Do You Remember Me?

Longing

MJ traced the markings, feeling the cool stone on her skin. The rough surface scratched her fingertips but MJ was too enticed in the letters to care. It had been a few minutes of staring into the stone of the rooftop when MJ's finger stopped its tracing and hovered over to the P. A surge of warmth seemed to flow from the inscription to her body, leaving a tingling sensation in her hand.

A light blinked beside MJ, and her dorky smile was erased from her face. 1:05 am!?!

Frantically grabbing all her things, MJ flew down the stairwell, leaving the engravement alone once more, a moment frozen in time, bathing in the moonlight.

🕸️🕸️🕸️

The tingling in MJ's hands followed her home. It swam up to her neck and down to her heart, filling MJ's chest with an uneasy feeling. After speeding up the fire escape, the metal clanging with every step she took, MJ pried open her bedroom window and stumbled onto her bed. Letting out a breath of air, she took in the warm breeze that leaked through the open window, feeling the wind comb through her hair. She smiled to herself, dumbfounded that she had finally graduated but a little confused as to why she felt a tinge of longing...as if something was missing. She shook off that feeling, soaking in her happiness. MJ rubbed her chest as the uneasy feeling grew and laid flat on her back to stare at the ceiling. Her ears listened to the whistle of the wind and the beat of her heart. And just as her eyes fluttered with exhaustion, her heartbeat grew louder and panged in her chest. MJ felt her throat close up as though a rope was being endlessly wrapped around her lungs. Fire burned her nose as the tinge of longing took over her euphoria. The ceiling wasn't visible anymore. A 'P' flashed in her mind and in a tiny whisper, MJ asked, "Where are you?"

She had no idea why she felt this way. God, it was so frustrating! To feel something without knowing why. She wanted to scream, to cry. Her legs pushed her body towards the window and lifted her outside. Sitting on the rickety steps of the fire escape, MJ let out a sob. Tears dripped from her eyes and streamed down her cheeks. She wrapped her arms around her legs and rocked herself back and forth as her body shook with silent sobs. "Where are you?" she whispered. "Where are you, where are you, where are yo-?"

Her voice cracked and the question plagued her head, multiplying with every tear that burned her skin. It was as though every part of MJ knew who she was talking about, apart from her brain. All she could make out was that whoever it was needed her, that they had gone through so much pain, that she missed them.... that they were alone. Heartbroken screams rose in MJ's throat, but she forced them down, unwilling to explain this feeling to whoever might overhear her. The uneasy feeling from the rooftop continued to swim through her body, sending prickles down her spine. MJ took a few deep breaths and closed her eyes. After a few minutes of listening to her breath and following the stream of tears that ran down her arms, MJ finally dragged herself back into her room, a blank expression staining her face.

Brown curls splayed across the mattress as MJ slid off her bed, the green comforter dragging along with her. Leaning against the bedside table, MJ focused on the heartbeat that bled out of her chest. Her head fell upon the table as she closed her eyes once again, her wet eyelashes stroking the tops of her cheeks. A small thud sounded but was tuned out by the thrashing of the trees outside. MJ's hands gripped the strings of the carpet that sat below her and tightened her grasp when she felt the table shake violently against her back. Her fingers continued to search the field of strings around her until they stroked something odd.

Slowly lifting her eyelids open, MJ grasped the object, feeling a cool sensation rub against her leg. She watched as a chain trailed along her skin, a clasp hooking the two ends of the metal beads together. MJ looked at her palm where a delicate pearl sat. Others just like it embraced the pearl, the shiny white lighting up the bedroom. Two glass petals were glued to the pearls, small and cracked but a beautiful pitch black. A third petal was jutting out of the pearls, untouched. As MJ's eyes followed every detail, the uneasy pain in her lungs faded. After seconds of studying the delicate glass, she realized that this was her necklace, the one she couldn't remember receiving. Her fingers undid the clasp and placed the beaded chain around her neck, allowing the petals to fall beneath her collar bone. The pounding of her heart slowed, and exhaustion washed over her. Dried tears decorated MJ's face, her eyes red and swollen, and the bottled-up screams left her throat sore. MJ threw herself onto her bed, her cheeks sinking into a soft pillow as she gently tucked her hands under her head. When her eyes succumbed to the exhaustion, the sound of wind whistling behind the glass window penetrated her ears.

🕸️🕸️🕸️

Hours passed by and amidst the darkness that encased her bedroom, the necklace slipped beneath MJ's shirt. As if there was a magnetic force, the black petals latched themselves onto her chest. It pinched her skin, causing her nose to scrunch up in her sleep. A golden light surrounded the petals and began to spin. A gentle breeze was formed by the light as it spun swiftly around the pearls and petals, fluttering MJ's shirt. The light ceased when numerous intricate golden lines appeared upon MJ's chest, where the necklace was fused. The pearls relaxed, and the necklace fell onto the pillow. The golden streaks slithered up MJ's chest and glided upon her collarbone, swimming up to her neck and coiling themselves around her temples. It took a while for the mysterious lights to line up into formation. And as the last thread of gold twirled itself into the last empty space, a shape was formed. A fingerprint.

Hearing a soft thud, his eyes spotted a shiny object laying on the bedroom floor. Peter's fingers encased themselves around a necklace. Bringing it close to his face, Peter's vision became blurry as tears welled up in his eyes. The black dahlia necklace. His thumb traced every crack, pearl, and petal before he set it down.

Peter's fingerprint.

🕸️🕸️🕸️

Peter stared at the dark blue sky, watching as the sun inched above the horizon. Laying on his back, Peter's head rested on his backpack. He picked up his phone and gazed at the unsent message he had typed earlier that night.

Hi May,

I miss you and hope you're doing okay. I just took my GED test today. I think it went well. Glad that I'm done studying. The results are coming in tomorrow...I'm really nervous. I'm thinking about applying to MIT again, but I'm not sure. I don't know if it'll be a great idea to go where MJ and Ned'll be. I'm confused. I have no idea what I'm going to do. I wish you were here with me. I wish you could tell me that everything's gonna be okay. It's been 6 months since I last saw MJ and Ned. I think I'm finally okay without them. I think I made the right choice...I think. I'm sorry about everything. All the pain I caused you. I never wanted any of this to happen. I should have been more careful. I'm sorry. I love you and miss you so much.

Love, Peter

P.S. Say Hi to Mr. Stark for me. Also, how's Ms. Widow doing? Is Mr. Rogers up there?

Peter's finger tapped the send button and scrolled up. His small brown eyes read the hundreds of messages he'd sent in the past 6 months, all with no reply. Peter's eyes were glazed with water as he smiled up at the puffy white clouds that hovered above him; imagining all of them happy and finally at peace.

And as Peter stood up and made his way down to his apartment, the golden strings upon MJ's temples began to glow.

Heloooo everyone,

I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I did writing it!

So sorry that it took so long, I've just been very busy and couldn't really figure out what to write for a while. I'll try to update sooner but I have a research paper due soon so I'm not 100% sure if I can write once a week. Definitely once in two weeks tho. Anyways, hope you like the book so far and will stick around for the next chapter!

Feel free to comment, give me any ideas and ask any questions!

Natasha