Idiosyncratic || Peter Parker ||

||8||

"There's this really cool book store in Queens - It has the best comic books." Ned beamed as he walked down the bustling street with Peter and Isabelle. After the three had woken up properly the boys decided that they were going to take Isabelle to their usual hang out, typically where they got all their books and comics from. She laughed and nodded at Ned. Peter kept his gaze on her, unable to pull away from the smile that graced her face.

She was most definitely pretty when she smiled, Peter was able to see that and was the reason he couldn't seem to look away until Ned noticed and slapped him. Jolting out of his trance, a blush lightly crept up on his cheeks. "Dude - stop being creepy." Ned hissed, making Peter go redder as he scratched the back of his neck nervously, "I wasn't..." He mumbled. Isabelle hadn't even noticed the exchange between the two as her focus was on the streets around her, the tall buildings and the people. 

Arriving at a quaint book store that was incredibly out of place in comparison to the modernised architecture of the surrounding buildings, the three teenagers made their way inside, immediately hit by the familiar scent of musk and paper of the books that littered the shelves. It was unsurprisingly quiet, not many people were scattered in between the shelves but business always did great despite the little numbers of people who visited and bought books. 

"Can't believe you're hanging out with those two losers." A voice from the counter caught the three's attention. Isabelle locked eyes with a girl behind the counter, her feet propped up and a book in her hands. Both Ned and Peter seemingly unbothered by the girl's comment mumble in response, "Hey Michelle." They were both used to Michelle's judgements as they didn't take it to heart a lot of the time because just like they were, she too was a loser. 

"You're in my AP biology class right? You sit behind me." Isabelle racked her brain to try and figure out why Michelle was so familiar, she was sure they shared some classes together. "Mhmm." Michelle hummed in response, her eyes not looking up from the book in her hands as she flicked the page. "Okay, I'm Issie." She attempted to be polite to the shut off reserved girl. Michelle often detached herself in social situations, but she could connect well with others despite her introverted personality. Appreciating the effort Isabelle actually put into to starting a conversation, she knew that she was already one of the few people she could stand. 

"Cool," Michelle commented, her eyes trained on the pages of the book. Isabelle looked to Ned and Peter as if to ask if this was typical of her, both boys simply shrugged and nodded. "So comic book section?" She clapped her hands together eagerly to see what the hype was about these comic books. They led her toward the back of the store where there were several shelves dedicated to the brightly coloured graphic novels. Flicking through the comic books, not particularly looking for anything special, Ned sparks up an interesting conversation after observing a news report based around Queens' own web slinger. 

It was as if a day didn't go by where Spider-Man wasn't a topic of conversation. "He's so cool - but if I had super powers I would want to teleport." Ned grinned, like a kid on Christmas day. "Teleport? Really, Ned? Shape shifting is cooler, you could turn into any person you want." Peter explained, earning a laugh from Isabelle as she watched the two argue over what power was cooler. If she could have it her way, she'd prefer not to be burdened with powers at all. The powers so many people without them want is what robbed her of living life normally. 

But she was glad to have befriended Peter and Ned because for just a moment things felt normal when she was around them. Even if she met them three days ago, it was their sense of normality that drew her close to them. "What about you Issie?" Ned asked, grasping her attention, "Oh? I'd like the power of convenience." She answered honestly, pretending she wasn't at all thinking of her own powers.