The dress I go with for homecoming is somewhere between red and purple. Anthony keeps saying it's red and Mama insists its purple, and the only reason it matters is because Anthony is trying to get a tie to match the dress. All of it seems like a background feature in my life. It's sophomore year; I'm supposed to have drama about dances and boys. The drama is real, but the element related to superheroes and bodega explosions and all of that stuff feels wrong.

Also, my purse is filled with items that really don't belong in the purse of a sophomore going to a school dance.

Eventually though, we get dressed and pose for all sorts of pictures. Mama and Papa pay for us to take a taxi there, and give us money to take a taxi back and then some. Dantae walks us to the mainfloor, and gives Anthony a kiss as discreetly as he can.

"We'll be back soon," I smile.

"Keep him out of trouble," Dantae says. It's the most we've spoken since the fight.

I fake a groan, "we were supposed to go spray painting. I wanted to see how fast I could run in heels."

"Shut up, Dare," Dantae pushes my shoulder a little. Then, he rolls his eyes and hugs me.

"Yeah, you're a shit brother," I tell him, "but I love you."

"Whatever, you little shit, now go," he says.

We wave him goodbye and get in our taxi. The music the driver plays is like metallic, which is super weird. I feel so nervous to go. Like, I want to vomit all over myself.

"Sergio told me about the gift," Anthony says. He gestures to my purse. "Do you want me to distract Liz Allen?"

We go over a bump and my stomach lurches, "God, this is such a stupid idea."

"It's romantic," he insists, "although, I will say I don't understand the choice of prize."

He's not meant to understand. Actually, I don't think Peter will really get it unless I explain it to him. At least Peter has some point of reference related to my mind-reading capabilities. If Dantae chooses to tell Anthony, I'll go along, even if it my tear apart our only recently repaired relationship. Everything in my life feels so fragile. I'm used to smash into things without them breaking, or myself for that matter.

Soon enough, we are at the dance. We've arrived late enough that the dance is mostly in full-swing by the time we get there. The lights are dim and blue, and stars on wires provide most of the lighting. The music is better than Metallic. Being here feels wrong though. All sorts of incorrect.

Anthony and I make an effort to dance together, but I keep scanning the crowd. I want to just listen in on thoughts and wait to see if I hear Liz Allen or Peter, or anyone else noticing them.

"Enjoy yourself," Anthony commands, taking my hands and moving my arms for me. "I can't have people thinking my date is miserable."

I try not to smile, "I'm having a personal crisis.

"You're so boy crazy," he rolls his eyes. "It's getting ridiculous. At this point, just go for Sergio. I'll convince Dantae that he's better than this nonsense."

All I can do is shake my head. Sergio is great, but I don't want him. I want Peter.

Eventually, I coerse Dantae to come back towards the entrance with me. Two more songs play, and then Liz Allen walks in. Peter is not with her.

"He's not here," I whisper to Anthony.

Anthony looks back at me, blinking, "what?"

"Distract Liz," I tell him, and then I rush out of the gym before he can say anything else.

I make it on to the steps of the school, peering around. Now, I force myself to listen to the thoughts around me. I cannot tell if Peter is amongst them. Everyone's thoughts are in conflict with one another. I'm not usually around drunk, horny teens, but it seems that whatever inhibits their thoughts also makes them practically shouting. Peter doesn't really drink, especially since he is always ready to throw himself into being Spider-man, so I would be surprised if I hear him.

Then, he gets out of one of the cars. He sees me on the steps before I can move. He moves in past me, ignoring me. I'm not listening in, but I can see how green his face is. Something is wrong.

He heads down the hallway towards the gym. No one is loitering inside though, so I heard after him.

"Peter," I manage. "Peter wait."

He turns around to look at me. There is sweat on his forehead. God damn it, I really want to read his mind.

"Hey," I say.

He swallows, "hey."

"You told me not to worry, but I'm worried," I say.

He looks at me blankly. Then, he begins to pivot back towards the gym.

"Wait," I grab his wrist and pull him back towards me.

"Darce, I'm kind of busy," he says.

He hasn't called me Darce in so long. I can feel my heart skip a beat.

"I brought you something," I tell him. I pull out the walkie-talkies that Sergio helped me win at the arcade, a plastic bag, and a small letter. "You can probably sneak off and put this stuff in your locker."

He opens the letter and leans back, "how much money is this?"

"Only two hundred," I tell him, scrunching my nose. "It was my rainy day fund. The baggie has the ashes of the file I had collected on you. I'm going to pay you back."

"I..." he stumbles over his words, looking around the dark hallway. "Thanks."

"If you still wanted that super-hero to talk to, I can have the other walkie," I tell him. "If not though, I get it. It can be for someone else. I just... I can't just turn off my feelings for you even if I should. I could get my brother to do it, but I don't want to lose you like that."

"Listen, Darce..." he says and I feel my heart drop. He doesn't look at me. I want an answer. What's in his head.

He shoves back the stuff into my arms. Then, he sprints into the gymansium.

It takes a second for me to move after him, but then the letter falls and the money spills out, and unfortunately my power is telepathy and not telekinesis. I have to bend over to collect all of the stuff, but by the time I have it all and I'm making my way back to the gym, he's already sprinting out of it. I follow him down a hallway, watching as he begins to throw off his tie and undo his jacket.

"Peter!" I shout. He's ignoring me.

Then, he grabs a back, and in a flash he has on the older, cheaper version of the suit that he used to wear before the Stark internship took off. After all of these months I've taken off from running, he's grown much faster than me. I cannot keep up.

So, I run back to the gym, trying to piece together what is happening. At first, I thought it was some issue with Liz, but seeing him put on the suit I don't know what to think. Someone's got to know though. Liz is at the front, talking to some friends. She looks pretty pissed.

It's rotten behaviour, but I force myself inside of her head. She's mad at Peter, but also mad at her father. He wanted to talk to him privately and scare him off, I guess. It's not right though.

Fuck.

Anthony isn't with her though. I force myself through the gym, looking for him. Eventually, I see him and Ned standing together.

"Anthony, we've got to go," I say. I grab him by the arm.

Anthony furrows his brow, "what are you talking about? Where's Peter?"

"Not with me," I say. "His rejection of Liz Allen is unrelated. I can explain."

Anthony just stares at me blankly. I need to know what to say to get him to come with me. There might be a threat on the school, but I'm not certain enough that I would pull the fire alarm and risk the fine.

In doing so, I hear Ned's panicked little thoughts. He thinks I might know. My eyes fly to him. His eyes go wide and he presses lips together tightly. His surfaces thoughts are too much of a panic, so I force myself in deeper. There is so much panic on the surface to wade in. I'm out of practice running, and reading minds is just like running too. I'm not really up to par. My head feels light.

He's Spider-man's man in the chair.

"Vulture," I manage to say. "Who's the Vulture?"

"How did you?" Ned stumbles.

"I can drag you out of here to ask you more questions, but I'd rather not. Just think, Ned. Calm down, and think," I say.

Ned has no idea what I'm talking about. I force myself in deeper. Anthony's arms on mine, and that's when I realize that I'm swaying.

"Darcy, we should go," Anthony's voice is quiet. "Are the lights bothering you?"

"What?" I manage.

"I haven't seen you act like this since the bus crash," Anthony says. "When you almost got that concussion?"

I'm not quite concussed, even if I'm acting like it. I cannot bother thinking anymore.

"Let's get air," he says, but I have no time for air.

Anthony leads me out of the gym. He doesn't want to bring me where people are going to notice my dizziness. There are cops here, and he is worried they are going to think he's trying to bring a drunk girl home, and he's a black teen so that isn't going to go over well. So, we head to the parking lot. I'm able to walk by myself, but I am light-headed. Trying to please Peter has ruined my skillset. I can hear Ned walking behind us, his thoughts louder than his footsteps. He must know something is wrong too.

We get outside just in time to see a bus fly across the parking lot. Anthony grabs me and darts back inside. Ned isn't with us though. He's still out there.

"What's going on?" Anthony asks. "We need to find a teacher? There's like, some super-hero fight in the parking lot."

"Yeah, I know," I manage.

"Wait," Anthony says. He looks around the hallway, and pulls keys out of his pocket. We're in the science wing. He drags me over to the robotics room and unlocks the door. He must be doing a special project, like Peter.

Once we are inside, he pulls a cigarette and a lighter out of his pocket. He pushes me onto a table and walks over to the window.

"We don't have time for a smoke," I shake my head.

"The fuck we don't," he opens the window and begins to light the cigarette. Once it's lit, he speaks. "I see you found out who the identity of Spider-man is and didn't have the decency to tell me."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

He takes a big huff of his cigarette. I go to move, but my head feels light. I've fucked up, wasting that time trying to dig through Ned's thoughts.

"This whole time, you've been running around with Spider-man! I'm guessing that's why you two stopped talking, because you figured it out," he takes another drag. "Wait, is that why Tony Stark retweeted our fundraiser for the bodega? To help keep you quiet?"

"Okay, okay, yes, he's Spider-man," I say. "He's clearly in danger though, so we need to get moving!"

Anthony sharply inhales on the cigarette, blowing it out the open window, "fine, but I'm going to keep smoking. If we set off the fire alarm, so be it."

We have way bigger problems than the fire alarm.

~~~~~

This will actually be finished. Scout's honour. Hope you enjoy the near finale!