It was Ned’s idea. All of this eventually traced back to Ned. Well, mostly it led back to Ned. Okay, it was kind of Peter’s fault too.
Peter Parker had always loved theater, especially musicals. Some of his fondest memories growing up were of him, Uncle Ben, and Aunt May reenacting scenes from Sound Of Music or Singing In The Rain. Even then the three things he wanted to grow up to be were Scientist, Actor, and Iron Man.
So when the school play came around, Ned knew that Peter would love to participate. Being his best friend he also knew that Peter would never voluntarily audition. Peter was too concerned about drawing attention to himself and, though he wouldn't admit it, was worried about being rejected.
So, with Peter's best interest in mind, Ned spent the next week pestering Peter about joining the play. Peter wasn't too fond of his own tactic being used against him, but hey, it was for the greater good. Eventually it worked and Peter agreed to audition, once. Peter was a smart cookie, though. He knew that if he was going to audition, he was going to go big. Lead role. There was no way that he could get something like that. Then Ned would be off his back and he wouldn't have to worry about embarrassing himself in front of the school.A few days later a flaw grew in Peter's plan. A major variable that was completely unaccounted for. They liked him. Like, they really liked him. And now Peter "Looking Out For The Little Guy" Parker, was leading for Midtown's play of the year.
As much as he wanted to loathe it, he was kind of excited. Okay, really excited. But he was allowed this, he had been dreaming about it for years. May and Ned were excited too, they knew how much he wanted this. So for the next few days reading the script and memorizing his lines. Ned and May would stand in if need be.
One fateful night however, as Peter was rereading the finale he came across one simple line he had somehow missed every time before. Maybe he didn't want to see it, maybe he was too excited, just somehow. This time however, this one simple time, he couldn't help but see it. There in bold the page read "James raises arm victoriously and kisses Christine."
Kiss? No, no way. He had to have read it wrong. "And kisses Christine, shit." He mumbled to himself. Something about this had to have been wrong, why would they have random high schoolers kiss for some little event? Then again, it was a basic play, he was playing the knight, this is how most of those stories ended.
Still, this was huge and terrifying. Peter had never kissed anyone before! What if he messed up? What if he did end up embarrassing himself before the student body? Now he was in full on PANIC MODE. Hurriedly he pulled out his phone and called Ned."Dude!" He shouted.
"What?" Ned asked
"I'm kissing someone!" Peter's voiced dripped with terror.
"...Like, right now?
""What? No! Play! I have to kiss someone for a scene!"
"Oh, why is that a big deal?"
"Because! I don't know what I'm doing! I just meet someone and then I'm kissing them?! How am I supposed to do that?!"
"Oh. OH!' Realization dawned in Ned's voice and Peter nodded in response, despite the fact that Ned couldn't see.
Ned seemed to understand though and he theorized any way he could to help. In the end neither of them could think of a plan solid enough to work. Peter was thoroughly screwed.
The next day at school Peter was either freaking out or super mopey, there was no in-between. MJ took notice of this during lunch as Peter was in Mope Mode™. "So were you sentenced to death row recently, or?" She asked. Peter slowly lifted his head from the table to make eye contact with her.
"Hm?" he asked
"You're all," she gestured to him with an almost uncomfortable look on her face, "eh today."
Peter gave a small smile and nodded. "I may have, kinda, sorta, signed on for something I'm not prepared for." MJ snorted.
"Of course you would, so what's the thing?"
Peter tried to think of a gentle way to explain without explicitly saying the kiss part. Before he could Ned sat next to him and said plainly "Peter's freaking out because he's never kissed anyone before." Peter shot Ned a wide-eyed glare that seemingly said 'Dude!' to which Ned just smiled in response. Peter shifted his gaze back to MJ, who seemed unimpressed.
"Really? That's it?" She asked, "I thought you'd be better than that, Parker." she finished while squinting at him.
"It's not just that. I'm also supposed to kiss someone for the play." Peter explained, resting his chin on the table.
"So who are you going to mack on?" She asked with a smirk. Peter groaned.
"Don't say it like that." he whined. "And they haven't cast her yet. Which doesn't help." Peter sighed as he rested his forehead on the table again. MJ gave him another judging look before taking her latest read from her bag and resuming her page.
During the class following lunch Peter felt something softly hit the the top of his head and land in his lap. He picked up the foreign object to see it was a crumpled up ball or paper. He opened it, trying his best not to tear it. Turns out it was a note. It read: "I can help, if you want. - MJ" Peter turned around to toss a look to MJ, but she was staring at the board, as if she hadn't just thrown a message across the room. Shaking his head lightly he turned back around and took out his phone.
He texted her something he thought got his message across quickly and effectively. "???"
She texted back quickly, "What?"
"You can 'help'?"
"Congrats, you can read."
"MJ."
"What?"
"What is help supposed to mean?"
"Gym. After school."
Before Peter could ask what that meant or push for more answers there came a sharp, "Mr. Parker!" from the front of the room. He was so startled he nearly fell out of his seat as he scrambled to set his phone down and appear on task. He gave the teacher a nervous smile and the lesson continued. After glancing backwards to MJ again he could see she was trying not to laugh. After class he saw another text from MJ that came during the period. It read simply, "Amateur." Thanks MJ.
Peter found himself almost anxious during the last few periods. What the hell did MJ mean by help? What was she going to do? Sure she wouldn't like, kill him or anything. Well, maybe. Oh god, was she going to kill him? He made a mental note to tell May how much she meant to him if he made it home today.
But eventually the last period came and and the bell rang. Peter was one of the first ones out of the room as he jogged down to the school's gym, a mixture of fear and curiosity fueling his journey. Surprisingly when he got there it was empty. Well, mostly empty. Because somehow both expected and unexpected to Peter, MJ was sitting in the middle of a set of bleachers on the left side of the room, reading the same book she was during lunch as if she had been there all day.
Once he made his way to her, Peter cleared his throat to announce his presence. Slowly she placed her bookmark in the novel and set it beside her. She raised an eyebrow when she saw that he was standing. She motioned to the empty space to her right with her head and Peter sat. "So, what was with the note?" he asked
"You freaking out like a dork is embarrassing to watch. I'm willing to help if it means putting a stop to that." She explained like it was obvious.
"Freaking out? I don't-" He trailed off as he suddenly understood. "H-help? How are you gonna help?" Panic began to set in again. An entirely different kind of panic.
"I was going to run through the scene with you," she again spoke like this was all common sense. "Then you can stop being a loser. Can't be worried if you're familiar."
Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god. The panic doubled quickly. Was she serious? Did she know what she was offering?
"A-are you, I mean, did you, I just. Really? You're sure?" He managed, to which she nodded. Soon enough MJ had the copy of the script Peter kept on hand, and they were practicing the final scene again. MJ was surprisingly into it and was really good at it. She gave emotional and realistic reactions and deliveries.
Eventually they came to the dreaded line.
"James raises his arm victoriously and kisses Christine."
Peter raised his arm victoriously as he faced MJ. Any confidence he had through the scene was instantly gone. He took a step closer to her, their noses were almost touching now. "Last chance to back out." Peter whispered.
"That's not staying in character, Parker." she whispered in retaliation, but nodded to answer him anyway. Peter leaned forward ever so slightly more, and there they were. Kissing, in the middle of an empty gym that belonged to a now empty school. Neither Peter nor MJ knew exactly how long they stood there like that. Somewhere between 5 seconds and 500 years. Probably.
Eventually though, they separated when Peter's phone started going crazy. Apparently May needed him back home for a project. "Sorry, May needs me." Peter began as he looked back up, "Thanks MJ, that was," Oh god how was he supposed to finish that sentence? Cool? Awesome? What I've been dreaming of? There wasn't a non creepy way to end the statement. Why did he start it? She was just doing a favor for a friend. It wasn't like that. Eventually he decided on "Thanks." and he grabbed his bag and made a break for the door.
Then as MJ stood alone in the empty gymnasium she made a decision. She had to be Christine in the play. For Peter, of course. He wouldn't want to kiss a stranger, right? She was protecting him. Yeah, it definitely for Peter.