Free Fall [PETER PARKER]

THREE: HEAD OVER HEELS

chapter three

Ana was officially a member of the Decathlon team. It was harmless enough that her parents were actually okay with her doing it, which was a surprise for Ana, but a surprise that she was thankful for. She was able to meet a lot of people from joining the team. She'd met, Cindy, Sally, Abe, and Charles. All who were tolerant to her joining.

At practice, Ana was taking notes of what to study, while the others were running through questions, competing against one another. That was usually how practices went, and Ana hadn't reached the level of confidence to step up to the table yet, despite how tempted she was to rub it in Flash's face.

She sat beside Michelle as she worked. The two had become quite the duo over the course of a few days, Michelle was Ana's closest friend at the school. What she had learned about Michelle though, was that the girl was not used to having someone by her side as frequently as Ana was. But it didn't seem like she minded having the girl there, which Ana was grateful for. All she needed was one good friend to get there through the school year. That was all she asked for.

As practiced neared to its end, Liz, who was captain, began to wrap things up, then closed up practice. Everyone began packing up their things, and as Ana slung her backpack over her shoulder, just about to walk out of the auditorium where Peter was probably waiting for her in the hallway so they could ride the train home together. Before she could walk out though, Liz quickly called her name to stop her. "Hey, I'm having a party at my house on Friday. You should come. Michelle, and Flash, and a bunch of other people are gonna be there."

Ana smiled at her, nodding her head. She had just gotten invited to her first party. Well, high-school party, she did get invited to a pizza party for someone's seventh birthday at a bowling alley. She'd never gotten to go though, and it was unlikely that her parents were going to let her go to this one. But maybe she could get around them... "I'll have to check with my parents, but I'll try to stop in."

Liz grinned happily. "Okay, let me know. Oh, and if you want to bring Peter and Ned, too, that's fine by me. I know you guys are pretty good friends and the more, the merrier!"

"Alright, thanks, Liz!" Ana said to the girl before she sent her a wave good-bye and left the auditorium. She walked out into the hallway, but didn't see Peter anywhere, so she began making her way to the train stop.

She spotted Peter with his headphones in and his hands in his pockets, waiting for the train. She quickly ran over to him and jumped beside him, grabbing his shoulder to grasp his attention. He flinched in surprise, then looked over at her with wide eyes before taking his earbuds out. "Hey, to you, too. I didn't know if you were going to get a ride from Liz or not, so I didn't wait for you, sorry."

Ana shook her head. "Don't worry about it." She didn't want to ask him if wanted to come to the party yet, since she wasn't even sure if she could go yet, but a solution for that was already being planned in her head. "So, how was your day?"