Skyscraper 🕸️ ᴘᴇᴛᴇʀ ᴘᴀʀᴋᴇʀ/ꜱᴘɪᴅᴇʀ-ᴍᴀɴ ꜰᴀɴꜰɪᴄ 🕸️

1. PART ONE: How It Began

3rd POV

MJ Watson weaved in between fellow waitresses at the diner, the restaurant busting with business for a Thursday night. A large tray was supported by her left hand as she held it in the air, away from the people she was pushing through to get back to her section. Typically, they have a runner at the restaurant to get the food out in a neat and timely manner. This night said runner was out with the flu. Afterall, it is early October and of course already colder than ice in New York.

Luckily for MJ, she's had practice carrying thirty pounds of food and plates back and forth to the kitchen when there's only two waitresses in the entire restaurant, but for some stupid reason the manager on shift called people in. Sure, the diner is busy, but it takes away from the waiters and waitresses who were scheduled when it comes to tips. And for that reason, MJ is aggravated.

Finally pushing through the crowd of people sitting at and around the milkshake bar, she made it to table forty-two in the corner, setting the tray on some random couple's table so she could pass the dishes to each of the five guests. It was a group of guys she graduated with, not that they'd remember her much anyways. Anything after her Junior year of high school is completely irrelevant to her graduating class, as is she.

"Hey, uh, what's MJ stand for anyway?" The lanky one with a shaggy hairdo in the corner spoke up, drawing an unnoticed eyeroll from MJ herself. Of course her name tag only says MJ, she doesn't like being called Marcy Jean. Why? Because that's what her mother called her while she grew up, before she passed away of cancer.

"Nothing, just MJ." She gave him a tight smile as she finished passing out their plates, completely unbothered by their attempts to flirt. She's not looking to date, especially these guys. Things get too personal for her liking, and she'd honestly only ever slept with one guy before and told herself that she'd only ever do it again if she loved the man.

The table laughed at something one of the guys whispered, leading to another one, buffer with blonde hair to speak up this time. "So, your parents just named you MJ? Like an 'M' and a 'J'?" The table erupted with laughter at the blonde one, who she thinks is named Drake but can't really remember to care.

MJ pretended to laugh at his comment, snickering a little too dramatically for the poor guy's ego. She clutched her stomach as the table stopped laughing and began staring at her outburst. One of the other guys cleared their throat in attempt to get her to let off of the punchline, clearly not noticing that she didn't actually think it was funny. The other ones, however, did realize what her intent was.

"Do you guys need anything else before I go?" She finally got herself together as she thought her own fake laughing was funnier than actually making fun of them. The blonde one shook his head with a blank stare, unimpressed by her actions completely. Well, at least she knows when she's getting a tip or not. It's a good thing she still gets paid hourly.

She reached behind her and grabbed the black tray from the couples table, who were still looking at the menu and completely unbothered by the events around them. Good for them, she thought. Ignorance is bliss, isn't that right?

"Are you guys almost ready to order?" She finally asked them after tucking the tray under her arm and not even bothering to write anything down. The man was the first to look up and acknowledge her, smiling and confirming that they're both ready.

MJ repeated their orders back to them once they finished and waltzed to the back to call the order out. Chef nodded at her and she let out a sigh, sweat dripping down her cool chest.

"You alright sweetie?" Nancy is the oldest waitress here, taking the primary position as head waitress even though she only comes in about once a week. She has retirement, but she chooses to work to stay up to date with MJ and the other girls and guys working there. As stubborn as she is, she's the sweetest old lady MJ has ever met.