⁺˚*･༓☾　　☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

06|Washington, Bonita!
⁺˚*･༓☾　　☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

With a small suitcase that Luciana had packed two days beforehand, the girl sat in Graciela's silver car that Daniela had borrowed without asking for the day. The woman parked in the parking lot of the school and the two passengers got out. As Luciana heaved her backpack onto her back, Daniela grabbed the small red suitcase with a buttercup print. "Don't forget this." Daniela handed her adoptive daughter the yellow blazer of the team. Luciana dropped her backpack and peeled her green flannel off before shrugging on her blazer and returning her backpack to where it belonged. "Text me when you get there okay?"

"Of course Dani. Adios." Luciana hugged the woman before Luciana walked towards her teammates and friends. Daniela watched the teen go and nodded to herself before getting into the car and pulling out of her parking spot, narrowly missing a cement block.

"Luci!" Cindy called as she saw the girl approach.

"Hey, Cindy." Luciana smiled at the girl as her hands held onto the straps of her backpack. Her gaze drifted towards Michelle who stood a small distance from the rest of the group. "Good morning." Luciana smiled as she approached her friend, who briefly looked up from her book before returning to her reading. The action seemed cold, but anyone who actually knew MJ knew that it meant a lot if she briefly looked up from her book. Luciana leaned her back against the yellow bus and took out her phone to check the time. It turned out they only had a few minutes left before they were supposed to go, if Peter wanted to rejoin the team he'd have to hurry up.

Flash stood with the rest of the team, showing off his blazer and going on and on about how it suited him well. Time ticked on and Luciana pulled her phone out of her back pocket and checked the time. Peter was running late, and Ned had also noticed as the two continued to share worried glances.

"Are you okay? You look terrible," MJ asked from next to Luciana, eyes still fixated on her book.

Luciana looked up at her friend and gulped. "Yeah... yeah, I'm okay, just tired." The girl smiled in an attempt to sell the lie. MJ just nodded slowly and stared at the side of Luciana's head as the shorter girl.

"Hey, it's Peter," Abe called out, enthusiasm rippling through his voice. Immediately, Ned, MJ and Luciana's heads snapped towards the brunet who walked up to the team huddled by the bus.

"Guys." Peter smiled a little, his hands held his backpack straps tightly while his eyes looked for his friends. Luciana raised her hand and waved a little at him, but unfortunately, Peter turned to look at Liz, having missed his new vigilante friend.

"Peter?" Said boy blushed a bit as Liz frowned at him.

"Yeah, I was hoping maybe I could rejoin the team."

Flash ceased taking his selfies to march up to Peter. "No, no way. You can't just quit on us, stroll up, and be welcomed back by everyone." The boy glared at Peter.

On cue, Mr Harrington hopped out of the bus with his phone in hand. "Yeah, I was just calling my cousin's wife Scar-" The teacher noticed Peter and smiled as he saw him. "Hey, welcome back, Peter. Flash, you're back to first alternate."

Flash's eyes widened to the point where they were bigger than golf balls. "What?" White hot fury started to simmer in the boy's veins.

Abe smiled brightly. "He's taking your place." He laughed as the others, including Luciana, joined in as Flash angrily took off the yellow jacket. The boy then whipped his head to the side to glare at Luciana, who mouthed an apology.

MJ finally looked up from her book and walked towards Mr Harrington, using her middle finger to remember the page in her book. "Excuse me, can we go already? 'Cause I was hoping to get in some light protesting in front of one of the embassies before dinner, so..." She looked at the teacher who smiled even brighter as he clapped his hands.

"Protesting is patriotic. Let's get on the bus." Flash suddenly thrust the blazer into Peter's arms.

One by one the students piled into the school bus. Luciana sat behind Peter on the bus with MJ next to her, MJ had started to snore softly against the window, seeing as MJ had stayed up all night listening to some murder podcast, she wanted to nap in the bus before arriving at the hotel.

The ride was going smoothly, bells had been passed around to the members willing to participate and Liz had started to drill all of them "Focus up, everyone. Our next topic is the moons of Saturn." Answers were called quickly.

"The second law of thermodynamics."

"Frank Sinatra."

"What is the lightest naturally occurring element?"

"Fort Sumter."

To which Abe had grinned "Flash is wrong."

"Okay, guys, let's focus. Next one." Liz called as Flash glared at Abe.

"Liz, don't overwork them." Mr Harrington called out before returning to his phone call "Yes, I will celebrate Christmas with the rest of the family Steve."

"Uh, strontium, barium, vibranium," Peter answered as he twiddled his thumbs.

Liz smiled fondly at Peter. "Very good, Peter. Glad to have you back."

Blood rushed to Peter's face and neck and the boy grew bright red to match the suit in his backpack. "Glad to be back."

Luciana smiled at her friend, she was glad to have him back. Her hand reached out and ruffled his hair like she used to do when they were kids, which caused the reaction that Luciana had anticipated. Peter always swatted her hands away, he frowned at her and Luciana only chuckled in return.

The brunet stopped as his phone vibrated. He took it out to see that Happy was calling him. He looked at Luciana before standing up. "What is the current standard unit of radioa-" Peter quickly interrupted Liz.

"Can I take this real quick? I'll only be a sec."

"Yeah, fine." Peter walked down the narrow path to the back of the bus, which was empty, meanwhile, Liz called the attention back to her. "Okay, focus up, everyone," Luciana, who held on to both her and Peter's bell, listened to the elder girl. "What is the current standard unit of radioactivity?"

Luciana dropped Peter's bell and rang hers. "Becquerel."

Liz nodded at the girl, just as Peter returned to his seat. "So Hap-Au!" Peter jumped up abruptly as he sat down on the metal bel, causing everyone to look at Peter in question and MJ to wake up as Luciana slapped her hand over her mouth to contain her giggles. "Sorry." Peter apologised sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck as he sat down again and looked at his former best friend who shrugged, her hair still moving with her chuckling as she apologised before he explained to her and Ned what the phone call was about.

◎ ◉ ◎

A few hours later, the bus approached the hotel where they'd be staying. There was a banner that read 'United States Academic Decathlon'. Luciana took out her phone as her chest filled with pride and quickly took a picture before posting it to her story, as well as sending it to Clint, Natasha and her group chat with Graciela and Daniela.

The students arrived at the check-in area, following Mr Harrington like a mother duck. Most of the lobby was decorated with Academic Decathlon posters, leaflets and what seemed to be information tables. The students and teacher looked around in awe as they walked in. Liz, being the true-born leader she was, walked upfront, turning around from time to time to make sure that everybody stuck together. "Everyone stick together."

Mr Harrington, who had completely forgotten about the teenagers under his responsibility called a weak. "Yeah." In agreement, even though he probably hadn't heard what Liz had said.

"You kidding me? This place is huge." Cindy gushed as she looked at the ceiling.

"I've seen bigger." Flash smirked smugly and Luciana rolled her eyes at him. "I have! I called you from my hotel in Paris remember?"

Luciana didn't answer and just walked to the front to receive her room key, before leaving she and MJ had agreed to share a room together. With the two hotel keycards in hand, Luciana moved to the back of the line and waited for everyone to receive their keys.

Once everyone was paired up and divided over the rooms, Liz shepherded the group to the hallway where all of their rooms were. Poor Abe and Flash ended up sharing a room much to their chagrin.

◎ ◉ ◎

MJ left with Nancy to go protest whilst Luciana freshened up before dinner, which passed mostly uneventfully. Flash had cried on about how Abe was a difficult roommate, but the boy in question only laughed at Flash's complaints.

Luciana headed back to her room alone as MJ was still out exploring the hotel and trying to find the best snack vending machine. The girl grabbed her phone and headed for her door, intending to sneak into Peter and Ned's room to discuss their plan of action concerning their villains.

Just as the girl was about to leave, there was a loud knock on the door, startling Luciana. "Hey?" She frowned as she saw Flash, Abe and Cindy in their swimwear.

"Luci get your swimsuit." Instructed Flash as he leaned against the doorway and she frowned, opening her mouth to ask a question.

"Hurry up losers!" Gareth hollered as he sprinted past, a few others running behind them, Liz was amongst them.

"Come on." Cindy urged, pushing Luciana into the hotel room as she Flash and Abe entered.

Luciana quickly retrieved her swimsuit before walking into the room's bathroom and changing into her blue swimsuit before she wrapped a towel around her waist.

"Come on slowpoke." Cindy groaned as she grabbed the Latina girl while Abe opened the door and ran in the direction of the pool with Cindy and Luciana running behind him. Flash hot on their heels.

Once they arrived at the pool, Flash dove for the minibar which he pried open. "Catch." Flash threw a Snickers at Cindy who quickly opened the candy and tossed the wrapper away.

Luciana draped her towel on a stool before she grabbed a Twix that Flash held out to her.

Abe laughed "Cannonball!" He launched himself into the water as Liz shrieked before laughing. Water splashed everywhere, making nearly all the present students wet.

"Don't do that, I have to keep my hair neat so it looks good tomorrow!" Flash whined, only to have Cindy throw a beachball at his head, making the boy nearly topple backwards into the pool. Luciana laughed before she slowly walked into the pool, her glasses on her face so she could still see what was going on.

Flash quickly swam towards Luciana, his held high above the water. "You're overthinking," Flash commented from beside Luciana. "Shouldn't do that when we have to shine tomorrow," He threw an arm around Luciana's shoulders and tapped her forehead. "Stop overthinking," He ordered.

A laugh bubbled out of Luciana's chest. "Okay, okay, okay," She said.

◎ ◉ ◎

The next morning arrived and Luciana put on a neat black skirt and thin green sweater with Converse on her feet. Gathered in the lobby, the team soon noticed that Peter was nowhere to be found. Mr Harrington repeatedly checked his watch with a half-worried, half-tired expression on his face. "You're telling me you don't know where he went, Ned?" He questioned the teenager, who shook his head at the teacher.

"No, he just disappeared. Gone in the wind." Ned answered nervously, he glanced at Luciana who raised a brow at him.

"Leave it to Penis Parker to come back in, only to abandon us again," Flash commented  as he examines his nails. "It's fine, I'll step in for him. Again." Luciana elbowed him and he spread his arms out at her. "What? He literally ditched us. It's not mean if it's a fact."

Most of the team groaned as Mr Harrington threw the spare team blazer to the boy, only for the blazer to fall on the ground and Flash groaned as he crouched down to collect the jacket before shrugging it on. Liz sighed in disappointment as Luciana turned and walked up to Ned.

"Where is Peter?" Luciana pushed her glasses up with her thumb as she looked at him. He seemed to get a sudden interest in Luciana's red Converse.

"I don't know where Peter is, if I did I'd tell you."

Luciana tucked a wavy piece of hair behind her ear. "I'm not that stupid. I know Peter, a few years ago when I was in your position I know that I would know where he was."

Ned continued to avoid the girl's gaze before he took a deep breath. "He followed the guys last night." Luciana's eyes widened as she opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted.

Mr Harrington spoke up "Let's go! I can't lose any more students." He seemed on the edge of an existential crisis.

By the time that the bus reached the auditorium where the Academic Decathlon was being held, Liz had asked so many questions that Luciana had started to wonder how she could melt through the ground and disappear. The very cells in Luciana's body wanted to don her black suit and go find Peter wherever he was, but she couldn't leave her team hanging, she wouldn't.

The kids from Midtown stood in line to check in and Cindy stood in front of Luciana as MJ stood behind her.

"Liz, please tell me you have kept tabs on the competition." Cindy pleaded as she threaded her hands through her pin-straight hair. Everywhere around them small groups of students were gathered, chatting amongst themselves.

"Yeah, I have, they're pretty good, but we should be able to beat them. Our practices have gone smoothly so I'm sure we'll do great."

Luciana took a shaky breath as she nodded, she pulled at the white collar of her sweater.

"Any sign Peter?" Mr Harrington questioned as he anxiously stood on his toes to look over the relatively small group of teens.

"He probably realised that we don't need him." Flash smirked arrogantly.

MJ rolled her eyes. "Zip it, Flash," MJ grumbled as she flicked over the page of her book, causing Luciana to wonder how her friend could be so calm, but not without a tick of annoyance. Peter had lied straight to her face last night. Something was going on and Ned appeared to have the answers, alas he wasn't keen on sharing it with Luciana. Not wanting to interrogate Ned right before the competition for both their sakes, Luciana remained silent and made a note to ask Ned afterwards what exactly was going on. Luciana's phone buzzed just as MJ's did, resulting in both girls opening their phones.

Chaotic Queers

Rory:
Good luck you little shits!

Luci:
Thanks! I'll text you after 🙋🏻‍♀️

MJ:
Thanks. Laters

Luciana turned off her phone before handing it to the woman sitting at a table to her right. Her eyes widened as she watched how the woman dropped the phone in a bin without much care. It were moments like those, that made Luciana wish that she had a tinge of Rory's confidence. Not too much. Rory would probably have threatened the woman with her pocketknife, just as she had when the school's star footballer Eddie had pushed Luciana over and called her a nerd. The incident resulted in Rory being suspended for two days. When Luciana had told the girl, who hadn't been her friend at the time, that she didn't have to do that, Rory shrugged and said "Losers stick together and punch brainless idiots in the face."

The Latina shook her head and stepped away from the phone desk and headed backstage with her friends.

◎ ◉ ◎

The competition was tiering, each time that Luciana was off stage she would take large gulps of water, tie her hair in a messy bun and push her long sleeves up towards her elbows after she took off her blazer. The whole event was exhausting but also very exciting and Luciana could proudly say that she managed to answer a few questions herself. When it was time for the final question, Luciana's ears stopped working and she stared at her crossed hands in her lap, she hoped that someone would answer the question and would make them win.

"Zero." Luciana's head whipped around to look at MJ, anxiety bubbling in her stomach as she hoped and prayed that MJ had answered correctly.

"That is correct," The lady who was asking the questions said.

As though the woman's words had been a starting signal for a race, the team members flung themselves at the tall girl in their midst, Luciana was among them. MJ blushed at the sudden attention.

After they received their trophy, which Flash had hogged, Mr Harrington embraced them saying that he was happy they hadn't died during the event, which had resulted in frowns from the teenagers. Soon they retrieved their phones, and they started texting and calling friends and family to share the information about the win.

Since they were in Washington, Mr Harrington had said they'd make a stop at the Washington Monument before heading back home. While walking through the crowded streets, Luciana gave her bag to MJ for a moment as she took off her blazer and tied it around her waist before she pushed her long sleeves up to her elbows. Luciana retrieved her bag and shrugged it onto her damp backpack just as the group arrived at their destination.

"I'll wait outside," MJ said as she walked off to sit on a bench.

"We won! Ha ha, suckers." Flash cheered as he held their trophy above his head. "Told you we didn't need Peter!" He pranced around the group.

"Flash, you didn't answer a single question." Ned pointed out but was simply ignored by Flash.

Flash grinned at Luciana. "We won, Luci. We won."

The girl in question laughed at him. "Yeah, we did." She squeezed his shoulder.

The group made their way through the metal detectors one by one and as Luciana put her bag into a container, her phone rang. Peter's contact name flashed across the screen and Luciana quickly answered. "Where are you, Peter?! I was freaking wo-"

"Ciana!" Peter screamed, sounding oddly relieved that she had answered. "Pass me to Ned!"

Luciana glanced at Ned who was on the other side of the metal detectors. "He's already on the other side of the detectors." She replied. "I can't get to him right now."

"Tell him that-" Peter's voice cut off as Luciana's phone died.

The girl pushed away her worries and passed through security. The guide of the team spat out some interesting facts about the monument, but her flat tone caused everyone to tune out.

Once they were all huddled in one elevator, Flash decided that he needed to open his mouth again. "Hey, Mr Harrington, can I be the one to tell Peter he's expelled?" Flash asked as he turned to the bearded man, causing Luciana and Ned to share a concerned look, Mr Harrington in the meantime sighted tiredly at Flash.

"The Washington Monument is five hundred and fifty-five feet and five one-eighth inches tall," The female guide  in the elevator sounded as if she had died and was then giving a speech. "Notice how the marble and granite are cut around the stone—"

Out of nowhere blue light emitted  from Ned's backpack and beamed upward and cut a hole through the roof. The elevator jolted as it came to a sudden stop. It shook so hard that Luciana fell into Abe's arms, who caught her as they backed away from the backpack that was thrown into the middle of the elevator.

"Oh my God, look at the ceiling."

Luciana peeked over her glasses and saw the monstrous hole in the ceiling. "Just stay calm everyone." Liz's voice shook

"We are all going to die here," Abe commented. "We're fricken screwed!"

Instinctively, Flash moved closer to Luciana and he grabbed her hand behind his back so the others wouldn't see.

"Okay, guys," The guide spoke in the same voice. "I know that was scary, but our safety systems are working. We're very safe in here." She reached up and opened the tiny door in the elevator's ceiling before Mr Harrington boosted the woman through, then Cindy, Abe and a few others before Flash surged forward, pulling Luciana with him.

"Me! Me next!" Flash shoved his foot into Mr Harrington's locked fingers.

"Flash!" Liz protested as he shoved the trophy up, causing the structure to groan. "Don't worry about the trophy!"

"Leave it!" Luciana called up to no avail.

The security guards at the top lifted Flash and the trophy up before the elevator dropped again and Mr Harrington's fingers wrapped around Luciana's upper arm to keep her from toppling over. Luckily the elevator stopped before Peter as Spider-Man fell into the elevator, causing it to start falling again before Peter shot a web which halted their fall.

"Hi?" Mr Harrington greeted the hero.

"Hey, hey, how ya doin'? Don't worry about it, I got you," Peter spoke in a thick New Yorker accent. Luciana sighed in relief as she locked eyes with Peter.

"Yes!" Ned called as he threw his arms out in glee, causing the elevator to creak.

"Hey! Big guy, quit movin' around!" Peter called.

"Sorry sir."

Peter heaved them up a bit, his feet on the ceiling. "Alright, this is your stop!" Peter announced "Big guy, you go first."

Ned walked out, followed closely by Mr Harrington who was closer to the door than the two girls. Liz and Luciana nodded at each other before they slowly inched towards the door, they clutched each other tightly. They were close, only a few more steps and Liz would be clear. Then the unimaginable happened and the ceiling under Spider-Man's feet broke off and the elevator dropped completely.

"Spider-Man!" Everyone, even Flash gasped.

Luckily, a web caught Liz's outstretched hand while Luciana held onto Liz's other hand and leg to not fall down. The two girls hyperventilated and Luciana buried her head into Liz's side so she would not look down at the nothingness underneath her. "Okay, glasses girl hold on," Peter looked at Liz and pulled her up further until their hands were clasped together. Slowly Peter swung the two girls nearer to the opening. "Grab her," Peter ordered.

Without hesitation, Flash put down his trophy and edged closer to the opening in the wall. Abe and Ned grabbed Flash's waist to keep him from toppling in. "Give me your hand," Flash urged as he extended a hand into the elevator shaft.

Luciana grabbed Flash's hands with her free hand and planted her feet on the edge of the floor. With a deep breath, Luciana let go of Liz's hand and quickly reached out to grab a guard's hand with her other hand. Together, Flash ad the guard pulled Luciana to safety and the girl wrapped her arms around Flash and let out a shaky breath and buried her head into Flash's shoulder.

Getting Liz to safety was a lot easier than Luciana and within a few seconds, the older girl was also on safe ground.

"So, uh, is everyone okay?" Peter questioned as he looked at the group, multiple members nodding their heads in a daze as Liz held on to Luciana tightly, who hadn't let go of Flash completely. Out of nowhere Peter plummeted down the elevator shaft and Luciana almost screamed Peter, but luckily her mouth didn't form a name.

"Thank you," Mr Harrington called after the teenage superhero while sticking his head in the elevator shaft.

Flash let go of Luciana and jumped forward to belt at the top of his lungs. "ARE YOU REALLY FRIENDS WITH PETER PARKER?" With no response, the boy turned around angrily and picked up the trophy with an annoyed gruff.

"Is everyone okay?" Mr Harrington questioned.

a/n:
and there we go. i love this section of the movie because it's just so funny lmao.
i love luciana's friendships and i wished i could make her happy without worry lol.
be sure to let me know your thoughts and to vote and comment! it really means a lot.

funny post

date published:23 july 2023
word count:4124