Phoenix | P. Parker

Deal or No Deal?

•Deal or No Deal•

Trying to act like Saturday never happened proved to be harder than I thought. It was all anyone was talking about at school that Monday. I tried my best to tune out the conversations and rumors about the events as I walked down the hallway, but part of me was interested in people's reactions.

"I heard someone died that day, but the cops are trying to cover it up."

Thankfully that was untrue. Although I had no idea what happened, I knew I was involved, and the thought I could be responsible for someone's death make me sick to my stomach. I turned the corner down another hallway, trying to make my way to my locker before school started. I was still trying to figure out the best way to explain to my chemistry teacher that I no longer had my project, as it was turned to nothing but dust when I bursted into flames. I'd have to work on the wording.

My eyes landed on my friends, Mary Jane Watson and Gwen Stacy, leaning against the lockers next to mine, deep in conversation. I hadn't told them about what happened to me on Saturday, as I didn't know how to, but I knew if anyone would be able to make me feel better it'd be them. I made my way towards them with a slight smile on my face.

"What if it was some type of new superhero?" Mary Jane's soft angelic voice was the first I heard. I waved at the two of them and began opening my locker. They turned in my direction, inviting me into their conversation.

Gwen scoffed, "What type of hero destroys a library." I cringed at Gwen's words. I wasn't even safe from my own friends. "What is your view on it, Ames? What do you think happened that day?"

I clinched my jaw at the question. Although I didn't want to lie to my friends, I didn't feel like it was the right time to tell them the truth. Grabbing my textbooks from my bag and placing them in my locker, I shrugged my shoulders, "I don't know. Could have just been some freak accident."

Mary Jane rolled her eyes at my remark, "You're both wrong. It was definitely a new superhero's origin story." A burning sensation crawled up my neck, it felt as though my body was trying to answer to Mary Jane. I brushed it off and shut my locker.

The fact someone, let alone my best friend, was trying to label my incident as a superhero's upbringing was weird to me. There was nothing heroic about it. "It was me," the words escaped my lips before I could even think what I was saying, "I'm the one who destroyed the library." My friends' faces grew in shock. "Yet it wasn't me. I don't know how to explain what happened-" the bell for first period rang through the halls. I let out a sigh and slung my bag over my shoulder, "I'll explain more at lunch, okay?" Neither could form any words. They just nodded their heads in agreement, both fascinated at what I could possibly be talking about.

I walked away from them quickly, not wanting to be in that conversation anymore.

My first class of the day was chemistry. Most days I'd be more than happy to be here, but I knew not having my project would mean serious consequences. I was considered to be one of the smartest students in my grade at Midtown School of Science and Technology, and Mr. Cobbwell always expected greatness from me. The fact I was not able to give it to him made my heart sink.

With my head down I entered the class and sped walked to my desk, making sure Mr.  Cobbwell had no time to greet me for the day. I slid into my chair as the bell rang to begin class. Mr. Cobbwell shut the door and clapped his hands together, "Good morning, class. How was everybody's weekend?" Some students muttered a soft 'good' as a response. Mr. Cobbwell made his way towards his desk, "Alright then, good to hear. So you guys know what today is," he took a seat and held up a stack up papers, "it's presentation day!"

The class did not share his enthusiasm. I slumped down into my chair more, this was not going to end nicely for me. "Are there any volunteers who'd like to go first?" Mr. Cobbwell looked around the classroom for a hand to shoot up. No one's did. I tried my best to avoid eye contact, wishing I could just curl in a ball and die. "Ah, Amelia, the girl who never fails to make a lasting impression, how 'bout it?"

I could feel everyone turn and stare at me. This was not happening. "I don't have my project... I forgot it." My voice came out soft and weak.

I glanced up at Mr. Cobbwell to see disappointment plastered on his face, "You know that means you'll be getting twenty points taken off?" My heart shattered, so much for perfect grades. I nodded my head in acceptance and continued to look down not wanting to make eye contact with anyone. "Well then, let's move on shall we?"

◊ ◊ ◊

My friends and I sat down at our usual lunch table; Gwen and Mary Jane began to empty their lunchboxes while eyeing me up and down. I sat across from them, with my forehead pressed against the table, looking at my hands under the table.

Gwen took a sip of water and cleared her throat, "So are we going to talk about-" I sat up quickly. "You know," her voice lowered for the next part, "how you destroyed a public library." Mary Jane wiggled in her seat, she was excited to hear the truth about the gossip going around. I looked at my friends, they both had huge grins plastered on their faces. I didn't think they'd be that happy to know I'm the one who caused the incident, but I guess I was wrong.

So I explained to them the story. How I felt like I was in a trance, how the light seemed to be shaped as a bird, how it flew towards me and that's when I was lifted from the air and flames shot from every inch of my body. They sat there amazed at what they were hearing. The scariest part to me is that neither of them questioned me; they both just instantly believed the story they were hearing. "And then it stopped. No more pain. No more light. Just me laying in the middle of the floor, not knowing what to do." My jaw clinched at the end of the story. I was scared they'd laugh and call me a freak. Silence fell upon us as Gwen and Mary Jane tried to truly comprehend what they were hearing.

"So, you have powers..." Mary Jane's grin grew wider as she spoke.

I shook my head, "No, I do not have powers. It was a one time thing. Nothing has happened since. I don't know how I did it, it just happened."

Mary Jane and Gwen shared a look and turned back to me. Somehow their smiles were even larger. Mary Jane squealed, "My best friend is going to be a superhero." Before I could interrupt to tell her once more that I didn't have powers she spoke again, "Give us a month. One month for us to help you find out how your new found powers work, or for you to prove to us you truly have no powers and we can move on with our lives. Deal?"

Thoughts raced through my head. The idea of me having powers was extremely ridiculous, but I knew my friends would never let it go until they tried everything. There was no harm in letting them experiment on me if it meant in a month they'd drop it. I'd have my normal life back in no time.

"Deal."

◊ ◊ ◊

Note
The first chapter is finally here. Nothing special really happened here. We got introduced to the besties that are Mary Jane and Gwen and their way to calm of a reaction to Amelia's news.

Next chapter is when we'll learn more about what happened to Amelia and how Gwen and Stacy decide to "help" her with her new found powers. We'll also be meeting Peter Parker very soon. I'm just trying to build up Amelia's story so she's not just some random girl thrown in to the story.

So yeah! I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you on Friday (going to try to stay consistent and update every Monday and Friday) with chapter two.