Having Fun & Learning Something New

Spending time with Peter and the Avengers had been a necessary step in my plan for safety and freedom, but the constant training without breaks had begun to wear down Pete. His eyes had bags, and his mood was getting progressively worse, whether that be a result of the brutal training or simply being separated from Ned more often than usual. After all, the two had been basically joined at the hip for the past few years, with me only being moved to Peter's high school this year after my parents' deaths. Deciding to help alleviate his mood, I got him to invite his mates to our place, seeing as May was spending the night at her friend Sarah's for a 'girls' night.' Inviting a collection of the smarter kids and those that were social enough and extroverted enough to keep a conversation going with a group of nerds, I also invite Liz, solely to help Peter either get with her or get over her. 'Just because her dad's a gun-selling, thief with low moral standards, doesn't mean Liz isn't an extremely kind girl, as during the film she was still nice to Peter even after he left her alone at Homecoming.' Little did I know that by inviting the more social and extroverted people in the school, I had also invited everyone else in the year level.

"You going to Cross's party tonight?"

"And miss a blowout party where everyone else will be there? Of course I'm going. I just need to figure out what I'm wearing and steal some of my dad's booze."

"Dude, you've been wearing jeans and a t-shirt every day since I met you. There's no decision to be made." The boys continued chatting and similar conversations could be overheard in classrooms and in the cafeteria. Grimacing at Pete, I lean over to him.

"I think this is going to get somewhat out of hand, so when you get home, hide the valuables and breakables."

"How're we going to pay for the drinks? Or even BUY the drinks?" he said, slowly beginning to panic again over the rapid escalation in the situation.

"Okay for starters, I have several grand stashed away from my time looting criminals after I break them, and buying the drinks shouldn't be an issue right? We can just ask someone like Nat, Bucky, Clint or Wanda even. Honestly, anyone but Steve would probably help us, and if we provoke Nat enough, she might just raid Tony's bar which would be hilarious and save us money." Pete was so shocked at the ease with which I had developed a plan for illegally getting the booze, and somewhat aghast by my plan to rob Tony just so I wouldn't have to pay for some of it myself.

Sending texts to Bucky, Nat and Clint first I asked if they'd support me in my quest for robbing Tony, which was surprisingly the easiest acceptance I'd ever weaselled out of them, with Clint and Nat agreeing almost instantly, so long as I promised to 'act more my age.' A promise I had little issues agreeing to, just for tonight. Getting home and cleaning the house had taken mere moments, as although my tentacle kagune don't have fingers, Pete's idea of using sticky tape to connect a cleaning cloth to them was super effective, allowing me to clean a whole room from ceiling down in less than 3 minutes, giving me and Petey plenty of time to carry in the drinks from the delivery cars Clint had sent, un-marked so as to better act as a delivery service. Sending Peter to go apologise to the neighbours for tonight's party and the accompanying noise, I went shopping for supplies. 'I don't get how people don't understand that alerting the neighbours to a party is common courtesy. We're teenagers, not assholes.'

Stocked with food, and drinks and with a sound system surrounding the loungeroom and kitchen area I double-check that May's room is locked and secure, and I clean the now empty esky box. As in, I had eaten what was left in it 15 minutes ago, so that there was no way of some curious dipshit opening the box and causing a scene. 'That's the last thing I need, cops, showing up because a teenager found body parts in our basement. Speaking of.' "Pete, you better have hidden your birthday suit waayyy out of the way, and I don't mean in the crawl space, I mean somewhere it WON'T be found." 'That's one lucky thing about just having a mask, as I can hide it pretty much anywhere, having hidden my own mask inside the back panel of my chest of drawers, unable to be found unless you broke the solid wood piece of furniture, or actively knew where it was hidden.' Seeing my brother racing back to his room I figured, he'd decided to move it from the honestly quite poorly hidden spot in his roof.

Looking out the window I pray for just one day when someone doesn't do something extraordinarily stupid just to piss me off.

As people started rocking up and empty bottles started collecting at the sides of the room, the rooms become more and more packed, and the staircase was now loaded with people drinking and chatting, behaving for the most part. 'At least they weren't left in the middle of the room as a tripping hazard.' A few groups had started drinking games, trying to get each other as drunk as possible as they did word games, suck and blow (it's a game you pervs) and racing to chug down a bottle in teams. Looking over at Peter with a huge smile on his face, hanging with Ned and Michelle as they did team racing, I grabbed a bottle of vodka from the bench and took a sip, my past self warning me of the burn, and my new self cautious of the taste of alcohol now that I'm undead. Swigging it back, I'm amazed by the taste. 'Why the hell would vodka taste like a Turkish delight?' Looking at the bottle, I read that it has notes of rosehip and I'm instantly gobsmacked. 'It tastes, normal?' Seeing Peter looking at me weirdly I point to the bottle and give a thumbs up, surprising even him, who hadn't expected it to be normal in the same way as coffee. Chugging down the bottle, I chat to Jason, who is the co-host of the 'Midtown News,' with Betty Brant, who would end up dating Ned somehow. 15 minutes into the conversation I recognise an issue, while the alcohol does have an effect on me, my rapid regeneration gets rid of the effects way too quickly, giving a mere momentary buzz despite me having necked an entire bottle of vodka myself. Frustrated, I begin sampling the different drinks to see if they all taste as they should, and finding it to be true, began sipping from a cider, which as if by magic didn't taste rotten or slimy.

Seeing one of the theatre kids call me and Jason out and bring us into the circle of semi-popular to popular kids, with the exception of Flash, who actually hadn't bothered coming, saying he had something better to do, I wait for an explanation of the game. "7 minutes in heaven, we all know how this works. Obviously, anyone is allowed to reject at any point and if you're not done in 7 minutes, we'll pull you out of the cupboard ourselves got it?" Looking at the circle which had somehow grown quickly, now involving MJ, Liz, Betty and a few others from the school cheer team and surprisingly the school band. 'Guess, I'll find out what they do at band camp,' I snigger to myself at the poor joke, looking around at the group of teens, from jocks to nerds, mingling and letting go for a night. 'I wonder if this is what Nat wanted by saying to be more my age? Should I be disgusted by the idea of snogging other teenagers, simply because I have the memories of a past life, of another person now stuck in my head?' Having lived the past 15 years in this body without the memories, I found it hard to think of myself as being older than 15, though I had to admit that my strike zone for women had expanded significantly since gaining them. As the second pair comes out, the bottle spins landing on Ned, connecting him to some girl from the computer science club, followed by 2 popular kids, then a nerd and a theatre kid, then landing on Peter. Looking at him I can see the hope and nervousness in his eyes, and I plead to any watching gods that he gets Liz, or else someone who would provide endless entertainment and teasing material. "Liz, you and Parker are up." While I continue to sip at my drink and chat with Jason, who is seriously chill, I can't help but listen to Pete's nervous chattering before I hear his desperate squeak as she smashes her lips to his. Zoning back onto my own conversation, as I cheer silently for Petey who oh so desperately needed the confidence boost, I hear Ned talking to the boy next to him about kissing techniques, causing me and everyone else listening to laugh a little.

The emergence of Liz and Pete was hilarious, as she had neatened up her appearance, and calmly sat near him, Ned and Michelle, while Peter looked like someone had used a vacuum cleaner on his hair, and his shirt was all bunched up from where he'd obviously been grabbed. Though the goofy smile on his face told me he didn't care, so I just ignored it, well I tried to, instead simply not commenting on it. "Cross, you're up."

"Ned, quit calling me that," I groan sculling the rest of the bottle and half of another bottle of vodka I'd removed from Jason for the moment, hoping that by consciously stopping the healing, I could get drunk.

"Annnnndd, MJ!"

"Fucking what?" 'I can't believe my luck, a circle with like 25+ girls and I'm put with the one with a crush on Peter. Oh well, at least she'll refuse it.'

"OK." '...Or not?'

POV- Michelle Jones (MJ)

Parties have never been my thing. Whether it be the large groups of people or the social grouping that often isolates everyone not part of certain groups or clubs. Or maybe it's just that I know that I'm not a social person so I push people away, often being rude without meaning to be. So when Peter asked me to his party, I almost said no, but when I called home expecting a refusal as I explained there'd be alcohol and lots of boys, mom simply agreed commenting that I needed to 'have fun with others my age.' Arriving a little late, the grouping I'd been expecting hadn't happened, and there wasn't a single person who looked uncomfortable being here.

"MJ, I thought you weren't coming?" Peter waves me over and gets me a drink.

"I guess I had a change of mind." I reply, not going to admit that I was being pushed to attend and drink by my mom. Hanging with Ned, Peter and the occasional social drifter, I notice Nathan Cross, standing beside the male news host, Jason. A small pile of bottles collecting around them as Nathan sips, as if tasting, then empties the bottle down his throat. Part of me wants to stop him, as a case of alcohol poisoning would really ruin the night, not to mention that he was essentially Peter's brother. The other part of me, the winning part I should add, simply observed him. The growing pile of empty bottles, with only a few, he passed to Jason after sampling, obviously not enjoying as much as the rest.

"How's he doing that?" Ned asks, nodding in Nathan's direction. "He's like a machine. Does he have a high tolerance? Does he drink often? With the piercings and huge tattoos I always kind of expected him to drink but not like that jeez."

Peter had slipped away mid-way through Ned's questions, whispering in Nathan's ear, who simply responded with a nod before he replaced his bottle with a cider, now only sipping from the bottle. 'That's not a high tolerance, it's almost like it doesn't affect him at all.'

40 mins later-

Sat in a circle, playing 7 Minutes in Heaven, listening to Ned recount the time he spent in the cupboard in graphic detail, Peter is paired with Liz. Personally, I'm conflicted, because Peter's the only guy at school I would even consider dating, kind, caring, funny and smart, if a little distracted recently these past few months. But as his friend, I also know that he has a huge crush on Liz, and he has tunnel vision about her currently. Sitting and waiting for the next round so I can laugh with Ned and Peter again, the timer buzzes and the two come out of the closet displaying a very telling story. The goofy smile on his face, both sweet and aggravating at the same time.

Ned suddenly calls out to Peter's admittedly more attractive brother, "Cross, you're up." 'Hahaha, the arrogant prick looks so disgruntled, though his comment to Ned again slid right off him, just like every other time he gets called Cross.' As I watch him again scull half a bottle of vodka as everyone else focuses on the spinning bottle, I hear my name called, everyone looking at me, including him. 'Do I reject it, I mean, I don't like him. He's gorgeous, but his personality is infuriating. Wait. But if I go through with this, not only will I be behaving like a regular girl, like mom wants, even making out with the 'cute boy,' she pointed out one day, but I'd also get to infuriate Nathan, and maybe, even make Peter jealous. Win Win Win.'

"Ok." Trying desperately and failing to keep the grin off my face as I look at Nathan's shocked face I walk over and pull him up and to the cupboard.