'These excuses how they served me so well
They've kept me safe
They've kept me stoic
They've kept me locked in my own cell' -
Alanis Morissette

TWO MONTHS HAD passed since Gwen's expedition to Germany yet the lies kept on coming, she decided to only tell Gloria about her internship, but made her promise not to tell another soul. It would've been awkward if Peter Parker, someone who actually interned with Tony Stark, heard the news. Besides, she only missed one day of school, along with band practice that she'd been unintentionally avoiding for a few weeks. It wasn't a secret that Gwen loved music, so her constant absence and excuses led her friends to quickly become concerned. They needed Gwen, as both a drummer and a singer, but most of all, Gloria needed her friend.

"Gwen." Gloria greeted as she approached the blondes locker.

"Hi Glori." She replied, using her nickname to try and ease down the lecture about to come.

"Don't 'hi Glori' me." The girl with braids countered. "You've skipped out on band twice this week. Gwen, we need you. So if somethings wrong then just tell us, or just tell me." Gloriana Grant added, her concern only made Gwen feel even more guilty.

"I'm sorry, I've just been so busy lately. Mr Starks been giving me a ton of work to do and I'm trying to get it together, but it's just difficult." She claimed, telling some of the truth, but that wouldn't cut it for her best friend.

"Why don't you just tell him you need a social life? He, of all people, should be able to understand that." She argued. "Listen, the others are thinking about kicking you out of the band. You need to make more of an effort to show up." Gloria pleaded, in truth, she wanted Gwen to do what she loved, furthermore, allow herself to have a break. As far as she was aware, this internship was wearing Gwen out and if her employer didn't see that, then they didn't deserve Gwendolyn Stacy.

"Is practice on tonight?" Gwen asked, mentally cancelling her usual patrols. Gloria nodded. "I can make it, but I'll have to leave at seven."

"Really?" Gloria smiled.

"Promise." She winked, masking the nervousness she was feeling. Gwen was fully aware that she would get ridiculed by the rest of her band because of her lack of loyalty. Lucky for her, she'd gotten used to lying.

"If you go back on that then I'm going to tell Mrs Warren it's your birthday." Gloria joked as she took out her physics book from her own locker.

"Oh god, no." Gwen replied in all seriousness, last year, the physics teacher had miraculously found out it was her birthday. It was the longest, most embarrassing, and toughest 20 seconds of her life, the song 'happy birthday' still gave her flashbacks to that faithful day.

Gwen and Gloria both made their way to class, Gloria sat towards the front of the room, sending sneaky smirks to Gwen whenever she was picked on for a question. The blonde couldn't stress how much she regretted showing up late on the first day, it meant that both her, and her lab-partner Peter, constantly attracted questions like magnets. Mrs Warren didn't hold back, choosing them to answer exactly as they both began to doze off, which was a common occurrence for both of them.

"Ok, so how do we calculate linear acceleration between points A and B?" Mrs Warren asked the class, instantly igniting Flash to raise his hand. "Flash."

"It's the product of sine of the angle and gravity divided by mass." He answered.

"Nope." She dismissed. "How about the sleepy heads at the back. Gwendolyn and Peter, you still with us?" Mrs Warren increased the volume of her voice, waking the two teenagers at the back of the room.

Gwen was given a split second to think of an answer. "Um, mass cancels out, right?" She stuttered, hoping Peter would be able to give a better answer than her common knowledge.

"Oh, yeah, so it's just gravity times sine." He completed.

"Though the teamwork was unnecessary, you're both right." She admitted. "See, Flash, being the fastest isn't always best if you're wrong." The physics teacher stated, causing Gwen's to smirk at how easily she broke down Flash's ego.

"You're dead." Flash turned around and glared at Peter, sending a soft smile towards the blonde who despised him. Ok, so maybe Mrs Warren didn't bring down his ego enough.

Gwen glanced at Peter's computer, seeing a YouTube video of Spider-Man playing on repeat, along with a bunch of  conspiracy theories in his 'up-next' column. Ghost-Spider, hated conspiracies, she would rather people just be upfront and ask her questions. Obviously, she'd avoid ones like 'what's your real name?' or 'what school do you go to?' But she'd easily decline any relation to Spider-Man.

"I hate conspiracy theories." Gwen whispered as Mrs Warren continued teaching.

"Yeah, me too. But you gotta admit that sometimes they're useful." Peter offered his opinion, however, Gwen disagreed.

"Yeah, because 'Arachnid heroes are dating' is very useful." She spoke with sarcasm. "Just because they both have similar powers doesn't mean they're emotionally bonded for life." The girl crossed her arms.

"Yeah, I'm sure they both have personal lives, and are probably interested in other people." Peter agreed, referring to himself in the situation, though, that went unknown by Gwen.

Most their lessons went by quicker than Gwen usually remembered, mainly due to the fact she didn't have to patrol tonight. Instead, she could idly walk home with Gloria and hang out with her friends, much different to her average day.

"So, are you excited for homecoming?" Cindy Moon asked the girls on her table, Betty Brant, Liz Allan, Gloria and Gwen. Gwen was never as popular as the girls surrounding her, but being friends with Gloria had its perks, especially when needing to hear gossip.

"I'm so excited, but it was kinda awkward when Jason asked me to go with him in front of the whole school." Betty was first to answer, recalling the morning announcements with her co-star.

"He should've asked you in private instead of pressuring you to say yes." Gwen agreed, receiving nods from the other girls.

"So what are you guys gonna wear, it's 80s themed, right?" Gloria questioned, hoping to receive inspiration since Gwen was just as bewildered when it came to high school events.

"Yeah, but I doubt anyones gonna stick to the theme, I'm not." Liz replied. "Well, I gotta run, I need to hang up some homecoming posters." She quickly left the table, as she moved away, Gwen swore she saw Peter's head follow her direction. The blonde could see where Peter was coming from, Liz was 'perfect'. She had straight A's, popular, kind, and was an inspiring leader on the academic decathlon. As a matter of fact, even Gwen had to admit she was cute.

"So Gwen, you're coming to AD tonight right? Nationals are just around the corner." Cindy asked. Gloria and Betty weren't on the team, but they each had their own after school hobbies that kept them busy, both Betty and Gloria had to make preparations for homecoming.

"Yeah, Liz is gonna be quizzing us like hell." The blonde groaned. Her friends determination didn't limit to just herself.

"Yeah." Cindy agreed. "I'll see you later, okay?" She waved, leaving the table along with Betty as the bell began to ring.

"I'll meet you at the school doors." Gloria exclaimed while the duo separated for their final lessons.

The academic decathlon team had an excuse to skip the afternoon in order to practice. As expected, Liz was brutal with her questions. As soon as the brunette entered with a folder in her hand, Cindy and Gwen knew what was coming, giving each other sympathetic looks.

"What is the heaviest naturally occurring element?" Liz asked.

"Hydrogens the lightest." A member stated with a victorious look on his face. "That's not the question, okay." He added, realising his mistake.

"Uranium." Abraham added with his strong accent.

"That is correct, thank you Abraham. Now please, open your books to page ten." The leader instructed, encouraging Gwen to quickly scan the page before another flurry of questions headed her way.

"You've never even been in the same room as Tony Stark." Flash interrupted the quietness in the room.

"Wait. What's happening?" Cindy asked. She'd always been cautious and quick to jump to the worst conclusions, but this time, she was right.

"Peter's not coming to Washington." Someone answered.

"No, no, no, no no. No, no." Cindy continued to deny.

"Huh, why not?" Asked Gwen.

"Really? Right before nationals?" To Gwen, Liz sounded annoyed, but to the others, she was just a concerned leader. However the girl couldn't blame her, she'd worked so hard, only to have a nitwit like flash take Peter's place. His method of answering quick, thinking later, sent a huge backlash on the team.

"He already quit marching band and robotics lab." Michelle Jones interjected. "I'm not obsessed with him, I'm just very observant." She claimed after noticing the weird stares. Gwen enjoyed MJ's company, she was edgy and funny be around when you weren't her enemy. She imagined MJ didn't get along well with Flash Thompson.

"Flash, you're in for Peter." Liz turned to him.

"Oh, I don't know. I gotta check my calendar first. I got a hot date with Black-Widow coming up." Flash joked, mocking Peter but also insulting Black-Widows taste in men.

"Is that before or after you go to dreamland?" Gwen quirked a brow.

Abraham began to instantly ring the bell with his answer. "I vote after." Flash only scoffed at their implication that his dating life was a figment of his imagination.

"What did I tell you about using the bell for comedic purposes?" Mr Harrington sighed, his point being broken by the bell, initiating it was finally time for them to go home.

Gwen was relieved when she saw Glori at their meeting place, happily waiting to go to band practice with Betty and Any Whiteside. It had been a while since Any didn't look annoyed with the hero, she'd always missed out on practice and as a result, the band lost most its gigs and were out of tune. Any was the lead of the band, she didn't play any instruments, but she was a great singer. Where as the other three, we're strong with their skills. Betty played base, Gloria played keyboard and Gwen was a drummer, but each of them would often take their turn as background singers.

So that's exactly what they did. The squad played their music until Gwen met her deadline, she did warn them that she had to leave early, but that didn't alter their disappointment. "Sorry, I promise I'll make a better effort to come. I've just been so busy lately." Gwen apologised.

"You better!" Any shouted after Gwen as she quickly ran for cover. She needed to go out on patrol, it was already getting dark and it was common knowledge to know most events happen at night. Gwen managed to find a public restroom and swiftly put on her suit. She'd gotten used to it over the weeks and contacted her AI for a recap.

"Hey Ashla. You got anything for me?"