Blue Flame, Gwen Stacy

08. Hope You're Okay

↳ chapter eight ₊˚.༄
[# hope you're okay]

FIVE MONTHS HAD PASSED SINCE THE EVENTS THAT CHANGED HER LIFE. Ivy couldn't really tell you how she was feeling if you asked, no matter how hard she tried. Sometimes it was relief, sometimes it was gratitude. Other times it was pure longing.

On any other day, her mind would've been set on studying for her exams. Or perhaps she would be practicing for the ballet audition in a few weeks, taking her time to break in a new pair of pointe shoes and study the choreography she would be performing. But on a peculiar Sunday, her thoughts trailed to a certain blonde she had met. It was hard to forget about the people she met on her way home. Miles, Peter, Peni, Spider-Noir, even Peter Porker would cross her mind from time-to-time. But neither of them stuck quite as much as Gwen Stacy.

Ivy would be on her way to school and come across the strangest thing she had seen on her morning walks and expect to see a pair of blue eyes looking at her, as if they were silently communicating in the sea of people. But she only found herself met with nothing, sharing the peculiar moment with only herself. It had even gotten to the point where she would look at her ballet flats and think about the girl.

Ivy's seventeenth birthday was approaching fast, faster than she wanted it to be. She should be excited, glad, even. Her highschool days would be over in a year and she'd be able to start focusing on her passions. Pursue ballet as a career, apply for the most esteemed ballet academies in Tokyo, then join a company that would hire her. If her vigilante duties didn't take first priorities.

The only reason she felt anything but excitement was- she wanted to spend the day with friends. Plural. Of course, she would be thrilled to spend her birthday with her family and childhood best friend, Natty. She was sure the younger girl had already planned a five hour marathon for the two of them. But looking back on the short time she had spent with Gwen and Miles, an addition to her special day wouldn't be so bad.

A reminder went off on her phone, the small notification on her screen telling her to eat lunch and revise for her history exam. The dark haired girl rolled her eyes and closed her phone, stretching in her seat before making her way downstairs.

Light steps filled the quiet home, the only other sound being the short mutters of annoyance from her mother. Sitting by the kitchen island was Kaori Moon, Ivy's beloved mother, scrunching her nose as she stared at her laptop screen with a cup of tea in her hand. "Ruka, natsuyasumi ni Itaria ni iku koto o dōomou?" Ruka, what do you think about going to Italy for the summer?

Stopping in her tracks, the 16 year old girl looked at her mother wildly. "Itaria? Mama wa Itaria ryokō ni kyōmi o shimeshita koto ga nai janai." Italy? You've never shown interest in traveling there, mom.

Her mom shrugged, smiling at her with interest. "Mā, tanoshī to omowanai?" Well, don't you think it'll be fun?

"Sore wa, mama, mō haku ni kīta koto ga arimasu ka?" It would be, have you asked Haku yet, mom? Ivy asked, opening the dishwasher that her mom used as a drying rack instead of its intended purpose ever since they moved, and reached for a bowl.

"Mada juken shīzunda. Sō ieba, kimi wa benkyō ni modorubekida ne." Not yet, it's still exam season for him. That reminds me, you should go back to studying

Ivy sighed at the reminder, plating herself a scoop of rice and grabbing the left over chicken skewers from breakfast. "Sō suru yo, ma. Mazu,-tai ni nenryō o hokyū suruhitsuyōgāru." I will, ma. First, I need to fuel my body.

Going back up the stairs, the girl closed her door with her left leg, placing the plate of food on her desk as she headed towards her shelf. Trailing her finger over the perfectly organized section of binders (Ivy couldn't function if her room was a mess), she grabbed the clear binder, its cover labeled with 'HISTORY' and various doodles of the throwing up and rolling eyes emoji. Ivy chuckled at her and Natty's work, flipping over the pages to her recent material.

Unexpectedly, a polaroid slipped out of the sheets of paper. Strange, Ivy thought. She was never one to place miscellaneous things where they shouldn't be. The act itself makes her sick and impulsively rearrange whatever had been untidy. So, to see a picture slip out of her history binder, out of all things, made her lips downturn and brows furrow.

Sighing to herself, she placed her binder on her desk before reaching down and picking the piece of film. If she hadn't caught a glimpse of the colored image, Ivy would've considered throwing it in the bin. But she was glad she didn't.

Resting in the palm of her hand was a polaroid taken five months ago, when she had wound up at Miles' universe. On the bus ride from Alchemax, the boy had found a stray polaroid cam in the pockets of the bus and suggested they take pictures, for keepsake. And Ivy was never one to turn down a photo session.

Only two films had been left, and although Ivy argued very hard, Miles managed to convince her to keep the photo, the other one given to Gwen. The dark haired girl stood there wondering how she was, if Spider-Woman's name had been cleared yet. If she was okay, if she was happy.

A small pool of memories came rushing back to her. The first day she had met Gwen, the phantom touch of her hand wrapped around her wrist whenever the blonde led her to secluded areas of the academy so they wouldn't be eavesdropped, the night at Aunt May's house, their goodbye...

Ivy stuffed the picture into her pillow case, punching the cushion for extra measure. She ran a hand through her hair before shaking her head, taking a mental note to clear her study space from any reminder of her.

She couldn't risk failing her exam just because of a girl she met for five days.

Spending an additional five minutes to remove any ballet related object from her desk, Ivy finally sat down on her desk and opened her laptop. Clicking on the chrome logo, she searched for her typical music during study sessions; lofi beats. Plugging her headphones in and taking a few bites of her meal, the dark haired girl was starting to get into the groove of studying, her mind closing off any trains of thought as she read over her previous notes on the subject.

Her phone suddenly rang and Ivy's head shot up, eyes wide and brows raised. Pausing the music and letting her headphones rest around her neck, she picked up the call without reading the contact name. "Hello?"

"Thank god you picked up, V." Natty's familiar voice filled her ears. "I'm sure you're studying, but, uh, your villain of the week is back."

"Ugh, not him." Ivy groaned, remembering the struggles of catching a burglar that just so happened to slip out of her grasp last minute. "Well, thanks for telling me. Go home, stay safe. I'll catch him in a bit."

author's note!

that's the end guys, volume one is over... i can't believe it...

but don't be so sad bc ivy and gwen will return soon! i just gotta finish a few chapters for the second act so i have some sense of security

thank you so much to everyone who have kept clicking onto this book, for voting and commenting (ppl who comment ilysm. ps, i'm very sorry if the japanese translations are incorrect, i used a translator :p)

see you later, i love you guys <3 mwah 💋