1 | BUSTED! ━ Peter Parker ✓

01 - STARGAZING

THE SMELL OF WET CONCRETE filled her nostrils, remnants of the rain from earlier in the day. However, the day was over and stars filled the sky. On the roof of her apartment building, twenty stories into the sky, Kaelyn Albright laid comfortably on the edge, one leg hanging off and hovering over the concrete roof. Her eyes were glued to the constellations, or, well, what she could see of them. It was impossible to find any good amount of stars in the city that never sleeps, but she always tried. Sitting on this rooftop was the closest she ever got to a quiet night, the sounds of the city far down below. She longed for a break, but like the city, she could never get a good night's rest. So she spent her nights up here. Normally, she was alone, but that might be changing, not by her choice.

She was startled when another figure joined her on the roof. It was that vigilante people were talking about. With a small yelp, she fell off the edge and behind the AC unit on the roof, hiding. The vigilante looked around, probably hearing her, but she was out of sight.

As quietly as possible, Kae pulled out her cellphone and began recording. This would be sure to go viral. The only clips captured of Spider-Man were far away, never up close and personal. Yet here he was, no more than ten feet away from her. The boy sighed, resting on the edge with his legs hanging off.

She held in her gasp as the boy took off his mask, pulling out his phone before typing something and putting it away. Clapping a hand over her mouth to refrain from making any noise, she was able to capture the boy's face. It was her classmate and fellow sophomore, Peter Parker.

"No fucking way," she whispered, standing up from behind the AC unit, "You are so busted, spidey-boy!"

She turned off the video, Peter turning to face her. His eyes immediately widened as soon as he realized she had been filming.

"No, no, no, you can't post that anywhere! Delete that!" Peter exclaimed, hopping off the edge and walking over to her, trying to grab her phone. He shot a web at it, but she dodged it running to the doorway that led back inside. "Please!"

"I won't post it, Petey," she began, causing him to breathe a sigh of relief, "if you do something for me."

The boy backed off, raising his hands in surrender, "Oh, Mister Stark is gonna kill me—"

"Stark? Like Tony Stark?"

"No, like Sansa Stark, yes, like Tony Stark," Peter scoffed, rolling his eyes, "What do you want me to do?"

"Okay, this is gonna sound stupid, but I'm utter shit at math, but I have a huge ass test in like two days that will literally make or break my grade and you're smart, I guess, so you need to help me," she explained, putting her phone in her back pocket, "but that's not it, I'm so gonna milk this as much as I can."

The boy sighed, "Really? All you're gonna ask for is some help with math? I would do that without the blackmail."

"What the fuck else would I need it for? I'm a student, not a supervillain," she rolled her eyes, "Besides, I love her to death, but Beth just gets too frustrated with me whenever we study together, she's hot-headed and I'm stupid, not a great combination."

"Aren't you two best friends?"

"Where did I say we weren't?" she furrowed her brow, crossing her arms, "Now, run along spidey-boy, go save some old lady getting her purse snatched or something. I'm gonna go tell everyone about this!"

Peter's eyes immediately widened, "No, no, no don't!"

"That was a joke, Peter!" was all she said before she left the roof, closing the automatically-locking door behind her. Her heart was racing. She just had a conversation with a superhero and it was her classmate. Of all the Midtown students, Peter Parker was probably the one she least expected to be some kind of vigilante. If anything, her best friend, Beth, had the most firepower to get some shit done. Ugh, there was such a lack of female superheroes in New York. She would have to get on that.

Kaelyn sprinted down the stairs, down three floors, and all the way down to her apartment. Quiet as a mouse, she unlocked the door and tiptoed across the hardwood floor. However, her rouse was detected as the lights in the kitchen flicked on. Her brother, Caden, stood leaning against the counter with his arms crossed.

"Where have you been, Kae?" he asked with a serious expression on his face.

The redhead only rolled her eyes, "You know where I've been."

"I don't like you being alone up there at night. There are all sorts of unsavory people that live in this building and I don't want you to get trapped up there with them," he lectured. This was a rather common conversation the two of them had. Ever since the disappearance (Well, Caden called it a disappearance, Kaelyn called it a murder, but nonetheless, no body was ever found) of their mother, he had her on a tight leash, never letting her go anywhere or do anything without him knowing. They both understood the dangers for a young girl in the city, but what Caden didn't understand was that Kaelyn knew how to hold her own. Her brother still saw her as the helpless ten-year-old who ran to him crying when she couldn't find her mother. The two had shared trauma, as most siblings from broken families did, but what they did with that was different. Whereas Caden tightened the rope, Kaelyn learned how to fight back.

"Then find us a better apartment, how about that?" Kaelyn tested, crossing her arms as well.

The older boy sighed, "It's not that easy. You know that. Most of our money goes towards you and your education because you know that's what matters. I'm not going to let you end up like me."

Kaelyn scoffed. Her brother knew when he said things like that it would cause her to give in. "What you don't want me to end up like someone who works three jobs dedicated to keeping what's left of his family safe? What a horrible thing to be."

"I meant I don't want you to end up going nowhere in life," Caden argued, "Now, go to bed, it's late."

There was no use in arguing anymore, she obliged. Before she headed into her room, she muttered a quick, "Goodnight, Caden."

"Goodnight, Kae."

anyway, Kaelyn's family is a mess but here's some insight as to why her brother is so protective