fearless || peter parker

twenty || gravity, and perpetual loneliness

As much as I tried to keep myself distracted, my eyes subconsciously floated over to my dormant phone the whole night at work. I wanted to call Peter to make sure that he didn't actually drown on the ferry, but then I would be bombarded with questions as to why I knew hew was there, and why I cared so much about Spider-Man after I told him that I didn't.

So, I didn't call, and tried to serve people food and take phone calls from customers instead of wondering whether or not my crush was nothing but a floating corpse in the East River.

You can imagine the relief when I sat next to a silent, studious Peter Parker the next day in Chemistry.

"What happened to you guys?" Nitara asked at lunch. "I haven't seen you speak a word to each other since Washington."

The sad part was, I barely spoke to Peter before Washington, either. He was always so damn busy. And calling him out on it was like attacking his personal life with a cannon. Of course, I had found out the hard way. And of course, I kept it to myself.

"We've just both been so busy," I lied. "It's hard with our schedules."

"Well, I hope you've cleared your schedules for Homecoming at the end of the week," Nitara said. "Harry and I are both going together. We could finally pull off that double date."

I tried to keep the awkward look off my face when Nitara brought up the idea of another double date. "Ned said he was meeting Michelle there, and they don't have dates," I excused. "I don't see why we can't all just go as a group of friends."

"Because we're on a different plane than platonic," Nitara sighed. "Either way, Harry and I can pick you up from your work Friday and drive you to the school."

I agreed. It would be incredibly awkward, but if Peter didn't change, I may not even have to worry about him being there. If worst came to worst, I could talk to Ned in the corner about Star Wars or to Michelle about true crime. It was just one night, and Peter had shown all throughout school that day that he was proficient at returning our rapport to being lightly acquainted, at best.

My mind flashed back to the only interaction we had all day. Do you have a pencil? He had asked. No, I replied.

I worked that night, and the day after. So, I had determined Thursday as the day to initiate my next plan.

"I'm calling it Operation Ignoramus Takedown," I told Nitara over the phone. "You should see the kinds of guys that work for Vulture. They've got their heads so far up their asses I wonder how they can even breathe."

I was creeping around the exterior of the warehouse, a safe distance away. I was far enough that they couldn't hear me unless I screamed, and I was hidden for any security cameras they may have had.

"Just don't get caught," Nitara said. "And whatever you do, don't hang up. If something happens to you, I'm calling the cops and telling them everything."

"You had better not tell them everything," I muttered. "We've committed our own crimes, remember? You're my accomplice. Sorry, by the way."

"I'm a minor," Nitara said. "I'll be fine."

"You'll be taking your SATs in juvie. Just don't be rash."

"You know me. Unrash is my middle name."

I wrinkled my nose and lowered my voice as I crept closer to the faded and vandalized concrete wall of the warehouse. "That's not a word."

"You're right. It's a name. Now, shut up and don't get caught."

I kept Nitara on the line as I took my phone from my ear and pulled up my camera on the screen. I was almost certain that they had some type of surveillance system in place, so I decided to use a trick I had had up my sleeve for some time.