TROUBLE, peter parker

v. the flash attack (reprise)

"He really did break the backboard," Maya said to herself as she looked up at the frame of the backboard missing the actual thing and the hoop.

Obviously it had been cleaned up, but it was still obvious that something had happened to the hoop.

"You into him or something?" came a voice from the stands.

Maya whipped her head up to find Flash sitting there by himself.

"Are you?" she asked, and he scoffed. "You're really subjecting yourself to staying here longer?"

She started walking over to the bleachers, taking them two at a time to reach where Flash was sitting and leaning against the wall.

He shrugged, staring up at the ceiling, and she sat down next to him, dumping her backpack in the row in front of them.

Back when they were friends, they would consider themselves pretty close. Flash never felt comfortable sharing about things that weren't just sports and school and girls with their guy friends, and Maya was always willing to offer him either an ear to listen, a shoulder to cry on (though he swore he would kill her if she ever told), or anything else of that sort.

It was all great until the summer going into tenth grade—everything was looking up Maya until the summer going into tenth grade.

"Ionello's apparently into you now," he said, fiddling with his fingers in his lap.

"Jason?"

"Yup," said Flash. "He says he's into the whole angsty loner thing."

Maya furrowed her eyebrows and scrunched her face in disgust, and out of her peripheral vision, she saw Flash smile a little at her reaction.

"Seems kinda weird," she said. "Is he turned off by the fact that I've been talking to Gwen recently?"

"Probably. But you know how he is; I don't think he cares that much."

"Ah, then I'm sure he'll be fine moving on to the next girl who plans on rejecting him," Maya said.

She trod carefully, navigating her thoughts, before speaking again, significantly more wary this time.

"Back in Clarke's, I asked how you were and how everything at home was. You were about to answer."

A fly buzzing was heard, and Flash reached his hand up to swat it away.

"I'm subjecting myself to staying here longer rather than going home, aren't I?" he said. "But what do you care, Maya Jean?"

"Of course I care," she said.

She turned to look at him, a crease in between her eyebrows at his statement.

"Do you?" he asked.

"Why do you keep asking?"

He scoffed and it turned into a small laugh leaving a bad feeling in Maya's gut.

"You don't care," he said in a quiet voice. "You don't care, and you think you do, but obviously you don't, and here's why:"

There was a lull in the conversation as Flash tiredly rubbed a hand over his face.

"Flash—"

"No," he said. "You don't get to pretend to be the good friend that's there if I ever need to talk. You weren't there then, you're not going to be here now. You're a shitty person and an even shittier friend, Maya."

He scoffed and shook his head. Maya opened her mouth but quickly shut it just as fast, wondering where this had come from all of a sudden.

"And of course Gwen and Ryan and Jason are all warming back up to you as if everything's perfect," he said. "You all run around with your perfect lives like you're so much better than everyone."