╭-°—✞—˚✧ ψ ✧˚—✞—°-╮
CHAPTER ELEVEN!
𝖕𝖊𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖕𝖆𝖗𝖐𝖊𝖗 𝖎𝖘 𝖘𝖕𝖎𝖉𝖊𝖗-𝖒𝖆𝖓?
╰-°—✞—˚✧ ψ ✧˚—✞—°-╯

────── 〔ψ〕──────

SALENE HEARD KYRIL before she saw him and she didn't like it. She was still damp and her hair was still soaked and she was still in her suit. She put her mask up as she came around the corner of the street to see him on the phone, speaking loudly. He looked up as she got closer and he sighed.

"I found her, thanks Liz," He spoke and Salene looked around before taking off her mask. She started untangling her hair as she walked over to the backseat of the car.

"Let me change before we go," She sighed and Kyril nodded, deciding to scroll through whatever app he was looking at on his phone.

"Your fan base is going up after the ATM stoppery," Kyril pointed out as she climbed into the backseat.

"I don't know why, that was one of my biggest failures so far," Salene responded, taking the suit off, and sighing as she heated her body to dry off the rest of it, quickly putting on her clothes and climbing into the passenger seat, opening the driver-side door for Kyril to climb in. She sat back as he did and looked at him as she started the car, putting on his seatbelt. She did the same.

"What the hell happened, why was your hair soaking wet?" Kyril asked and Salene laid her head back and closed her eyes. She explained everything she saw because quite frankly, she wasn't sure how to process what she saw. A man had tried to drop her and a boy she didn't care for into a lake because she was stopping a van full of high-tech weapons. And now they have a glowing, purple egg with no idea how it works or if it even has a purpose.

Salene looked to Kyril and she watched as he processed what she was saying. His face changed into a few expressions, and she raised an eyebrow as it settled to confusion.

"Wait, Peter Parker is Spider-Man?" Kyril asked and Salene rolled her eyes, groaning. Kyril had left the suburbs and was getting closer to the diner, giving less time for the open space to speak about what was happening. She wasn't ready to go home yet, a part of her still feared this part of her life would get tangled up with the last bit of simplicity she had left. She didn't want to lose that just yet.

"Can we move past that information?" Salene asked incredulously, "He's been doing this for nine months now, lets move on, these dealers, they got a leader that knows what he's doing with that suit, if I can find out who it is, I can find out how I can get to him when he's away from it."

"Did you see his face?" Kyril asked and Salene rolled her eyes again.

"If I did, I would be doing something about it right now, huh?" She asked, glaring at her older brother. Kyril groaned as he turned a corner.

"I'll pull over and kick you out right now if you don't stop with the fucking attitude," He spoke, stopping at a red light, "I'm not dealing with that shit especially since I just received news that nerdy Peter Parker is the same Spider-Man that also was dropped in a lake with you."

Salene huffed, unsure of the obsession with Spider-Man, she's accomplished just as much like him but he still gets more recognition from it. She watched the light turn green and she thought of what she and Peter could do in shop class the next day. She would have to fix her phone but she sent a quick text to Peter, telling him to bring the glowing egg to school. She really wanted to figure out what the hell that thing did and she wanted to know fast.

────── 〔ψ〕──────

SALENE HAD NEVER been excited about school in her life, but that changed when she walked into shop class and saw Peter looking suspiciously nervous. She was fast in approaching him and clearing a table for them to work on the glowing egg. Salene had taken it from Peters bag and got it stuck in a vice to make it easier to work a screwdriver on it.

"I can't believe you called it a 'glowing egg'," Peter spoke quietly and Salene rolled her eyes.

"And what would you call it, Spidey?" She retorted in the same volume, smirking as his face contorted into a panic. She knew she struck a nerve but brushed his angry look off his face as she leaned into the glow of the egg and started working at the screws that the bit fit.

"Can you hand me the Allen wrench?" Salene asked and held her hand out. She felt the cool metal press into her palm and a small smile grew on her face. Peter wouldn't have been able to see it considering she wasn't facing him. She was in the middle of undoing that last little screw on one side, inspecting it for any more bolts and screws. After one more look and from the eyes of Peter, the layers were ready to be peeled back.

Salene felt the presence of Ned Leeds before she saw him. She had straightened up and turned around to see him watching her with wide, confused eyes.

"Hi Ned," She spoke and put the Allen wrench in his hand as she turned around and peeled back another layer of the egg, frowning at the mess of wires. Whoever built this is either really bad at building or just really sloppy when it comes to connecting.

Salene groaned as she pulled wires out of sockets and found the core. Her eyes widened at how familiar it looked.

"Guys," She spoke, turning to see them whispering. They stopped and looked at her, "They're using alien tech with ours, and in a sloppy manner might I add." Ned stepped forward and inspected it, looking at the attempt Salene made to make it neat, and understandable.

"What even is that?" Ned asked and Peter shrugged.

Salene continued to prod, moving metal pieces out of the way, eventually letting Peter take a crack at it.

"I don't know, some guy tried to vaporize us with it," Peter spoke, glancing to Salene as she pulled her phone out and used a tiny screwdriver to pull it apart and fix the water damage from the lake.

She was so zoned out, she didn't hear what Ned was rambling about, it was all murmurs to her ears as she put her phone back together and looked over to see Ned thanking Peter as he used a hammer to hit the core out of the device. Salene watched with a bored face as he tried a gentle tap. That didn't work. He hit it harder, which made it louder. The core popped out and Salene was quick to catch it. The trio turned to face Mr. Hapgood who was reclined in his desk chair reading a book, completely unbothered by Peter's commotion.

"Keep your fingers clear of the blades," Mr. Hapgood spoke and Salene opened up her hand, the core seemed to burn a little in her hand but she couldn't feel it.

"I gotta figure out what this thing is and who makes it," Peter spoke and Salene raised her eyebrows. She had a growing feeling in her chest that he was planning on excluding her from this little mission. She wasn't letting that happen.

Peter met her eyes and it was like he could read her thoughts.

"Is Kyril picking you up after school?" Peter asked and she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in.

"I can change that plan," She replied, grabbing her phone and sending him a quick text.

salene
don't pick me up after school,
peter and his friend, ned,
and i am working on a project.

meat-head
is this the thing you two
partnered up on Friday night?

salene
yes.

meat-head
okay, be safe

salene
i'll let you know how it
goes when we're done.

Salene looked up at Peter who was watching her with an expectant face. She realized that he never told Peter that Kyril knows everything. She didn't think that detail mattered so she set her phone down.

"How are we getting into the lab after school?" Salene asked, "We can't just waltz in and whip out alien tech."

"Mr. Harrington owes me a favor," Ned spoke and Salene nodded, pulling out a ziplock bag and putting the core inside. The bell had rung and Salene exchanged a look with the two and gave a fake smile, thrusting the bag into Peter's chest.

"I'll see you two after school!" She chirped and picked up her bag, slinging it over her shoulder. She only gave the two boys one more glance before she left the classroom, jogging up the steps and rounding the corner to the staircase where her next class waited for her.

────── 〔ψ〕──────

this chapter used to be called avoid and i was writing
so slow that it was actually the diner scene ??

we're a long way from that night.