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ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING
xviii. MIDNIGHT SURPRISE

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  THE WEEKEND OF THE Academic Decathlon snuck up on the students of Midtown High. Riley's time in high school was flying by. She wasn't sure what exactly she was expecting from this mission, but ending up in Washington D.C. to participate in some nerd competition was certainly not what she was anticipating.

  She was in Washington, standing outside one of the many hotel rooms assigned to her and her classmates. She leaned against the wall, yellow school blazer clad on her body after a long day of studying with the others. The Decathlon was in less than 24 hours and instead of taking it easy before tensions shot skyward in the morning, she was getting yelled at by her so-called legal guardian.

  "Can you stop yelling at me and tell me why you're so upset in the first place? Seriously, I haven't seen you with this much energy since Pepper tried to offer you a Motrin for your hangover," Riley scoffed. 

  "The kid got the smart idea to go after the guy making those weapons that I told you about," Tony explained. "He nearly drowned the other night from the whole thing!"

   "Technically, you didn't tell me about the weapons; Peter did," Riley corrected. "He's a lot smarter than you all think he is. Trust me. Anyway, why are you so worked up?"

  "That's the thing! I know he's smarter than everyone thinks he is," Tony rambled. "I just don't want him to get hurt before he's ready to take on real enemies. He kept going on and on about how you've fought aliens and robots before becoming an adult. He just doesn't realize that you were born into this life. He's too young!"

  Tony was trying not to show he cared too much about Peter, and he was failing miserably. Peter had grown obsessed with some guy with wings and his highly advanced weaponry. Riley didn't know too much about it, only the very few details he mentioned to her in passing, but she figured he could handle it himself.  

   "I literally got my ass handed to me by a God before I was a teenager," Riley pointed out. "But if I can do that and walk away somewhat normally, I'm sure Peter can handle some guy with wings. Either way, he last-minute decided that he wanted to come with the Decathlon team to DC this morning, so I doubt he's planning anything. You don't have anything to worry about, Dad."

   She froze.

  Dad.

   She quickly added, "Okay, I'm gonna go. Bye!"

  "Wait, Riley—"

   With wide eyes, she smashed the red button that would end the call, shoving her phone into her pocket. Riley shook her head. It was just the slip of the tongue, Riley told herself.

   "Hey!" a voice called.

   She glanced up from where she had been staring into space, noticing Liz Allan standing before her. "Hey!" greeted Riley. Her smile faltered when she noticed the senior was in her swimsuit along with some other girls from the team. "Late night swim?"

   "I heard in a TED Talk that a rebellious group activity the day before competition is good for morale," Liz explained. "So go put on your swimsuit! We'll wait here for you."

   Nodding, she returned to her hotel room once again, spotting her roommate, Michelle. Her body was sprawled across the bed, her nose stuck in a book.

   "Put on your swimsuit, MJ," Riley declared as she headed into the bathroom to change into her swimsuit. "We're going to have some fun."

   Without a beat, Michelle responded, "I'm having fun reading this book."

   "You always read," Riley pointed out. "I won't force you to come with us, but it might be fun!"

   "That's what they said about literally every American war."

   Snorting, Riley stepped out of the bathroom with a simple one-piece attached to her body. "I'll be back in a little bit. Then, we're having a movie marathon."

   With a light laugh, Michelle nodded and watched as Riley O'Dair exited the hotel room. Riley had been secretly wishing that Michelle would change her mind and decide to join her, but she understood that the rather antisocial girl wouldn't always want to attend social gatherings. Out of respect for the girl, Riley decided not to push her.

   As she joined the others, she couldn't help but think about Peter once again. He was on her mind a lot, especially these past few days, but this time, it was because she was concerned. She couldn't understand why Peter suddenly wanted to go to D.C with everyone when he had been so keen on wanting to stay. She knew she told Tony that she didn't think he was planning anything, but that was to stop his blood pressure from spiking. In reality, Riley was confused, suspicious.

   What was Peter Parker up to?

   Following behind the others down the hall, Riley observed how her friends ran across the floor in order to sneak toward where the pool was. She found it amusing how they believed the best way to stay stealthy and silent was by running loudly and giggling profusely.

   With a small smile, she continued to walk after them until she noticed that Liz had stayed behind to talk to a hooded figure outside their hotel room. Riley almost didn't realize it was Peter.

   "Besides, we raided the mini bar and these candy bars were, like, $11," Liz said to Peter. "So get your trunks on and come on!" She glanced back to see Riley, causing Liz to wave at her. "Let's go!"

   Laughing, Riley said, "I'm coming, I'm coming!" However, instead of running behind Liz, she kept her pace consistent. She stopped when she got to Peter. Skeptical about whatever Peter was doing, Riley folded her arms over her chest. "What are you up to?"

   "I-I was just gonna go study... in... in the business center," stammered Peter, clearly lying through his teeth.

   "Oh, you mean like how you were gonna use Spider-Man as a party trick, but ended up chasing after some guy with wings?"

   Peter's eyes widened. "How did you... How did you find out about that?"

   "You forget that I'm a secret agent with immense pull everywhere," Riley coolly reminded him. "So where are you going and what excuse should I use if Tony or Happy calls me?"

   Peter was flabbergasted. "W...What? Are you serious? Why do you even care?"

   "Just because I lied about my reasons for being in Queens doesn't mean I was lying about everything else," Riley told him. "Even though you're still mad at me and even though you think I'm a liar and that I don't care for you, I do. You're apart of the village now, and I would do anything for the people in that village." She paused. "Look, you don't have to tell me, but just... be safe. And if you die, I will kill you. Don't think I won't figure out a way to because I will."

   With that being said, Riley turned on her heel and left him to the shadows.

   By the time she arrived at the pool, everyone was diving in and splashing one another. Laughter rumbled between them like small waves. Riley found it endearing to watch. This was such a small moment, something they might forget in a few years, but for now, this was one of the best moments of their lives.

   "Hey, Riley!"

   "Hey!"

   "Took you long enough!"

   Waving at her friends, Riley made her way to the pool. She stuck her feet in, allowing the rest of her body to stay dry. "Aw, come on!" Flash exclaimed. "The water feels great!"

   "I don't think I'm gonna—Hey!" was the last thing Riley said before being pulled into the water. A large splash was formed from the impact, followed by the continually growing laughter of the Academic Decathlon team. "Oh, you guys suck!"

   "Yeah? What are you gonna do about it?" teasingly challenged Cindy Moon.

   Riley paused for a few seconds before initiating a splash-off, in which everyone was essentially just splashing the chlorinated water at one another. The feeling of euphoria that Riley was faced with was strange and foreign. She couldn't remember the last time she had this much fun. She couldn't remember the last time she actually felt like a kid.

   After all, Riley had spent her entire life training as an adult, being an adult, acting like an adult. Riley O'Dair never had time to go swimming with the friends she didn't have or mess around for a few hours. This might have been the first time Riley O'Dair was actually acting her age, and that concept was just entirely foreign to her.

   Once the splash war had died down, Sally wondered, "Hey, what took you so long to get here anyway, Riley?"

   Before she could respond, Liz cut in, "She stayed back to talk to Peter."

   The sound of this caused everyone to teasingly "ooh" at the girl. Riley scoffed, "Aw, come on. What's that supposed to mean?"

   "Don't you 'come on' us!" Charles declared while Abraham added, "Yeah, we know you and Peter have a thing for each other."

   Eyes widening, Riley shouted in question, "What!?" She could feel her cheeks burning up for reasons that were unknown to the girl. "Peter and I are friends!"

   "That's how all the great love stories start," Cindy romantically gushed.

   Riley rolled her eyes. "There's no story," she argued. "Seriously, how long have you all thought this?"

   Liz shrugged, wading back in the water. "A while. We think it's cute."

   That was another thing Riley didn't realize she'd missed out on: crushes, relationships, boys, maybe even girls. Riley had been so focused on saving the world that she didn't have time for crushes—Not to say that she had one, of course! Riley O'Dair did not have time for crushes, especially if that crush was Peter Parker. After all, she was just the babysitter! She was a working woman!

   Riley shook her head. Riley O'Dair did not have a crush on Peter Parker. "You guys are ridiculous," she commented, uncomfortably laughing at them. "I don't have time for crushes."

   "Is that why you've been spending so much time with Parker?" teasingly asked Flash, almost completely ignoring what she had just said.

   "You know, they pretty much have every class together," Sally mentioned. "I think it's cute."

   "Oh my God," mumbled Riley. She glanced up at the clock, seeing as an hour had already passed. "You know what? I'm going to bed. Don't try to gossip too much about me."

   A chorus of shouts followed Riley as she exited the general area where the pool was. With a white towel hanging over her shoulder, she attempted to dry herself off as she headed back to her hotel room. She fingered the room key in her hands, humming to herself calmly despite the fact that her heart was unknowingly racing. Riley couldn't believe that all of her friends thought she and Peter had a thing. It was just so... so... unbelievable!

   Approaching the room, Riley was about to unlock the door when she noticed how a sticky note was attached to the door. She plucked it off and read it carefully:

Went to explore the hotel.
Will be back in an hour or so.
Don't miss me too much. :)
— MJ

   Nodding to herself, she held the sticky note in her free hand and entered the room. She dropped the towel on the nearby dresser and flickered the lights on. She paused upon realizing that although she had flipped the switch to turn on the light, the room was still entirely dark. Trying again, the room remained pitch black.

   "What the...?" trailed off Riley, continuing to flip the switch back and forth. No improvements were made from this. She paused, her intuition going off like an alarm. "Is someone there?"

   With the clap of a pair of hands, the lights flickered on. Standing a few feet away from her was a figure. It appeared as a shadow pressed against the wall, but when she looked around, she was alone. Still, there was another shadow in the room accompanying her own.

   "Who are you and what do you want?" demanded Riley, her voice just a bit louder in hopes of showing her dominancy.

   Without warning, the shadow pulled itself off of the wall. It stood before the girl in the form of a normal human. A strange, dark aura surrounded the person, causing Riley to feel the utmost of confusion.

   "Lower your voice," the figure demanded.

   Then, he took a step forward, allowing the light from the room to illuminate his features. Riley's eyes widened.

   "Oh my God."