texas or germany?

★

arabella found herself in class, twiddling her thumbs as the teacher spoke in the background. she excused herself to the bathroom after deciding she could no longer tolerate the boredom the class had caused her. entering a stall, she locked the door and retrieved her phone from her pocket.

upon turning it on, she noticed two messages in her notification center from only a few minutes prior, both from natasha. curiously, arabella clicked on the notification and watched as the messages widened.

𖤐

nat 😚

hey, figured you'd want an update on what went down.

bucky broke out of containment somehow. we tried stopping him but when i helped he almost choked me out. he made a run for a helicopter but steve caught it midair. they fought, and bucky nearly choked him out too. then the helicopter crashed into a lake with both of them still inside. but don't worry, sam and steve have bucky chained up somewhere, and everyone's okay.

oh wow. that's..a lot. i'm really
glad you're okay tho!

all of the cool stuff happens when
i'm stuck at school.

as it should be.

when do i get to do more hero stuff
nat??

it's been forever and i sooo
could've helped out there today

i know you could've. but you can't just
ditch school every time something
happens with us.

especially not now. this isn't just
some random fight, this involves the
government and the law. i do not want
you getting mixed up in that.

besides, what's your plan?
tell your principal you're vitality or
rack up detentions for skipping?

sounds like a lose-lose to me.

i have to go.

𖤐

arabella shut off her phone, feeling slightly irritated, before exiting the stall. after fixing her hair in the mirror, she made her way out of the restroom. entering the hall, she was met with a familiar face.

"oh, arabella! i'm glad i ran into you," peter exclaimed while the both of them walked towards one another.

"hey!" arabella smiled at the boy as they both stood in front of each other. the girl noticed the faded bruise on his nose and she felt an immediate sense of guilt. "oh, peter, i'm so sorry about your nose."

peter shook his head. "no, please don't worry about it! my aunt is taking good care of it, so it doesn't even really hurt."

"okay, well that's good. i'm glad."

"yeah." he paused. "so, um, i wanted to ask you something."

arabella nodded. "yeah, what is it?" she looked at him intently before his response.

"so, i know that it's friday night and you probably have plans with michelle, but i wanted to know if you maybe wanted to study together?" he paused nervously. "it's just that, well, me and ned don't study well together because we usually end up distracted; movies and whatever, and i really need a study partner that i know is a good student."

"ohh! yeah, for sure, i don't mind at all," arabella accepted his offer with a smile, laughing lightly at his mention of ned. she knew it must've been hard getting focused with him around. "and thanks, by the way. it flatters me that you think i'm a good student."

"i've seen your grades and notes. i know you're a good student." peter chuckled.

"thanks." the dark haired girl smiled in gratitude. "so we could, uh, go to my—or no. it's messy right now," arabella mumbled the last part to herself, still audible in the echoey hall. "i mean, unless you're okay with it! it's really up to you."

"i-if it's too much trouble, we could, uh, go to my place? i don't think my aunt would mind."

"are you sure?"

"yeah, definitely!" the boy confirmed.

arabella nodded slowly, slipping her hands back into her pockets. "okay, then. pretty sure we have each other's number from the decathlon group chat, so just text me your address and the time."

peter patted his pockets, fishing out his phone. "right, right. let me double-check." he only had to scroll for a moment before her contact appeared, thanks to alphabetical order. "here it is!"

he turned the screen toward her, and a small smile tugged at her lips when she saw her full name displayed on the device. "huh. y'know, i think i have you as your full name too."

peter glanced at the screen and let out a short laugh. arabella pulled out her own phone, tapping a few buttons before holding it up for him to see. "yup. 'peter parker.'"

"that's kinda formal," peter said, grinning.

"yeah, i think we're past full-name status."

"especially since i don't know any other arabella's," he teased, giving her a quick glance.

she raised an eyebrow but didn't hide her grin. "well, i don't know any other peter parker's, so i guess we're even."

they both laughed as they edited each other's contact names in their phones.

peter turned his screen toward her. "fixed."

arabella mirrored him. "same here."

a brief silence hung between them — not uncomfortable, but charged with that unspoken 'i want to keep talking to you but i have nothing to bring up' feeling.

she rocked back on her heels, hands still in her pockets, then gestured over her shoulder with her thumb. "i should probably head back to class."

"yeah, me too," peter said, nodding once.

they started walking backward in opposite directions, eyes lingering on each other until the space between them made talking impractical.

peter lifted a hand in a wave, smiling. arabella matched him, her grin still soft but steady.

"see you later," she called.

"yeah," peter replied, his voice light but sure. "see ya."

𖤐

as always, once the final bell rang, mj and arabella met at their lockers. it had become apart of their daily routine — catching each other up on everything the other had missed while they put their things away.

this tradition started back in freshman year, after a girl in mj's class launched a shoe at the front of the classroom, hitting the teacher in the head. arabella still claimed, to this day, that she had only been slightly upset that she hadn't witnessed it in herself.

okay, she was absolutely enraged. and that's why this tradition stuck.

as they talked, arabella conveniently left out any mention of her future study session with peter. not because it was a big deal or anything, but because they were still at school.

their conversation continued on the bus ride home, jumping from random observations to homework complaints. when they finally made it home, arabella brought up peter. just as she'd predicted, mj's eyes narrowed with interest — her version of excitement.

"a study date?" mj's voice bounced off of the cabinets in the small kitchen, creating a slight echo.

arabella sighed, rolling her eyes. "a study session."

"interesting," mj responded, completely unconvinced as she dragged out the word as if it had more syllables than it really did.

arabella crossed her arms and leaned against the pantry behind her. "can't a girl and a guy just be friends, without there being any romance involved?"

"i'm just saying, you have a history." mj grinned and looked at the girl knowingly.

"oh, my gosh. you're still going on about this?" arabella groaned. "it was in middle school, let it go!"

mj laughed loudly as she recalled the memory. her hands clapped together once, booming throughout the apartment. as she laughed, arabella bit the inside of her cheek, waiting for her to finish her dramatic display of amusement.

surely arabella's past wasn't that hilarious.

once mj's laughter finally subsided, she pressed her lips into a line. "this is lucas, all over again!"

arabella shook her head and stuck her hand out to her best friend, objecting loudly as her annoyance rose, "no! no, it's not!"

mj walked closer to her protesting friend, nodding aggressively. "you don't talk to guys unless you like them, and lucas was proof of that," she reminded. "you liked him for years, bella. you never told him until i finally convinced you to ask him to the spring formal," she paused as she grabbed a bag of chips from the counter, "but it was too late because he already had a date."

arabella's demeanor shifted. she took a breath before releasing an empty chuckle. "yeah, well he didn't wanna go with me anyway because..."

mj cut her off, "we don't need to get into that, okay?" she looked her in the eyes, slightly sympathetic. "i'm just saying, don't let peter be another lucas."

"i won't, because he's just a friend." arabella smiled sarcastically, walking away from her curly-haired friend. as she did, her phone rang.

"who's that?" mj's voice muffled as she chewed on a potato chip.

she took her phone out of her pocket and looked at the caller id. "it's peter."

"tell him that if he hurts you, i'll hurt him," mj joked with a cliché, a smirk on her face.

arabella stuck her tongue out at the girl before walking into her room to accept the call.

she sat on the edge of her bed, the bottom of her shoes touching the hard wood floor. "hey."

"hi! how are you?" peter asked her, the distinct sound of the subway evident in the background, along with the chatter of the other passengers.

she smiled at his question, leaning forward slightly as she allowed her elbows to rest on her knees. "i've been worse, you?"

"yeah, no, i'm great actually." arabella could hear his smile in his voice.

"good, i'm glad," she replied genuinely.

"yeah, thank you!" he paused, arabella's hum filling the short second of voicelessness. "so, i wanted to let you know that you can come over any time before eight, if that's okay," peter informed her.

"okay! yeah, that works out fine." she paused. "i can head over in about an hour?"

"that works," he confirmed. "i already sent you my address, by the way."

"okay, cool."

"cool."

"so, what subjects do you wanna study?" arabella asked, unzipping her backpack. "do you wanna focus on one, a couple, or a little bit of everything?"

"oh!" he sounded surprised. "whatever, really."

she grabbed her journals from her backpack and looked through, remembering each subject from her color coded system. "we could focus on physics, if you want. or all of the classes we have together." she turned, displaying the contents of her backpack on her bed. "i also have flashcards for decathlon, if that's, like, any help."

"oh, wow," peter exclaimed, seemingly astonished by her preparedness. "well, a little bit of everything would be good. i'm a bit rusty."

"is that so?"

"yes, unfortunately, but i'm still doing great in algebra!"

"impressive! how'd you do on that test, by the way?"

"oh, i aced it, for sure," he responded with a playful tone.

they laughed in unison as arabella crossed her legs upon her bed, only after removing her shoes from her feet. she sighed, her smile remaining. "man, i wish i could say the same."

"what do you mean?" peter asked, his smile evident through his tone of voice.

arabella sucked her teeth, shaking her head. "well, algebra is my weak spot. i just can't get above a seventy with it."

a click? ah, a snap was heard on the end of peter's line when he presumably snapped his fingers. "maybe i could help you! algebra has been my best subject lately."

arabella's eyes widened slightly at his offer, that of which caused risen appreciation within her. "that'd actually be really great!"

"cool! so, i'll see you in an hour, then?"

"in an hour," she confirmed, nodding firmly as if peter could see her.

"okay, cool."

"okay, bye."

"bye."

arabella hung up the phone and walked out of her room, into the kitchen. she found mj, cooking, and breathed in the divine aroma.

"ooh, that smells good."

"yeah, yeah. what'd you talk about?" mj asked, keeping her attention on the stove in front of her.

"oh, he just told me i could go over any time before eight, so i told him i'd go in an hour," arabella said casually as she sat on the couch.

mj turned the temperature on the stove down with its knob, turning herself to face towards the living room where arabella was. "okay, good. at least you'll have time to eat before you go."

arabella nodded. before she could respond, she felt her phone vibrate in her hand. as the screen lit up, she brought it to her view, revealing messages from natasha in her notification center.

𖤐

nat 😚

hey, tony and i talked. you're in. get
here as soon as possible, i'll talk to
you on the way to berlin.

berlin?? i can't go to berlin!!

nat??

𖤐

"oh no."

mj quickly stopped what she was doing when she heard the worry in arabella's voice. "what happened?"

arabella shut her phone off and shoved it in her pocket. it wasn't likely that mj would try to take a peek at her phone, but she wouldn't take any chances.

"my tía from el paso, remember the one we'd play mario kart with?" mj nodded in remembrance. "well, she just texted me and said that there was an accident with my cousin— i have to go to texas."

"wait, what? texas?" mj left the kitchen and walked towards arabella, looking down at her on the couch. "texas is really far."

"yes, i know, but my cousin is really hurt." arabella shook her head, her eyes darting around the room as if she was deep in thought. in actuality, she couldn't look mj in the eye whilst she lied. "if something happens, i don't wanna regret not going to see him."

"okay. yeah, i get that." she paused, her arms crossed over her chest as this information began to settle. "wait, do you mean mateo?" she asked, her volume rising as well as the concern in her voice.

arabella stood up from the couch and walked to her room, mj following. "i'll have to find the fastest flight available, so i dunno when i'll be back." she pulled a suitcase out from under her bed and started packing her clothes. "i'll try to make it back by monday."

"y-yeah, okay." mj stood in the doorway and watched as arabella frantically packed her things.

after a half-hour, arabella had packed everything she would need for a weekend, even longer, before saying goodbye to mj.

of course she felt guilty lying to her best friend, but it was either this or put her in danger. lying felt like the better option.

since natasha didn't give her any details, arabella just assumed she should go to the avengers tower. she got on the earliest bus she could and headed that way.

once the bus stopped, she jumped out of her seat and ran to the building. the bus didn't stop too far from it. this time, at least.

arabella unlocked the door with her key, leaving her suitcase outside the door when she walked in.

"nat! nat?"

natasha walked out from the hall. "bella!" she walked to arabella and hugged her. "i'm so glad you're here."

arabella returned the hug. "me too, especially considering that extremely vague text."

natasha laughed and released from the hug. "did you bring your suit?"

arabella rolled up her jacket sleeve to reveal the skintight sleeve of her suit underneath. "i never leave the house without it."

unlike other times, she had worn her suit underneath her normal clothes. she made this decision based on that cryptic text natasha had sent her. normally, she would keep it in her bag, hidden in the back zipper.

"well, get ready. we're fighting steve."

"WHAT?"

"like i said, i'll explain on the way over. suit up." natasha walked out as she finished her sentence.

arabella walked over to a corner, hesitantly, and took off the clothes over her suit. she rolled them into a ball of sorts and placed them into her backpack.

when she was finished zipping up her bag, a guy with a red and blue suit walked in with tony.

"hi mr. stark! and um, hi, some guy i feel like i've seen before." arabella waved at the two of them, her mask and hood on.

"oh, i forgot to tell you. he's coming too." natasha walked back into the room, putting her hair down from the ponytail it was in.

"hi! im spider-man." the guy in the red and blue suit walked up to her and gave her his hand to shake.

she shook his hand and smiled. "that's right! i've seen you on youtube! nice to meet you, i'm vi-"

"vitality!" he finished for her. "i'm kind of a fan. sorry."

mr. stark put his hand on spider-man's back. "calm down."

"he'll be joining us today so, get to know each other on the flight there. make sure to keep it vague. i don't know for sure if this is a permanent thing, but you guys should like each other." mr. stark started walking to the door.

natasha followed him. "yeah, considering that you're both teenagers."

"wait. spider-man has been a teenager this whole time? i thought he was just an athletic forty year old man or something."

spider-man looked offended, even through the mask. "do i really pass for a forty year old?!"

she laughed. "well, i didn't think there was another teenage superhero! i just assumed!"

tony pulled spider-man aside, giving arabella the opportunity to talk to natasha, "hey, so why are we the only ones in our suits?" she asked, motioning her finger from herself to spider-man.

she pressed her lips together. "it was tony's idea. he figured that you guys should stay, uh, anonymous for now."

natasha walked off before arabella had a chance to respond. tony left shortly after which led the kids to follow behind them.

"do you like my new suit?" spider-man asked excitedly when he caught up to vitality, his arms in front of him as he admired the material covering them.

she nodded, looking down at his suit with a smile. "it's nice! did mr. stark make it?"

"yeah! the tech is awesome!"

"right? the features are insane!"

as they walked towards the jet, happy hogan approached. "you were really gonna get on without me?"

vitality and spider-man stopped and looked at the man.

"sorry, happy. go ahead." she extended her arms out as a signal for him to go before them.

tony sighed and looked at happy, annoyed. "seriously, hap? let the kids go first."

happy looked at him dead in the eyes, walking until he was directly in front of him. he grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him aside, giving him the space he needed to enter the jet.

"real mature." tony shook his head and walked further into the jet, leaving the two teenager's vision.

vitality and spider-man looked at each other with wide eyes before breaking out into laughter about what had just played out before them. they walked into the jet and sat near each other as it took off.

★

authors note:
this one is a bit shorter, but we're finally getting into the action !!

coming up with what to write in between scenes and how to get arabella to go to berlin was hard , but i managed to do it !

spider-man and vitality's first interaction now ya'll 😋😋.

— lyn

word count: 3,209