From the Shadows | PETER PARKER [2]

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"You hit me with lightning, maybe I'll come alive!" Eloise sings along to Paramore's Hard Times blaring in her earbuds.

She pretends she's apart of a movie montage as she dances across her room to grab a pencil off of her desk before dancing back to sit back down in the middle of the floor. She sits cross-legged in front of what she has been working on for the past two weeks. It's what she has been ditching Lucy and Elena for and what she has been doing immediately when she gets home from training with Bucky. Lately, she has been training harder than she ever has before. She even stays for an extra hour, much to Steve's dismay, to lift weights and run on the treadmill. Bucky thinks it's great, yet strange, that Eloise suddenly has an interest in fitness. What Bucky doesn't know is that Eloise isn't just training to feel more comfortable with herself, but so she is physically strong and athletic.

Last year Eloise would have never even thought about eating nutritious meals three times a day instead of just chips and pizza. However, in order for her plan to work, Eloise has to go all in.

These past couple weeks, Eloise has been planning. In front of her is a notebook, a loose piece of paper, and a stack of dark clothes. The notebook is opened to a page with a bunch of possible super hero names, but most are crossed out. On the loose paper is a sketch of some suit Eloise could only dream of having. The pile of clothes is her reality. Every super hero needs a suit, and while hers is technically just a black hoodie, workout leggings, black gloves from the dollar store, and a homemade mask, it's better than nothing. She just finished the mask yesterday. It's made of a stretchy material she can breathe out of that are supposed to mimic what Peter's suit feels like. If she puts on the mask, it would cover her neck as well. It's plain black with two eye holes that she replaced with sunglass lenses and outlined with a bright yellow fabric paint.

Before she can actually start her plan, she has to have a talk with Peter first. She has tried to keep in contact with him, but she keeps feeling like he looks down on her, like she's weak. If her plan works then no one will ever think she's weak again. She won't be as guilty either, because then she'd be helping more people than she has harmed or killed.

Something else Eloise has been busy with is practicing using her powers. She uses them in the halls of school, in class, or in the cafeteria. She doesn't make it obvious, just a little extra movements every now and then. She doesn't know how else to practice, but she hopes what she's doing is helping.

The song playing in Eloise's earbuds ends. She decides that it's a good stopping place and takes them out and unplugs them from her phone before the next song on her playlist can begin. She leaves everything on the floor after pocketing the mask and makes sure to lock her bedroom door before slipping out of her bedroom window. She knocks on Peter's window next door, knowing that Peter's home since it's only six in the evening, meaning he hasn't gone out on patrol yet.

Peter steps into view, his hair tousled—as usual—and the clothes he wore to school on. He smiles softly when Eloise gives him a small wave and steps forward to open the window.

"Hello, Parker," Eloise chirps as her sock-clad feet hit the carpet.

Peter tilts his head at the new nickname. "Hey." He studies Eloise's bright expression and comments with a growing smile, "You seem really happy."

"I am," she agrees with an excited laugh. Peter just watches her with amusement. It had been a while since she has been this bubbly, and seeing her like this again reminds him of the time she brought him and May a rainbow cake on a rainy day. Eloise tucks her thumbs in her back pockets and rocks back and forth on her heels. "I have something to show you."