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ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING
xii. YOU MANIFEST IT, YOU BUY IT!

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   RILEY WASN'T A CONFORMER. She wasn't someone who settled, who relaxed once life became easier. Riley's life was composed of hills, not meadows. Something was always happening in her world, and Riley was always waiting for it—the thing that would change her world yet again. She was always waiting for the match to strike with a fire. Once that fire was lit, it was only a matter of time before it engulfed everything in its path.

   Riley knew deep down that she would never be able to truly relax, and honestly, she didn't have plans to in the future. But now that she'd taken some time off these past few months and get as close to relaxing as she could, Riley was beginning to grow suspicious, antsy. In other words, Riley Stark was waiting for the flame to ignite.

   Riley. Riley sat in the dining hall with a tray of food. MJ, Ned, and Peter were gathered around her, munching and sharing all kinds of peculiar chats that warm afternoon. Riley. The unfortunate aroma of food blended with sweaty bodies filled their noses, but they had gotten used to that by now. Riley!

   Riley snapped her head upward, now realizing that her friends had been calling her name. She looked around them, puzzled. "...What?"

   Michelle Jones eyed her best friend. "Are you alright?" Her face was filled with skepticism as it always was, but beneath that and her rather sharp tone, Riley could sense concern in the depths of her brown eyes.

   Riley pinched her eyebrows together. "Uh, sure?" Her response seemed more like a question, almost like she was unsure of her own answer. She hesitated and hurriedly grew more troubled. "Why, is there something wrong?"

   The trio each exchanged glances. It was strange to watch from a third-perspective. Riley could describe it as though they were communicating in pure silence, but not in morse code or sign language. They, instead, used facial expressions. Riley took a moment to evaluate herself as she chose to ignore her strange friends and their antics. Why would they think there was something wrong?

   Was it in the way that she had been fidgeting with her hands rather than eating her lunch? Was it how her leg had been bobbing up and down so quickly that Peter originally thought she was having a sugar high? Was it because Riley had been chewing on the same french fry and fixedly staring into space for the last three minutes? Actually, that seemed like enough reason for concern now that Riley was thinking about it.

   Riley offered her friends a trained smile. "I'm fine."

   Peter glanced back at Riley, doubtful. He placed his hand over hers and squeezed it gently underneath the table. "What's wrong?"

   Riley's turned to Peter, his benevolent eyes boring into her own. She knew there was no point in concealing her troubles, especially when it really wasn't a big deal whatsoever. Honestly, Riley knew herself well enough to know she wasn't actually upset. She was just... jittery.

   Two days had passed since her phone call with her family, and hardly anything had changed. Roman was still hiding away in the cabin and camp was still ongoing with just two days left. Everything was going according to how Riley and Tony had planned it, and that was the problem.

   Riley sighed. "Everything's gone according to plan this past week. Roman hasn't been discovered, the public doesn't know I'm here, and I got to call my dad the other day," Riley listed off, her tone somewhat irritated.

   "I don't get it," mentioned Ned. "We wanted that to happen, right?"

   "Yeah, of course!" exclaimed Riley. "I just keep waiting for something to happen, you know? Even when Warren caught us at the cabin last week, we steered him off of our trail. I don't have much good luck, but I think it's safe to assume that something bad's gonna happen."

   MJ propped her elbows up on the table. "Hey, you manifest it, you buy it," she warned. "Don't go bringing that shitty energy around here."

   Peter pointed a finger at her. "MJ's got a point," he agreed.

   "I can't help it!" cried Riley, gaining some attention from the people around them. She lowered her voice and continued, "It's so boring when everything goes right. Shit's about to hit the fan, I just know it!"

   "Boring?" repeated Ned. His face contorted with confusion. "I'm sorry, didn't you almost die like three times in the past year alone?"

   "Honestly, I gotta agree with Riley," chimed in Peter. "Trauma sucks, but it builds character, at least!"

   It made sense that Peter could so clearly see both sides of the argument. After all, MJ, Ned, and Riley were all extremes of one spectrum. Peter was right in the middle, getting the best of both worlds. Maybe he was the new modern-day Hannah Montana.

   MJ flung her grape at him, watching as it bounced off of his head. "You're just saying that 'cause she's your precious, untouchable girlfriend now," she told him.

  Before Peter could reply, Riley chirped, "Hey, I was untouchable and precious before we started dating. And keep your voice down!"

   The fact that Riley and Peter were dating was supposed to be a secret. They made it pretty hard to notice, especially considering everyone liked to ignore Peter, Ned, and MJ more than half of the time. Riley definitely made them more noticeable, but no matter how cool it was that an Avenger was at camp, no one would be caught dead hanging out with her so-called nerdy friends. Nonetheless, precautions were always welcomed.

   "But it's true!" debated Peter. "Sitting around and doing homework is boring."

   "Exactly," added Riley. She looked at him fondly. "See, you get it!" She glanced back at Ned and MJ, who were still unconvinced. "In my world, there's always something happening. It can suck, but it can also be fun sometimes. I'd choose it over a boring life any day, even if I've had more near-death experiences than I can count."

   It was true. On Monday, the Hulk could break Harlem and on Tuesday, robots could try to overthrow humanity. The opportunities for chaos, though varying, were always present. Riley loved her job because she was apart of something bigger than herself. Being kept on her toes was something she expected to remain for the rest of her life. Now was no exception. Riley was expecting for something to happen, anything!

   "Hm, well, let's see," began Ned. He turned to MJ. The two were prepared to prove Riley and Peter wrong. "MJ, how many near-death experiences have you had?"

   "None," matched MJ. "And what about you, Ned?"

   "None! Which proves that boring is better."

   "Exactly. Checkmate."

   MJ and Ned fist-bumped, leaving the superhero couple to watch in surprise. Peter gulped down his water as the four stared at one another. A moment of silence blanketed the group before they erupted with laughter at the rather stupid debate.

   As much as Riley disliked how boring and relaxing her life had been as of lately, she appreciated her time with her friends immensely. After all, these past few months of relaxation were well deserved, even if Riley missed the rush of adrenaline her job provided for her.

   "So, anyway," Riley started, deciding to change the topic of conversation, "Tonight before the campfire, I was thinking we should—"

   "Riley, Riley!"

   "Ms. Stark, over here!"

   Ned dropped his plastic fork at the sight behind Riley and Peter. "Holy shit."

   MJ's eyes widened. "Oh my God," she muttered through gritted teeth. "Dude, someone called the paparazzi on you."

   Riley felt her blood run cold. She turned in her seat, tensing at the number of people outside the small dining hall holding cameras. Riley quickly turned back to her friends. "I fucking called it!" she hissed. "But how are they here? Who could've leaked my location!?"

   "It's true! It's Valor!"

   "Valor, look this way!"

   Riley hunched forward, wishing they would all just disappear. Could you blame Riley? The poor girl had anxiety, after all! Still, this was the last thing she was expecting. Riley had gone to Mirkhaven to get away from the limelight, to stop overworking herself so much and just relax. She had been so careful! How could this have happened?

   Riley glanced back at Peter. "Don't show your face, Pete. If they get pictures of us together, it'll make it easier for people to figure out Spider-Man's identity."

   Peter nodded, keeping his back to the paparazzi. The other campers all diverted their attention to the group of four. "How did they find you!?" Peter questioned.

   "I don't know," Riley grumbled.

   Flash Thompson hurriedly joined the group. "Hey, guys, did you hear?" he asked. "There's a bunch of press at camp!"

   Ned rolled his eyes. "We can see that, dude!"

   Flash faltered. "Oh!" He turned to Riley. "How'd they find you?"

   Riley forced a sigh. "I don't know!" she repeated, clearly irritated and a little distressed. "But I'm not a Kardashian. I don't need bad press right now." She dropped her plastic utensils decisively. "I'm gonna go talk to them."

   Peter seemed to oppose this idea. "Riley, no—"

   Principal Morita bursting into the dining hall through the front doors interrupted him. He seemed to be shouting incoherently at the press outside, but that had essentially no effect on them. Instead, they continued to yell about wanting to get an interview with Riley Stark.

   "Principal Morita...?" called one of the students in the dining hall. "What's going on?"

   "Are we gonna be on TV?"

   "But I haven't even plucked my eyebrows!"

   Principal Morita ignored his students and instead, made a beeline for Riley Stark and her friends. Riley sighed, beginning her apology, "Principal Morita, I'm so—"

   "Don't worry about it," disrupted the man. "It's not your fault." His chest heaved as he caught his breath. "But you need to go talk to those guys outside. They're not listening to reason or my threats of calling the police."

   Riley frowned as MJ inquired, "How did they find Riley?"

   Principal Morita looked unsure. "It's hard to say. They just keep shouting over each other like animals."

   Riley nodded. "Fine. I'll go talk to them."

   Peter still didn't like the idea, but before he could oppose, Riley was already marching outside. Peter, Ned, MJ, and Flash each exchanged unsure looks before bustling after her.

   The flashes from the press's cameras continued to blind Riley. She grimaced as she thought to herself, 'Just pretend you're Tony. That should work until Riley comes up with a plan.' Then, she paused. 'Great, now Flash has me fucking referring to myself in the third-person.'

   "There she is!" one of the men outside shouted. "Ms. Stark, can you explain why you're here at Camp Mirkhaven?"

   Riley flashed them a big smile. "Isn't it obvious? I love cafeteria food," she joked.

   A woman stepped forward. "When we last heard from your colleagues, the Avengers, they said you were taking some time off before the Avengers HQ was rebuilt. Can you confirm?"

   Riley raised an eyebrow. "Well, that's why I'm here, isn't it?" she remarked with a light laugh. "Uh, not that I don't love all of you invading my personal space, but how exactly did you find me?"

   Rather than answering her question, another reporter demanded, "Are the rumors true?"

   Riley sighed. "Are what rumors true?"

   "That you're harboring an alien here at Camp Mirkhaven! Is it true?"

   Riley felt her heart stop in her chest. She thought she was going to pass out when she heard this. The absolute last thing Riley needed was for the public to learn of Roman's resurrection, especially when aliens were everyone's least favorite species right now.

   Riley tilted her head to the side, innocently wondering, "What makes you think that?"

   Another one of the men raised his hand. "A letter was leaked on Facebook this morning stating that you were here, at Camp Mirkhaven," elaborated the journalist. "It also said something along the lines of harboring an alien. The letter was posted by Rose Thompson."

   "Wait, Rose Thompson?" MJ repeated from behind Riley. "Isn't that your mom, Flash?"

   Meanwhile, Ned just muttered under his breath, "Who the fuck still uses Facebook?"

   Riley couldn't see it, but she was pretty sure MJ had just hit Flash hard. "You idiot! Why would you write that in a letter to your mom!?" quietly hissed MJ, ignoring Ned.

   "I didn't think she was actually going to read it!" defended Flash, his voice lowered, as well. "She never does!"

   Riley just laughed again. "I think whoever wrote that must've been mistaken," she admitted, easily constructing a lie. "I wanted to keep my being here a secret, so the only people who knew were the other campers. I think whatever... genius wrote that must've meant that keeping the secret is like harboring an alien. You know, because it was supposed to be a secret."

   Now that her eyes had adjusted to the flashes of light from everyone's cameras, Riley was able to see that the crowd wasn't uncontrollably large. That made her assume that the news of her whereabouts only recently got leaked, which meant that more paparazzi could be joining them soon. Riley had to think fast.

   "But that just opens up more questions: Why did you pick Camp Mirkhaven?"

   "Well—"

   "Could this be an explanation as to why you spent a good year or so in Queens rather than with your colleagues, the Avengers?"

   "Actually, the Avengers were—"

   "Does it have anything to do with Captain Steve Rogers's illegal affiliations with the Winter Soldier prior to the Blip?"

   "First of all, the Blip is a stupid name for a traumatizing universal slaughter, but—"

   "Why did you pick the students of Midtown High School to relax with?"

   Riley felt herself grow more and more annoyed at how she was being interrupted. She needed to do something fast before this situation became out of hand.

   "Alright, alright!" shouted Riley. "Tell you what? You all seem to have a lot of questions, and I can already sense that more are being thought up by the second. So, how about we schedule a press conference where I explain everything?"

   "When!?"

   "Uh..." lingered Riley. "...Tomorrow. I promise that I'll explain everything then. Just come back here, and... we'll see."

   That seemed to be enough for the reporters. In a matter of moments, they all fled the campgrounds to spread the word that the Avengers leader was going to hold a spontaneous press conference tomorrow. Riley could already imagine the headlines: Riley Stark finally tells the world the truth! Valor has been keeping secrets! Blah, blah, blah!

   Once the press was gone, the students of Midtown were able to return to their seats with new conversations filling the atmosphere. Peter rubbed his hand on Riley's upper arm. "You alright?" he tenderly asked, his voice soft.

   Riley nodded, giving him a smile. "Yeah, thanks," she mumbled. "That was just... not what I was expecting. At all."

   She glanced back at Flash, who had been profusely apologizing every chance he got. Of course, Riley didn't have any choice but to forgive him, despite how annoyed she had been initially. After all, what's done is done. There was no changing what happened.

   Riley turned her attention to Peter as he lightly rubbed his thumb over her hand. The others struck up another conversation again, the subject not being of any importance to Riley. Her mind was on overdrive, her thoughts stuck on this stupid press conference.

   Riley didn't like to admit when she was scared because it often threw her off in the middle of missions, but she felt like it was safe to say that she was worried. After all, her "resurrection" hadn't gone well with the public until the Blip was undone. There was no telling what they would think about what Riley had to say tomorrow.

   Whatever went down tomorrow, Riley knew one thing was for certain: the truth was coming out. All of it. Whether she liked it or not.

   Even if it meant throwing someone she cared about under the bus.