Chapter 19: Change of plans
"Reach for my hand
'Cause it's held out for you
My shoulders are strong
But you can cry on them too"
- Lemonade Mouth

Ember Snow spent her whole life trying to accept the fact that she was different. The fact that even her own mother couldn't bare to be near her hurt the young girl. But.she kept going, she had other people there for her, trying to help her and accepting her no matter what. She had a family.

She found a woman whom she told everything, someone who saw her powers as something beautiful not dangerous. She found a man who trained her, someone who helped her love her abilities instead of fearing them. And she found a boy, someone who made her feel normal and happy. Now, she didn't have any of them, she had the memory of the woman who stood by her side until her very last breath,  the memory of the man who was forced to run after he went against the government, and the boy was just another person who wouldn't accept her and unlike the other two people on her list he wasn't forced to leave her but he chose to do so.

That boy wasn't worth her time, he wasn't worth her tears. She had cried for Anastasia Snow, and she had cried for Steve Rogers but now she refused to cry for Peter Parker.

After Ember arrived home, she sent a quick text letting her father know there was ni need for him to go pick her up at the Parker's residence. The blonde walked straight to her room, ignoring Angela's questioning from the kitchen. Once the teenage girl was finally alone in the comfort of her room, she broke.

She refused to cry but that didn't mean she could control her frustration, she began throwing all the papers on her desk, clenching her fists trying to control the tears that threatened to flow. But even if she tried her hardest, she wasn't able to contain one single tear that fell down her cheek,  that tear wasn't for Peter Parker. It was for the hope she felt when she was near him, for that sense of normality she got when they talked, both things that just crumbled into nothing the moment she walked out of his room.

"Ember is everything, alright?" Angela knocked on the teenagers door, after hearing a crash. Ember wasn't supposed to be there yet, Carter told Angela he was picking the teenager from "freaking Parker's" house. Still, the teenager walked into the apartment, while Carter still had about half an hour of work, looking like she was ready to freeze someone.

Cleaning the lonely tear off her cheek just as soon as it fell, the blonde was quick to reassure her stepmother. "Its alright Ange, I just tripped"

Even standing behind the closed door Angela could tell the blonde teenager was lying, but she decided not to push it. She knew Ember would talk when she was ready. "I was about to make some hot chocolate, would you like some?"

"Actually, I have a lot homework but thanks" At her answer Angela frowned, Ember wasn't one to turn down a cup of hot chocolate, not even for homework. Whatever happened with Peter really upset the blonde and Angela wished there was some way she could help.

❅
The next morning it was almost like nothing happened, or at least thats what Ember wanted. She smiled at her family as she walked to the kitchen counter to grab a cup of coffee, ignoring the questioning glances from the two adults in the room.

"So, " Carter began, watching his daughter grow tense as she knew there was no avoiding the subject "care to explain what happened at Parker's house"

"Theres nothing to explain" the blonde shrugged it off, sitting next to Angela and grabbing some of the bacon at the center of the table.

"Oh really?" Carter asked watching the blonde teenager eating and avoiding his eyes. Ember was never a great liar, it was easy to tell when she lied to him, even if he wasn't her father he was certain he would still be able to tell. Like everyone else the blonde teenager had quite a few tells, avoiding eye contact being one of them. "Then Mrs. Parker calling me to tell me you fainted in her couch due to  a bleeding head was just a joke?"

"I never fainted" Ember muttered.

"Wait so you did hit your head?" Angela asked, joining the conversation "How did that happen?"

"Nothing" Ember said, not wanting to remember how embarrassing it was that she tripped while trying to escape talking to her former friend. Unfortunetly for her, the glares her parents gave her made it clear they weren't about to let it go. "I fell down the stairs okay?"

After those words escaped her mouth, Carter Snow's booming laugh filled the room, not caring about how embarrasing it was for the teenager. "Oh thats great!"

"Carter!" Angela complained, softly hitting his chest, although she didn't bother to hide the smile that formed on her lips.

"Im sorry, its just for a moment I was afraid the boy had something to do with it but her falling down the stairs is such an Ember thing."  Carter managed to explain between laughs.

"Its not funny dad!"

"It kinda is Ember" Angela chuckled, making her husband laugh even harder and the blonde turn to glare at her.

"Maybe I should just wait for Michelle outside"

"No, no. We're sorry, princesa" Angela said more seriously, gently placing her hand over her arm to stop her from leaving.

"Fine"  the girl groaned, sitting down again to finish her breakfast.

"That doesn't explain we you didn't wait for your dad to come pick you up. Did something happen with you and Peter?" Angela asked softly, her big kind eyes piercing right through the blondes green ones.

"We aren't friends anymore, I guess" Ember said turning to look down at her plate with sad eyes. Missing the intrigued look the couple shared, they weren't sure how to respond to that.

"And why would you think that sweetheart?" Carter asked, concerned. Maybe he wasn't too fond of Peter Parker, but he knew he mattered to his daughter and she didn't want Ember to be upset.

"Is that bacon?" A voice said from the door before the blonde had a chance to respond. Ember sent Michelle a thankful smile as the brunette made her way to the kitchen. Even if Michelle wasn't aware of the big favor she just did for her.

"You can have mine" Ember said, handing her what remained on her plate.

"Oh don't be ridiculous!" Angela exclaimed, standing up to reach for a plate for the tall brunette and filling it with some eggs and bacon. "There's plenty for everyone. Take a sit Michelle" the short woman smiled and placed the plate in the empty sit next to Ember.

"That's why you are my favorite Snow, Angie" Michelle sent the woman a bright smile before shoving the food into her mouth, completely ignoring the offended protests that came from the other two Snow's.

❅

That morning school was boring, as usual. Teachers asked various questions to random students who clearly didn't want to participate and they acted surprised and disappointed when they answered incorrectly. Midtown High may be a school for the brightest but that didn't mean some people never had a hard time with certain subjects, or that all they ever had on their mind had to do with school.

Apparently another thing the school had was vanishing best friends. For the second day on a row Ember was all by herself in the cafeteria, Michelle rushing after class to god knows where.

"Hey Ned" Ember greeted the boy, once she spotted him in the crowd.

"Hi" Ned smiled at the short blonde and the two began making their way towards an empty table.

"I guess this is going to become a regular thing" Ember commented on the fact that the two were alone, no signs of their respective best friends.

"I think so" Ned shrugged, watching the blonde take a big bite of her apple. The two said nothing for a couple seconds, just enjoying their food, until Ned finally decided to start a conversation. "Do you know if Michelle is coming to the dance with the team?"

"I didnt even know there was a group date"
Ember frowned at the question, this being the first time she heard anything about Michelle actually attending the dance. Which kinda sucked because the blonde was now planning on bailing and was hoping to spend the night with her best friend, but she just smiled it off.

"Well, since you already have Peter, we didnt ask" Ned said casually, the smile falling from the blondes face. "Speaking of Peter" Ned teased, nudging the girl a little, not realizing that was a sensitive subject "I know he asked May to take him shopping for one of those flower things that girls wear to the dance"

"A corsage" Ember said bitterly, trying to appear unfazed by the information.

"Yeah, May says he was very picky, wanted everything to be perfect" Apparently, Ned had no idea about the recent fight between the two teenagers and she couldn't blame him for thinking she would be happy by his comment. In fact if he had told her this a day before, the blonde would be over the moon over the whole conversation.

"Liz is a lucky lady" Ember said annoyed.

"Liz?"

"Im not going with Peter anymore" Ember explained like it was nothing, even if those words hurt a bit she wasn't about to show it

"What?" Ned gapped at the news, surely he heard wrong. He was just talking to Aunt May this morning and Peter never mentioned anything about it.

"Uh, I gues he didn't like me the way I thought  he did" Ember muttered, hoping Ned wouldn't notice how sad she was. Unfortuntly, the look he was giving her made it clear she wasn't doing a very good job. "But its fine, i guess now hes going with a girl he really likes, a great girl" she added, putting on a fake smile.

"He was already going with a great girl he really likes" Ned said, confused ad to why the girl would think otherwise. Peter liked Ember that was a fact, wasn't it? He is his best friend, surely Peter would tell him if something happened with the blonde, right? Or perhaps not, by the looks of it Ember was sure that she wasn't going to the dance with Peter anymore and the way she dropped her eyes at the mention of Peter it seemed like the two had some kind of falling out in the last twenty four hours.
"I could talk to him if-"

"No,no." Ember cut the boy off. While Ned was offering a nice gesture, the girl didnt want the sweet boy to get between her fight with Peter. "Its fine, dances arent even my thing anyway. Now I get to stay home and binge watch Friends or something"

The two kept eating in awkward silence, until an idea popped into Ned's head "Or maybe you could go with me?" Ember stared at him, surprised by the sudden invitation." Just as friends!" Ned clarified quickly. Ember Snow was indeed a very pretty girl but he wouldn't do that to Peter, besides he felt like he was starting to become great friends with the blonde catching feelings for her would only cause trouble.

"Isn't there a lucky lady youd rather go with" Ember argued, smiling softly at the boy. It wasn't like the idea was a bad one, in fact she believed it would be fun to go with Ned, but she didn't want to get in the way of the boy's evening. Ned probably had an idea of how he wanted the night to go and she didn't want to ruin it for him just because her plans didn't work out.

"She already has a date" Ned shrugged, but Ember could tell that it bothered him.

"Brant, huh?" Ember smirked knowingly. It was no secret that Betty Brant was a beautiful and smart girl that charmed boys fairly easily. Both Betty and Liz were two of the most popular girl in school, many people liked them and understandingly so. Besides Ember had noticed the longing stares Ned sent Betty, through the years she had sat in the same table as him and Peter.
"If you ask me she only said that because she didnt want to go with Jason"

"Doesn't matter. It's not like she would ever go with me anyway" Ember frowned at his words, she didn't like hearing him speak that way about himself. Ned Leeds was awesome, he was very smart, funny, and overall a great guy.

"Her loss my win, right?" Ember smiled at him brightly, probably the first real smile since her fight with Peter.

"So, that means you'll go with me?" Ned asked with wide hopeful eyes.

"Sure, it'll be fun." Ember happily agreed.
"I'll buy you dinner"

"Isn't that my job?" Ned asked confused, he had little to no experience with high school dances. Even the few he had attended he never had a date, even if it was friendly date.

"It's the 21st centrury, Leeds. A girl can buy dinner for her date if she wants to"

❅

[word count; 2218]

a/n: Sorry for the long wait guys and for the fact that my comeback chapter is kind of a filler but I swear more chapters are coming soon! Thank you if you've stuck around through my long ass break and for sticking around to hear Ember's story even with the shitty writing! Xx

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