Chapter Text
Betty Brant has always loved investigating and reporting ever since she was younger. She loved solving the crimes on tv and playing Clue, and other murder mystery games. After every game, show, or movie, she'd write a whole report about the crime and how it was solved. She loved the aspect of digging for clues, connecting dots, creating theories, and especially loved when it all came together. She would marvel at her work, report on it, and show it to her family who would congratulate her.
This allowed her to connect with Michelle Jones. Betty knew MJ to be a scary girl according to others. A girl who always observed, stated her opinion and wasn't afraid if someone disagreed, held her arguments clean and crisp to the point it makes you question yourself, drew people in crisis, didn't care what others think of her, always stood and looked confident, and could make people squirm with her glare.
But the thing about Betty, she's a very extroverted person. She wanted to be able to connect to everyone on the Academic Decathlon team because she believed if they all became close friends then the team would be fun and have memories to last a lifetime.
So with MJ, it was murder mystery games. She invited MJ over and was surprised when MJ agreed to hangout. One look at the game though, MJ voiced her opinion about the game being dumb and how it's made for kids. That opinion quickly changed as they delved into the case of Lindsey Dalls. With its twists and turns, MJ and Betty got so involved they didn't even realize four hours had passed until they finally solved the case.
Spoiler alert: Percy Valky was her killer.
After, they debriefed and MJ didn't make fun of Betty as she was making her report. Betty knows MJ is not one to bully someone but she would've expected a funny look or something to make Betty feel embarrassed. Instead, MJ helped and even had suggestions for Betty to add.
They became friends after that. MJ may not share her darkest secrets with Betty but they were still closer than before.
Her next target was Cindy. She knows Cindy plays tennis for a club team and although Betty isn't a tennis player herself, she does find the sport fun. So, she asked Cindy if she could teach her. Of course, Cindy said yes.
Going to a public tennis court, Cindy taught Betty all the basics. They versed each other, with Cindy obviously winning, but she never gloated or criticized Betty. Instead, she gave Betty pointers and asked if she wanted to play again another time.
Betty said yes.
Cindy was always a nice girl, just shy. She kept to her group of friends and occasionally raised her hand in class but not often. Tennis was her outlet to become competitive and step out of her comfort zone. Sure AcaDec helps with that but this was her outlet outside of school.
During their time playing tennis, Betty found out how funny Cindy is. After their second hangout playing tennis, they got some lunch after and gossiped a lot. They exchanged crushes and the latest tea in the school. It was fun and definitely something Betty considered adding onto the school news segment. Not the invasive, embarrassing tea, but the fun tea that no one will try to punch her about.
The third target was Sally. Sally is a little less shy than Cindy but still not too vocal. She knows Sallys love for animals and how she volunteers at the local animal shelter. Betty loves animals too, she owns two cats and a bunny after all. So, what better way to bond with Sally than their shared love for animals?
Betty volunteered at the same animal shelter. Her first day there, Sally was surprised to see her but then showed her all of the animals. She told Betty what they liked and disliked and who needed more help with adoption than the others. Betty had a ton of fun and loved all the new quirks and facts she learned about the animals. She got really close to Sally and they tried to make their volunteer hours match up as much as possible.
The fourth target was Charles who was vocal but not as vocal as Abe and Flash. Betty was a little lost here until she learned that he volunteers at the library. Knowing she's stacking a lot of stuff on her plate, Betty decides to skip the volunteering part and just go to the library. She ran into Charles and lied saying she's doing a scoop on the library to gain some knowledge. Charles brought it though and she learned his favorite books and genres. His favorite was action and mentioned some books that Betty read. They ended up talking for two hours about the Percy Jackson and Harry Potter series. Charles and her quickly became friends after that.
The fifth target was Abe and unlike Cindy, Abe luckily only likes watching basketball and playing for fun instead of competitively. Betty brought up a Knicks game one day at school and Abe immediately jumped into the conversation. After, Betty suggested they play basketball sometime like Horse or something and he agreed betting she'd lose. Just to prove his point, Betty practiced basketball on her own and when the day came, she won. She didn't win every game but she did beat him multiple times and that's what counts for her. Abe laughed it off and they started becoming friends. She always knew him as the funny, sarcastic guy who loved to ring the teams bell every chance he got but now she got to see a different kind of side to him.
The sixth target was going to be tricky because it was Flash Thompson. That kid doesn't do anything except bully people. She couldn't think of anything they had in common until she thought of her love for money. She had no intentions of hanging out with Flash but she does want the team to become close and maybe he'd stop bullying Ned and Peter...hopefully. Luckily, an occasion arose. Her parents had been invited to a charity gala because her mom is childhood friends with a rich person, how fun. She got dragged along but she honestly couldn't wait to see the kind of dresses rich people would show up in, especially who. Sadly, she knew she probably wouldn't be able to talk to any famous person but just being in the same space as them would make her fan girl so hard.
Anyways, as she was walking around the gala with her parents, she saw Flash sitting at a table with his phone out. She told her parents she saw a friend and went up to him. It was awkward at first but then they started ranting about how charity galas were boring and how they didn't want to be dragged along. Sure Betty lied a bit but Flash didn't need to know that. They didn't become friends per se but they did talk for hours so Betty is going to count that as a win.
Her eighth and ninth targets she decided to plan together because it's the inseparable duo, Ned and Peter. She lowkey has a crush on Ned too and if she asked him to hangout alone she doesn't think she can do it without embarrassing herself. She didn't have to do much thinking for them. Despite not liking Star Wars or Legos, she does love old movies so she hosted a movie night. If she kept glancing at Ned, well no one needed to know about that.
During the movies, they kept shouting at characters making dumb decisions, about which guy the girl should choose, plot holes, the inaccuracy of the fight that just occurred, and so on. It was so much fun that Ned and Peter started throwing popcorn at each other and Betty couldn't help but laugh until she got ganged up on. She had so much popcorn in her hair but their laughs were worth it. Betty sometimes sat at their table with MJ now.
Now this wasn't for no reason. She wanted the whole team to get closer now, she was just the one who was going to push for it. She needed them all to open up to her so she can figure out what they can all do when they hung out and also what to say if something becomes too awkward, etc. She's very worried about this if it wasn't obvious.
When that day came, she still had no idea what to plan unfortunately until she thought of a game night. She'd had multiple different games, each catering to someone's taste and some random games that she thinks everyone would enjoy. Not that no one would enjoy one game catered to someone's taste, but just incase.
And it worked out.
They all had fun.
Flash was a dick at first but then loosened up. He only bullied Ned and Peter through the games like "I'm going to beat you", "I bet you're going to lose," "Mess up", and so on. Very mature stuff but sentences that every gamer says to challenge their opponent. None of it were luckily that mean.
Flash didn't just taunt Peter and Ned with those phrases either, it was everyone. He also got those phrases thrown back at him. It was a very eventful night and made practice later that week a blast.
So, she started hosting game nights once a week. But that's when things started to take a turn.
"Where's Peter? You two usually come together" Betty notices as she opens the door for Ned after greeting him.
"Uhh Peter's running a little late" Ned claimed.
"Well what's he doing?" Abe wonders only for silence to stretch, too long.
"Drugs" Ned panics.
Everyone looks at him like he grew another head.
"Drugs" Betty repeats.
"Uh-huh" Ned nods but the panic in his eyes says otherwise.
She turns to MJ with an eyebrow raised but all MJ does is shrug.
"Ok well...will he be here soon or should we start without him?" Betty wonders.
"I don't know" Ned responds.
"Let's just start without him. We don't need to wait for penis" Flash rolls his eyes.
Everyone reluctantly agrees after a few moments of thinking of what the fuck just happened? They sat down together around Betty's table and picked Uno.
It was the second round that they all heard knocking on the door and when Betty opened it, it was Peter Parker looking...normal.
So no drugs then.
"Hey, I'm sorry I'm late. May needed my help with something and she made cookies for everyone earlier" Peter apologizes as he holds up a tin box with cookies inside. "I can't promise they're any good but they're not burnt so..."
Everyone knew May wasn't a great cook but her cookies were usually good. It's not what made everyone confused though, it's the fact that Ned and Peter said two different lies.
"Ned said you were on drugs. That true Parker?" Flash calls out.
"Wha-no! I told Ned to tell you guys that I was helping May out because that's what happened" Peter exclaims looking shocked and turning to Ned.
"I must've heard you wrong on the phone then, sorry man" Ned apologizes looking sheepish.
"Well grab a seat and join us. We're about to finish our round as I destroy all these nerds" MJ states creating a riot.
🕷
Nothing strange or weird has happened since. It's been a couple of weeks until Peter decided to be weird again. Today, it's in school.
Betty notices him favoring his left leg in the morning. It's not a bad limp, it's actually very...subtle, like he's done this before or it's not as bad as it seems. She's in his gym class so knows he's getting out of gym regardless today but she sees the way the limp changes.
The subtle limp turns into no limp at all by the time AcaDec practice rolls around. He walks in with no limp, just walking normally like nothing happened at all. She feels like her mind had played tricks on her but she saw how Ned was worrying about him all day.
It felt strange but Betty doesn't know how to describe it. Maybe it really was nothing and Ned was worried about something else. That didn't sit right with her though. She knows what she saw.
Three days later and the weekend came. With the weekend, it also involves game night. Everyone's cheering their teammates on while booing at the other team in their game of Pictionary.
The night was going well...or so she thought.
Two hours into their night, Peter looked like he saw a ghost, listening and staring at nothing in particular.
"What's wrong Peter?" Cindy wonders making everyone turn to Peter and getting him out of his trance.
"I ummm nothing! I got a text, gotta go!" Peter quickly says before rushing out of the apartment.
Ned looks at Peter in worry, MJ reveals nothing, and everyone else is just as confused as Betty is.
"So who wants to explain that?" Sally questions.
Nobody answers.
"That's a spider" MJ answers instead, pointing at Betty's drawing that she forgot she even just drew.
"Oh come on! Another point for you guys" Abe groans in annoyance, everything going back to the way it was.
Except now they had to choose a different game because Neds partner was gone. Just up and left. No explanation but a weird feeling settling in Betty's stomach.
MJ's words cut through everyone, letting everyone fall back into how they were before. It's like MJ casted a spell on them. With her quick thinking, she got everybody distracted and it worked. It's obvious Ned and MJ knows what's up with Peter but it's even more obvious that it's something top secret that they can't share.
So what does she do?
Invites everyone over besides Peter, Ned, and MJ on a school night.
"What are we even doing here?" Flash questions in annoyance.
"You didn't have to come if you didn't want to" Betty shrugs.
"Ok but seriously, what's happening? Where's MJ, Ned, and Peter?" Abe wonders.
"Is this meeting about how weird they've been acting? Well more so Peter?" Cindy clocks it.
"Yes" Betty nods.
"Parker's always weird, why'd we need a meeting about him?" Flash rolls his eyes.
"Aren't you guys concerned? He's been acting weird and not the normal weird. Something's going on" Betty points out.
"I keep seeing him getting picked up by a black expensive looking car on Wednesdays and sometimes Fridays or Mondays" Sally informs.
"See! That's weird! His aunt doesn't own an expensive car" Betty replies despite never seeing Peter leave in an expensive car but she believes Sally. Time to follow Peter out the school when he leaves.
"He could be a prostitute or a male escort" Flash suggests like it's normal.
"Yeah because Peter looks like one" Abe argues sarcastically. "He is definitely not."
"Doesn't he have a Stark internship?" Cindy recalls.
"The one he lies about?" Flash questions.
"Also I doubt they'd be picking up an intern, that's weird and creepy" Charles adds.
"No his internship is real, all internships gets processed by the school and I heard Principal Morita talking to Mr. Harrington about it" Betty recalls.
"Yeah let's buy that. No way his internship is real. He probably faked the documents" Flash scoffs.
Everyone ignores him.
"What if he's being blackmailed?" Abe suggests.
"By who?" Sally questions.
"I don't know, just a suggestion" Abe shrugs.
"Ok how about this. Tomorrow's Wednesday so I want everyone to try and get a good look at the car. See who's in it, look at the plate, anything that can tell us anything" Betty plans.
"We all shouldn't go stalking the car though, that's suspicious" Charles points out.
"I can go and I'll take a picture without getting caught" Betty volunteers.
"I hope you get caught" Flash hopes making Betty roll her eyes.
"What if he's an alien" Abe gasps.
"Don't be ridiculous" Sally rolls her eyes.
"I saw him limping but by the time we had practice it was gone" Betty claims.
"He could've been faking it" Flash scoffs.
"He was limping very subtly making sure no one noticed. I thought I was imagining it but Ned kept looking nervously at Peter which confirmed my suspicions" Betty shuts down.
"Alien" Abe whispers, dragging the word out.
"If he wasn't so...Peter, I would've thought a gang" Cindy shrugs.
"Would make sense to join one after your uncle dies in front of you with a gun. It'd probably make any of us want to shoot the bastard back" Abe agrees. "But I still like my alien theory."
"Wait what if he's not in a gang but whatever he's doing is dangerous?" Sally wonders. "Like what if he's actually is being blackmailed to do something?"
"We should follow after the car tomorrow" Abe suggests.
"Yeah like we wouldn't be left in the dust or noticed" Cindy denies.
"Wait why don't we just eavesdrop on Peter and Ned's conversations more? Everyone ignores them so they could seriously be talking about anything like what Peter's involved in" Charles thinks of.
"Because their conversations are filled with Star Wars and Legos I'm sure" Flash rolls his eyes.
"You don't have to listen in if you don't want to Flash. We can do this without you and not tell you what we find" Betty shrugs. "But we all know you're curious too. You would've left if you weren't."
"Nah I just want to know what you geeks are up to and if it'll embarrass penis" Flash denies but he knows he got called out.
"Sure" Betty replies smugly.
"Why don't we just corner Ned? He can't keep secrets and his lies are shit" Abe points out.
"What would we even ask him? If we ask him straight up he'll be onto us" Cindy wonders.
"We can start off easy like why Peter always leaves class early or comes to class late" Abe shrugs.
"Too obvious, isn't it?" Sally questions.
"Why not just ask who picks him up on Wednesdays?" Charles suggests.
"Yeah, no matter what our questions are going to be obvious" Betty sighs.
"Then we interrogate him. He'll panic and tell us everything" Abe shrugs.
"That's mean" Betty states.
"But it'll work" Abe protests. "Only a few of us goes like Flash doesn't."
"And why not me? I'm more threatening than you guys" Flash questions.
"We don't want to be threatening and he wouldn't tell anything to you" Betty answers.
"What about Betty and Charles just go? He talks to them a little more than us outside of AcaDec" Cindy points out.
"That's a good idea" Sally nods.
"Fine with me" Charles relents.
"Sure" Betty easily nods.