Hanging by a Thread 🕷 Peter Parker

seventeen

Alexandra

"WHAT?!" Kai practically yelled in the middle of their gym class. Alexandra quickly shushed her friend after having just told her about her near-kiss with Peter the night before. Alexandra had been expecting a surprised reaction, sure—but not one that would cause everyone in the entire gym to stop what they were doing and look over at the two of them.

Alexandra didn't need that sort of attention on her that early in the morning. "Kai, shush!" She exclaimed, blushing wildly.

Kai couldn't help but jump up and down slightly, grinning wide. "I can't believe you two almost kissed! Ned owes me twenty bucks!" Kai said.

Alexandra raised an eyebrow and looked at Kai. "Wait, did you two bet that we would almost kiss?" She asked. "That's kinda lame—I feel like I'm focusing on the wrong aspect of that revelation but—"

"No, no, no." Kai shook her head. "We bet on when you two would finally realize your feelings for each other. Ned said it wouldn't happen till junior year, and I bet it would happen a couple of months after homecoming. I was right!" She pumped her fist in the air triumphantly.

Alexandra rolled her eyes and ran a hand through her blonde curls. Of course they had bet on something like that, she wasn't sure why she was so surprised. "Right well, congrats, I guess?" She said.

Kai turned to Alexandra. "Hold on, why didn't you guys kiss?" She asked. "You said you almost kissed, so why didn't you kiss?" She leaned closer to Alexandra and eyed her suspiciously.

Alexandra shrugged and leaned back a bit. "Ned texted Peter to let him know he was home, so Peter had to check his phone—why do you look so upset all of a sudden?" She asked. Kai looked like she was about to rip her own hair out.

"Dammit, Ned!" She cursed. "They were this close! This. Close! Good job, Ned!" Alexandra wanted to ask Kai if she knew that Ned wasn't actually there, but decided to keep her mouth shut while her friend was venting. It was usually best to let Kai ride these out before trying to intervene. "God, why did he even feel the need to text Peter and let him know that he was home?! He's never done that before, has he?" Kai suddenly rounded on her.

Alexandra coughed, clearing her throat and then shrugged. "Uh—I dunno—it can get—I mean Queens after dark can be dangerous." She shrugged, trying to stay cool. Kai couldn't know that she and Ned were (maybe) being hunted by a psychotic man with mechanical arms because their best friend was the spider themed superhero who was going to stop them with the (sort of) help of Iron Man. Besides, even if she did tell Kai, Alexandra was pretty sure she wouldn't believe her.

Kai looked at Alexandra for a moment and then narrowed her eyes. "Are you hiding something?" Kai asked. "Because you're a terrible liar."

"I'm actually a fantastic liar, one time Pa found a box of empty Oreos and he asked me who had eaten them and I managed to convince him that it was Dad." She smiled triumphantly. Kai stared at her for a moment and then sighed, shaking her head. "What?" Alexandra asked, but Kai just shook her head again.

"So—do you wish Ned hadn't texted?" Kai asked. "Like—you did want to kiss Peter, right?"

Alexandra glanced down for a moment. When it was happening, yes, she had wanted to kiss Peter. But now that she was thinking about it, would it have been a mistake if they'd kissed? How awkward would it be between them if they kissed and then that was it? 

"I—don't know," Alexandra admitted. "I mean, yeah, I did—but maybe it's for the best that it didn't happen."

Kai groaned and threw her head back. "But you two are so clearly meant to be!" She exclaimed. "It's the perfect love story, just think about it! He's been your best friend for, like—ever. He's the perfect boy next door! And you're the perfect girl next door!"

"But that's exactly why we shouldn't get together!" Alexandra insisted. "We've been best friends for half of our lives—if we dated or something, and then it ended badly—that could effectively ruin our friendship. That is not something that I want happening."

"Yeah, I guess you have a point." Kai sighed. "But still, you can't tell me you didn't at least think about what could've happened if you two got together."

"Well..." Alexandra trailed off. Kai wasn't wrong, she had to admit. Alexandra had spent some of that night wondering what could have happened if she and Peter had kissed. He was one of the sweetest guys she knew, her parents had always said that whoever he ended up with would be a lucky person. 

Part of Alexandra wished she got to be that lucky person.

Another part of her was glad that she wasn't that person. She didn't want to ruin the friendship she had with Peter—the one she had been building with him since they were seven years old. But still, she couldn't help but wonder.

"Okay, new plan," Kai said to her. Alexandra turned her head, snapping from her thoughts. "You, me, and MJ are going to the football game Friday night—mostly because I have to—band and all that—" Kai said.  Though, neither of them cared about football. If Kai didn't have to go, she wouldn't. But Alexandra always enjoyed seeing the marching band perform at halftime. After that, they would have Kai would have the whole third quarter free and they'd have time to talk. "We'll be able to talk all about this with MJ—she'll be able to give solid advice. Great advice. MJ's advice is always worth something." 

"For the record, I don't have a crush on Peter," Alexandra said, but Kai ignored her and continued.

"We can talk so much shit!" She exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear.

Alexandra raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Do you really think MJ will want to gossip about people we have crushes on? I mean—not that I have a crush—I don't. But MJ hates basically everyone."

"Well—" Kai considered this for a moment. "She likes talking shit about people, though. She can talk shit with us about Julianna Morris." Julianna Morris was one of Flash's (many) ex-girlfriends, who had always been a jerk to the three of them in school. For some reason, because she had money and because she had dated Flash (she saw that as an accomplishment, somehow?) she thought that made her better than everyone else.

Alexandra shrugged. "Yeah, I guess," She replied. "I think it'll be fun. We haven't hung out, just the three of us, for a while."

Kai nodded enthusiastically, practically jumping up and down on the bleachers. "Yeah! I can't wait—you've been super busy lately!" She said. "What's that about, anyway? Homework just suddenly dropped out of the sky on you or something?"

Alexandra glanced around, running a hand through her hair as she tried to think of an excuse. "Uh—yeah, homework," She said. "Ms. Lewandowski is trying to get us ready for the final exam."

"Gross." Kai made a face. "Anyway, I'm thinking we just stay after school, because I have to anyway with band, and that'll give us even more time to talk!"

"All right, sounds good to me." Alexandra laughed. I'm not sure how Peter will feel about it, though, she added silently to herself. 

Peter had been super paranoid lately whenever she and Ned weren't in his eyesight. She understood why, of course, and she loved Peter. But having him constantly breathing down her neck was a bit much. What were the odds that Dr. Octavius would try something in the middle of a crowded football game? 

"Friday night it is."

Peter would just have to deal with it.