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"Emma, slow down, sweetie." Rachel said as her daughter spoke excitedly about the party from the night before. "I can barely make out a word you're saying." "Mom," Emma took a deep breath, pausing from her story for the first time in nearly three minutes. "I saw Spider-Man. Spider-Man, woman!" "That's so cool!" Ross gushed, placing his chin in the palm of his hand, daydreaming about what it must be like to be a real superhero. "Honey, you have to get going to school." Rachel said. "And I have to get to work, got a big meeting about our new fall designs. Can't be late." Ross waited for Rachel to leave the apartment before turning to his daughter. "Think you can be late to homeroom and tell me more about Spider-Man?" "As fun as that sounds, dad, I should get going."
Ned and Peter walked into Central Perk, they took a seat in a corner table, sitting closely to whisper about the events that were taking place. Peter had placed a tracker on some bad guys and the two boys planned to figure out where they were heading to stop anymore chaos. Emma neared their table, looking up with a smile as she greeted the two. "Hey, guys." She said, taking out her notepad from her apron. "Hey, Em." Ned greeted. "You work here?" "I do," She nodded. "What can I get you two?" "Can I just get a coffee and one of those chocolate chip scones?" Peter asked, pointing to the deserts that were placed in the case by the counter. "And can I get a coffee, light and sweet, just like yourself?" Ned asked. Emma smiled in reply. "Ned Leeds, you sly dog." She chuckled, shaking her head. "I'll be right back." "So, Emma, huh?" Peter asked, wiggling his eyebrows at his best friend. "No, not my type." Ned replied, shrugging. "But she seems like yours." "What?" Peter asked. "Dude, no way. Her and I, no, no. That's crazy." "What's crazy?" Emma asked, placing the two mugs on the table. "Is it Mr. Harrington's test tomorrow? Cause I barely understand what comes out of that man's mouth." "Uh, yeah, the test."
"Do you think you can finish closing?" Gunther asked Emma, hanging his apron on the hanger. "Yeah, I'm just sweeping, should be done soon." Emma replied. "Night, kid." Gunther said, shutting the door behind him. Emma finished cleaning shortly after Gunther left. She grabbed her backpack from the back room of the coffeeshop before checking to make sure the front door is locked. She exited from the back door, making sure it closed and locked behind her. Though it wasn't unusual for the girl to have to exit from the back of the shop, leading her into a short alleyway that separated the shop from a small corner store, she hated it. It smelt the way any gross alleyway would, of old garbage and rot. Though she did it almost every evening, the alley always left Emma with an uneasy feeling. She tugged her jacket closer to her body as she neared the end of the dark alley, releasing a sigh of relief as soon as she was under the streetlights. She cursed under her breath after feeling a raindrop. "Need a lift?" A voice asked from behind her, Emma turned around, shocked at who was standing in front of her. "Spider-Man?" Emma asked, completely dazed by the superhero. "In the flesh." The hero nodded. "Or rather, in a skin tight suit. So, gonna take me up on my offer?" "You wanna swing me around the city?" Emma questioned. "Is that safe?" "I've yet to injure myself doing it." "Have you swung with other people?" Emma asked, beginning her walk home to avoid the rain, Spider-Man followed close. "Most of them still have all their original body parts." He replied. The blonde threw him a playful glance. "How old are you, Bug Boy?" "It's Spider-Man." He corrected, ignoring the question. "Do you want the lift home?" "No need." Emma replied. "It's just a couple of blocks that way." She pointed "In the rain." "It's only drizzling." The girl replied. "It's dark." "Thanks for that observation." "And late." "You're very persistent." "I just like making sure beautiful girls get home okay." "Glad my looks are good for something." "Is that a yes?" "Promise it's safe?" "Just hold on tight." He said, before grabbing her by the waist and using his web shooters to attach to a building. Emma let out a gasp and clung to the hero, startled at the sudden jump. "It's okay to open your eyes." "No thank you." Emma said, her eyes squeezed shut. The hero laughed, holding on to her tighter, "We aren't even that high." "If my feet aren't touching something solid i think it's high enough." "Em-" He coughed, covering the slip up of saying her name. "Miss, I promise it's okay." So she did, her eyes wandering around, taking in the sight of the city lights. Emma had lived in New York all her life but the city views always amazed her. The hero let her have a moment to take it all in before asking for directions to her apartment. They landed on her fire escape, releasing each other from their grasps. Emma let out a squeal of excitement. "That was amazing!" She exclaimed, letting out a breath. "It must be so cool to get to do that everyday." Emma leaned on the window to her bedroom as she caught her breath. "It has it's perks." Spider-Man nodded, he looked at the girl. "Have a good night, Mis-" "Emma." She spoke. "My name's Emma." "Well," He began, he extended his wrist to active his wed shooters, latching on the the building across the alley. "Have a good night, Emma."
Emma and Michelle met at Central Perk the next morning. The older waitress, Eileen, a 46 year old woman with a terrible smoking habit, handed them their usual order before wishing them a good day. Emma could barely sleep the night before, the adrenaline rushing from her adventure with Spider-Man. "What's with you?" MJ asked her best friend, biting into her muffin as they walked to the train station. "What are you talking about?" Emma replied. "You look like shit." Michelle replied bluntly. "You look like you didn't sleep at all last night." "I only slept three and a half hours." Emma admitted. "How crazy would you think I am if I told you I met Spider-Man last night?" MJ thought for a moment, taking a sip of her coffee, "Where you in trouble?" "No." Emma responded, "I was taking out the trash at work and he came swooping down and offered to escort me home." "You let a random guy escort you home?" Michelle exclaimed, looking at her friend with wide eyes. "Emma, you're from New York, you should know to never-" "I didn't let just some guy take me home." Emma tried to justify. "I let Spider-Man take me home." "The answer to your question is insane. I think you're insane, Emma Geller-Green."
"You're coming with me to Washington, right?" Michelle asked as Emma bussed the table beside her. "Yeah, I got the permission slip signed and handed it in to Harrington this morning." She adjusted the buss tray on her hip. "How'd you convince him to let me go anyways? I thought it was Decathlon members only." "I told him you were seriously considering joining the team and maybe if you were on the trip with us it would help push you to better your academic career." "You're an evil genius." "And you're losing tips." Emma's manager cut in. "Table seven wants a refill." "Sorry, Gunther."
Emma sat by her window, Baxter by her side as she did her homework. She twirled the pencil between her fingers as she finished the last question for her history class. She let out a sigh as packed up her material. "Come on, Bax." She yawned. "Let's get ready for bed." "Talking to your cat?" She heard from beside her. She whipped around, ready to hit whoever it was. "Woah, hey, I come in peace." "Spider-Man?" Emma squeaked out, letting a sign of relief out. "What are you doing here?" "Would it be bad to say that I was just thinking about you?" Spider-Man asked. "I don't know." Emma admitted. "How old are you? Are you seriously burned? Some of my friends think you could be." The masked man let out a chuckle, "I'm not seriously burned, no." "Are you like a forty year old bald man?" "Last time I checked, no." "How old are you?" "Fifteen." "Oh, so you're Spider-Boy?" "I'm a man."
