Dancing Around // peter parker

12

Peter never made it back. I was planning on covering for him, but Ned opened his mouth first when Mr. Harrington asked. "Something happened, but he's okay," Ned said. He seemed to know more than me, but I could have made a better excuse.

"This is insane," Liz mumbled to Betty.

Mr. Harrington had his hands rested on his hips. He caved in with a sigh, his glasses moving down his nose a bit. "Alright, no one panic. Flash, you're on."

I could hear Flash gulp loudly beside me. His eyes widen as he heard the teacher's words. I couldn't help myself and took a photo of his reaction, causing him to snap out of it. "Let me see it," he said.

"No."

"Oh, come on, Marina. It's my face."

"Not gonna happen."

"Tell me, do I at least look hot? Do I?" I looked down at the photo of him, not hiding my amusement. He tried to grab my camera from me, but I quickly pulled back. "Take another one, come on. One of me like this." He posed in front of one of the signs with his arms crossed. I ignored him and followed the group towards the competition, Mr. Harrington leading us.

I sat with Mr. Harrington in the audience while the rest of the team sat on the stage. I took pictures of them sitting at the table. Some would smile at the camera, while others didn't care. "Take one of me," Mr. Harrington told me. He stood up from his chair, before posing in front of the stage. I hurried into the aisle, people trying to move past me as I got low to take the perfect photo.

He grabbed my camera and took a look at the photo when we both sat back down in our seats. "Wow, I look great. Thank you," he told me. I took back my camera, pointing it at the team. "You know, I'm so happy you came, Maria. Riccardo was always crying for some reason."

"It's Marina."

"What did I say?"

"Maria," I said. He pushed his eyebrows together. "My name has an 'n'."

"Oh, I guess I must have missed it." He looked back on stage, looking at the kids with such proudness, before looking back at me. "So, do you want to be a photographer when you grow up?"

"Probably not. What do you want to be when you grow up?" I asked.

He tilted his head to the side, before changing the subject. "Where do you think Peter went? I hope he isn't in any kind of danger. I'm worried."

"I'm sure he's fine," I mumbled, taking more photos of the competition. Mr. Harrington quiet down once the competition started. I got great shots of them talking, my favorite shot of Michelle winning it for the team, and the moment right afterward, when everybody hugged her. I captured her smile.

With the trophy in hand, Mr. Harrington led us to the Washington Monument. I kept taking pictures of Flash holding the trophy. He wouldn't let go of the thing even though he didn't say a word the whole competition.

Before I knew it, we were in the elevator going up with a lady telling us facts, her monotone voice going through one of my ears and out the other. I took a picture of her with Ned beside her doing an awful job of posing bunny ears on her in secret. It was when I giggled, just as I snap the photo of her and Ned making eye contact, that the elevator abruptly stopped. My heart sunk into my stomach. I looked at Mr. Harrington for comfort, but he looked more frightened than I felt.

The monotone lady placed her hands out to try to calm everyone down. "Don't worry," she said, mumbling something about it being secured. I looked around my classmates only then realized that Michelle wasn't with us.

Soon enough the doors of the elevator were opened by two guys. There was little space between the floor and where we were, but enough to crawl through. I was one of the first that made it to safety, immediately taking pictures of everything. I couldn't see much since they told me to stand back. Each time one of my classmates made it out of the elevator, I took a picture.

Everything seemed to be okay until there was a large sound that violently attacked my ears. Panic grew as the elevator no longer held steady. Gravity took its next victim as screams tried to deny their fate. I couldn't believe it. My body turned cold. Were they going to die? I saw a blur of red for only a second in between the heads of the people in front of me. The sound stopped and someone yelled, "Spider-Man!"

I turned to Cindy who was shaking, my eyebrows pushed together. She didn't notice my expression, too caught up in the scene along with everyone else. I could hear my heart beat wildly as the rest of my classmates made it safely. All, but one. I didn't really know what was happening at the time. There were more important people in front of me and none of them were trying to fill me in. It wasn't until much later when we were sitting in the ambulance that I found out that Liz was stuck in the elevator and Spider-Man had saved her with the thin thread of his webbing.