the spider whisperer

Frenemies [chapter 14]

"Morning, Sunshine," Peter greeted her.

She was shocked to see him there before her. This was one of the few times Peter had woken up early enough to make it to class first out of the two of them. Which wasn't saying much considering she typically only made it there five minutes before the morning bell rang to signal the beginning of their first hour. By that time, most of the class would've already been present and in their seats, sleepily talking to one another.

Her shock was quickly shaken away from her face and replaced with the normal resting one. Which resembled that of a sleep deprived pigeon being awoken by the crow of a rooster for the ninetieth time, "It's too early for you to be so social."

"I'm always social this early!" Peter defended himself. He reached over and moved his bag away from where it was; it sat at her portion of the counter. "Besides, I've just made a big decision," he mumbled.

From the look on his face alone, she could tell he was speaking about his other identity. He was no longer in the mindset of Peter Parker, but in the one of Spider-man that was always turning to his "behind the scenes" worker.

That meant he was either about to propose the most amazing idea he'd ever had that could possibly save all of New York. Or he was going to say something so incredibly stupid she was going to have to realize he actually was a teenage boy. And he'd beg her to participate in his shenanigans until they both ended up in a tense situation, wondering how the hell it came to that.

"Do I really want to hear it?" she monotoned. Her face had fallen flat as she got situated in her lab stool.

Peter quickly shook his head from side to side in a nonverbal 'no'. There was an undoubtedly charming grin on his face. Yeah, she knew that whatever he said from that point on was going to be stupid. Did she listen anyways? Of course. Free entertainment.

She let out a sigh and rubbed her temples, "Go."

"I'm gonna infiltrate whoever those KP people are coming from," Peter stated boldly. His eyes concentrated on her face, waiting to see if she showed any signs of disapproval; he knew he was bound to get it. But he didn't, so he gasped. Instead, he was met with her running the consequences of this through her mind, "You're not gonna call me an idiot?"

"I hate to admit this, but it's really not that bad of an idea," she mumbled, furrowing her brows in concentration.

Peter tilted his head to the side, "How so?"

"Well, I mean, you're job is to keep New York safe," she thought aloud. "If those KP guys keep on messing with you, you could end up dead. I think you— we should figure out some stuff about this crime group and then try to take them down. It would ensure your own safety as well as New York's."

Peter hummed. He too started to think about the pros and cons of this mission he was requesting. In all actuality, Peter had expected her to flat out reject the idea as soon as he proposed it. But now, here he was, sitting next to a girl who did not in fact reject his idea as he had anticipated.

"So..." Peter trailed off after a moment of awkward silence between the two of them. "You're on board with this plan?"

She went over the words in her head for a moment. It would be beneficial if everything worked out perfectly, but there was also a chance that wouldn't happen. And, since she still didn't know the full power of the organization, Peter could end up dead.

"I'm not on board," a murmur was given in response. Peter deflated at this. "But I'm not against it either. If you truly want to do this, then I will help you. But know everything you're risking before you dive head first into this. Okay? Peter?"

His eyes went up to meet hers, seeing the worry within them as soon as they connected with his own. He didn't have to ask, he didn't have to tease it's way out of her; Peter Parker knew for a fact that y/n l/n loved him. It might not be the way he loved her— it may never be, but there was something there. And he was going to cherish her and whatever love she had for him; that meant listening to every single word that left her mouth.

"Okay, y/n," Peter nodded, speaking in the softest and most even voice he had ever in quite some time.

They both went silent, never once severing eye contact. Well, not until a third person entered. She hadn't heard their conversation, but all she knew was that she wasn't going to like it. Not from seeing how they were looking at each other with so much care at the moment.

"Hey, Peter," Liz greeted. She offered a kind smile, one that y/n couldn't help but want to rip off her face. Could she not see that they weren't insulting each other for once? Why did she have to ruin it? "I was just coming to ask how your project is going with...?" She trailed off, looking to the girl next to the person he was talking to. A small spark of hatred flashed within both of their eyes when they made eye contact.

"Y/n," Liz was given in an icy tone.

Liz cast her a quick up and down look, making both, y/n and Peter, give looks of disbelief. Peter was not about to stand up for this mistreatment of his best friend since preschool. No way in hell. So he opened his mouth to say something.

But Flash stepped in, "What was that look for?" Out of the three, only none noticed Flash come up to them. He was getting better at his stealth skills. For a big jock with a noticeably larger frame, he was actually rather quiet when he walked.

"What look?" Liz feigned innocence.

"Oh, there was clearly a look," Peter let his eyes narrow. They were going in between Flash and Liz. Flash for seeming to genuinely show care for the girl he'd been sexualizing since he'd learned about sex, and Liz for pretending like she hadn't just cast his favorite person a look. "Do you guys have some sort of problem I don't know about?"

"As far as I know: nothing," y/n answered.

"Yeah," Liz nodded her head. "Nothing."

But nobody believed her. From the way she spoke to her mannerisms, the three kids who'd known each other since second grade could tell she didn't like the girl of the three.

"Right," Flash nodded, raising his brows and averting his eyes. "And I haven't been tormenting these two since we were in sixth grade. Okay. Sure."

They hated Flash— Peter and y/n. But not in the way most people thought. He hated them too. And with that "hatred" came a sort of friendship. Albeit, a confusing one, but a friendship nonetheless. When he teased or threw an insult, they'd reciprocate the energy.

Although at first their dynamic was confusing to themselves as well as the people around them, they'd eventually figured it out. In the middle of last year, Flash had stood up for Peter when a teacher accused him of cheating when the boy had very obviously never done such a thing in his life. He was there for them when they needed it, and at their throats when they didn't need the helping hand any longer.

"Liz, maybe you— the two of you should go sit down," Peter corrected himself so he wasn't directly attacking Liz. She might've been pretty, but Peter was starting to see through that beauty and to the problems she had with his partner. "I think class is about to start soon."

"Yeah, let's go," Flash nodded his head in agreement. Before Liz could protest, Flash gently grabbed her arm and started pulling her off to their lab station.

Peter turned his head so he was once again looking at her, "What did you do to her? She was so sweet when she first introduced herself to me. Did something happen in between that time?"

"Haven't talked to her in my life," she shrugged. She swiped an 'X' over her heart with one finger. "Cross my heart, hope to die, stab a needle in my eye."

"Well, geez. You didn't need to go that far," Peter looked at her with amusement.

"Yeah, yeah," she rolled her eyes. Out of the corner of them, she saw the teacher enter the room. The bell run just a few seconds after. Shoving his shoulder, she turned to the front of the room where their science teacher was, "Shut up."