All Too Well - PeterMJ

"I remember it all too well"

"Is there anything else I can get for you?"

Michelle Jones asked, looking directly at the boy who had given her his full name. Peter Parker. He looked around her age, but she had never seen him before. She's normally a very observant person, yet she couldn't recall seeing him around Midtown. In her eyes, Peter Parker looked like a lost puppy, almost looking at her longingly. Normally, Michelle would assume that he was just some creepy stalker, but there was more to his look.

"No," the boy responded, almost sounding like he was going to cry. Michelle watched as he put a note into his pocket, taking the coffee she had prepared for him. "Thanks for the coffee."

Peter Parker left the shop, but not before taking one last look at Ned Leeds, who was sitting at the counter. Michelle noticed that he would catch glances at her friend, which only peaked her curiosity. He seemed to leave in a hurry, which was strange. Michelle looked down at the counter, not able to get the image of his longing look out of her head.

"Hello? Michelle?" She looked up to see Ned standing in front of her, waving his hand to get her attention. "Are you ignoring me or something?"

"Huh? What?" Michelle blinked, realizing she must have zoned out. "Oh, sorry Ned. Just lost in thought I guess."

"You know that guy who walked in here?" Ned asked, raising an eyebrow.

Michelle shook her head. "No, I don't think I've ever seen him before," she replied. "You?"

"No I haven't," Ned answered. "But it seems like he has some kind of crush on you. The way he was just staring at you like that."

Michelle scoffed, not believing him for a second. "He was looking at you too, Ned. For all we know, he could have a crush on you," she remarked.

Her shift went by as it normally did, yet she still could not let Peter Parker leave her head. Michelle laid in bed that night, still thinking of the body. His brown eyes that took one look at her and it seemed as if he knew everything about her with that one look. He seemed lonely, maybe just wanting to have some friends but chickened out at the last second. She knew what it was like to have no one to turn to, but then she got closer to Ned during Academic Decathlon meets.

Michelle could've sworn there was someone else too... weird that that thought would even cross her mind.

She just shrugged it off and went to sleep, still thinking of Peter Parker as she clutched her broken black dahlia necklace.

...

He came back the next day, asking for another coffee, this time adding a donut to his order. Instead of a note in his hands, he just had his backpack. Michelle was curious as to why he would bring a school bag with him, as Midtown was on holiday break. As she was grabbing the donut, she noticed that he took out a large textbook, "GED" spelled out on top.

So Peter Parker did not go to Midtown. That settled some ideas in her mind as to who this boy was, but that only piqued her curiosity more. What happened to him that he would need to get his GED in the first place? Did he drop out?

"When's your GED test?" Michelle asked, attempting to strike up a conversation.

He was startled by her voice, as if not expecting to hear her talk to him about anything other than his order. Michelle just waited for him to answer as she handed him his donut, now starting to prepare his coffee. "Sorry, I just noticed the book," she said, gesturing towards the book in front of him. "You don't have to tell me. I was just curious."

Peter seemed to relax after that. "Oh, yeah, my GED is in a couple of weeks," he replied, sounding nervous. "I'm not too worried about it, but I might as well be prepared."