𝓒𝓸𝓵𝓸𝓻𝓼- 𝓜𝓲𝓰𝓾𝓮𝓵 𝓞'𝓗𝓪𝓻𝓪

Move Fast and Keep Quiet

Author's note:

YES this chapter is I Can See You (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault) coded and YES I am obsessed with Speak Now (TV) and YES I am unapologetic. Thank you all for humoring me. 

BACK TO THE STORY

When the second anomaly came, you'd been eating tuna fish. 

Since the first attack, three days had flashed by like silver minnows through a stream. Miguel's accelerated healing had knitted together his swollen red skin. Although his crossed arms returned to training, he occasionally clutched at his battered ribs after overworking himself. 

The second anomaly tumbled out into the cafeteria, bowling over a short, slick-haired spider girl named Penny Parker. She quickly skidded to her feet, her rounded features determined and bright. The second anomaly wore a devilish mask with sharp elf ears. Despite its arsenal of smoke bombs, no anomaly could last long stranded in a pack of spider heroes. 

Noir fought with an infuriating gentlemanliness. He kept on shouldering himself in front of you and Arachnida, attempting to protect you from the worst blows. 

"Noir! We have it covered!" Arachnida screamed in frustration as he bodyslammed her out of the way of an explosive. He hadn't really needed to; Arachnida's fist had been just about to connect with the anomaly. 

"Search the premises! Make sure there aren't any more!" Jessica barked once the green monster had been detained. Stress bled into her voice. Sweating and heaving for air, you bumped your fist against Arachnida's before you both shot off. She sent you a worried look over her shoulder. Were there more? Lurking in the shadows, preparing to strike?

You paced down the silvery halls, peering through doors and checking rooms for the flickering colors of an anomaly. Miguel passed you in the narrow hall. 

His eyes stayed straight ahead, narrowed and focused. But when he gusted past you, his scent of vanilla and musk cologne filled your lungs like dizzying mountain air. The side of his hand grazed yours, so quickly it could have been an accident. Your cheeks flushed and your head twisted back at him in shock, but he didn't turn around. 

Even if your hands softly bumping had been an accident, Miguel wasn't the type to stutter and apologize. And if he'd touched you on purpose, the relaxed set of his shoulders seemed utterly unapologetic as well. 

You didn't allow yourself to linger on any delusional notions. You couldn't, anyway. While exploring in the dark, Arachnida, Noir, and Hobie had discovered battery-powered speakers in a forgotten storage unit. The next day, as evening darkness knocked on the windows, they'd decided to spontaneously hold a party in the main atrium. 

"It's perfect." Arachnida grinned, confidently flicking her blond ponytail behind her back. "Jessica's on break this weekend. And nobody's seen Miguel all day; he's probably off brooding somewhere about how sunlight hurts his eyes." 

Noir supportively set up the speakers, high in the rafters, but he visibly flinched when Hobie slammed down cases of beer and shot glasses. "That doesn't seem like such a good idea." 

"It's just alcohol. It can't kill you." Hobie self-assuredly crossed his arms, tossing his hair back, out of his face. He smirked at you, holding up a neatly folded wad of paper between his two fingers, the way you'd hold a cigarette. "Got something for you." 

"Let's have it then," you said, taking it from him. The note had been scrawled onto lined paper, with a jagged edge as if it had been ripped from a notebook. 

Come to my office. I need to see you. -M

Hobie's smirk deepened as you blinked in surprise, skimming your eyes over the words in disbelief. "Did you read this, Hobie?"