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"I cannot believe my best friend is a superhero now! Oh my, God, I'm so proud of you. But at the same time, why are you doing this? Your decisions are always very... calculated. What's the reasoning behind this one?" Beth questioned as she sprawled out onto her best friend's bed, leaving no room for the actual owner of the bed. The two were getting ready for a briefing and some training at the Avengers Compound in upstate New York. They had a three day weekend, so Tony insisted on starting this. Especially since next week, Kaelyn had her first mission. Apparently, Peter was rejoining Academic Decathlon out of the blue, so Tony was sending her to keep an eye on him. Beth, of course, would be joining her. Tony groaned once he learned the two girls rarely did anything apart, but he obliged. Kaelyn was incredible at getting what she wanted, but that was no superpower.
Kaelyn was about to answer the girl's questions when her phone began ringing. Peter's contact flashed on her screen, so she held up a finger and answered the phone. "What's up, babe?"
"Why is Liz telling me how excited she is about you and Beth joining Academic Decathlon?" he said as soon as she answered the phone and she cursed mentally. He wasn't supposed to know yet. Of course, Liz had to go spoil the "surprise" (even though it was hardly that).
"Because we joined. What's so crazy about that?" she retorted, trying her best to remain calm. She hated not being able to tell Peter that she was pretty much just his babysitter. What a fantastic way to start a relationship; secrets, lies, and bad guys. Just perfect.
Peter hesitated, "It just doesn't seem like it's your scene! I mean, I used to tutor you, remember?"
It was just him stating a fact, but at the same time, something in Kaelyn was trying to convince her that Peter was against her. That he meant to hurt her with his words.
Retaining her composure was not something she was known for and this was one of those times that shined through. "Oh? What are you trying to say? That I'm not smart enough to run in the same circles you do? I'm more capable than you think I am, Peter, but thanks."
"Kae, I'm not trying to accuse you of not being smart enough, not at all." The words were comforting to a degree, but something was gnawing at the back of Kaelyn's mind that she couldn't trust them. Of course, her first boyfriend and her stupid trust issues and baggage had to rear their ugly heads. "I know how capable you are, it just didn't seem like your thing. I'm sorry for assuming."
She sighed, trying her best to remain calm. Beth recognized she was getting heated and stood up from the bed, wrapping an arm around the girl's shoulders and squeezing lightly as an easy form of comfort. Kaelyn used her hand that wasn't holding her phone to fiddle with the necklace that adorned her neck. A small cross, not that she was very religious, but it used to belong to her mother. She put it on this morning on a whim, finding it in the bottom of her jewelry drawer. Running her fingers along the tiny silver cross was oddly calming. Almost as if she had her mother's warm aura surround her. Beth was calming too, as always. Always there for her, no matter what. The one person Kaelyn never hesitated to trust was Beth. She was hoping it would be the same with Peter, but there was still an evergrowing doubt festering within her broken mind. She was beginning to grow weary of being weighed down and buried by the crushing baggage of her past.
