venus ⋮ peter parker

5.

F i v e

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Liz's house was already bursting at the seams by the time Calliope and Penelope arrived that night. It seemed like nearly everyone at Midtown Tech was packed into Liz Toome's house that Friday night. Calliope and Penelope had to practically force their way towards the kitchen, where there was a wide array of alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks waiting for them.

As Penelope began pouring herself a generous portion of vodka and Coke, she said to Calliope, "Alright, since you were the one who got so drunk at Miles Mahoney's end-of-summer party that you climbed on his roof and nearly broke your leg, I think that you should stay away from alcohol tonight."

"I'm at a two-drink limit," Calliope agreed, shaking her head at the memory and her stupidity. "I'll be your designated 'make-sure-you-get-home-alive' person, and you can drink as much as you like – just please don't black out."

"That's so kind of you," Penelope beamed, taking a large swig from her cup. She winced a little at the taste but swallowed it nonetheless. The two girls have had their fair share of terrible mixed drinks in the past, and they had learned to push through even the most of disgusting of concoctions.

Calliope then spotted Peter and Ned up ahead, who both had looks similar to lost, panicked sheep. Feeling a slight pang of sympathy for them and their obvious uncomfortableness in the situation, Calliope began tugging on Penelope's hand and shouting over the noise, "Peter, Ned! Hey guys!"

"No, no don't you fucking dare wave them over here–"

But, much to Penelope's dismay, Peter and Ned had spotted them, and Calliope was already dragging her towards the pair.

At first, Peter had wanted to go to the party because it was a chance to get closer to Liz. But, suddenly, with Calliope standing in front of him in dark green dress and the widest smile he had ever seen, Peter's heart couldn't help but beat an irregular rhythm in his chest and he could already feel his cheeks beginning to warm up.

"Saw you guys and figured I'd say hi," Calliope continued as she gestured to her best friend next to her. "You guys know Pen from Academic Decathlon, right?"

Penelope glared and didn't say a word. Peter and Ned were terrified to say anything.

"What a charmer you are," Calliope muttered before turning back to Peter and Ned with an even wider smile than before, as if she was trying to make up for Penelope's clear lack of enthusiasm. "I've never seen you guys at any parties before – are you having a good night?"

"I'm definitely excited," Ned agreed happily as he pointed to his head and said, "I even wore my lucky hat for the occasion."

Calliope had always liked Ned. Sometimes he could say the wrong thing and accidentally offend someone, but he always tried to be kind to everyone he came across and had one of the brightest smiles at Midtown Tech. "I think your hat is incredible," She agreed.

"Penis Parker, what is up?"

Peter turned to look at Flash Thompson, his eyes wide with horror. "Where's your pal Spider-Man? Let me guess, he canceled because he's in Canada with your imaginary girlfriend? That's not Spider-Man, that's just Ned in a red shirt!"

Behind Calliope, Peter could spot Liz's large pool just outside. He wondered how quickly he could run over and drown himself in it.

Before Calliope had the chance to say anything, Penelope had already cut into the conversation. "Well...we're gonna go," She said, already tugging on Calliope's arm. "Bye! Don't die tonight!"

As Calliope yelled over her shoulder at Flash "Shut the hell up, no one even likes your stupid sound effects", Penelope pulled her into the crowd and out of Peter and Ned's sight.

"That was the most awkward fucking conversation I've ever witnessed in my life," Penelope said to her. "And I'm on the Academic Decathlon team."

"It was awkward..." Calliope admitted. "But they were sweet, and you certainly didn't help matters. They looked like they were about to be eaten alive in the party."

"I hope they do."

"Penelope–"

✷

As the evening went on and a certain web-slinger did not make an appearance, Calliope almost began to get worried for Peter Parker. Maybe it was because of the crowd of people that were there, but Calliope hadn't seen Peter since the conversation with him nearly two hours before at the beginning to the party. Not only that, but the longer Peter was gone and Spider-Man was nowhere to be seen, the more Flash insulted through the microphone.

It had even gotten to the point where Penelope remarked to Calliope, "Listen, I still want to kill him. But...I kinda feel a little bad for him."

"Aww..." Calliope cooed, pinching Penelope's cheeks. "Are you actually showing...sympathy? I didn't know you were capable of that!"

Penelope smacked her hand away. "I will throw you in the pool."

"And ruin this dress? You'd never."

"I have no idea where Peter disappeared off to, anyways." Calliope pointed at the back door, where she could see Ned standing with his phone to his ear and looking panicked beyond belief. "I also think that it's weird that even Ned doesn't know what's going on. Don't they tell each other everything?"

"Maybe Peter lied to him too," Penelope shrugged.

"I get the vibe that those two tell each other everything."

Their conversation was interrupted by Flash Thompson loudly shouting into the microphone, "When I say 'Penis', you say 'Parker'!"

"Oh God, how old are you? Five?" Penelope loudly complained. "If you're going to bully Peter, at least be interesting with it!"

"Leave me alone, Penelope!" Flash bellowed into the microphone in a manner that didn't seem entirely like the 'high school cool guy' persona he was always trying to portray.

Next to her, Calliope held up her middle finger, which earned loud laughter from Penelope.

But, as much as they hated it, the chant began picking up popularity until it eventually grew to where nearly the entire party was repeating after Flash.

After five minutes of the nonstop chant, Calliope was over it. So, she snuck over unnoticed towards the outlet containing the cords for the speakers and yanked the cords out of the outlet. For a moment, the party fell into complete silence. Then, there was a loud shout of anger from Flash and several groans of annoyance from partygoers, who were mourning the loss of the music.

"C'mon," Calliope muttered, tugging on Penelope's hand. She knew it was only a matter of time before Flash had figured out what she had done, and she was kind of done for the night anyways. "This night's getting lame, anyways."

✷

a/n:

hi guys !!

this chapter was a little on the short side but i think it's so fun and silly !! this scene is one of my favorites in the movie so i hope i did it justice HAHA

i hope you all enjoyed the chapter and that you have a lovely day !! i'll see you at the next update !!

- g ♡