Spider-Man: Finding a New Home [Andrew Garfield]

20

20.

Close Call

TW: Violence, Blood, Weapons

Adalia

The night begins with MJ and I scouring the streets of New York City to find the perfect Winter Formal dresses for this weekend. The hustle and bustle of the city, paired with the breathtaking view of the starry night sky and city lights reminds me of the good old times I've spent with my best friends. MJ and I have been walking together everywhere, and I've enjoyed every moment I've spent with her. At the start of our night, though, I did sense lingering tension between us; Parker and I's last conversation wasn't so friendly, and it's only natural for his girlfriend to feel uncomfortable by my slight hostility for her boyfriend. But now, we're having the time of our lives; we've laughed and bonded over new occurrences in our lives, and I haven't felt this comfortable around MJ for a while. I've missed being so close to MJ, who is my first and only girl best friend. Having Ned and Peter around me, I never had the chance to talk to them about girl stuff because as a teenage boy, who wants to sit around and listen to a teenage girl talk their ear off. Ned and Peter always bonded over comic books, while I wanted to bond over my love for certain celebrities and boy bands. But, then, MJ came along, and although she can be quite reserved with her thoughts and slightly opposed to girly things, she immediately opened up to me, and I opened up to her. Tonight, we have put any and all tension behind us with the intention of strengthening our friendship, and solely focusing on each other.

The night continues, and we enter yet another mall—which closes very soon—in the city, where we're quite far from Queens. This desolate part of the city seems to have less and less people as time goes by, and MJ and I have to pick up the pace. This mall is our last hope to find something we both like to wear; if not, we'll have to shop tomorrow, and repeat our search. The first store we see, MJ and I make a beeline for it. The array of dresses sit on clothing racks that catch our eyes the moment we notice them. MJ goes straight to a black slip dress with thin straps, while I go for a satin, red slip dress similar to MJ's. Although rather basic, our dresses compliment our styles.

MJ takes the dress off of the rack, and she holds it up to me as she calls my name. "What do you think?" she asks, with a restrained, excited smile. She pushes several curls behind her ear to better see me. "It's perfect for me, right?"

Enthusiastically, I say, "Oh, of course! Dude, it'll look amazing on you." MJ bounces on the balls of her feet, and thanks me. She spots the cherry-red dress in my hands, and she nods her head with enthusiastic approval. "You think this is perfect for me?" I ask.

MJ says, "Totally!"

In a fit of excitement and giddiness, MJ and I squeal with delight, grinning from ear to ear because we've finally found decent dresses for us in less than five minutes. I grab MJ's wrist, and tug her along with me to the dressing room. She starts to protest, but I deny every single excuse she throws my way to avoid changing. "But, can't we just buy them?" she squeaks, shying away from the other customers, who gawk at us upon recognition. "Adalia, wait," she continues, "maybe we shouldn't because, you know, people might record us, and we don't want that."

I lose the momentum in my stride toward the dressing room, but I resume my quick pace. I don't care if anyone records me; I will live my life the way I want to without worrying about what others will think of me. "Don't worry! We'll be quick," I say. "And, who cares if people'll record us? They won't stop us from having fun."