SpiderMan - Camren

~10~

Once Lauren arrived home, she instantly flew up to her room and locked the door.

The rush and adrenaline that came with mindlessly swinging around the city was something that Lauren had never felt before; especially in her normally uneventful life. It brought a sense of euphoria that was very foreign to her. But the fear of getting caught swinging around without a proper explanation for her abilities was enough to bring that sense of euphoria down.

Thus commencing the rummage through her closet in order to find a mask. The only masks she could find were a ski mask, a Darth Vader mask, and a red mask with white fabric covering over where a person's eyes are located. She decided to go with the red mask since she didn't want people to get the wrong notions with the ski mask. And the Darth Vader mask would just be weird.

She changed into her previous outfit and checked herself in the mirror as she pulled the mask over her head. After giving herself a quick once over, she took the mask off and shoved it into her book bag before she headed downstairs.

As she approached the door, she yelled out to her a Aunt and Uncle, "I'm going out for a walk!"

Receiving a nonchalant, "Have fun!" from her Uncle.

---

Lauren went to the same alley and still no one was around. Before climbing up this time though, she put the mask on so no one could see her face while climbing up. Even with nobody around, Lauren just wanted to play it safe.

Her feet lazily dangled, lightly swinging with relaxation, as she sat at the ledge of the building and took in the beautiful view. Tranquil silence, with the occasional muffled voice of stranger's in the distance, filled Lauren's ears as she watched over the city.

Down below, she watched a couple of people pass by with no rush. It was one of those evenings where the temperature wasn't too hot, neither too cold. Every now and then, a breeze of wind would pass by and it didn't make you feel cold, it was just there. And nothing felt better than a not too hot, nor too cold day in Miami.

But the serenity of the city was instantly put on pause when she heard someone scream out in the near distance. She jumped down from the ledge and started slinging towards where the scream had seemingly derived from.

Her swinging stopped as she landed on the rooftop of a building, peaking over the ledge and down into an alley. Her feet instantly alleviated off the surface as she jumped down upon seeing a man with a gun to a ladies head.

Lauren settled on the ground with a graceful patter of her light feet touching the concrete. The man instantly turned around, repositioning his aim towards Lauren.

Is this guy serious? A gun?

Instead of instantly attacking, Lauren decided to play along with the robber. Because after all, messing with the robber that she had found the other day was actually... fun for Lauren.

The green eyed girl put her hands behind her head and got down on her knees. "Please don't shoot, I'm just a kid," she said with an inauthentic pleading tone.

"This is a real, loaded gun," the robber stated with a firm and threatening voice. And Lauren smirked when she could see the shaking of his nervous hand, his finger trembling over the trigger of his gun.

"Is it really a real, loaded gun?" Lauren asked, trying her best not to laugh at the man's attempt to be threatening.

"Yes. This is a real, loaded gun," he answered, still aiming his gun at Lauren with an unsteady, quivering hand.

"Just give me your money and walk away," he roughly told Lauren. And she decided that that must've been her cue to stop messing around with him.

"Aw hell naw! Does it look like I have money on me?" she joked exclaimed while standing up, dramatically snapping her hands back down to her sides.

The guy instantly tensed, his grip around the gun tightening. His hand only began to shake with more fervor. And Lauren couldn't bite back the amused smile that popped onto her face. Because this guy was just absolutely terrified.

"Alright, dude. Give me that," Lauren teased as she shot the web at the gun before forcefully yanking the gun away from him.

"You should probably run, Miss," Lauren muttered to the stranger and she ran away with no hesitation.

"Let's cut to the-" Lauren was cut off by the robber pulling out a knife and doltishly swinging it in her direction. He strenuously lunged the knife at her over and over again, as she dodged him every single time.

"Alright buddy, calm down," the raven haired girl finally slapped the knife out of his hand and wrapped him with her webbing in one swift motion.

"Didn't your mom teach you any manners. I mean, that's definitely not how you treat a lady," Lauren teased, referring to the lady he was previously robbing while he tried to wriggle his way out of the webbing.

"Alright. You're no fun," Lauren stated as she finally pulled her phone out of her pocket and called the cops, readily leaving the scene by slinging onto the nearest rooftop.

With her head slightly tilted, perched on the rooftop, she watched as the cops arrived and drove off with the man in the backseat of their police car. With a satisfied grin, she jumped off the building and into the alley before removing her mask.

And as the green eyed girl was shoving her mask into her book bag, she heard a click sound along with a flash from behind. Lauren's head whipped behind her as she turned around to be met by a woman with a camera pointed towards her. Before the lady could form any type of reaction, Lauren instantaneously shot a web at the camera and flung it into her hand.

"No! Please don't break the camera! Those pictures are literally my job!" the camera lady pleaded while Lauren deleted the pictures off the camera.

"Wait, how much money do you get paid for this?" Lauren asked, keeping a firm grip on the device.

"Quite a lot," she mumbled.

"Hey, these are actually pretty cool," Lauren announced while scrolling through the pictures. Because Lauren would be lying if she said that wasn't even the slightest bit impressed by the colorful captures on the woman's camera.

"We could work together you know," Lauren instantly tensed upon hearing the lady's bizarre proposition.

Work together? What the heck does she mean by working together?

Probably noticing Lauren's confusion, the lady spoke up again, "I could take pictures of you and we could share the cut."

A way to help out my Aunt and Uncle.

"No," was Lauren's initial response, "I don't do this for the money." Lauren answered while attempting to bite back any hesitation, more so trying to convince herself rather than the stranger standing in front of her.

"I'll give you 50 percent of the cut," the camera lady stated while wiggling her eyebrows. When Lauren didn't budge, she bargained again with, "I'll give you 60 percent of the cut."

And there was no reason as to why Lauren should particularly trust the lady. But she was offering something that nobody in their right mind would refuse. Sixty percent of a cut that pays well. It would be like having a job, without... having a job.

"Alright, fine," Lauren huffed out. "But if you tell the newspapers anything about my real appearance, I will find you. You have to promise me that all you're doing is turning in the pictures and say you took them from afar," Lauren uttered while sticking her hand out for the lady to shake.

"I promise on my life. My name is Kate by the way," Kate informed while confidently taking Lauren's hand to shake.

"Alright, Kate. Take as many pictures as you please but like I said, No details!" Lauren enforced, returning her camera with high hopes that this lady won't break their promise.

"Got it," Kate responded.