Chapter 79: Never Underestimate Anya Corazon

New York — Bowling Alley — End of the Day

After spending a good part of the afternoon at the Connors' laboratory, Peter and Gwen met up with their group of friends to end the day at a lively bowling alley in New York. The place was filled with the characteristic sounds of balls rolling down the lanes, pins crashing into one another and conversations coming from the many games taking place around them.

Between the bursts of laughter, playful taunts and competitive spirit that had quickly taken over, the atmosphere was far lighter than anything Peter had experienced lately.

While the whole group was gathered around their lane, it was Miles's turn to play. He stood up with almost exaggerated confidence, walked over to the ball rack and chose a black ball before taking his position. A few seconds later, he stepped forward, followed through with precision and released the ball onto the lane.

It shot forward at an impressive speed, perfectly straight.

A moment later, all ten pins were knocked down with a clean crash.

Strike.

Miles immediately raised both arms toward the ceiling, unable to contain his excitement. A few feet away, Anya stared at the result with an already deeply annoyed expression.

— "There! TAKE THAT!" Miles shouted proudly.

— "Shut the FUCK UP!" Anya snapped back, frustration clearly visible in her eyes.

She abruptly jumped to her feet and lunged at him, fully determined to make him pay for his taunt. Miles barely had time to dodge before taking off through the bowling alley.

He ran between the different lanes, regularly throwing panicked glances over his shoulder while Anya chased him with almost unsettling determination, occasionally making strange noises as she ran that only reinforced the impression that some genuinely starving monster had just been unleashed after him.

During their chase, the two nearly crashed into other customers several times. Some players hurriedly stepped out of their way, while others shot them particularly irritated looks, clearly not thrilled to have their game disrupted by two teenagers running all over the place.

Miles and Anya, however, seemed not to care in the slightest.

The rest of the group, on the other hand, definitely noticed all the looks that were beginning to turn toward them. And some of them were handling it much worse than others.

— "Everyone's staring at us, guys…" Liz said quietly.

— "So what? Who cares!" Sally replied.

— "No! This is so embarrassing!"

Peter briefly watched Miles and Anya, who were still chasing each other through the bowling alley, before letting out an exasperated sigh.

— "Anya seriously can't stop herself from causing trouble! It's like she can't help it!" Peter said, exasperated.

— "It's not 'like' she can't help it, dude! She literally can't!" Harry added with a laugh.

— "Classic Anya!" Gwen finished, amused by the situation.

Sally, who had momentarily stopped watching the chase, glanced at the screen displaying the scores and player order. She then noticed that the turn had finally changed.

— "Liz! It's your turn, go!"

— "Oh yeah, I didn't notice!"

She immediately stood up, walked over to the ball rack and chose a purple one before positioning herself at the beginning of the lane. While she took her time preparing her throw and finding the right stance, the others casually continued their conversation behind her.

Harry then turned his attention toward Peter. His smile became slightly more sincere, almost nostalgic.

— "Anyway… I'm really glad to see you again, man. It's been a while." Harry said to Peter.

But before Peter could really answer, a voice suddenly came from just behind him, on his right.

— "Yeah, definitely." Miles added.

— "AAAH, FUCK!"

Peter nearly jumped out of his seat. Completely caught off guard, he let out a scream loud enough to momentarily rise above some of the noise in the bowling alley. Several people immediately turned in his direction, briefly interrupting their own conversations or games to figure out what had just happened.

Peter immediately felt all those eyes on him. His face tightened with embarrassment and he sat back down just as quickly as he had jumped up, almost trying to disappear into his seat.

— "But how did you get here?! Weren't you running all over the place with Anya?!"

— "Oh, yeah, but we're done now." Anya replied.

This time, the answer came directly from behind his other shoulder.

Peter jumped once again. His entire body suddenly tensed, but after the scene he had already caused in front of the whole bowling alley, he barely managed to hold back the scream rising in his throat. A violent shiver still ran down his entire back as he slowly turned his head toward Anya.

Gwen burst out laughing as she watched the scene.

— "Easy, Anya! I don't want my boyfriend dying of a heart attack!" Gwen said with a laugh.

Meanwhile, Liz finally finished her turn and returned to the group. She quickly glanced at the screen before pointing out the next player.

— "Anya, you're up!"

Anya immediately got back to her feet, ready to head toward the lane, but Peter called out to her before she had the chance to leave.

— "You know what? If you get a strike, I'll do a hundred push-ups!"

Anya froze. For a second, she seemed to genuinely wonder whether she had heard him correctly. The offer was unexpected enough coming from Peter that she stared at him with an almost incredulous expression.

— "A hundred push-ups? Right here, right now?!" Anya asked, perplexed.

— "Yeah." Peter replied confidently.

Anya narrowed her eyes slightly, as though trying to figure out where the catch was in all that confidence.

— "You sure…?"

— "Why are you hesitating? Are you scared…?"

The small, provocative smile accompanying his words was enough to erase Anya's remaining hesitation. If Peter willingly wanted to give her the opportunity to humiliate him in front of the entire group, she certainly wasn't going to refuse. On the contrary, she could fully enjoy the show without feeling the slightest bit guilty.

An almost dangerous smile appeared on her face in return.

— "Alright… fine. Don't come crying afterward."

She walked over to the ball rack and this time chose a white ball before heading toward the lane. She took a few seconds to position herself properly and prepare her throw, clearly much more focused now that a bet was on the line.

Behind her, Harry moved slightly closer to Peter and lowered his voice, far less confident than his best friend about how this idea was going to turn out.

— "Dude… you sure about this?" Harry asked quietly.

— "Yeah, don't worry. She might beat me at badminton, but bowling? In her dreams!"

After a few moments of concentration, Anya almost managed to bring silence around her. Everyone in their little group turned their attention toward the lane as she adjusted her position, the white ball held firmly in her hands.

Then, without any further warning, she stepped forward and made her throw. The ball left her fingers with power and began rolling down the lane at full speed, perfectly straight, following a trajectory almost identical to Miles's a few minutes earlier.

For a few seconds, no one said anything. They all watched the ball race straight toward the center of the pins.

Then came the impact.

Strike.

All ten pins were knocked down at once with a clean crash. The group remained briefly silent, torn between surprise and admiration at such a clean throw. But very quickly, their eyes left the lane and turned toward Peter.

Anya did exactly the same.

Except her expression was nothing like everyone else's. While her friends looked at Peter with a kind of anticipatory sympathy, as though they were already witnessing the sentencing of a man who had made a terrible mistake, Anya wore a much more unsettling smile. At that moment, she almost looked like a demon that had finally been offered the sacrifice it had been promised.

Faced with the situation, several members of the group couldn't hold back a few snickers. Peter, meanwhile, remained silent in the face of the inevitable. Only Miles and Harry seemed to feel genuine sympathy for their friend. Miles gently walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder with the seriousness of someone about to deliver bad news.

— "Good luck." Miles said sympathetically.

Peter simply let out a long sigh. Deep down, he knew perfectly well that he had no one else to blame. He had deliberately provoked Anya, played with fire and, as often happened when playing with a fire named Anya Corazon… he had just gotten burned.

TO BE CONTINUED.