Chapter 2
Gwen Stacy was the most beautiful thing Miles had ever seen in this world, and that was a big deal for an artist like him, who loved looking at photos of the most incredible art ever made by great artists. He loved everything about her, her eyes as blue and crystalline as the waters of the Maldives, her hair as golden as the sun or the petal of a sunflower - his favorite flowers - a small gap in her teeth that was like a unique feature of hers and that made her smile even more incredible, her freckles so clear and almost imperceptible to anyone who didn't spend a long time watching, her eyebrow piercing, her nose and, well, everything about her.
Miles has loved Gwen since they were children and he accidentally destroyed half her hair - his mother was fierce with him when she found out and made him go and apologize with toast and a flower, she told him that when a man makes a mistake he should take the blame, apologize and take a dessert and a flower to make up for it -.
He has liked Gwen since he was 12, ever since his mother told him how much he talked about Gwen, complimented her and tried to do everything just to make her happy and hear her laugh. It was then that he discovered that he wanted Gwen to see him as more than a friend too.
He thinks he's loved Gwen since he was 15. He's not sure, he doesn't know what it must be like to love someone other than his family. But, based on what he's learned from comic books and his mother, he thinks it must be something like what he feels. When he came to this conclusion he panicked for a moment, it was one thing to like Gwen, it could just be a crush that would soon pass and everything would be fine, but to love? That was totally different, what was he supposed to do with that? She was still his best friend and he didn't know if she felt the same way, he could ruin everything. But then he started to notice some things, like Gwen's red cheeks looking at him, her looking at him "covertly" during lessons, the smile on her face seeming bigger when she spoke to him, that sort of thing. He concluded that maybe she reciprocated his feelings after all, and when he concluded that, it was like the happiest day of his life.
He felt like jumping for joy.
Today he feels like he wants to throw up and cry
A few months ago he and Gwen started their second year of high school, and everything was fine, it really was. He'd planned to propose to her on Valentine's Day, he'd make notes, bring her flowers, chocolates and even a drawing he'd done of her, the best drawing he'd ever done of her - and he'd done many - in his opinion, so she'd say she liked him too, he'd wait a little longer to tell her he loved her. They would go out together on Saturday, he would take her to a movie, then to a museum and to an arcade - not exactly in that order - with a few stops to eat his favorite snacks, and, at the end of the day, they would go back to his house, he would make her some Puerto Rican desserts that she loved and they would talk about everything, then finally at the end of the date, when he took her to her house - downstairs - he would maybe, just maybe, get a goodbye kiss and he could die the happiest man in the world.
But then HE showed up, in the second week of school, he'd missed the entire first week and said he didn't care because, apparently, time was just a piece of crap created by the government to control the people. Hobart Brown, that was his name. Hobie was 19 years old, almost 1.90 tall (6'3"), wearing a rock vest with spikes and brooches, piercings in his face and ears and the wildest hair Miles had ever seen, in fact, Hobie was THE wildest guy Miles had ever seen - mainly because of the guitar Hobie carried on his back which made him even cooler - Gwen loved Hobie and they hit it off instantly.
And then, a short time later, everything seemed to fall apart, Miles' confidence, the certainty that Gwen liked him, the plans for meeting and declaring, EVERYTHING. Because suddenly Gwen and Hobie together seemed to have become a routine, which made Miles want to vomit.
"Gwen!" Miles called out to Gwen in the hallway after leaving English class, which they didn't share "There you are. I was wondering, how about you come over later? We'll eat tostones and have my Mario Kart rematch. This time I won't miss it! "He was excited to be able to spend the rest of the day with Gwen, playing video games and eating junk food.
"That sounds cool, spider boy," she replied and Miles' face lit up with the confirmation of her presence. Unfortunately Gwen hadn't finished speaking yet. "And you know I'd love to kick your ass at Mario Kart, Morales. But Hobie brought me to meet a band he has near his house." She continued, as the glow on Miles' face gradually disappeared. "We were talking and I mentioned his guitar and he said he played drums, and, by the way, Hobie's band needs a drummer!!! Isn't that amazing? I haven't played in a band since I played with The Mary Janes." Now Gwen's face brightened as Miles looked as if he'd been hit in the face with a bucket of cold water.
"Ah, yes, 'wen. That sounds amazing." And indeed it did, but who was HOBIE anyway? "But who is Hobie anyway?" Miles asked, trying to disguise his jealousy.
"Huh? What do you mean? You know him, Mi." Miles was confused, as he didn't remember any Hobie. And Gwen was even more confused, until she finally realized, "Oh, really, I forgot you don't call him that. It's Hobart, you know. Hobart Brown." Gwen replied.
This only made things worse for Miles.
"Hey, 'wen." Miles called out to Gwen as she walked through the front door of the building, ready to go to school "What's up? New sneakers?" Miles noticed that Gwen was wearing a pair of blue sneakers he'd never seen before, but he liked them. "They look nice," he said, smiling.
"Ah. I know, right? They're Hobie's. I went to his house at the weekend to practise for the band and I got them for myself." She smiled as she walked over to stand next to Miles.
Miles' smile disappeared.
"Oh, yeah. Hobie..."
"Hey, Gwendy, you forgot your jumper at home, and your toothbrush too"
"Gwendy, are we going to band practice?"
"Neh, Gwendy, do you want to sleep over so we can leave early for practice tomorrow?"
"Gwendy, [...]"
"Gwendy, [...]"
"Gwendy, [...]"
"Gwendy, [...]"
Miles felt like dying.
"Man, I don't know if you hate that Hobie or love him, from how much you talk about him," Miles' friend and roommate Ganke Lee commented.
"Uhhh..." Miles muttered, sitting down on the floor of his and Ganke's dorm and running his hands through his hair "It's not that I hate Hobie, I really don't hate him. He's amazing! He's cool, tall, popular, plays guitar and he's still British" complained the Puerto Rican, with his hands on either side of his head "Hobie's amazing and everything I'm not, not to mention that, unlike me, he's older than Gwen and they get on really well."
"Um, so that's it. That's about Gwen." Ganke muttered, without taking his eyes off his computer.
"Of course it's about her, Ganke! Tell me, man, how do I compete with him?" Miles looked at Ganke, pleading with his eyes for an answer but not giving Ganke a chance to reply "They get on well, she loves him. He's taller than her, and I've only just had my spurt and I've only just managed to get to her height. He's older and can even drive, I'm a year younger than her and I'm going to start getting my license this year" he lay down on the floor, covering his face with his hands "There's no way I can win this. "
"Hey, first of all, it's okay that girls usually like taller and older guys, but that doesn't mean Gwen is like that, relax. Secondly, what did you mean by 'nerd who still reads comics with me'? Reading comics isn't a nerd thing, man. If all humans read comics, I'm sure the crime rate would drop by 50%. And thirdly, how about Gwen and him playing instruments together while you don't know anything about music? You're a cartoonist, man, the opposite of a guitarist. And everyone knows that equals cancel each other out, but opposites attract, it's physics, man."
"Shit, Ganke. 'It's in physics'? That's nerd talk," Miles scoffed
"Really? Is that what you pay attention to? I don't help anymore either" Ganke turned to show Miles his tongue before going back to his computer "But you know, just one last thing to help an ungrateful friend. Don't keep thinking, 'There's no way I can win this', because as far as I'm concerned, you won it a long time ago, you just haven't realized it yet."
"I realized I'd won, Ganke. The problem is that I took too long to get the medal and someone else took my place!"
"As far as I'm concerned, you're still winning and you haven't seen it. And stop talking about Gwen as a medal, man. That's stupid," Ganke said with a sarcastic smile as he fought in a one-on-one for first place in his computer game.
"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!!!" Miles said and threw a pillow from his side at Ganke. Ganke was hit by the pillow and got distracted.
He finished second in the game.
Miles was out of the dorm for a few more hours after that.
He still didn't understand what Ganke had said about him still winning.
A new girl had entered the school that day, Margo Kess, was how she was introduced. Miles thought she looked nice and smiled at her when their eyes met. For some reason, Gwen's face told Miles that she didn't agree with his opinion of Margo.
Miles ended up paired with Margo that day on the teacher's orders. He ended up enjoying it more than he thought he would, he admitted, but it wasn't as nice as being with Gwen.
Margo was funny and super smart, and she and he hit it off at first. Somehow he found himself venting to Margo about everything between him, Gwen and Hobie. It's not his fault, he needs an urgent female opinion.
"I don't know, I don't think she likes him" replied Margo, after hearing Miles' story about how Gwen and Hobie were close and she probably liked Hobie.
"What? Did you really hear me? They're super close, and I always see her and him looking at each other out of the corner of my eye! That's who she used to look at, Margo" Miles complained, indignant that the girl didn't see what he saw.
"Um... I don't know, I think she likes you" Margo was indifferent as she enjoyed her snack in the remaining minutes of the break.
"WHAT? WHAT?" Miles was even more indignant now, where had the girl got that from? "Where did you get that from, Kess?"
"It's serious. And I got it from two places, first from the story between you and her that you tell. And secondly" Margo finished her snack and tilted her head to the right "from the face she's making looking at me sitting with you, as if she wants to kill me. Honestly, it gives me the creeps. It looks like she wants to put you on a leash and pull you away from me.
Miles leaned back so that he could see more of the right-hand corner of the cafeteria. And, indeed, there was Gwen, staring at him and Margo with a kind of hatred that he didn't understand, and of course, he would have thought about it, but then he saw Hobie leaning over and whispering something in Gwen's ear that made her turn red and stutter. Suddenly he felt as if he were seeing red.
"Tsk. I disagree" Miles returned to the position he was in.
"Um, I'd say we have different perspectives here" Margo muttered, thinking of what she should say "Ah. I already know! Today, when it's time to leave, go and tell Gwen that the two of us are leaving together, the reaction she gets will say it all" Margo said, convinced that Gwen would get jealous and end up saying something that would make Miles snap.
"...Okay? Look, if you wanted to go along, just ask," Miles replied with a smug smile.
"Clearly humility is a great quality of yours."
For a second, Miles believed what Margo said. The look on Gwen's face after he told her he was going with Margo really said a lot, but then Hobie showed up, he was clearly teasing Miles and the Puerto Rican felt stupid for falling for it but couldn't control it. He totally ignored Gwen's reaction to what he'd said and stormed out, ready to tell Margo everything and prove her wrong in the end. Even if he wanted her to be right.
"Honestly, are you going to go through with this, Morales?" Margo asked when she saw Miles at the exit gate waiting for her.
"I don't know what you're talking about, I was just here waiting for you so we could go together because I'm a good friend, that's all," he replied, clearly lying.
"I'll pretend I believe you. Let's stop being petty"
Maybe, just maybe, Miles was going away with Margo and staying with her more because he'd been jealous of Hobie and Gwen since the day Hobie had arrived hugging Gwen on the shoulder and telling her they were going together. Maybe he was doing it because he wanted Gwen to be jealous of him too. And maybe, hypothetically speaking, that was a bit mean of him.
Not that it matters, because he's upset now and doesn't know what he should do. After all, jealousy really sucks, doesn't it?
"You know, the plan was for Gwen to get jealous, not the other way around," Margo said, stopping in front of Miles with a sarcastic smile.
Miles closed his face with a snort, but didn't reply
"Come on, Miles, don't be like that. Do you want a hug?" Margo said as she opened her arms and closed her eyes
Miles stood still for a moment, but accepted the hug in the end
After Miles accepted the hug, Margo returned it and opened her eyes. At the school gate, about to leave, Margo saw. The one and only Gwen Stacy. Shooting her with his eyes before running off.
'And he still says I'm wrong,' thought the girl as she hugged Miles, 'maybe I should hire a bodyguard soon.