Spider-Girl: the Life of a Teenage Spider Person

Chapter Twenty-Five

I land on my bedroom window ledge.

Quietly opening the window, I peek into the room before letting myself in.

I groan quietly as I shuffle over to my bed, flopping onto it. Quickly, I sit up, realizing that flopping onto the bed was kind of loud.

When I don't hear footsteps coming, and my Spidey Sense doesn't go off, I relax a little bit.

I let out the breath that I had apparently been holding in, then I suddenly collapse into a fit of coughs.

My eyes still sting from the smoke, and obviously, my lungs have not recovered from it yet, either.

Then I remember the look on Henry's parents faces when they saw him.

Totally worth it.

I take in a deep breath of the clean air and change out of my suit.

I close the door to my closet and walk over to my desk. As soon as I sit down my phone rings.

I quickly clear my throat before answering, "Hey, Layla!"

"Oh my goodness you won't believe this Crystal!!" Layla squeals.

"What is it this time?" I ask smiling.

"Okay, okay, okay! Our real life superhero... is FEMALE! Can you believe it!!" Layla exclaims.

I stand up, confused, "Wait, hold on... How do you know this?"

"You haven't seen the news?! Crystal, you need to keep up on these Spider-Girl updates!"

"It's on the news??" I quickly descend the staircase, skidding into the living room. I grab the remote and turn the TV on.

The reporter is talking about the fire!

And... Me?

I turn up the volume, trying to hear over Layla's fan-girling.

"The fire was put out and the people inside saved - thanks to firemen and... Spider-Girl! That's right, folks! The spider-themed vigilante was confirmed to be female today by a civilian who had the opportunity to speak with her! Here is what he said," the reporter states.

The TV switches over to a pre-recorded interview with Henry's father!

"I'm here at the scene of the devastating fire with," the reporter begins.

"Michael Williams," Henry's father finishes.

"Michael. I saw you had a chance to speak with Spider-Man! What were you talking about?"

"Actually, it's Spider-Girl, and she saved my son from our apartment!" Mr. Williams replies.

"What? Did you say... Spider-Girl?"

"I did indeed! If you're watching this, thank you so much Spider-Girl! I can't thank you enough!" Mr. Williams smiles at the camera.

I smile back.

"How do you know this hero is female?" the reporter questions.

"After she saved my son, I thanked Spider-Girl for helping him. She then shook hands with me and said 'Spider-Girl.'" Mr. Williams finished his story.

The screen switches back to the reporter in the building, "Incredible! Now, onto our next story..."

"Crystal?! Hello! Are you there??" Layla shouts.

"Huh? Yeah? Sorry, I was watching the news. Wow, that's crazy, huh? Who would've thought our superhero would be female?"

"I know right! It's sooo awesome! I would love to meet her!" Layla fan-girls.

"Who knows... you just might!" I smile knowingly.

"Oh, I hope so! See you later, Crystal!"

"Bye, Layla!" I respond, before ending the call.

"The nerve of some kids these days."

I whirl around to find my dad standing behind me, "Oh! Hi, Dad!"

He gives me a half smile, "Hi, Crystal... Did you get your homework done?"

"Sure did!" I reply.

My face scrunches up as I remember what he just said, "Dad? What did you mean by... 'the nerve of some kids these days'?"

He sighs, "I just mean about this whole Spider-Girl business..."

"Oh! Did you see the news then? Isn't it so cool that our superhero is female?! And the fact that she saved a kid from a fire!" I exclaim.

"Yes I saw the news, and I can't believe how far some kids are willing to take a prank!" he interjects, taking a seat on the couch.

"What? Wh-what do you mean??" I ask.

"You don't actually believe this, do you, Crystal? It isn't possible! It has to be some kids who are playing a cruel joke on people!"

My heart begin to beat faster once he says 'cruel', "What do you mean, 'cruel joke'? Didn't you say prank earlier?"

Dad sighs, "I was hoping it was just a prank, but, after the fire today..."

I suck my breath in, "You don't think-"

"These idiotic kids who want to get their cruel joke across started the fire," Dad interjects.

"What? Why would you think that?! There was nothing that said anything about the fire being started by a person! For all we know, it could have been a big malfunction with wiring!"

"Crystal..."

I'm not finished, "Also, Spider-Girl saved a kid! A kid! Why would some people joking around actually save someone inside?! Wouldn't they just pretend to do something and take all the credit? Did you notice that Spider-Girl hasn't done any interviews yet? Someone trying to play a prank would try to get as much attention as possible! Spider-Girl just came into the scene, saved the child, and left! Someone playing a prank wouldn't do that! Also-"

"Crystal!" Dad interrupts, "...come here."

I sit next to Dad on the couch.

"Crystal... I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything about the cause of the fire. You are right, there is no proof of that. But also, please don't get your hopes up that this whole 'superhero' thing is real! It just isn't possible! Okay?" Dad says.

I sigh, "It certainly would be crazy if it was real..."

Dad seems to take that as me saying I don't think it is real. He thought wrong.

Dad smiles and gives me a hug.

I return the hug with a smile, although I'm still a bit unsettled by how against Spider-Girl Dad seems to be...

He sniffs the air, "Do you smell... smoke?"

Uh oh.

I quickly release Dad from my hug, "Uh... the scent of smoke from the fire must have drifted over from the city. It was pretty big."

Dad raises an eyebrow.

I realize what I just said, "I-I mean... It looked pretty big... from what I saw... on the screen..."

"Yeah... that must be it..." Dad replies.

"Well, I guess I'll be going then..." I walk out of the room.

Once I get back to my bedroom, I open my backpack and take out some actual homework.

I don't have as much as I made it sound like, but I should get my actual homework done.

I cough again.

Sigh... I guess I'm still recovering from my first act of heroism.