Free Fall [PETER PARKER]

FOUR: BE OUR GUEST

chapter four

"Ana, stop wasting the gummy worms!" Ana laughed uncontrollably as Peter picked a gummy worm out of his hood that she'd thrown at him and tossed it into his open mouth.

"Okay, but first, you have to tell me what instrument you play in the school band." He threw his head back and groaned loudly, causing Ana to laugh even more, before she continued, "Come on, please, I have to know what it is. It's not my fault that you've been keeping this secret from me that you're even in the band for a month, and that Ned just happened to slip up about it at lunch."

They'd made it their routine to stop at Mr. Delmar's deli and grocery shop for snacks on their walk or just to pet Mr. Delmar's cat. Today though, they'd picked up some candy and Ana had been trying to get answers out of Peter about her new-found knowledge on him being in the school band and the robotics club.

He looked over at her with a look that was dreading answering her question. "You're gonna laugh at me. You always laugh at me."

Placing a hand on his shoulder, Ana stared up at him with big, pouty eyes and lips. "I promise I won't laugh, and if I do, just know that it is totally unintentional, and you have my full permission to take the rest of the gummy worms."

"Those were my gummy worms and you were basically already giving them back to me when you threw practically the whole bag down my shirt!" He exclaimed, unable to hold back the grin on his face that he tried to cover up with an expression that was supposed to make him look like he was mad at Ana, but he couldn't do it.

She smiled proudly to herself at the recent memory of doing so. "Then I'll buy you a brand new bag tomorrow. And I'll throw in bag of peach rings. Just tell me what you play, please."

He huffed, rolling his eyes at Ana's oh-so tempting offer and begging tone, then answered, "Trombone."

"Hey! That wasn't so hard was it?" Ana nudged Peter with her shoulder teasingly. "And I didn't even laugh." They entered their apartment building, and stepped into the empty elevator. "You know, I should join more stuff. How do you think I'd look in a cheerleading uniform?"

She smirked at Peter while he stared at her in shock, his mouth suddenly gone dry. He was now picturing her as a cheerleader, doing cartwheels across the court or field and shaking pompoms in the air, yelling 'go team!' Raising his brows, he asked, "A-Am I supposed to answer that?" He couldn't tell if she was being rhetorical or not, Ana was hard to figure out sometimes like that.

"Maybe." She walked off the elevator, leaving Peter in a state of bewilderment. "What do you think?" Well of course he thought she'd be a great cheerleader. She always had a smile on her face and an upbeat attitude. Not to mention that Ana took any challenge thrown at her in stride, she would tackle anything the cheerleaders put in her path better than any of the linebackers on their football team.