38 || school days and panic attacks

"Hey, you're going to be okay. Let's just go home and relax, yeah?"

Midtown High School, Queens, New York, November 2016-

School was boring. The time that was ticking away until Thanksgiving Break seemed to drag on and on. Classes were on edge, students almost counting down the seconds until they would be released for the day. There was only one more day of school left after the end of a rather drab Thursday, and everyone was buzzing.

Alison's math class had gone by quickly, with nothing eventful happening. The girl was just stacked with a load of homework, the teacher reminding the kids that the next day would be better, as she would put in a movie for the last day before break. Alison thought her math teacher was pretty cool, and wouldn't hesitate to help remind her students that the subject she taught (and school) could be fun too.

Alison was currently in the middle of chemistry class, working away with Tara on some unknown project for the class. The girl had admittedly moved away from her friendships with Drew, Tara, Jess, and Iris, instead sticking close to Skylar, not wanting to catch anyone else in the crossfire of Absinthe. Plus, the stress of all of the homework that she was being given did not help her cause.

Regardless, it was nice to talk to the girls when she had them in her classes, the girl reminded of the good months before everything fell apart in October. A time when everything had been peaceful, and not hectic and crazy. Oh! And no metal flying vulture-like men and evil daughters of "Thanos"were hanging around in Queens.

When the bell rang, the girls threw off their goggles and turned off their flames, turning in the project that was assigned for the day. Drifting through the halls, Alison arrived at her locker, pulling the lock off and placing her chemistry books inside.

Lunch was up next, and, needless to say, the girl was not looking forward to talking to others during lunch, especially after last night. Well, people other than Peter Parker and Skylar. They were the only ones she had told about her little super villain problem, which had become a little less than a problem in the last month.

Well, until last night, that is.

Walking into the cafeteria, Alison swiped a red tray from the stacked area from the beginning of the lunch line. Grabbing a grilled cheese sandwich and some tomato soup, the girl paid the register and walked over to sit with Skylar, who was next to Ned and Peter.

"Hey idiots." Alison remarked, plopping her lunch tray on the table, sliding onto the lunch bench, bumping Skylar down to sit right across from Ned. "How have your classes been so far?" She asked, opening up her napkin and utensil package. "Utterly boring?"

"That's one way to put it." Skylar agreed, taking a bite of her premed ham and cheese sandwich from home, wiping her mouth with her napkin afterwards to clear the remaining mayonnaise on her face. "All of the teachers seem to be landing on projects and homework right before we get to leave for break. It's like they don't want us to have a Thanksgiving Break."

"Agreed." Ned added himself into the conversation, a voice that was welcome with the two girls. Ned's commentary and view on everything was interesting to hear, especially after getting in trouble with the administration after Homecoming. "My physics teacher won't stop reminding of the finals we have in mid-December."

The two girls gave a collective groan at the thought of finals. "Don't remind of those." Alison sighed, shaking her head as she placed her spoon into her tomato soup, taking a small sip. "I don't even want to think of the projects we have to do over Thanksgiving Break, because, let's face it, that's going to be stressful."

"I mean, we could all work on them together." Peter offered, a small blush already on his face when all three of his friends looked at him at once. "I mean, we all have the same teachers, and we all have the same projects. It really doesn't make sense to work on them alone when we all could work together. I mean, do our own projects, but help each other out and collaborate on ideas."

Skylar shrugged, taking another bite of her sandwich. "That sounds like a good idea." She stated, her mouth still slightly full with food. "I mean, we could do it on Black Friday. I don't think thatch any of us can afford to waste the time or money to go out and find the discounts that day, so it could work."

Alison looked over at Ned and Peter, who nodded in agreement. The girl soon followed suit, giving a small yet firm nod. "I'm down for Black Friday, and I'm pretty sure the boys are too." She looked overt them again, who gave her the thumbs notion.

"Then we've got a homework session set." Skylar slapped the table, pulling out some chips from her brown lunch bag. Opening the bag with a pop, the girl smiled as she fished out a chip from the bag. "Peter's place at noon."

Before Peter could protest to having the study session at his place, Alison's phone rang, chiming in the basic ringtone that the girl had only designated to sales calls and unknown numbers. Confused, the girl slid open her phone, taking the call. "Hello?"

"Hi, is this Alison Marnell? This is Midtown Middle school calling in regards to your brother." The caller asked, their tone sweet and caring, probably the office or health attendant from Alison assumed. "He's had a major panic attack."

Alison and Charles were in the car, driving home within an hour of getting the phone call. Alison was keeping rather quiet, tapping the steering wheel awkwardly. She hadn't really driven a car on the streets since she- well, since she wrecked Lexi's over six months before. Granted, the girl had been drunk, and maybe a little more than that.

Charles was silent in the backseat, watching the scenery of the Queens area go by as the two were driving. He hadn't said much in the time that Alison had been with him, just offering the girl a huge hug when she had picked him up, not letting go even while the nurse had talked to Alison about what happened.

The nurse. Alison's mind flew back to what the nurse had said at a stop light, remembering what the woman had said. She had mentioned something about Charles freaking out in class, suddenly feeling some sense of danger that he had refused to tell the teachers about. Worried about his well being, the teacher had sent him up to the office, who had decided to send him home for some fresh air afterwards.

And now the siblings were here, driving along the comfortable urban view of the Queens area. The streets kept going on for what seemed forever at the moment, the apartment farther away than it normally was. Alison kept tapping her steering wheel, unsure of what to say to her younger brother.

"So.." The girl started, her eyes flitting up to the rearview mirror, looking at her brother through it. "Are you going to talk or am I gonna have to start the conversation?" She asked, quirking an eyebrow as she did so. "Because, to be honest, I really do not want to have a one sided-"

"I'm fine." Charles interrupted, still staring out the window as he spoke. "It was just a panic attack, maybe from the stress of school or something like that. Eighth grade isn't as easy as seventh grade was, and maybe it's catching up to me."

Alison didn't believe her brother, but nodded in agreement. She knew that her brother would (hopefully) open up to her about it honestly, as the boy couldn't stand keeping secrets from his sister. They only had each other in regards to the Marnell family tree, and Alison knew how important that was to her brother.

Her phone chimed with a text, ringing with the familiar sound of Peter's ringtone. Looking down at her phone at another stop light (the girl couldn't stop hitting those today), she saw that Peter had sent her a few texts.

"ARE YOU OKAY? YOU LEFT SCHOOL WITHOUT ANY EXPLANATION."

"IS IT ABSINTHE STUFF? CAUSE IF IT IS, YOU GOTTA TELL MISTER STARK."

"ALISON?"

Alison replied to the text with a simple "I'M OKAY." response, not telling the boy everything that he needed to know. She would explain everything to him tomorrow at school, and until then, there was nothing that the girl could do.

As the light turned green again, Alison pulled onto the street that would lead the two to the Fitz Building, the apartment complex they lived in, and back to their home. Alison looked back at Charles again, her gaze softening when she saw him staring straight back at her through the rearview mirror.

Pulling into the lot, Alison parked the car in the girl's usual spot, throwing the cone that she had placed there when she left that morning off to the side, letting it flop around until it stopped moving again.

Walking into the elevator, Charles pressed the button that would carry them to the floor of their apartment, pressing the close button quickly so that the doors would shudder shut. He was quiet until they reached the third floor, when he then blurted out what had actually happened. "I thought I saw Absinthe. I mean, when I had the panic attack, I thought I saw her right outside my classroom, and-"

"It's okay." Alison reassured him, trying to relax the boy's nerves that were probably on edge after even discussing the woman that he was afraid of. "Next time that happens, just tell your teachers to call me, and I'll come and hang out with you for a few, okay?"

"Okay." Charles nodded, rushing to hug Alison once again, squishing his face into her abs area. The boy was short, but wasn't very proud of that fact, but, then again, Alison was pretty tall as well. "I'll do that next time." He agreed, his voice muffled from sticking his face into Alison's shirt.

Laughing, Alison watched as the floors grew up and up, the elevator finally arriving on their floor. Nudging Charles out of his bear-like hug, Ali tried to turn her brother around to face the door once again. "Now come on, we need to get home and make some ice cream sundaes. Jackie will kill me if she finds out I bought more ice cream."

Charles nodded, turning himself around to the entrance of the lift. "Ice cream sundaes sound like a good thing to eat right now. Especially with the good magic shell chocolate covering that we have leftover from that basket Mister Stark gave us."

As the two got out of the elevator, Alison's face smiling with laughter from the prospect of making ice cream sundaes, there was something that caught the girl's eye as they rounded the corridor to their apartment. There was something off about the hallway, but she couldn't place her finger on it. Her face quickly turned into a frown as they kept walking down the hallway.

When Charles and Alison got in front of their apartment, it was suddenly crystal clear on what was wrong. The door to the Anderson-Marnell apartment was cracked open, a draft breezing the door open to halfway.

Someone had broken into their apartment.

<~*~>

guess who's back

back again

ash is back

tell a friend

I literally have one thing to say : FILLER FILLER FILLER!

I promise the next three chapters will come out quicker because they're very interesting. this was very much a set-up chapter for the next few.

I'll also get eleven done sometime soon, I promise

anyways, I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you in the next one!

bye

-ash