Once Val noticed Melina and Levi and my hopeless expression, she didn't miss a beat in getting me to my feet, food and all, and escorting me out of the mall as if the devil was on our heels.

I've been in my room ever since.

Not to contribute to the stereotype of moody teenagers never leaving their rooms or anything, but I really don't want to leave my room. I made my grand mistake of going to the mall, believing Val all the while, and set myself up for failure. I won't call it heartbreak, because woah, but definitely failure.

Did I flirt? I can't even remember if I flirted. Oh, God.

I groan into my pillow, rolling onto my back and staring up at my ceiling. If I just stayed in my room forever, I'd never have to face Levi again. Or the rest of the world, for that matter, and I'd be perfectly fine with it.

My phone vibrates from somewhere underneath the mass of throw pillows now scattered haphazardly atop my duvet. My first instinct is to ignore it, so I wait for the vibrating to stop, but it doesn't. Either my friends are dying or trying to get ahold of me to check on me.

Frankly, I'm not exactly sure which is worse right now.

I pat my hand around my blanket and eventually find my phone. Sure enough, Val and Ben are blowing up our group chat. It's mostly Val dishing the details to Ben so he's in the know, Ben calling me to check in, and Val doing the same when she realizes why she's the only one talking in the group chat.

I sigh, beginning to type a message. I'm halfway through 'i'm fine' when Ben's picture--him in a squid hat--illuminates my phone. I accept the call and hold the phone to my ear. "Hello?"

"Willa! Finally, we've been trying to get ahold of you for...what's it been, Val?" Ben says. His voice sounds a little distant, so I know I'm on speakerphone.

"Four hours and twenty-two minutes!" Val chimes, much louder than Ben.

"Four hours and twenty-two minutes," Ben reports. "So how are you?"

"I'm fine," I say.

"Liar!" Val shrieks, and I wince at her volume.

"If you shriek one more time, I'm spreading a rumor that there are officially cryptids in existence and one of them is Val Garcia, the local banshee."

"Bet."

"Bet--"

"Guys!" I interrupt. They both quiet down on the other line, as if remembering that I'm there.

"Sorry, Wil. We're coming over to see you. Is that okay?" Ben asks, and I can just picture his concerned face behind the wheel, Val in the passenger seat holding the phone.

"It's fine," I say. "Although, really, you guys don't have to. I was just a little blindsided. I'm not sick or injured or anything."

"No, of course not," Ben agrees. "But this is still grounds for a movie marathon."

"What?! No! You told me we were going to TP Levi's house as revenge!" Val exclaims.

"How else would I get you to tag along?"

"My love for Willa is enough."

"Guys," I croon. "Arguing and driving is a risky mix."

"Sorry, Willa," They both chorus.

"Be there in a few!" Val promises.

I hang up the phone and haul myself up, changing into comfy clothes and dragging my carcass downstairs. I've just finished popping popcorn when the doorbell rings.

"So you do know how to use doors," I quip to Val as she sashays in.

Val makes a face at me. "Don't make me regret being your knight in shining armor, Murdock."

"She wouldn't dream of it," Ben says, stepping inside. He's carrying a bunch of blankets and movies, and I'm ninety-nine percent sure he doesn't take them from his car in case we call a movie marathon, which are especially frequent over breaks. "Besides, I'm the knight. You're the trusty steed."

"Am not!"

"Right, you're not trusty."

Val opens her mouth to fire off another remark, but freezes, sniffing the air. "Is that--"

"Yup."

Val glances at me, her lips pursed. Then, she zips off, following the scent of popcorn into my house.

"Classic Val." Ben lowers half of the movies and blankets into my arms.

Together, we migrate to the living room. In seconds, we've turned it into our own personal fort, decked out with blankets and pillows and snack foods. For most of the night, my friends know better than to poke and prod me with questions. They know I won't give them what they want.

It isn't until we're on our third movie of the marathon (Avengers: Age of Ultron) and night has surely fallen when Val can't help herself anymore.

"Oh, for the love of God, what are we going to do about this?" She exclaims, punctuating her fury with a fistful of popcorn.

Ben looks up from under his mound of blankets. "About defeating Ultron?"

Val gives him a look. "No." She fixes her attention on me. "About Levi being a complete and utter douche."

My insides twist and I look down at my slice of pizza. "Nothing."

Val sputters in indignance. "You want to do nothing?"

I shrug, looking back up at her with a wry look in my eyes. "I want to stop dwelling on another one of my social blunders is what I want to do, thank you."

Val's expression softens at that, and she gets up and sits next to me. "Wil, I just want to help. He led you on. That isn't right."

"What do you expect to do about it?" I ask, averting my eyes back to the TV where the Avengers are facing off against Ultron. "I'm not a superhero, I can't magically make him like me or tell him off. I'm just me."

Ben, as if sensing an opportunity, rolls over to face Val and I. "Sometimes being yourself is a whole lot more powerful than anything else you can do."

Val points to him, meeting my eyes. "The man does not lie." She beams, reaching forward and grabbing my shoulder. "You could make his life hell!"

I manage a weak smile. "That sounds like a lot of work."

Val opens her mouth to offer a rebuttal, but closes it promptly. Full blown revenge was too much of an effort. But understated, careful and calculated revenge...

I look back to the TV, where Captain America is speaking. I've always admired Cap. He knew what he believed in, and was never afraid of backing down from what was good and true and just. Even with the supersoldier serum, he used that change to do what he couldn't before: help those in need and serve his cause.

Maybe I needed to make like Steve Rogers and give myself enough of a change.

Maybe I needed my own super-soldier serum. And while I wasn't a character in the MCU, I could still do some great things.

I just needed to be brave.

"So what do you want to do, Willa?" Ben asked. "We'll drop it if you want, but we'll help you if you need us."

I took a deep breath. I could just drop it and move on with my life. I'd go to work, I'd hang out with my friends, I'd go back to school and fade into the background like I always did.

Or, I could change. I could live my life the way I'd want to live it. And I'd make Levi regret what he did without saying a word.

"Ben. Val," I said. At the last second, a wicked grin spread across my lips. "Let's assemble."