Lunchtime
Gwen set her head on her desk and sighed. Her patrol of the school had turned up nothing out of the ordinary, and she couldn't think of any reason why her danger sense would be going off right now. She had checked the news, and no supervillain was smashing up Times Square. A text to her dad had gotten her an immediate scolding. A look up had revealed no alien spaceships. Apparently that was how the decimation had started. Her dad still told the stories. She shivered.
It had been near the end of sixth grade for her. There was no warning, no explanation. Her friends, classmates, and her teacher started to disintegrate. Not everyone though. Just half of them. She still remembers the look on her friend’s face as he-
Pulling herself out of her memories, she focused on the situation at hand. The only thing even slightly odd was that Peter hadn't gone to the bathroom even though he insisted he was having an emergency, and now he was stealing glances at her every time he thought no one was looking. Well someone was looking. Her. And it was starting to creep her out.
After History class was lunch. Finally! The one time she got to see her best friend Tori during the day. She got lunch, then sat at their usual spot, close to the doors, but also close to the windows so she had options if some supervillain came along. Tori walked up. She didn't have lunch yet. “Hey Gwen! So I told my brother and his friend that they could come sit with us. Since they both came back from the dead and all I figured we could try to get along.”
Gwen laughed. “Oh I'm sure they're not that bad. I have a class that's mostly people who blipped, and they seemed pretty cool.”
“Oh you don't know my brother like I do. He and his buddy were geeking out about a new Lego set not two days before the decimation. And since it's only been a couple months since the reversal, I wouldn't be surprised if they spend all of lunch gushing over the Lego sets they missed.” Tori ran off to get lunch while Gwen laughed.
Gwen was still laughing when someone else walked up to the table. Someone who looked like she had just rolled out of bed and went to the bus stop without bothering to get ready for the day. Without saying a word she sat a couple seats over from Gwen.
“Um… hi?” Gwen said questioningly. The girl ignored her. “Is every other table full already?”
The girl turned and stared at her. “No. My friends and I used to sit here before the blip. I figure if they still want to hang out they'll come crawling back here.”
Gwen looked the girl up and down. Her hair was hastily tied up, and she was wearing a school hoodie with plaid pajama bottoms. “Do you know if they survived the decimation or not?”
“Well their names were on the student roster when I asked Mr. Harrington.”
“I'm sure they'll be here soon then.” As she finished talking, Gwen heard two familiar voices. The uneasy feeling her danger sense had been giving her suddenly intensified.
“Peter, I can't believe you won't tell me who it is!”
“Look dude I said it before, it's not my secret to tell.”
Gwen turned around and saw Peter and Ned walking up. “Hey guys!” she said. “What are you talking about?”
Peter's face turned white. “Oh uh, nothing, just uh someone's crush. Don't worry about it.” He looked past Gwen at the disheveled girl. “MJ! Long time no see!”
Gwen was surprised to see the girl smiling. “Hey Peter! Still hiding stuff I see!”
“Aw well you know me always-” Peter stopped as MJ stood and hugged him. He grinned then hugged back. “I missed you too.”
MJ stepped back, then gave Ned a hug as well. Just then, Tori came back.
“Aw Ned, you should have told me you were bringing your girlfriend too!” she teased.
Ned broke off the contact. “Wait no! MJ and I are just friends. If anything it's Peter that-” he stopped dead at MJ's glare and Peter's elbow to the ribs.
Gwen laughed. “I take it Ned's your brother then Tori? I should have guessed. These two are nerds. They were furiously taking notes all through history class even though the still have the notes from 'last year.'”
“Actually we were talking on a shared file!” Ned countered.
“Seemed like a pretty serious conversation then. Was it about anything interesting?”
Peter paled again and opened his mouth to speak but Tori spoke first. “Oh they were probably talking about the new Lego Death Star. I hear it's twice as big as the last one Ned.”
Ned brightened up. “What? That's awesome! How many pieces does it have?”
“I have no idea. Anyways we should probably eat before the bell rings.”
“Good idea,” Peter said. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a sandwich from a bodega. As he did Gwen glimpsed something red and blue. Her danger sense flared.
They sat eating in relative silence for all of two minutes. They were soon back to laughing and joking. Gwen was enjoying herself until light reflecting from Peter's watch glared across her face. Her danger sense flared again. She sighed and put her head down. If it was going to warn her about light after the fact, it was definitely out of whack.
“Are you ok?” a concerned voice asked. Gwen looked up and saw MJ staring at her. “Yeah, I just haven't been feeling well all day,” Gwen sighed.
“Don't tell me you're missing our jam session again!” Tori groaned. “That's the third time this month!”
“Jam session? That's awesome! Are you guys in a band?” Peter asked.
“Well sort of,” Tori admitted. “Gwen plays drums while I play the keyboard and sing. Maybe if someone actually came to practice we'd have a guitarist!” She glared at Gwen.
“You need a guitarist?” MJ asked. “It'd have to be after Aca-Deca, but maybe I could help you out. My parents have been trying to get me to branch out more.”
“That depends. Are you any good?”
“Well I haven't practiced in five years.”
The table burst out cackling. Tori managed to speak first. "Ok I like you! You're more than welcome, even if you're playing is garbage!"
MJ and Tori exchanged numbers then Tori turned to Gwen gleefully. "We just got a guitarist! Now we're getting somewhere!"
Gwen smiled. "Alright. I'll try to be there. No promises though."
Tori jumped up and down with excitement. "Sweet! Now we just need a name." Just then, the bell rang. "I'll think of something during algebra then. Later!" And just like that, Tori was gone.
Gwen sat up and groaned. "Ned, she's exhausting. How did you handle her growing up?"
"Believe it or not, she was actually really quiet before the blip." He shook his head. "You've known this Tori longer than I have. Though living with her is something else."
Gwen turned to MJ and Peter. "What about you? Any exhausting siblings or cousins I should know about?"
MJ and Peter shook their heads. "No it's just me and Aunt May," Peter said. "We should probably get to class though. See you later!" He extended a fist to bump.
"Later!" Gwen returned the bump, then her danger sense flared yet again.
Hopefully it'll get its act together soon, she thought. She never knew when something might happen. Then she got up and went to class.