Chapter Text
She wasn't made to be Spider-Women–that's for damn sure–after saving two little kids from being held at knifepoint, she immediately rocked the man's shit by uppercut him in his jaw, she kicked him in the balls, and she got a punch to her abdomen for a reward… that shit isn't easy, really. After getting bitten by a radioactive spider, she had weird things happening to her left and right.
1. She could turn invisible and use electricity.
2. Gaining spider-senses (whatever that is).
3. Falling in love with… Penelope Marie Proud, okay, now THAT one she wasn't sure about.
She was only 17, but a superhero–and she's also a damn loser. She spray paints buildings with her uncle (her figural one) for crying out loud, she draws random things, and she doesn't fit in with the kids at Pickett High School–shocking, right?
It was hard keeping a secret identity from her friends, especially her crush, who probably thinks superheroes/Spider-Man is lame… and LaCienega will be heartbroken if that ever happened to her.
…Whenever that day comes.
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“¡Mierda, me quedé dormido!” (Fuck, I overslept!)
LaCienega scurried herself out of bed, accidentally getting tangled in her blankets, and rolled out of bed while her head hit the floor with a soft THUD–a bruise is definitely gonna be there, and she groaned painfully before rushing to the bathroom. She rapidly brushed her teeth, and hopped in the shower. Today was just an ordinary day in California, except she has a test in Brother Kwame's class; has she studied? Yes, over 10 times that her brain fried during question 12–it's 20 questions, and she swears to God that she's not mentally prepared for this. She threw on her regular attire and walked down the stairs gracefully, but her stomach said otherwise.
“Buenos días, mi princesa.” (Good morning, my princess). Her mother's tone was soft, and she yawned just by hearing it; she kissed the older woman's cheek before replying with, “Buenos días, mamá.”
“You're gonna ace that test today.” Her father now chimed in, ruffling LaCienega's hair as she groaned from her parents sickeningly sweet affection.
“Ay dios mío, I know I'm gonna pass; I studied all night…” LaCienega said hoarsely as she sipped on some orange juice, and her mother immediately stopped flipping the other batch of pancakes.
Maldita sea, mala jugada. (Fuck, wrong move).
“¿¡Toda la noche!?” (All night?!) Her mother exclaimed, and she quickly handed the spatula to Felix as she picked something from her pocket, there was a small bottle of sedating antidepressants, and LaCienega eyebrows furrowed nervously; did her mom find out overnight or something?
The Latina eventually stuffed them in her pocket shakily, now smiling practicely–she's gonna kill herself, and not literally, just figuratively.
She meticulously ate her pancakes before hopping off the stool, and she noticed that she was getting driven to school in her mother's cruiser… oh yeah, life is fun.
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It's very unlikely for LaCienega Boulevardez to get antsy during a test–everyone knows that she kicks the test's ass every time she gets one, but not this time though, after fighting with criminals and swinging from building to building to save the town from utter destruction, she really needed a nap.
After passing her test to the front, FYI, Penny's in the front row, she growing more nervous after knowing that her crush was probably laughing at her for getting a bad score or something; she knows Penny, after hanging out with her for so long, she's known to be a careless person from time to time.
Her eyes widened astonishingly when she saw the score…
…she got a 100%, looks like all her studying paid off, and she saw something in the bottom right of her paper–she saw a note that said:
good job on the perfect score, loser. <3
LaCienega noticed her cheeks flushing red as she looked over Dijonay's shoulder to see Penny smirking at her before mouthing something her eyes couldn't process for some reason, so she stayed glued to her seat until the shrill of the bell made her breath hitch, and she finally let out her breath before sighing, now heading to lunch, her test unselfconsciously still in her hands as she blushed in embarrassment, goddamn it.
She shrugs off her backpack to neatly place her test in, when all of sudden her spidey-senses kicked in, she's not sure why it's actively working here, there's no danger–
“LaCienega?”
The Latina was now in a crouching position, she straightened her back perfectly and giggled nervously as she turned around to face Penny.
“Hi,” it came out strained; like someone had just finished cleaning a window with a sponge. Penny smiled at her warmly, and she moved her hand up to pat the Latina on the head for some reason while saying, “Congrats on passing that test–shit, History isn't my strongest, but you got it.”
LaCienega shifted from one foot to another, now nodding. “Hey,” she said softly, “you got a 88, and that's good!”
Penny kissed her teeth before raising her hands in surrender. “Explain that to my parents, hell, they don't even support C's.”
“They just want A's only,” she mocked in an exaggerated voice, making LaCienega giggle.
“I'll consider swapping parents with you one day.”
“You better,” Penny demanded, although her tone was playful; the Latina can't decipher undertones within the girl's voice sometimes. So this time she keeps her mouth shut, only giving her a non-committal nod. Lunch was gonna be hell to maintain.
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The antidepressants were rapidly thrown into her mouth as she downed them with her diet Coke, which is so disgusting. (Not everyone likes diet Coke, especially not LaCienega).
Her mind was in a hazed headspace until her spidey-senses tingled a‐fucking-gain, so she quickly rushed to the bathroom to change into her spider suit, and she used the back entrance before swinging into the air, she already knows that she's being recorded–she loves the attention either way.
She prays that Penny'll be impressed with her skills and powers.
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LaCienega came back in time to be shaken by the shoulders by Penny's soft hands; she's squealing and dragging the girl over to their table, “Girl, have you seen how Spider-Man fights?! He's sooo cute!”
The Latina blushed before smiling nervously, “Oh yeah, he's so cute!”
En realidad es Spider-Women, y técnicamente me llamaste linda, Proud. (Actually it's Spider-Women, and you technically called me cute, Proud).
Penny sighed dreamily. “I wonder who's the babe behind the mask, he… or she is probably fine.”
Michael smirked. “She, huh? Didn't know you go both ways.”
Penny shrugged. “Who knows, I might be dating Spider-Man/Spider-Women by next week or so.”
Maya laughed. “Who knew you were a fan of Marvel?” Dijonay cleared her throat loudly, “I got her hooked on it, actually.”
Zoey noticed that LaCienega was eerily quiet, so she lightly tapped her shoulder. “Hey, are you okay?”
LaCienega sighed softly. “No, matter-of-fact… I have a secret I need to tell you, but you can't tell anyone, meet me at my house at 3.”
“Got it, boss!”
“Zoey.”
“Sorry, sorry.”
LaCienega rolled her eyes playfully but smiled softly at the taller teenager–she was honestly grateful for Zoey Howzer… sometimes.
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LaCienega took a deep inhale of breath before exhaling, now pushing back her branded clothes to reveal the black and red suit sitting in the midst of all the chaos she had going on, she really needed to organize her closet asap. She stepped out and laid the suit on the bed, and Zoey leaned in to examine it suspiciously.
“Is this for pretend?” LaCienega wished that she could nod her head, but no, she had to get this suit remade so many times due to it being ripped, dirty, or even stained in her own blood from wounds–and she actually shook her head.
“No. It's real, Zoe.”
“So, you're Spider-Women?”
“Yup.”
“So, the LaCienega Boulevardez we know and love, is secretly saving the city from utter destruction and hate crimes?”
“Also yes, but I don't think Spider-Women prevent hate crimes… or they–as spider people–probably do and I'm just unaware.”
Zoey sat down at the edge of the Latina's bed, crossing her arms. “Sooo…”
“So what?”
“How long have you been bitten for?”
“Approximately a week,” LaCienega drawled, now sitting down. “It's not hard fighting crimes everyday, but it is ruining my sleep; I'm literally taking sedating antidepressants.”
“That's bad.”
“I know.”
“Does your mom know about your secret identity?”
“She will soon.”
Zoey bared her teeth nervously. “That doesn't sound reassuring… hey, why don't you get some sleep?”
LaCienega furrowed her eyebrows confusedly. “It's 3:17, we just left school.”
“You probably won't be so sluggish if you go to sleep earlier than 9 pm, have you ever thought of that?”
“Nah.”
“Then go to sleep.”
“It's early!” LaCienega flailed her arms, and a yawn escaped. “You're so lucky… fine, fine, go… shoo.”
Zoey smiled. “Sleep well!”
“I'm going to!” LaCienega groaned, now slipping on her pajamas and letting the ambience take over so she could sleep… and she fell asleep quick, maybe the pills did work. She didn't even hear her door closing behind her.