Hello everyone! I'm back at it with another chapter!

If you couldn't guess yet, the outfit is for her training session, not school.

It's also very funny watching everyone in the comments scheme about what's going to happen and if Flash is actually someone else. Guess we'll just have to find out, then!

"I can't believe you just did that," Peter panted incredulously after catching up to Ashley, "I can't believe you just dd that."

"Yeah, I think I caught on the first 12 times you said it," Ashley deadpanned, shifting her folders from one arm to another.

"Sorry, I just..."

"Can't believe I did that?"

"I guess so," Peter grinned sheepishly, then went on to continue rambling in amazement, "I mean, do you even know who he is?"

"A guy who tried to pick up girls by sweet-talking them, since talking is probably the only thing he's actually capable of?" Ashley guessed.

"See?! Just like that! You've barely even met Flash but you can just roast the guy like a bag of marshmallows!"

"I suppose you better keep away from my bad side then, or you'll end up just like him," Ashly advised before ducking into geography class.

"Wait!" Peter exclaimed, following behind her and to his seat, "so I am on your good side?"

Ashley only replied with a shrug and smirk.

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"So, how was your first your first memorable day of school?" Bethany asked as Ashley slid into the passenger's seat. The teenager felt a bit of a nosy vibe, but she didn't really mind.

"Interesting, that's for sure. I think this one guy tried to flirt with me, but I killed him. Verbally, of course. And honestly, in my opinion, that guy deserved it."

"That's my Ash," Bethany beamed, giving her an approving pat on the shoulder, "I'm starting to think that we'll get along brilliantly."

Ashley smiled outwardly, but she couldn't help but wonder why Bethany had taken her in the first place. The woman hadn't exactly expressed any interest in being seen as a mother or parental figure. She appeared to be plenty content as a bachelorette.

"Anyways, as I promised, we'll drop by Delmar's and pick up a sandwich. Then," Bethany paused and gave her a side smirk as she drove down the crowded roads, "I think it's about time we put those training shoes to good use."

"About the martial arts," Ashley began, several gears spinning in her head, "I wonder if it'll be like everything else. Like if I'll automatically know everything about it."

"Knowing the moves is one thing," Bethany stated, "actually performing them is the very opposite. You'll need practice and reps if you ever want to even know a few self-defense moves."

"Fair enough," Ashley agreed, "it was just a thought."

After a few moments of silence, which Ashley assumed was Bethany pondering, the brunette opened up again, "Although I will admit, having a head start like that will prove useful. Let's just hope your little theory is right."

"It hasn't proven me wrong yet," Ashley sighed, recalling all of the painful moments during school when her mind would come up with information to shove into her knowledge. She was very grateful for this, since it kind of helped the fact that she had no recollection of anything otherwise, but it was a constant struggle dealing with it.

"So other than that, what else about your day?"

"Well," Ashley let out a chuckle, "it was long, that's for sure. I think this one group of girls kind of accepted me though. It's nice... I was slightly worried that I wouldn't be able to fit in. I really think using the foundation and wig to cover up my differences helped."

"You know how I feel about that, Ash," Bethany reminded her, "I really don't think you should have to be concerned about changing your appearance to make others like you."

"You remember how everyone was staring at me when I first met you!" Ashley cried out, "I mean, for gosh sakes, I might've been an alien! You don't understand what it's like!"

"Believe me," Bethany assured her in attempts to calm the distressed teenager down, "I do."

"What do you mean?" Ashley groaned, "You are literally the exact definition of a normal person, and I mean that with no offense. You've got brown hair and eyes that actually match your complexion!"

The brunette sighed in defeat. There was simply no way if convincing her otherwise, that is unless she released her whole entire past of secrets. For now, she had to conceal them. She wasn't sure what Ashley would think of her if she knew everything.

"I'm sorry, Beth," Ashley whispered, barely audible over noise being emitted from the moving tires, "I appreciate your thoughts, but you can't change my mind."

"I was never trying to," Bethany pointed out, "I'm just helping you see that sometimes it's best to let the world see you for who you really are."

Ashley ended the conversation with a small nod, taking into consideration the last phrase that Bethany had said. She believed that the woman knew what she was talking about, it was just hard for Ashley to figure out how. How could she understand? How could she feel what it was like to be so different, yet not even remember why you were like that?

"In other notes, were there any cute boys?" Bethany asked with a suggestive smirk and eyebrow raise.

"Oh gosh Beth," Ashley groaned, shoving her face into her hands, "you know I wouldn't even be looking for one."

"You never know when you'll stumble across a guy that looks pretty fine~"

"Bethany!" Ashley exclaimed in embarrassment, her face growing redder by the second.

"If I didn't know any better, I would say that there is someone, but you just won't admit it."

"I thought your job was to make sure I didn't date boys," Ashley grunted.

"No, my job is to beat up the stupid little punks that think they can mess with you. I never have issues with true gentlemen," Bethany argued with a grin.

"Just like you and your little Captain America?"

"Excuse me?!" Bethany sputtered, her eyes wide with disbelief. "Why would you ever think that?"

"Oh, I dunno. Maybe the same reason that you bought the Captain America ice cream and savored it as you described him to me so dreamily when we were in the parlor?"

"I have no clue what you're talking about," Bethany stated boldly, "I was only explaining because you asked me to. And besides, I just got that because the flavors in the ice cream were the only combination that didn't sound repulsive. I mean, what was Iron Man's combination?"

"Banana and strawberry...?"

"See? Disgusting!" Bethany declared.

"Beth, I literally think that's the most common fruit combination to ever exist. Isn't that literally a smoothie flavor everyone gets?" Ashley asked in confusion.

"Not if you don't like banana," the brunette defended.

"You know what I'm really having a hard time understanding? How did this conversation go from cute boys to hating bananas?" Ashley deadpanned, though she was having a hard time concealing the laughter that was bubbling up inside of her. However, Bethany didn't exactly share the same incentive and began to crack up.

"You know what? Some questions are just better left unanswered."

~

"Rule number one, never..."

Ashley responded by swiveling her head around, grabbing the fist that was flying at her, then twisting it to a point that rendered it defenseless. She was about to use this leverage in an attempt to flip over Bethany but was cut short as the brunette used her free hand to grab Ashley's wrist. She pried her fingers into sensitive areas of the teenager's arm, forcing her to let go of her grip on Bethany's fist, then used her hold on the girl's arm to spin her around and into her. Once Ashley's back was pressed into the woman, Bethany wrapped her arm around the girl's neck in a headlock.

"Never take your eyes off the target... yeah yeah yeah," Ashley gasped, slamming her palm into Bethany's arm as a sign of defeat.

"You know what you're supposed to do, so why not do it?" Bethany questioned as she let go of Ashley. The teenager took a few steps away, turned back around, then got into a fighting stance.

"It just slips the mind sometimes," Ashley sighed.

Bethany did a quick one-over on Ashley's form. Whatever information she had gotten from her mind, it had proved to be true. Everything was perfect except...

"Put a little bit more weight on your right foot. Balance is key, and with that stance, you might as well have been purposefully falling off a gymnastics beam."

Ashley obediently did as she was told, immediately noticing the difference as her weight was more equally distributed.

"Good, now try again. This time, slower, and focus. You're just starting out, so don't expect to go turbo on me."

The teenager nodded, then threw a punch at Bethany's left shoulder. She easily deflected it, but that was beside the point. Ashley used her strike as a distraction, trying to create a small window of time to open where she could swipe her foot around the woman's legs without her noticing. However, right before she was about to make contact, Bethany kicked out her own leg and hooked her foot around Ashley's thigh. Then, in one swift move, the brunette raised her extended leg up and forced Ashley to roughly slam to the padded ground onto her back.

"It was a smart idea, but you sold yourself out by watching my legs like a hawk. Being sneaky and trying to fake blows like that requires you to be... well... sneaky."

"So that's what just happened," Ashley dryly chuckled, pushing herself to her feet with a grunt. They were practicing on a mat that had been laid out in the middle of the apartment's living room, but even with the cushion, Ashley couldn't help but still feel a little achy from the harsh landing. "Again."

Bethany threw a punch at her side, but Ashley shuffled away and repositioned herself. This time she went for a kick to the torso, despite how weak she was from not really having trained before, but Bethany caught her ankle and threw it to the ground. In the time that it took Ashley to readjust, the brunette already had a fist flying towards her face. Ashley ducked underneath, then reached up and grabbed it before it could fully retract to Bethany's body. She used this advantage to pull the woman closer to her so she could hopefully land a punch to her stomach. Bethany blocked the punch with ease, then took the opportunity to crash her side into Ashley and throw her off-balance. The teenager attempted to regain her center, but she was too late. Bethany had already thrown the final punch and landed it neatly on her shoulder, knocking the girl clean off her feet.

Ashley hissed in pain as she tried to rise up, but a wave of pain washed over her and she decided it would be better to just stay down. Yeah, that was a much better choice.

"Let's try something else," Bethany suggested, offering a helping hand to pull her up. "Instead of just fighting, I'll go through some examples of what you can do in different situations."

"Alright, hit me up with some pointers," Ashley declared, resuming her battle stance.

"Punch," Bethany instructed. Ashley raised an eyebrow, but eventually did what she said and thrust her fist towards the woman's nose. Bethany promptly caught her wrist, then paused. "Alright, now I want you to twist your arm away and grab a hold of my wrist."

The teenager did as she was told, letting out a small smile as it worked.

"Now you're going to spin my arm like this," she faked the movement on her own to show Ashley what she was supposed to do. The girl nodded, then twisted the arm accordingly. Bethany was forced to fall onto the ground with a quiet thump. "Don't do this right now, obviously, but this would be your chance to kick me clean in the face and knock me out."

"Cool!" Ashley exclaimed, but she was cut short as Bethany snaked her arm out and grabbed a hold of the girl's ankle, dragging her to the ground as well.

"Always be ready," Bethany advised, standing up and dusting herself off, "or that could happen."

"Not if you're knocked out," Ashley argued while pushing herself back up.

"Now if I'm going to swing my arm at you, what would be your first defense tactic?" Bethany asked, throwing her fist before Ashley could answer her question. Her first instinct was to duck, but she was slightly too late and she could feel Bethany's knuckles graze against the top of her head. However, before she could continue on normally, she realized that a weight had fallen off of her head.

In horror, she watched as her wig fell to the ground, her natural white and blue curls replacing it. She gaped at the wig, then turned back to Bethany with the same expression. "You...you...

"Snatched my weave!"

Bethany let out a groan and physically facepalmed. "You did not just make a pop culture reference."

Ashley gave her a smirk and fired back, "Oh yes I did."

The brunette plopped down and simply said, "You know what? I think we're done for the day." Then, under her breath, she mocked in pure disgust, "snatch my weave".

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"Hey, Liz!" Ashley called out as she walked down the school's hall, a slight bounce evident in her step.

"Ash," Liz acknowledged with a smile, although she quickly turned her attention back to what she was working on. There, sprawled out on a cafeteria table, was a large banner of paper that was currently being painted on my numerous people of Liz's group. "Wanna lend us a hand on this? The corners of the poster need a little bit of color, but I can't figure design to use."

"No problem," Ashley agreed, settling in between her and another girl, grabbing a wide paintbrush and dipping it into a rich color. Within minutes, one of the corners was completely decorated and beautiful.

"Slow down there Ms. Mona Lisa," Liz chuckled, marveling at Ashley's work.

"You can't say that," the teenager replied with a shake of her head, "Lisa was just the person who posed. I think you mean Ms. da Vinci."

"Just another point to prove that I never did well in art," Liz concluded, continuing to draw the outline for the last few letters.

"So what's this for?" Ashley asked as she shuffled over to the other side of the poster to decorate the edges.

"Homecoming," Liz explained, gesturing to the word that was almost spelled out on the banner. At the moment, it read as 'Homeco', being in its early stages of earning the 'm' and 'I'. "You know, football game, big dance..."

"Yeah," Ashley interjected, "I know a thing or two about it. Are you excited about your first one in high school?"

"What do you think?" Liz asked, her large beam never leaving her face.

"I gotcha," Ashley chuckled, then set down her paintbrush on a paper towel and surveyed her work. "I think I'm done here. Mind if I head down to my locker and catch up with Parker?"

"Not at all," Liz said. "Be my guest. We're just about finished anyway. Thanks for the help!"

Ashley flashed her a smile in response, then picked her backpack up from the ground and slung it back over her shoulder. Without further ado, she made her way out of the cafeteria and to the locker area, where she would, hopefully, manage to seek out Peter and exchange a hello.

"Ashley, right?" A familiar voice called out. She stopped and, with a sigh, turned to face Flash. "Or Ash, as your friends call you. Pretty neat nickname if you ask me."

"How did you know that?" Ashley asked in disbelief, leaning up against a wall with a chuckle as she faced Flash.

"Well, I mean, a little digging around, and someone will eventually tell you what you need to know."

"Stalker!" Ashley exclaimed.

"No," Flash argued, "I just like to learn about people who I'll be hanging out with."

"So I'm hanging out with you?" Ashley questioned, "I don't really remember that being in any part of my speech where I declared you couldn't mess with me."

"I'm not messing with you!" Flash defended, "Seriously, just friends. You're a cool chick, y'know. Smart and all."

"Well thank you, I'm very flattered," Ashley returned sarcastically. "But if you don't mind me, I was about to meet someone."

"Parker, right? You were going to talk to that idiot," Flash guessed, his facial features evident with annoyance.

"Why would you call him that? If I remember correctly, he was the one actually getting the answers right."

"It's not that," Flash sighed, "it's..." he looked around at all the passing crowds, then decided against whatever he was about to say, "Listen, let's just talk about this after school. Peter isn't who you think he is, at least not to me."

"If you say so," Ashley returned cautiously. She stood up from leaning against the wall, then continued her walk down to the locker area.

"Wassup Parker?" Ashley asked, just loud enough so the boy could hear her from the distance between their lockers. She fiddled with the combination, and, to her relief, her locker opened without a hitch.

"Nothing much," He replied, "Ned and I hung out last night and built this neat model."

"And I wasn't invited?" Ashley asked in mock offense, raising a hand to her chest.

"I'm sorry... if I would've know I..." he paused and looked at her, realizing that she didn't actually care, "Nah, you weren't."

"I suppose there's always a next time," Ashley sighed in defeat. "But I still doubt it beats getting Avengers-themed ice cream with the same lady that's also teaching you martial arts."

"That's what?!" Peter exclaimed, slamming his locker shut and pivoting towards Ashley's direction.

"Nothing major much," Ashley explained, "just some self-defense starters. I mean, if you consider roundhouse-kicks and several-step maneuvers self-defense."

"That's crazy," he declared, "you've gotta teach me one day."

"Only if I get invited to the model-assembling events," Ashley countered.

"I doubt you would like them, but you got yourself a deal," Peter smiled.

Ashley nodded and was about to come back with a witty remark, but the first bell rang out through the halls. Even with all of her experiences from the day before, the teenager still wasn't used to the impossibly loud sound and couldn't help but wince.

"Time for class," Ashley whispered to herself in both excitement and perpetual fright.

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[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

"All you girls in here, if you're feeling thirsty~

"Come and take a sip 'cause you know what I'm servin'~

"Shimmy shimmy yay shimmy yay shimmy ya

"Drank

"Swalla-la-la

"Dra..."

Ashley stopped singing as someone quickly snatched her phone away from her and hit the pause button on the song.

"What the heck?!" Ashley exclaimed in annoyance as she spun around and reached for her phone. She looked up at the face of her enemy, stopping as she realized it was just Peter. "What do you think you're doing Parker?"

"There is no way I'm letting your innocent ears listen to that frightening song," he declared, then held her phone out to her just long enough for it to recognize her face and unlock.

"Innocent ears? Where did you even get that notion?" Ashley asked incredulously, still slightly angered by the fact that he had the nerve to stop the catchy song she was listening to.

"By how obvious you make it. You seriously might have the cleanest mind of the whole school," Peter stated as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. Then, in a few seconds, he had pulled up a different song and sank to the ground next to her. Ashley was waiting for Bethany, who would be here any minute. According to her short and choppy texts, something had happened at work and she'd be running slightly late. As for Peter, he really didn't have any place to be at the moment.

"Mind if I listen too? I don't generally like some of these newer songs but this is seriously my jam," Peter asked as he waited to hit the play button on the song.

Ashley shrugged indifferently, handing Peter her left AirPod.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

Spent 24 hours

I need more hours with you

You spent the weekend

Getting even, ooh ooh

We spent the late nights

Making things right, between us

But now it's all good baby

Roll that Backwood baby

And play me close

'Cause girls like you

Run around with guys like me

'Til sundown, when I come through

I need a girl like you, yeah yeah

Girls like you

Love fun, yeah me too

What I want when I come through

I need a girl like you, yeah yeah

Yeah yeah yeah

Yeah yeah yeah

I need a girl like you, yeah yeah

Yeah yeah yeah

Yeah yeah yeah

I need a girl like you, yeah yeah

I spent last night

On the last flight to you

Took a whole day up

Trying to get way up, ooh ooh

We spent the daylight

Trying to make things right between us

And now it's all good baby

Roll that Backwood baby

And play me close

'Cause girls like you

Run around with guys like me

'Til sundown, when I come through

I need a girl like you, yeah yeah

Girls like you

Love fun, yeah me too

What I want when I come through

I need a girl like you, yeah yeah

Yeah yeah yeah

Yeah yeah yeah

I need a girl like you, yeah yeah

Yeah yeah yeah

Yeah yeah yeah

I need a girl like you, yeah yeah

I need a girl like you, yeah yeah

I need a girl like you

Maybe it's 6:45

Maybe I'm barely alive

Maybe you've taken my sh*t for the last time, yeah

Maybe I know that I'm drunk

Maybe I know you're the one

Maybe I'm thinking it's better if you drive

Even though she wasn't sure why, a little smile began to etch its way across her face. The song just gave her a little giddy feeling of excitement with each word. Suddenly, even though this was the first time she had ever listened to the song, she knew she had to sing the words next out loud. She could tell that it was going to be fun. So, exercising her abilities of knowing lyrics because of her memory function, he stood up and began chanting the words out loud while dancing gleefully.

"Not too long ago, I was dancing for dollars

"Know it's really real if I let you meet my mama

"You don't want a girl like me, I'm too crazy

"But every other girl you meet is Fugazi

"I'm sure them other girls were nice enough

"But you need someone to spice it up

"So who you gonna call? Cardi, Cardi

"Come and rev it up like a Harley, Harley

"Why is the best fruit always forbidden?

"I'm comin' to you now doin' 20 over the limit

"The red light, red light, stop, stop

"I don't play when it comes to my heart

"Let's get it though

"I don't really want a white horse and a carriage

"I'm thinkin' more white Porsches and karats

"I need you right here 'cause every time you're far~"

Ashley chuckled at the next line and decided not to say it, sitting back down next to Peter and continuing to listen to the songs, not minding the glances she was getting from everyone else for randomly performing karaoke.

'Cause girls like you

Run around with guys like me

'Til sundown, when I come through

I need a girl like you, yeah yeah

'Cause girls like you

Run around with guys like me

'Til sundown, when I come through

I need a girl like you, yeah yeah

Girls like you

Love fun, yeah me too

What I want when I come through

I need a girl like you, yeah yeah

Yeah yeah yeah

Yeah yeah yeah

I need a girl like you, yeah yeah

Yeah yeah yeah

Yeah yeah yeah

I need a girl like you.

"Not going to lie, I wasn't expecting you to bust out and know the lyrics like that," Peter laughed as the song faded away.

"I've heard it a couple of times," Ashley lied. She wasn't really sure she wanted to share her secrets with Peter yet. They were just beginning to form a friendship, and Ashley really didn't want to mess it up by freaking him out with the truth about herself.

"So how did you end up listening to that other song, anyways?" Peter eventually asked after a minute or so of staring at the commotion of the city.

"Swalla? Just one of Liz's friends," Ashley answered.

"Figures," Peter sighs, "it is a pretty popular song."

(I know the song came out in 2017, just pretend that it came out in 2016 since that's the year right now.)

"Looks like my ride is here," Ashley said as a familiar Lexus pulled up to the school sidewalk. "Catch ya later, Parker."

"See ya," he replied, handing her the AirPod and waving her goodbye.

Ashley smiled, then hopped into the passenger's seat and turned to Bethany.

"That's the cute boy, isn't it?"

"Bethany," Ashley groaned. "The day that I like Peter is the day that you start dating Mr. Perfect Captain America. He's just a friend."

"If you say so," Bethany sang, still not buying it. "Sorry for being late, by the way. I was talking to the VP of Forever 21 and wasn't exactly watching where I was going, so I ended up managing to spill coffee all over myself and hitting my arm after tripping over a block."

Ashley studied Bethany after she said this, finally noticing the fresh set of clothes and nasty-looking discolor on her arm.

"Oh, Beth!" She exclaimed, leaning towards her to cradle the arm but stopping herself as she realized that the woman kind of needed it to drive in a straight line, "That looks awful. Are you sure it's just a bruise?"

"Positive," Bethany assured. "I already put a bit of cream on it to help with any possible inflammation. Trust me, I can handle myself."

"That's what I'm worried about," Ashley laughed, "I think the title Miss Independent fits you perfectly."

"That better be a compliment," Bethany said, "besides, isn't it Miss Independence?"

"Oh no, I meant exactly what I said," Ashley grinned.

"Lord help me," Bethany exclaimed sarcastically, "this girl is going to be the death of me."

"Aw," Ashley teased, "I know you love me."

"Love you? Pfft, more like tolerate."

"Harsh!" Ashley cried out in mock-hurt.

"That's what you get for making up lies about me liking Captain America."

"I never made up lies," Ashley defended confidently, "I only say the truth."

"Say what you will, kid. As long as it makes you sleep better at night."

"While you sleep and dream of being in your favorite Avengers arms?" Ashley taunted.

"Oh, now you've really taken it too far. I'll say it again, I don't like him."

"'Don't' is a weird way to pronounce 'totally'."

Bethany hung her head in exhaustion and decided to just give up. There was no way she was going to get it through Ashley's stubborn mind that she seriously didn't even have the slightest bit of a crush on the superhero.

"So what are we doing now?" Ashley asked as she looked away from the woman and to the passing traffic.

"I heard from a little birdie that someone has homecoming coming up soon," Bethany sang, taking a turn down the road that didn't lead towards their apartment.

"Oh no," Ashley gasped, her face paling as she realized Bethany was about to drag her into. "I need to get out of this car."

If anyone was wondering,

yes.

The last line was a Loki reference. I just can't help myself! 🤷‍♀️

Anyways.

Go watch some Clone Wars and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Eat praline.

Wonder about where in the world I'm taking this story, because  I myself have  very little clue.

And pray that all of the story ideas that I'm trying to suppress in my head don't end up being the bane of my existence.