Adventures in Babysitting ↠ Peter Parker [1] ✓

13 | How To Ground A Superhero

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ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING
xiii. HOW TO GROUND A SUPERHERO

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   RILEY WAS SO GROUNDED. Well, technically, she wasn't sure if her parents could ground her, but she didn't want to take her chances. Nonetheless, Riley had been expecting her grounding to occur when she returned home—not 30 minutes after the press showed up to Camp Mirkhaven.

   No one could settle down after the infiltration of the press. The news that Riley was "still keeping secrets" from the public spread like wildfire. She had tried to ignore it and kept to herself, but when she ran into some reporters hiding around Mirkhaven, Principal Morita decided Riley would be better off staying in her cabin until her press conference.

   So, really, Riley had been grounded by her old high school.

   Being the wonderful friend she was, MJ had chosen to retire to the cabin for the night to keep Riley company. She figured being supportive would mean a lot to Riley. Additionally, MJ took a few extra measures to soothe Riley's nerves, which included calling in some backup to help pass the time.

   But until "backup" arrived, Riley was left feeling annoyed and a little overwhelmed. Everything had happened to fast, and frankly, she still wasn't used to the media's presence yet. It was so much easier to avoid them when no one knew her name, but things were different now. This wasn't just an ordinary interview about Thanos or time travel; this was a press conference to talk about matters including harboring an alien and Spider-Man's identity.

   With MJ's phone (courtesy of one empathetic Principal Morita) pressed against her ear, Riley released a loud groan. "Don't you UGHHH me," declared Tony Stark. "You've dealt with worse things. I mean, remember when you had to cancel that puppy interview with Buzzfeed?"

   Rather than responding, Riley groaned again, causing Tony to add, "C'mon, what'd I just say?"

   "I know, I know," grumbled Riley. "I'm just worried, Dad! I feel like the only thing the public really knows about me is that I keep secrets. I'm supposed to be trustworthy and loyal to the public, but there's a new scandal every day!"

   "You—"

   "Did you know people are already comparing me to Steve?" interrupted Riley. "Do you know how hard it is to live up to someone like him?"

   "...Are you seriously asking me that right now?"

   Riley faltered. "Uh... can I phone a friend?"

   "I'll accept all apologies in the form of a therapist."

   Riley rolled her eyes at the comment. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "I'm just not used to this shit. Just... The public... they wanna know everything. I can figure out the stuff about Roman, but you know they're gonna ask about Spider-Man and why I've spent so much time in Queens. I can't throw Peter under the bus, right?"