Peter's Not Excited
“C’mon Peter, why aren’t you excited? We are literally going to the Avenger’s Compound! Like, the REAL Avengers!” Ned explained cheerfully, confused as to why his best friend was being such a Debbie downer. Peter sighed and rubbed his temples. They were at lunch, Ned and Peter were at one end of the table with MJ at the other. However, Peter had recently noticed that MJ had scooted a little closer towards them at the table, and honestly, he and Ned didn’t really mind.
Michelle gave off an intimidating demeanor, but ever since homecoming, MJ had started to actually talk to Ned and Peter outside of Decathlon practice; sure it was mostly about books or current politics, but it was kind of refreshing to have another person to talk to besides Ned. Peter looked over to MJ to make sure that she wasn’t in earshot of their conversation and leaned over to Ned.
“It’s not that I’m not excited, it’s just that Mr. Stark is gonna be there and I don’t want him to embarrass me in front of our entire class!” Peter explained while trying to keep his voice low.
“Dude,” Ned said as he put a hand on Peter’s shoulder, “This is gonna be so fun! All you have to do--I can’t believe this is a real problem you have--is ask Mr. Stark not to embarrass you. And besides, he’s probably not going to be there anyway. He’ll be busy with other important stuff.” Ned finished as Peter nodded in agreement.
“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Peter replied in a somber tone.
“Of course I’m right!” Ned exclaimed, “Would I be your guy in the chair™ if I was wrong?” Ned questioned while the two let out a small laugh. The laughter irritated Peter’s ribs, but he could already tell that his healing process was taking care of the worst of it.
“Anndddddd,” Ned dragged out, “You can spend more time with MJ if ya know what I mean,” Ned said while raising his eyebrows. Peter rolled his eyes and quickly glanced over at MJ near the end of the table, her eyes were glued to a thick book as she quickly brushed a curly strand of hair behind her ear.
“Ned, I am literally gonna kill you, and you know that I am more than capable of doing so,” Peter told him as Ned kept a smirk plastered on his face.
“Just kill me after the field trip, please. I wanna meet Dr. Banner first.” Ned said.
“You got it,” Peter replied with a chuckle.
Peter’s and Ned’s laughter died down and the two went back to eating their lunches. The cafeteria lasagna looked especially unappetizing today, so Peter just ended up twirling his fork in the so-called “meal.” Did Peter actually have feelings for Michelle? His answer would be no. It’s not like he would stare at her all of first and third period or notice every time she wore a new top. He was just, observant, as MJ would call it. Okay, maybe he did kinda, sorta, have a small, itsy bitsy crush on MJ. But was there anything wrong with that?
The bell signaling the end of lunch rang and Peter and Ned picked up their trays and headed towards the door. Peter looked back at the table only to find that MJ had disappeared with the bell, as had most of the other students.
“So, are you gonna show me how you make your web fluid in chem next period or what?” Ned asked, snapping Peter out of his thoughts.
“Uh, sure dude. Unless we have a lecture today, cause I already got yelled at during our stoichiometry unit last week, and I can’t afford any more after school detentions.” Peter replied as the two made their way to the science hall. The thought of Michelle floated through Peter’s mind as he wondered if she felt the same way about him. She’s one hell of a tough cookie to crack. Peter wondered if showing no emotion all day took serious skill or just came naturally to MJ. Whatever the case, he actually enjoyed the few times when MJ opened up to him and Ned.