INVISIBLE | P. PARKER

TWENTY FOUR

TWENTY-FOUR;
AWKWARD

THE NEXT DAY, during lunch, the teenagers continued their heated poker game they had to stop because the teacher walked into the classroom. The moment Cassie's fingers brushed past Peter's, the both of them became a blushing mess. She inhaled sharply as her hands swiftly shuffled the cars and tried her best to not think about the little moment too much. Inside his mind, Peter thought about that too.

"I'm going to give you something." Cassie smiled as she searched for something inside her backpack, Peter brought his leg up and rested his elbow on his knee, a position that Cassie always found attractive. "Now, choose one."

"Uh," The boy frowned, looking down at the deck of cards. He pursed his lips together and picked the red king of diamonds. "I like this one."

"Alright." The brunette nodded and opened her permanent marker and leaned to the card to write on it. Peter smiled. "Here." She handed it to him.

A spider. She drew a spider on the card and Peter couldn't stop himself from laughing loudly.

"Really, Cass?" He raised his eyebrows, smiling. The girl smiled at the nickname he gave her a long time ago.

"What can–" She began, but was instantly interrupted by a group of people seating on their table.

"Hello, handsome." Michelle pressed her lips over his and sat between them, Cassie raised her eyebrows in a mocking manner as she scooted away.

"H–Hi, Michelle." Peter stammered, letting his eyes travel from hers to Cassie.

"A spider?" Harry asked, frowning at he card in Peter's hands. "Why did you draw a spider on his card?" He turned to meet Cassie's intense gaze.

"Well, b–because–" The boy nervously stuttered.

"Because the other day Peter saw a spider and screamed. I've been teasing him about it." Cassie stepped in, catching him out of guard. He sent her a thankful smile, which she returned. "That's all."

"Anyway," Michelle butted in, raising her voice a little too loud for everyone's liking. "Guess what?" She asked the boy next to her, who seemed deep in his thoughts. "Babe?"

"Yes?" He shook his head, looking at her. A little smile crept onto his features as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, Cassie looked away biting her lower lip.

"Homecoming's getting close." The girl smiled brightly looking at Peter, who had no clue of her suggestion.

"That's cool." He truthfully said, taking a sip of his bottle of water. "Are you going?" Her face lit up.

"No... Are you?" She played with her hair and Cassie rolled her eyes. Harry and Ned watched the scene with amusement.

"Nah. I'm not into those type of things." Michelle's smile fell at his response and Cassie looked away to hide her own smile.

"Well, isn't this awkward." The brunette muttered, gaining a death-glare from Michelle.

+++

"Something's bothering you." Peter pointed as the teenagers walked through the city. Cassie's head snapped up at his direction.

"Everything's fine." She lied, but her lie was convincing enough for him to drop the topic. "I see you totally blew Michelle off."

"Me? Of course not." The boy scoffed, holding the left strap of his backpack.

"I swear you did." Cassie nodded, looking up to meet his gaze. "It was pretty awkward, you know." She tried to hold back a chuckled but failed miserably. Peter chuckled too.

"You know me too well, I don't really fancy the idea of homecoming and school dances." The boy explained and she nodded, understanding.

"I know you don't like them." She shrugged, looking at her feet. "I don't like them either."

"Poor Michelle. You should have told her before. To save her the embarrassment." They chuckled lightly.

"I just–I needed to hear your answer." Peter felt his heartbeat quickening at her words. "You know, to make sure you're not changing just to impress a girl." She quickly explained, he nodded with a little disappointment.

"I would never change to impress a girl."

"Most of boys do, so I wanted to see if you were like them. Newsflash: you're not." The boy smiled at her words and she shrugged, then laughed loudly.

"What are you laughing at?" Peter nudged her side, smiling happily at her.

"One time, Charlie told a girl he was a dancer to score a date with her. She was a ballerina and really bossy." Cassie explained, smiling brightly at the memory. "And she made him wear tights and practice ballet for a few weeks, it was quite hilarious." She laughed quietly.

"You miss him, don't you?"

"Well, of course I do. But I'm learning to move on." She pursed her lips together. "And you're helping me a lot. Thank you."

"Me? How?"

"Because you always have something interesting to say or do, and that keeps me busy. And if I'm busy–"

"You don't think about Charlie that much." He completed, nodding. "I know what you mean."

The pair walked next to each other in silence, after a time of knowing each other, words weren't necessary to have a good time. They both enjoyed the silence and the simple presence of one completed the other, their friendship was unique. Awkward was not a word in their vocabulary.

"So, I was thinking." Cassie spoke out. "If neither of us is going to Homecoming, maybe we can hang out in the tower. Watch movies or something... what do you think?" She stammered, looking at her hands. Peter smiled widely.

"It's a wonderful idea."