Peter had a problem, like big problem.
It all started when Peter met this shy boy at the park. He always followed Peter and they’d run around and play. Peter’s aunt May had briefly known the boy’s mom, who works at the school. The mom always teased that Peter and the boy were inseparable. He remembered that when the little boy wasn’t at the park, Peter felt sad and wanted to leave immediately.
Peter was not a social butterfly, and even introducing himself to other kids scared him.
But he loved the attention and feeling of spending time with the boy. His name was Wade. He had straight blondish hair and was a more chubbier kid, and his personality was even more rounded.
When Peter was with Wade, he felt like he could play with anyone. He didn’t tease Peter as much as the other kids did, which drew him to like Wade even more. The kids at school called Peter names and often ran away from him.
At school, Wade and Peter continued to play together at recess, but Wade had his own friends to be with. Peter never played sports or such, so he just enjoyed his time at home, especially nature and space related subjects. Most kids enjoyed his slew of random facts, but others found it dumb. Peter soaked up information like a sponge.
But as they got older, less and less Peter went to the park. One day, Wade never returned to the park. It got to Middle School and Wade stopped trying to talk to Peter. There was no more homeroom, no more recess, and no more shared lunches. It had gotten to this awkward point where if someone brought Wade up, Peter got quiet.
Wade was just some childhood crush he had gotten over. Some guy he saw and didn’t think much about. It was strange how someone stops talking to you, slowly forgetting the small memories you shared with them.
All until one of Peter’s friends was at a party and saw Wade there. It was a freshman afterparty. Peter’s friend, Mj, had admitted to how attractive Wade had gotten. He had gained more muscle and was very popular with the girls. Also his hair had gotten more volume and more curly. Peter was super intrigued to the story’s Mj told about Wade. Apparently, he was a player and talked to girls when he was bored.
Of course, that made Peter a little upset. It was no surprise Wade turned out straight. The guy was in three different sports.
Peter never told anyone about his crush on Wade. Few to little people knew they were old childhood friends, but everyone had those. In elementary, kids easily socialized with their grade. Then, puberty hits and everyone scatters to their own interests. Peter chose a very uncommon hobby. Everyone else liked video-games, or sports, or going out. Peter liked sharing his thoughts about the world, but who has time for that?
Yet another fast year passed. Peter was now a sophomore, scrambling to figure out his life. Every grade would argue which is the worst: juniors complained about being seniors, freshman complained about being sophomores, etc… Hundreds of kids in one building.
The first rumor to start off Peter’s year was probably the juiciest rumor to be rumored. Wade apparently sent dick pics. Mj told him all. about. it. Peter probably lost a life that day, trying to hide his red face. And Mj kept ranting about how Wade was more than ‘decent’. He wondered how may girls has seen Wade’s “pics”.
Now that Peter was pretty informed on Wade’s social life, he obviously showed that he didn’t like Peter anymore. Peter just saw him as someone he used to know. But of course, Mj had to dig up Peter’s old crush on Wade. It wasn’t his fault she always talked about him 24/7. The two even talked on Snapchat, which made Peter feel bad.
What was even more annoying was that she’d dress up just to try to get Wade’s attention, and Wade didn’t even look at her. All of Mj’s friends scoffed every time Wade was brought up. Every guy has tried to get with Mj, but she chooses the one stubborn guy. Wade had to be leading her on by now. Peter just went with it.
Wade had added him on snap months ago, but Peter was scared Wade would be pushy. They were even mutuals on Instagram, but Wade never posted anything. He must be insecure like Peter is.
Skipping to now, it was second semester. Peter was getting stressed from his classes. Especially since his Trig teacher was strict. Strict like taking away phones, who does that to 17 year olds? They aren’t kids anymore. Sure, a lot of people don’t pay attention but what’s 10 minutes wasted trying to get your students to comply…
Anyway, Peter was dreading a project coming up. Over 200 points that would take over a week to complete. He was mostly worried about who he’d have to work with…You can probably guess who he was paired with. Wade Wilson, plus some other guy that sat in front of Peter. The guy seemed pretty friendly and talkative.
Peter didn’t realize his situation until Wade was standing close to him. Wade strictly wore shorts and a tshirt or long sleeve. Peter always tried not to stare long at him. Even the way he walked was recognizable.
“Hey, Peter.” Wade sat down, throwing his stuff on the desk next to him. Peter freaked out and gave a small “hi” back. God, he was so awkward at small talk.
It was surprising how smart Wade actually was. He participated more than Peter ever could. Wade even took physics, so he understood more than the eye saw. Of course Peter took physics last year. Jesus, he thought, how can I work if my mind is this scrambled?
Peter was panicking on the inside because him and Wade hadn’t talked in over 5 years. What did Wade think of him now? Was he unattractive? Weak?
The teacher passed out the worksheets and they started working. It was pretty complicated and they took the whole period just on the first step. Most of the groups conversed with the others and kept asking for help.
Peter butted in sometimes when Wade got something wrong, and the other guy did most of the work, surprisingly. Wade’s handwriting was so messy, Peter stifled his laughter. It’s the smalls things that attracts Peter towards someone. The pitch of someone’s voice, a piece of jewelry they always wear, the buttons on someone’s backpack.
Wade reached and grabbed Peter’s calculator. They had moved their desks together to make a circle. It was pretty awkward and quiet between the group. The classroom almost never got a long with each other, always yelling to be shut up. Most were just fighting with their partners and getting nothing done.
Peter wanted to make small talk, but the bell cut them off. At least he had tomorrow…
Peter thought about Wade all day and night, even in class. He actually looked forward to his math now. Peter hadn’t liked someone more than a friend in so long. He almost never had time to think about relationships. It felt weird to think someone like himself could be dating another person.
Peter snapped out of his inner crisis, when him, Mj, and Ned got to the Trig class. Mj and Ned had gotten paired together. Peter would’ve been with the two, if the teacher wasn’t so strict on work.
Peter sat at his desk and they formed their circle again. “Hey again, Peter.” Wade flumped down into his seat, wearing his famous shorts and T-shirt. It flustered Peter every time Wade said his name. Peter was used to nicknames or just people not saying his name often. He secretly liked it…
“Hi.” Peter looked over at Wade and smiled. Wade’s face hadn’t changed and neither did his smile. His face was still as rough and patchy as Peter remembers. It’s weird how a person doesn’t notice the change in themselves, until looking back at old pictures.
Peter envied him. He was always smaller than other kids. They thought Peter should’ve been born a girl, always yelling at him to pick flowers. The amount of days Peter spent his time hiding by the brick wall was uncountable.
“I’m hoping we get further today.” Wade started working. Peter sat up and focused his attention back on his paper. A slight throb was already working at his head. The hard part of the project so far was finding a shape that worked.
The teacher had commented on them a couple times, making Wade frustrated. She wasn’t allowed to help, so she just gave hints. Peter laughed and helped him on finding the correct points. A common mistake can blow over someone’s head so easily. You accidentally negate a number, or flip an ordered pair.
It was pretty awkward for the other guy, Luke, Peter remembered. He mostly worked by himself and Wade followed his instructions. But the whole group from time to time, panicked about their progress. They were given a week, which was always breezing by. They didn’t want to be left with missing work.
“So, what have you been up to, Peter?” Wade asked, the conversation flowing so smoothly, he didn’t even look up from his paper.
God, Peter felt so stupid. Why did he think he ever had a chance with Wade? They had been nothing but friends. He should’ve left this alone for Mj to handle.
Mj had at least a million better attributes than Peter did. She was pretty, everyone knew her, she was involved in school, and she knew how to attract other guys. What else could Wade want?
“Nothing much. Just trying to survive this semester.” Peter chuckled, forcefully. The words that came out of his mouth always seemed to be negative. Complaining about this and that… It often made the conversations awkward because the person didn’t know how to respond, so Peter just lied, mostly.
Wade nodded. “You’re definitely the Peter I remember.” He chuckled to himself.
Ouch. Peter’s heart clenched and then slowly sunk down, down, down. He silently worked on his distance theorems. Peter was weak and always cried back then. It made him cringe about how much he cried in front of other kids. Even adults back then pitied him, whispering to the other moms.
Wade looked up for a reaction. “I’m sorry.” He stopped writing, trying to catch Peter’s eyes. “I didn’t meant for it to sound like that.” He must’ve been genuine because he stopped everything he was doing.
Luke stared at us dumbfoundly. This was definitely a gay thing. Luke wasn’t homophobic, but this was hard to watch.
“No, no. It’s ok.” Peter gave Wade a fake smile and looked back down, quickly. Peter felt Wade’s eyes on him still. Well at least Peter can move on now… No more fantasies.
“I think you’ve gotten more confident, actually.” Wade blurted. Peter shrunk in his seat. This was too much. It felt too close to home. Wade had to be joking. Peter looked at Wade with a “I’m not fucking stupid” glare. Wade laughed at his frown. It was almost like he was admiring Peter.
“Honestly!” Wade waved his pencil. “Just because we stopped talking, doesn’t mean I forgot about you.” The teacher came around and gave them a look, especially towards Luke, who looked on the brink of sanity.
Peter felt his face get hot. This was bad. So. Bad. His heartbeat seemed to disappear. Peter wanted to disappear. Wade would notice and think of him badly, then it would be awkward for the rest of his life. Wade had just admitted he still thinks about their last friendship, Peter remembered. Maybe Wade wasn’t just some heartless playboy now. Peter looked down, trying to find something to distract himself.
“That was dumb of me to say, sorry. Again.” Wade sighed. He wished he could talk to Peter like they were 9 again. They were so much closer and didn’t have the urge to hold back.
“Can you guys shut up already and do your work?” Luke muttered, leaning on one of his hands. The teacher flipped around and made conversation. He was definitely skipping tomorrow, fuck that gay shit.
Peter felt Wade looking at him for the rest of the period.
Peter ran to Ned and Mj, wanting to tell them about his encounter, but held back. Maybe Ned would understand. Mj was ranting about how slow they were doing, even though the two were probably the farthest.
Peter contained his giddiness. Wade had just given him a weapon. Hope. Now, Peter would be daydreaming about Wade all over again, imagining what it would be like to go on a date. Then, reality would hit Peter. He’d have to face the fact Wade was just being friendly. It would be an endless loop. Every 5 years, Peter will remember this moment and cringe.
Just as the bell rang, Wade came up to Peter.
“Do you think we need to work on this outside of class?” His stance was so stupid, Peter almost smiled. How could Peter easily forget what Wade has done? The girls he’s been with and his people-pleaser conscious.
Ned gave Peter a look. He was surprised he had approached them so effortlessly.
Peter thought. “Uhmmmm…” He dragged on. “I don’t think so. We still have all week.” Wade followed him outside of the door. Ok, this is happening, Peter’s heart picked up its pace. He was way too close to be aquatinted. The material of Wade’s T-shirt brushed against Peter’s sweater.
Mj was following them, dumbfoundly. She was thinking of how to enter the conversation. Maybe ask him about swim practice? The shift into Spring?
“Ok, good.” Wade shoved his hands in his short pockets. “I’ve been stuck on a new lesson in Physics lately.” He looked at Peter. Wade was obviously asking if Peter could help him. He didn’t even really care at this point if Wade was just using him. Maybe Peter is the bigger people-pleaser out of the two.
“I’m surprised you even take that class.” Peter stared off into the long, white hallway. He then remembered Ned and MJ. He turned around. Mj had disappeared into their passing period.
Shit. Peter had blanked and completely missed his classroom. Wade slowed down, avoiding other students.
“Sorry.” Peter blushed. “I’ll see you later.” He dashed back down the hallway. God, why did he leave like that? That was rude of Peter. Stupid, stupid, stupid, his mind chanted. The slight ringing in the back of Peter’s mind got louder.
Wade waved and paused for a minute. He had completely missed his classroom too…
Mj was immediately on Peter once he sat down. “I’m so mad Wade didn’t acknowledge me! I swore he looked at me at least 5 times..” She fixed her makeup in her little mirror. Maybe she should ask Peter if he could set her and Wade up…
Peter scoffed and pulled out some homework. MJ went on about some rant for the rest of the period. Peter secretly blocked her out, nodding and laughing randomly.
The next day, Peter had noticed Luke was gone first period. Great, he thought, now him and Wade would be working alone. Turns out though, Wade was in Peter’s first period too. How had Peter forgotten? Wade had transferred after 1st semester, his schedule changing. But he sat in the back, whilst Peter sat in the front. Wade has his own friends anyway… But Wade still came up to him once everyone gathered at the door. “Looks like it’s just me and you again.” He laughed, almost excited.
Peter smiled and nodded, shifting on his feet. He was ready to go home already. He tried to think of something else to add, but everyone was filing out, joking and sharing their last night’s adventures.
“See ya!” Wade waved and opened the classroom door. Peter said goodbye and walked to his Spanish class.
Soon enough, he was already sitting close to Wade, rushing their work. They were almost ready to start graphing their shapes and points.
A steady conversation had been going for a while, catching up on what they missed. Sports, classes, pets. Wade said he moved houses a couple of times. What would Peter be doing now if Wade had moved to a different school?
Peter replied that his life had been basically the same. He lived with his aunt, he kept to himself, and he did his work.
Wade laughed, leaning forward. Their feet brushed. Peter’s breath hitched and he hoped Wade hadn’t noticed. But Wade smiled, relaxing even more. He locked their shoes together. Peter wanted to scream and flail his arms around. His mind was shouting and screaming incoherent words at him. Instead, Peter found himself smiling in return. His mind had made the wise choice to go along with it.
“So,” Wade flipped their paper around, their feet still interlocked. He was slightly bouncing his leg. “Let’s grab that big paper and start plotting out points.” He got up and grabbed the paper from one of the tables. Peter almost missed the comfortable silence. “Can you move those tables?”
Peter nodded and got up, moving the tables even closer together. The paper was set down and they drew out the axises. Plotting points was easy. They continued their conversation.
Wade said he was really into Just Dance. Peter had laughed for a good minute or two. Imaging Wade dance to some old 2016 songs was funny. Peter talked about his new hobby in Space.
What Peter didn’t notice was that Wade had stopped for a little while, watching Peter go on and innocently mark with his pencil. Peter always had a smart mouth once you got to know him. He would snark back with no fear. He was also fast, always outrunning Wade, easily.
Peter stood up straight. “There! I think that’s the first one. Now, we connect the lines.” He looked for a ruler. Wade was slowly coming back to reality. It felt so weird talking to Peter years later. It felt like they were two completely different people.
“Do you know where the rulers are?” Peter asked, oblivious Wade wasn’t listening. Peter stood there, awkwardly.
“Uhhhh over there.” Wade pointed to one that was covered by other papers. He easily covered up his tracks. Peter grabbed it and was already connecting the dots.
“You can plot the second pair.” Peter added, acknowledging how Wade was standing there, doing nothing.
“Right.” Wade hunched down to the low desks. He was very close to Peter. He had to angle his arm so they wouldn’t touch. A small brush would go unnoticed if it was years before now.
Peter was freaking out on the inside. He wanted to just run away so badly, but he knew he couldn’t avoid every single human interaction to ever exist. Wow, was he cruel to himself.
As they got their work done, Wade was now sharing his warmth. Peter felt his face practically throb. He hated when he couldn’t control when he was flustered. He kept stealing looks at Wade out of his eye.
Now, Peter was walking with Wade again. Ned was shocked, even though he knew Peter had mentioned how him and Wade were friends in the past. He imagined Wade was strict on who he considered his friends. It was even more surprising to see Peter so out there, joking and laughing along. Wade was in his space, holding serious eye contact.
Peter was sure his head would fall off with how much blood was flowing through his face. Wade must’ve noticed because he was teasing more than ever. He mentioned how Peter’s face had gotten cute and more kind. Peter had laughed it off and denied it. How could he say that when Wade obviously had changed bodies? I mean, how long had Wade been working out?
“Oh, shoot.” Wade looked around again. “I’m pretty sure we’re pretty far from the high school wing.” Peter followed Wade, seeing they were in the lunch hall. They quickly turned around, going to their respective classes. Wade waved goodbye. Peter couldn’t help but not feel guilty for leaving his friends behind.
Mj had jokingly messed with Peter, telling him she was hurt he abandoned the two. Peter couldn’t help but feel she was being serious though. They hadn’t talked for the rest of the period.
Now that Peter and Wade were aquatinted, he would wave and smile to Peter. It gave Peter butterfly’s. Friends definitely don’t feel like this about each other. Another working day passed, now, they were coloring their graph for extra points.
“What’s your favorite color?” Wade asked, looking at the huge crayons he had.
Peter thought. It was a harder question than some would think. He liked blue but everyone liked blue. Green was different and fun. “Green.” Peter replied. “What’s yours?”
“Purple.” Wade said, proudly. It kind of surprised Peter. Purple wasn’t that much of a favorite color. He was expecting Wade to be a red guy.
“That’s cool! That means we’re opposites in the color wheel.” Wade happily starting coloring in the shapes.
Peter laughed. “That’s red, actually. Purple’s opposite is yellow.” He grabbed a crayon himself and chose a random blank spot.
“Oh.” Wade pondered. “How do you know that?” Wade didn’t even know how he got that information in the first place.
“I don’t know, I thought it was basic knowledge we learned in elementary?” Wade had been really close now, brushing each other’s arms while coloring.
“Oh, cause I remember the color wheel.” Wade mocked him. He playfully nudged Peter aside.
“Hey!” Peter complained, standing off to the side. It wasn’t his fault Wade decided to get close to him. But his his body still had a shiver run through it. Peter pressed it away and watched Wade color.
“You were in the way.” Wade dramatically answered. And he was such a slow colorer. They didn’t have much more time anymore. Peter wanted to yell at him to color faster.
“At least I know how to color.” Peter moved to the other side of the paper. Wade looked up at him, offended. Peter got scared for a minute he was actually mad, but Wade just smiled. “Why is that such a big deal? I want it to look nice.”
Peter rolled his eyes. “Sure.” Everyone was on the same level now, frantically drawing and graphing. Ned and Mj looked almost done.
Wade reached and swiped Peter’s hand, the crayon making an ugly, dark line. Peter gasped, moving his hand away like it burned. “You monster. I thought you wanted it to look nice.” He tried to erase the wobbly mark. No use.
Wade shrugged, grabbing a new color. “It’s just one mark.” He scribbled like a mad child, hunched over. Peter found himself looking back on their old friendship. They hadn’t talked a lot when they were friends, and now they both couldn’t stop. Wade was a pretty quiet kid, some days, he hadn’t spoken a word. That didn’t bother young Peter though because
could rant about what he wanted to.
“You’re fixing that.” Peter sighed, finished his half of the paper. The teacher came over and jokingly accused of self sabotage. Wade easily partook in a playful tone. Peter awkwardly kept coloring.
“Are you left handed?” Wade suddenly asked, looking at Peter’s hand, which held a new, red crayon.
“Uh, yeah? Did you never notice?” Peter scrunched his face. Had Wade seriously never noticed? Surely he had.
“No, gross.” Wade fake vomited, but switched the crayon to his left hand, tauntingly. Peter rolled his eyes and switched his crayon too. It was a funny joke when people realized Peter was left handed. They joked that he was a sinner and would go to hell. Good thing Peter was never really religious.
The period was over once again. Wade hadn’t left Peter’s side even once. “So, are those your friends? I don’t recognize the other guy.” Ned gave Peter a nervous “should I be worried?” look.
Peter panicked. He’d definitely noticed Mj, who was staring at them too, more of Wade. “Uh, yeah. That’s Ned. He moved here in 8th grade, I think. We’re pretty alike.” He turned back to Wade after smiling.
Wade nodded, walking towards the open part of the classroom. They had big doors that would open so you could walk right into the hallway. “They look like a fun group.” Was Wade purposely not mentioning Mj, or was he choosing not to? Did he really think Peter’s friends were fun, or was he just being nice? Peter chose to not worry about it. The conversation was picked up again.
“Remember that time I lost my shoes?” Wade laughed.
Peter remembered instantly, laughing so hard he was stumbling down the hallway. That made Wade laugh even harder. “Yeah! Those kids took them from you!”
“And we stayed until dark and neither of us had a light.” They kept going back and forth, adding onto the story. Their conversations came so easily now. The warm feeling of reshaping a memory of someone made Wade smile, widely.
“And our parents came looking for us because we didn’t come back.” Peter giggled, covering his smile. One kid gave them a weird look. They had been laughing pretty loudly.
“Oh my god.” Wade finally started to calm down. “I haven’t laughed that hard in a while.” Peter agreed, sadly parting ways. But Wade grabbed his arm and pulled his aside from the other students. They were clearing up, already forming in their classes.
“Hey,” He started. Peter freaked out. Was this it? Was he going to confess? Was he going to ask Peter the unimaginable? “Since we’ve been talking so much, can I have your number?” Wade smiled and flashed that look. Did he even know how attractive he was? Scratch that. Wade definitely knew.
Peter sputtered. “Yeah! Yeah.” He repeated, listing off his number. Well now he knew Wade was definitely doing this because he wanted to. They were officially friends again.
“Just in case we need to work outside of school.” Wade confirmed. Ok, Peter thought. It was just a friendly gesture. People asked for their friend’s numbers all the time.
“Yeah.” Peter was pretty sure his eyes were wide open. “For school…” He watched Wade type in his number and sent a quick text.
“Maybe we can even get something to eat sometime?” Wade was being so outward. He was even leaning against the wall and crossing his arms. God, Peter wanted to just gravel at Wade’s feet. Never in his life had someone been so interested in him. Peter could just melt on the floor and stay there all afternoon.
“Oh! Sure, sure. I’m never busy.” Peter rambled on, words just flying out at this point. “Just staying at home and working.” He chuckled, looking off to the side somewhere. Wade smiled. Peter had no idea how much Wade admired him.
“Good. See ya around!” Wade walked to his class, which was right there. Peter stood there for a couple of seconds, then realized he’d almost miss the bell. His life is much more exciting now. Peter? Going out to eat? With Wade? In his nice, black car?
Peter opened the door right before the bell rang. The teacher said how lucky he was. Mj and a few other students gave him a weird look. Peter avoided their stares.
“I was getting so worried!” She joked. “I thought you disappeared!” Mj moved so she was facing Peter, who slumped down into his chair. He quickly checked his phone.
(Number): Hey ;)
Mj was already telling Peter a wild story. Peter didn’t answer and turned his phone off. Never in his life had he been flustered by an emoji. The winking one to be exact.
Mj stared at Peter for a while. “Something up?”
Peter snapped back and immediately answered. “Nope, sorry.” His answer was automatic. It was hard getting out of the habit of lying. Mj could absolutely not find out about him and Wade. She’d flip and ask him all sorts of questions. Even worse, she’d start to get suspicious. Ned and Mj knew Peter was open with his sexuality.
“Ok, anyways.” She continued on about how she lost her eyebrow pen. A really nice one apparently. Peter found himself being distracted from his frantic thoughts. Everything would be fine. He and Wade were just bros. Pals. Buddies. Friends. He definitely didn’t dream about his muscles or nice house. Haha…
Peter went to his next period, texting Wade back:
hi!
Wade, of course, didn’t immediately respond, but he did in less than 3 minutes. Peter hadn’t been keeping track… Wade had sent him some GamePigeon in return. It was archery. Peter smiled and took his shot. Literally. Wade complained with frowny emojis when he lost.
(Wade👿) i demand a rematch.
(Wade👿) rn.
Peter smiled at his phone again, not noticing the teacher eyeing him. “Phones away, everyone.” Peter immediately rushed to put his phone down, hoping no one noticed. Wade would have to wait.