" I ask in a whisper.

"I- I don't know. I told May I didn't want to bring it." He responds.

We race to the exit of the airport where Mr. Harrington and the rest of the class stand in a large cluster waiting for us.

"We're here, Mr. Harrington, we're here." Peter says, out of breath.

"Oh, thank goodness." He says and leads us to the exit of the airport where there's just water and a run down boat waiting for us.

I sit next to Peter, in front of Ned and Betty but behind MJ. The boat sails down the watery streets of Venice as we make our way to the place we'll be staying for the next day. All I can see is Peter stare at MJ, but I could've sworn he was glancing at me a few times. At one point she turns around and Peter looks away but when she turns around he looks back at her. The boat pulls up to an old, worn down hotel.

"Looks like we're here. They're doing renovations to the place. Getting some upgrades. That must be the concierge." Mr. Harrington said, stepping out of the boat.

"Oh, this is trash." A kid behind me said.

We waited until everyone was off the boat before we entered the building. It was nasty. There was a wooden plank to walk on because the floor was so wet in one little area it looked like a mini river flowing through the building.