Spider-Man - Love, Peter

Chapter 3.

I jump and my nail polish bottle slaps flat on my desk, some of the blue liquid spilling out as mom slams my door open, it bounces off my wall.

"First letters here!" She walks over to me, my other mom rushing into the room her hands dripping wet with a zucchini in her palms as she peers over my shoulder.

"Mama... my carpet." I whine as I stare at the ever-growing puddle. She waves me off as Mom grabs the spilt bottle of polish and screws the top on.

"Open it!" I laugh and rip the top open pulling my letter out. I unfold it and read it silently as they practically vibrate with excitement behind me.

"Well? What's it say, bebita?" Mama asks, her voice shaking with trepidation, I sigh as my shoulders drop.

"I didn't get it." I mutter, disheartened just a bit, mama brushes my hair back from my face and kisses my forehead.

"Oh, well that's okay! You have two others; this was just a backup." She does her best at cheering me up, I smile up at her and nod.

"Now go my carpets gonna mold!" I shoo her off as she giggles and rushes out. Mom peers down at me, her short curly hair slicked back in a ponytail, looking down at me with an odd smile on her face.

"Mi amour, it's alright don't worry." She kneels and cups my face with a soft smile. I sigh and nod as she pats my cheek before kissing my head just as Mama had.

"Two more."

I nod,

"Two more."

#

I answered the door as our friendly neighbor held out our mail to me, "Gotta change your number, Nieta, this is getting tiring."

I give the old man an apologetic smile, "Sorry Abuelo, I'll make sure I do it this weekend okay?" I assure him with a small smile, he sighs and nods.

"Good luck, Jane." He says, I give him a brighter smile as he walks off.

I shut the door and walk to the table as I open the letter. I unfold it just as I did the first and read it. With a frown I drop the letter on the table.

Just a backup.

It's okay.

No big deal.

You got this.

I close my eyes and breath in deeply before tossing the letter in the trash.

#

"It's here!~" Mama drawls out in a sing-song voice as she wiggles the letter in her hands with a cheeky grin.

"Gimme!" I exclaim, she pulls it away with a stern face.

"Ah, ah. What's the magic word?" She asks with a raised brow; I roll my eyes and mumble a 'please' she chuckles and gives it to me. She brushes a hand through my bedraggled mess of hair.

"I have no doubt you'll get in, love. Don't worry, you've got this, now go I'm sure Ned and MJ are just as anxious." She comforts with a warm smile, I let out a squeal as I get up and run to my room to get dressed.

#

I look behind me as the donut shop's door jingles. I smile seeing Peter, and it doubles as he raises the MIT letter. MJ rises hers from behind the counter and me and Ned raise ours. He exhales through his nose as he walks over to us. He sits down across from me as MJ stands in front of us behind the counter.

"Okay. Ready?" She asks,

"Jones, I told you to take down the Halloween decorations." The owner of the shop peers out of the backroom with tired eyes.

"Actually, that was Sasha so..." She trails off,

"—Enough attitude, just do it."

She clenches her jaw and looks back at us, "On it."

I fidget with my letter looking from her to Peter then Ned, the anticipation was gonna kill me before the contents of the letter do.

"I feel like I'm gonna puke." Ned says, I nod in agreement.

"Same." I breathe out as MJ looks at the counter then us.

"Well don't. Because he will just make me clean it." She breathes out with a shudder in her tone.

"This is our only shot. It's here or nowhere." Ned says,

"Hey, come on." Peter mumbles—I could tell he was trying to have some optimism. I look up at Peter with a small smile,

"Mama wished us luck. So, I'm sure we're getting in." I say, hoping it would be a bit comforting and reassuring to one of us. Peter smiles down at me, him and my mom used to have a great mother-son dynamic going before the whole Mysterio thing happened. It's been hard on them both since it put a draft between them.

"Okay. You guys ready?" MJ asks again without interruption.

"Yeah."

"Okay. On three."

I sit up straighter as I hook my finger beneath the seal of the white envelope.

"One... two... three."

I rip it open and pull the letter out. I basically white-knuckle the thin flimsy paper as I read it.

'In light of recent controversies, we are unable to consider your...'

I stop reading and sigh, dropping my hands on the counter as I look at my friends.

"No." MJ mutters when Peter looks up at her,

"No, you?" He looks at me and I shake my head,

"In light of recent controversies, we are unable to consider your application at this time." Ned reads out loud and I sigh.

"This is so not fair. I mean this is so not fair. I didn't do anything wrong! I mean you guys definitely didn't do anything wrong." Peter exclaims, it wasn't fair—he was right. But it wasn't fair to all of us, including him.

"Expect disappointment, and you will never get disappointed." MJ repeats what she'd said on the roof that day during school. I jump as the door jingles behind me, and someone claps.

"No sleep till! Buh-buh, buh-buh, Boston!" Flash exclaims, dancing stupidly. I stare at Flash as he smiles at us and slaps his hands down at his sides. He furrows his brows at our faces, "You guys didn't get in?" He asks.

"No! You babbling baboon 'cause we're actually friends with Spider-Man!" I yell at him, and he pulls a face.

"Uh yeah. I better get—" He trails off and looks down at his watch, "I gotta go... there's a mixer for new admissions and– sorry guys." He backs out of the shop and walks away. I sigh and look down at the table.

"Jones, what're you doin? Get back to work."

"Yeah, I'm coming. Know what?" She starts, I shut my eyes for a moment before looking up at MJ as she rips her letter up.

"I wouldn't change a thing I did." She nods in confirmation to her own words and turns around to work.

"Neither would I." Ned says and rips his letter up, tossing it in front of him. He purses his lips before grabbing the pieces. "Although I do need to show this letter to my parents." Ned gets up and pats Peter on the back before leaving. I lean my head on my palm looking at Peter.

"I'm still glad we tried Pete. You know? There was always that chance of one of us not getting in anyway. 'Controversies' or not." I say with a shrug, and he gives me a sad smile and nods.

"I'm gonna go share the news with Mom and Mama, see you later?" I question, tilting my head a little.

"Yeah..." He breathes out. I nod and place my hand on his back giving it a rub,

"It'll be okay Pete." I turn around and leave the shop.