Avi2112
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Chapter 215
🕑 Added 2025-04-09 14:44:19 +0000 UTC"I am telling the truth! Yesterday, I was this close to going to the gym. I even put on my new gym shorts and everything—I was all ready to leave," Ned said as he placed his plate on the table and plopped into his seat.
"So what stopped you this time?" Penny asked, raising a brow as she sat down across from him.
"I remembered I had ordered a Darth Vader figurine online, and the site said that the delivery guy could show up anytime before 10 p.m.," Ned replied, giving a sheepish grin. "So I decided to wait a bit before heading out."
"And let me guess—the delivery never arrived, and that's why you skipped the gym again?" Penny said, shaking her head.
"Yeah," Ned admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "But in my defense, it's totally the delivery guy's fault. If he had just told me earlier that he wasn't coming, I would have totally gone to the gym!" he added, stuffing his mouth with a big bite of gravy-covered meat.
Penny sighed, already well-acquainted with her chubby friend's ever-growing list of excuses. "Ned, you promised you would start exercising this year. It was your New Year's resolution, and you have already paid for the whole year at the gym. But it is mid-April now, and you haven't stepped foot in there once," she said, pointing her fork at him. "Did you forget why you wanted to get fit in the first place?"
"I know, I know," Ned groaned. "There is no way I am getting a girlfriend if I don't get in shape. But come on, just look at them, then look at me. How can I even compete? Every time I think about that, all my motivation just dies," he said, gesturing toward the center of the already-crowded cafeteria. "They are like goddesses, and I am not even an average mortal," he added with a dramatic sigh.
Penny turned to look in the direction he was pointing.
During lunchtime, the cafeteria was usually split into several groups. One of the loudest was the pack of jocks and their cheerleader fan club, always creating the most noise and attracting attention. Penny—and most of the other less-popular students—knew better than to get too close to that crowd. That's why she and Ned always sat in the far corner, away from the chaos.
But in the center of the room sat the table Ned had motioned to: the popular table. Most of the good-looking, stylish, and socially untouchable students gathered there every day. At the moment, Penny spotted M.J. and Liz laughing with their cheerleader friends.
She hated to admit it, but Ned kind of had a point.
That whole table looked like it was glowing. The girls were beautiful—almost unnaturally so. Their clothes were always stylish, their hair perfect, their makeup flawless, and their figures looked like they were ripped straight from a teen drama TV show. Even Penny couldn't help but feel a little jealous just looking at them.
"That's why they say you should aim low if you don't wanna die alone," Missy's voice cut through Penny's thoughts as she slid her tray beside Ned. "Seriously, Ned, you shouldn't even dream about girls like M.J. or Liz. That is just setting yourself up for heartbreak."
"Ha! I am not that dumb," Ned said, sipping his juice. "I wasn't looking at them—I was looking at the girl beside them. Betty Brant. She is my goal. Smart, pretty, perfect for me. I will hit the gym, get in shape, and confess to her before Junior year's over," he declared, raising his spoon like a sword of determination.
Missy rolled her eyes. "Dude, a girl like Betty is still way out of your league. And word is her family's going through some rough stuff. She is working a part-time job to help out—doubt she has got any time for dating."
"What? How do you always know this stuff?" Ned asked, surprised.
"Unlike you two, I actually keep up with school gossip," Missy said with a smirk.
Ned leaned in, hopeful. "Okay, then tell me—is there a girl out there who would be into a guy like me?"
"I think you should stick to your 2D waifus, buddy," Missy said, patting his shoulder with a chuckle.
Ned let out a long 'hmph' and started eating, head down like a kicked puppy.
"C'mon, Missy, don't mess with him," Penny said, eying her. "You know he is trying to get to the gym—even if his 'preparation phase' has lasted, like, four months now."
That made Missy burst into laughter, and even Ned cracked a sheepish smile, shaking his head with a deep sigh.
"Oh! Look over there," Missy said suddenly, nodding toward another table nearby. "It's Ariel Stevens and Sally Avril, laughing like besties. Poor Sally has no idea what kind of friend Ariel really is."
Penny turned to look. Not far from MJ's table sat a group of four girls chatting and laughing: Ariel Stevens, Sally Avril, Lily Hollister, and Carlie Cooper.
Ariel and Sally were both cheerleaders, and Penny had plenty of unpleasant run-ins with them—especially during gym class. They had been the first to play cruel pranks on her. One time, they even hid her clothes in the men's locker room, leaving her stuck in the showers for what felt like forever. Penny still hated them both to her core.
The other two girls, though—she didn't know as well. Carlie Cooper she had talked to once or twice. She seemed pretty chill, though maybe a little too into talking about the city's crime rates. It was the only topic Penny ever heard her discussing with the group. And Lily Hollister was one of the most well-known girls at school—gorgeous, rich, daughter of a district attorney, and most famously, Harry Osborn's current girlfriend.
"Why do you say that?" Ned asked, leaning in, intrigued.
Missy grinned, eyes gleaming with mischief. "So get this—I heard Ariel was fooling around with Sally's boyfriend, Randy Robertson, in the men's bathroom after school yesterday."
"No way," Ned gasped.
"Total scandal," Missy said with a delighted giggle. "What a slut."
Penny raised an eyebrow, half-amused. Missy really lived for gossip. She didn't have many close friends in real life, but she was extremely active on social media. With multiple fake accounts lurking in every school group chat, she was always two steps ahead when it came to juicy drama.
"Argh, this is so unfair. Why do guys like Randy and Flash always get all the girls?" Ned groaned, slumping back in his seat.
"They are good-looking and on the school's football team—duh," Missy replied, shooting him a look like he had just asked why water was wet.
"Well, just wait. Sooner or later, we will be in the era of VR games, and real-life sports like football will be obsolete. Then the good days of lucky guys like Flash will end for sure," Ned said smugly, already picturing his future digital kingdom.
"You will be a wrinkly old man by the time any of those good VR games come out," Missy said with a smirk. "And even though I hate Flash too, I doubt his life's as lucky as it seems."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Penny asked, surprised.
Missy leaned in, gesturing for them to do the same. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Okay, so you know Flash's little sister, Jessie, right? She is in 10th grade. Well, one of her friends saw her going to the counselor's office multiple times this week. And another girl said that Jessie always complains about how their alcoholic dad beats up her older brother regul—"
"Hey! What are you guys talking about?" a cheerful voice suddenly interrupts their talks.
All three jumped a little. Penny looked up to find the pretty blonde Gwen Stacy standing beside them with her lunch tray.
"Nothing! Nothing at all," Ned blurted, glancing nervously at Missy, who looked just as startled.
"Hey, Gwen," Missy said, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, her cheeks flushing slightly as she gave Gwen a bright, almost nervous smile.
"Ned was just going on about how virtual reality games are gonna take over the world," Penny added, trying to cover up the previous topic, even though her mind was still spinning from the new info about Flash.
"Oh yeah? I know a little about that too," Gwen said with interest, setting her tray down beside Penny and taking a seat.
She wasn't alone—two other girls followed closely behind her. One was Sha Shan Nguyen, a quiet girl with long black hair whose family had immigrated from Vietnam. Penny didn't know her too well, but Sha Shan always offered a warm smile whenever they passed each other in the halls.
The other girl was Cindy Moon, also black-haired, sharp-tongued, and a bit of a know-it-all—but Penny genuinely liked her. She considered Cindy a friend.
"Hey Gwen, thanks again for this morning," Penny said gratefully. She knew Gwen's group had skipped their usual spot in the center of the cafeteria to come sit in the corner, all just to check in and make sure her group was okay after the incident earlier that morning.
"No problem," Gwen said with a kind smile. "I couldn't just stand by while that jerk bad-mouthed the second-smartest person on my Decathlon team."
"Second smartest?" Penny raised an eyebrow, amused.
"Yes, second," Cindy cut in with a nod. "First is obviously me. Second could be either you or Gwen. It's debatable," she added matter-of-factly.
Penny chuckled. She, Gwen, Cindy, and Ned were all members of the school's Decathlon Club, along with a few others. Penny had also joined clubs like robotics and computer programming, but Decathlon was where she spent most of her time with this group.
She and Gwen exchanged a knowing glance and smiled, letting the topic drop.
"So, what was that thing about Virtual Reality?" Sha Shan asked, her interest piqued.
"Well, if we are talking about VR," Gwen began, taking a bite of her sandwich, "I know Oscorp is working on some tech in collaboration with the military. But from what I have heard, it's still super rudimentary—might take decades before any of it is ready for civilian use."
Penny abruptly coughed up the juice she was drinking.
"Here," Gwen said, handing her a paper napkin with concern.
"Thanks," Penny muttered, wiping her mouth, while trying to hide the rush of thoughts in her mind. She remembered the advanced VR devices she had seen at Watson Tower. Good thing she hadn't mentioned them—definitely better to keep that little secret to herself.
"Gwen, you are doing an internship at Oscorp right now, aren't you?" Missy asked, leaning in just a bit, her voice unusually soft and interested.
"Yeah, I am interning under Dr. Curt Connors at Oscorp," Gwen replied, her tone more professional now. "It has almost been a month."
"That's so cool. You are seriously so smart!" Missy said with a small laugh, eyes lingering on Gwen a moment longer than usual.
"Uh, Penny's doing an internship at Watson Tower too. You never called her cool," Ned said, blinking in confusion.
"Shut up, Ned," Missy muttered, smacking his arm.
"Hah! If my studies and hockey practice didn't eat up all my time, I could have gotten into one of those companies too. Y'know, eidetic memory and all," Cindy said with a smirk.
"Does your mother know that you are still playing Hockey?" Sha Shan asked, amused.
"Nope," Cindy pouted, letting her head fall onto her plate with a deep sigh.
"So what kind of work are they doing at Oscorp?" Penny asked Gwen, genuinely curious.
"Oscorp's massive," Gwen said, sitting up straighter. "Even after a month, I have only scratched the surface. But the team I am with, under Dr. Connors, is working on cross-species genetics."
"Yeah! He even wrote a book about it—Cross-Species Genetics: The Medical Breakthroughs. I saw it on Amazon once," Cindy chimed in quickly.
"Sounds fascinating," Penny said with a wry smile, eyeing Cindy's proud grin.
"Ooh, what else?" Missy leaned in, grinning eagerly.
"Hmm, well… there is Dr. Eric Schwinner's work on radiation therapy using spiders, which is pretty wild. They have also got a bunch of environmental and medical research projects going on. And I have heard rumours—just rumours—about secret inventions and military collaborations happening behind closed doors," Gwen added with a playful glint in her eye, trying to sound mysterious.
"That sounds super interesting," Penny said, smiling back.
"If you are curious, you should totally come visit! They allow guests to check out some of the public projects. It would be fun," Gwen offered brightly.
