❛ We have a shot ❜

Music blasting, fan spinning, shoes tapping, smiles on. I took the straightener to my hair one last time before turning it off and placing it on my bedroom vanity. My fingers ran through my hair lightly before tilting my head and looking over my entire appearance. With a soft smile, I glanced at my watch to see seven-thirty on the two hands. I looked behind me and looked at the window to see Troy kneeling next to it with his award-winning smile on his face.

Troy Lewis.

Technological nerd. Player. Gay best friend. My best friend.

I pranced over to my window and pulled it open to allow Troy in and he smirked after landing softly on the carpet floor. His eyes trailed down my body to take in my outfit and I posed heroically. "Cute, right?"

He playfully rolled his eyes, "Yeah, the black slacks and equally black tank top tucked in is quite a look."

I huffed, "I didn't have much to work with. What with this blazer taking up the majority of my outfit plans."

Troy laughed and walked in front of my mirror while brushing his own hair back with the pick he keeps in his back pocket. "I think I made it work."

I placed a hand on his shoulder and forcefully turned him to face me while skimming my eyes down his torso and his legs. "You're literally wearing the same thing as me."

Troy looked offended as we grabbed our backpacks and shuffled into the kitchen where the amazing smell of bacon and scrambled eggs filled the air. "This is a polo. You're in a tank top." I chuckled and ignored him before approaching my father who was sipping his morning coffee while reading the newspaper and gave him a peck on his cheek. He's very domestic.

"Morning, daddy," I smiled after giving him his kiss and grabbed two plates from the cabinet for Troy and I. "Morning, baby," he said back while placing the paper down on the counter. "Mornin', Mr. Grey," Troy welcomed once I handed him his plate. "It's Bryson, Troy. You know that," Dad smiled. Troy nodded and glanced to me for support but I gave him a reprimanded look as he did this every morning.

Troy and I sat down at the counter and began to eat our eggs while Carson was off getting her clothes on for her big day at kindergarten. "Anything good in the paper this morning?" Troy wondered. Dad shook his head and sipped his coffee, "Nothing better than yesterday."

Troy grimaced, "It'll get better, Bryson."

"Once the Vulture leaves our daily news, yeah, it probably will," I chimed in. "You're right," Dad agreed with a nod, "Smart girl. Vigilantes and superheroes, it's gotta' end."

"I doubt that will ever happen," Troy sighed. Before I could respond, Carson's voice was welcomed into the kitchen and I saw her prance into view. "The Avengers have gone away since the Sokovia Accords led them to an ultimatum. I think Spider-Man is our only vig-itanley now," she said all confident. I laughed, "It's vigilante, babe. But you're close."

"Vigitanely! I said that!" she whined. Carson crossed her arms over her chest and huffed but her mini pity party was cut short by Dad standing up and tickling her sides. She giggled loudly and Dad kissed her on the forehead before holding her elbows and kneeling down to her height. He flattened down her hair with his hands and smoothed out her leggings before nodding proudly, "You're beautiful. Great outfit today."

Car's face lit up, "Really? Even the jacket?" she asked while pulling at her My Little Pony zip-up. Dad grinned and ran his hand over Rainbow Dash's mane on the jacket, "Especially the jacket, pumpkin."

"It's really cool," Troy added while placing his empty plate in the sink. "I wish I had one. Maybe with Rarity though."

Carson giggled, "That would be silly."

"I want one with Pinky Pie!" I called out to attract my sister's attention. She smiled at me, "We could all be different ponies!"

Dad laughed and walked out of the kitchen to grab Carie's backpack from the rack by the door. "Who would you be, Daddy?" Carson asked as he slid her backpack over her shoulders. "Uh, Applejack. She's super strong," he replied.

I smiled at my father and slid off my own chair to place my dish in the sink alongside Troy's. "We got to go, Carie. Don't want to be late."

She jumped up and down happily, "It's treasure box day!"

"You have treasure box on Wednesday?" Troy asked while tugging his backpack on and reaching down to grab Carie's left hand. "Yeah, the teacher lets us have extra playground time on Friday's because we're so good."

I admired my sister's happiness while slinging my own backpack on my shoulders and tugging my hair out of the straps. "Where are your blazers?" Dad asked as Carie gave him a big hug and I gave him a kiss. "Teacher asked us to leave them in school so she could put our pins on them," Troy answered.

I grabbed Carie's other hand and Dad walked us to the door. "Be careful," he said. I nodded, "We will."

"Pax," he repeated as he tugged my arm back. I let go of Carie's hand and motioned for Troy to take Carie downstairs and that I would be there momentarily. "Look both ways," he told me sternly as he brought both of his hands to my face and pulled me close to him. "I always do, dad," I said with a small smile. "What is this about?"

"I need you to be careful."

"I always am, Dad."

"Pax, with everything going on today, with the Vulture, and Spider-Man, and the Avengers, this time I need you to promise me you'll be careful."

I sighed, "I promise, Daddy."

Dad pressed a kiss to my forehead before pulling me into his arms. I hugged him tightly and lifted onto my tiptoes to kiss the top of his head and ruffle his hair. "Carie's waiting for me, Dad. You'll pick her up today?"

He nodded. "Good luck at Conference. You're gonna' rock it."

I giggled, "When you believe that I bet I will."

•••

After dropping Carie off at Midtown Elementary, Troy and I made our way to the high school. I for one was freezing. With it being October and me in a tank top, New York was becoming slightly cold. Granted, I probably should have worn a jacket before leaving the house but I knew I would just have one more thing to store in my locker.

"You think they put our blazers in our lockers?" Troy asked while adjusting his backpack straps. I shrugged and sighed in relief once we entered the warm two-hundred hall. "I hope so."

We walked through the halls, probably looking like spies in our all black, but it kind of felt cool. We headed first for our lockers to grab our research folders and other items for the conference and standing at the lockers right next to us were none other than Peter Parker and Ned Leeds.

"Hey, nerds," Troy welcomed while opening his locker and smiling at the two boys. I laughed lightly at his comment and opened my own locker that bordered Peter's. "Fellow nerds," Peter corrected with a gesture to Troy and I. I smirked and nudged Troy with my elbow, "He's got us."

"You're the nerds of the school," Ned added. "Took our title away from us."

I shrugged and grabbed my blazer that, as Troy had predicted had been returned to our lockers, and slid it on while immediately feeling added warmth. I then closed my locker since I was now done with it. "Damn straight."

Peter laughed, "You going to bring home a win for Midtown today at Conference?"

Troy seemed confident, "Hell yeah."

He closed his locker as well as I had and we both lifted our bags on our shoulders, "Kick ass - " I cut Ned off with a grin, " - The Midtown way."

I gave Ned a high five and a fist bump to Peter before walking away with Troy next to me. However, I turned around and walked backward for a step while looking at the duo still at the lockers, "Hey," I called out to grab their attention. "We're gold for engineering. We don't compare in your hacking skills. You've so got us beat."

Our time at school was short and soon Troy and I were on a train on our way to Conference in Manhattan. We made it to regionals last year and became the first two freshman students to compete in regionals. The other study consisted of a senior duo. Unfortunately, we were unable to move on to State that year but we've learned from our mistakes. Another thing we also learned was that we are not going to split up. I am more skilled with the inventions and the building aspect while Troy is better at the coding and software. Together we make an unstoppable team.

Once we arrived at Conference, we saw dozens of students in the lobby alone wearing different colored blazers and ties that coordinated to different schools in the area. However, we were the only ones sporting yellow.

"Think we have a shot?" Troy asked as he came up behind me with his backpack secured on his shoulders since it contained our study. I hummed, "Wouldn't be here if we didn't. Find our station?"

He nodded and handed me a pamphlet with all exhibits listed. I opened it and scanned for our names until I finally found them in the second row. We would be eighth to last to be judged. "I'll set up the simulation. You got the trifold?"

He pointed to Conference Room A, "Ms. Warren made sure of it herself."

I sighed and allowed Troy to lead me into the room where I was immediately overwhelmed. Our trifold presentation contained our trial details and schematics but the laptop contained our simulation. Conference does not require a live trial with a student's study unless they pass on to State Conference. All we needed was to be prepared.

As I looked over the placement of the laptop and the trifold, I glanced over at Troy and noticed him on his phone. "Hey!" I complained before snatching his phone. He instantly tried to grab it and hopped up and down to try and snatch it from me but I stood on my tiptoes and held it high above my head. "Dude, you're supposed to be helping!"

"I was looking at something!"

I narrowed my eyes at him and lowered the phone so I could examine it but he tried to snatch it from me once more. I lunged away from him and could have kept going if not for the very professional woman in a pantsuit glancing at us from afar. I nervously laughed and waved at her but she walked away before I got any recognition.

Turning around, I slapped Troy hard and he winced. "Better hope she doesn't deduct any points," I hissed while shoving the phone in his hand. He rolled his eyes, "Just watch."

I huffed and leaned back on the table so I could comfortably watch whatever video Troy wanted to show me. He pressed play and we observed a vigilante in red and blue fly over the New York skyline. It was amazing. His grip. His web-shooters. His velocity.

"I know I'm supposed to hate this guy but man I would love to see those schematics," I said in pure wonderment. "Spider-Man getting you all hot and bothered?" he joked. I glared at him, "Don't be ridiculous," I reprimanded. "His gear is getting me all hot and bothered."

Troy laughed and powered off his phone, "You're such a nerd."