Idiot
Michelle Jones was not an idiot.
She knew she was condescending, brutally honest, even mean at times, but she prided herself on her intelligence, her ability to see through other people’s bullshit. She went to a gifted school and she was on the academic decathlon team. If there was one thing Michelle knew for sure it was that she wasn’t stupid.
She was smart, she knew that, and she didn’t need to prove it to anyone.
Especially not Peter Parker.
It wasn’t like she was watching him; she wasn’t a stalker. She was just very observant. And if she was the only person in her class to notice when Peter, literal angel, the most innocent person on Earth who would do anything for anyone and constantly gave up his time for others, suddenly quit every club he was involved in, well, that was on them for not paying attention.
Not that she was paying special attention to Peter or anything.
At first, she wasn’t sure why she started watching him. He was just always… there. At decathlon practice, in class. And maybe she did it on purpose now, maybe she sat at his lunch table so she could talk to him without seeming like she was going out of her way to do it. Maybe she always chose a seat behind an empty table so he’d sit in front of her. Maybe she joined robotics lab so she could see him more.
Eventually, she noticed how weird he was. Not in a bad way, just weird. He was always running late or leaving early. He was always dodging questions, missing classes, always disappearing off the face of the Earth. Which, of course, only made her pay closer attention.
Michelle was curious by nature and she had never been one to back down from a challenge.
Peter Parker was perhaps the biggest challenge she’d ever encountered.
Academic decathlon was chaotic at the best of times and soul-crushingly boring at the worst and, to Michelle at least, it always seemed to be one extreme or the other.
She sat in the corner, back against the wall, with a book open in her hands. She had been reading but had deserted her book in favour of watching the other students in the class. Liz was reading questions to Ned, Charles, Cindy, and Abe, while the rest of the students lazed about pretending to be studying. Abe kept ringing the bell and Michelle was approximately two seconds from ripping it out of his hands.
She seemed to be the only person who had noticed that Peter wasn’t there.
As she watched, Peter stumbled into the room, late again, and promptly tripped over a chair. ‘Sorry, sorry.’ He said, half to the chair, half to Mr Harrington. Michelle looked quickly down at her book, ignoring the heat that crept up her neck. Liz continued with her questions, shooting a glare at Peter.
Michelle closed her book, leaning over slightly to listen into Peter’s conversation with Harrington.
'I can’t go to Washington because if Mr. Stark needs me, then I have to make sure that I’m here.’
‘You’ve never even been in the same room as Tony Stark.’ Flash spoke up from where he sat, a book open in his hands, though he hadn’t looked down at it once.
Cindy looked up. ‘Wait, what’s happening?’
‘Peter’s not going to Washington.’
‘Really?’ Liz asked, disappointment lacing her voice. ‘Right before Nationals?’
Peter looked at his feet.
'He already quit marching band and robotics lab.’ Michelle said. The room turned to look at her. ‘I’m not obsessed with him. Just very observant.’ She glanced back down at her book.
‘Flash, you’re in for Peter.’ Liz said, calling everyone’s attention back to practice. Flash made a sarcastic comment and Michelle bit back a retort. She had already called too much attention to herself.
Peter sat beside her, leaning his head against the wall and groaning.
‘Having fun?’
He turned his head towards her, eyes narrowed in irritation. It was hard to be intimidated by Peter, even when he was in a bad mood. His hair was adorably tousled from his habit of running his hands through it when he was stressed. Which seemed to be often. ‘It’s not that I don’t want to go to Nationals but the internship-‘
‘Yeah, we know, Peter.’ Michelle said, still staring at her book. She glanced at the page number, committing it to memory, before she turned the page to give the impression that she was still reading. God forbid Peter know she cared about him. ‘The Stark Internship is the most important thing.’
‘Uh, yeah. For my future and stuff.’ He replied, looking at his phone. He started to type something but stopped, glancing at her. He switched it off and pocketed it.
‘Right.’ Michelle nodded. ‘Stark Industries provides a lot of opportunities.’
‘Yeah.’ Peter looked up, surprised. ‘I thought you were against billionaires.’ He added as an afterthought.
‘Oh, I am. I can respect a good business model though. Guy knows what he’s doing.’
Peter grinned; a soft, tired grin that made Michelle melt just a tiny bit. He ran a hand through his hair. ‘Yeah, he’s really cool.’
‘Wow. He’s got you wrapped around his little finger, huh?’
‘It’s kind of the other way around, actually.’ Peter laughed, a slight blush creeping up his neck. Michelle cracked a smile.
She wanted to ask about the internship, listen to him ramble, watch his eyes light up with excitement.
‘You, uh, you noticed I quit robotics? And marching band?’ He said, before she could ask.
‘I just- I do both of those so, yeah, I noticed. It’s not weird.’
‘Right, yeah. No, it’s not weird.’ He agreed. ‘I just meant- I didn’t expect it is all.’
‘We’re just in the same clubs, Peter. It’s no big deal.’
‘Of course not, yeah.’ He glanced around awkwardly.
The silence stretched between them.
Michelle snapped her book shut as the bell rang and Peter jumped to his feet. He waited, bouncing nervously on his toes as she gathered her things. ‘Hey, uh, it’s physics next, right? Can you cover for me? I just- I have to go, uh deal with some stuff for Mr Stark.’ He followed her out of the room.
‘Tony Stark wants you to skip school?’
Peter froze, eyes wide. ‘No? I just-‘
She laughed softly. ‘I’m just kidding, I don’t care.’ He smiled and ran off. Michelle watched him dash down the hallway, dodging between students and teachers. Her mind wandered as she made her way to her locker. Peter’s fluffy brown hair, falling softly into his eyes. Eyes that were a perfect chocolate brown, soft and warm and welcoming, always filled with a spark of excitement or anticipation. Eyes that looked at her like he was sharing a secret that only the two of them knew. Looking at her like he was actually listening.
Eyes that looked at Michelle like she was special.
Michelle had never had many friends, which was fine. She didn’t need friends. She didn’t mind sitting alone in class or at lunch. She didn’t mind when there was an odd number in class and she ended up doing a group project on her own. She didn’t mind being a loner because that was just who she was.
But Peter. Peter looked at her like he cared. Like she actually mattered and she wasn’t just another face in the crowd. Michelle knew he probably looked at everyone that way but she couldn’t help liking it anyway. Liked the way he spoke to her, liked the way he included her. Liked the way he sat with her and let her sit with him.
Hell, she liked Peter.
He was just funny and smart and sweet and she liked him. She wanted to spend time with him, wanted to hang out with him. She wanted to be the person to share in his excitement, the person to fix his problems. Michelle wanted to be his friend.
‘Hey, Michelle.’ Ned Leeds appeared behind her, glancing around warily.
She stopped walking, letting him catch up.
‘So, uh, you were talking to Peter in decathlon.’
‘I was. That’s very observant of you, Leeds.’
‘Did he… mention anything to you? You know, anything that might be kind of important?’ He was still looking around nervously.
Michelle kind of liked Ned, he was sort of like a puppy, if puppies were obsessed with Star Wars and needed to learn how to whisper.
‘Why?’ She asked. ‘Are you trying to find out his secrets?’ Michelle turned into her physics classroom, taking a seat at the back. Ned slipped into the seat beside her.
‘No! No, I already- I mean I just wanted to know if you knew anything.’
Michelle pulled out a notebook. She never usually bothered with notes, but if Peter was missing the class she wanted to help him catch up. He was smart enough to teach himself but the guy didn’t get enough sleep as it was.
‘I don’t know, Ned. This isn’t a very secure location. Anyone could hear us.’
Ned’s eyes widened. ‘There’s nothing- Um, he’s not- I just wanted to check if he-‘
‘Relax, Leeds. If he told me, it’s because he trusts me.’
Ned stared at her. ‘Did he tell you? He said he wasn’t going to tell anyone else. He didn’t even want me to know, that was an accident.’
Michelle held up her hands in mock-surrender. ‘All he told me was that he’s skipping physics. Which,’ She added, writing the date in the corner of her page. ‘Probably isn’t the smartest thing for a guy who misses nearly every second day of school.’
‘He doesn’t miss that much!’ Ned insisted. ‘And it’s for a good reason. He has the Stark Internship, remember?’
‘I’m pretty sure companies aren’t allowed to bring interns in during school hours.’
‘It’s not for a company. It’s for Tony Stark.’ Ned said loudly.
Flash glanced up from his seat a few rows along. ‘Penis doesn’t intern for Tony Stark, Leeds. Give it a rest, why don’t you?’
‘Why don’t you shut it, Eugene?’ Michelle shot back.
‘Michelle.’ Ms Warren warned. ‘And you too Mr Thompson.’ She turned back to the board, beginning the lesson. Michelle’s notebook lay forgotten on the desk, its owner too occupied to bother with notes.
Michelle kept thinking about Ned’s reaction to her having a conversation with Peter. Ned was notoriously bad at keeping secrets, but he’d seemed genuinely concerned about this one.
Peter had been on edge all day too. And he’d only just gotten to decathlon when he ran out again.
‘So he didn’t tell you anything else, right?’ Ned whispered. ‘Just… double checking.’
‘Hey, Ned?’
‘Yeah?’
‘You’re a really bad liar.’