Lovebug ── PETER PARKER¹

02. Dead Look

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        "Are you okay?"

        Not only was she sick beyond belief, but now she managed to stress herself out so much that she got a migraine. After the embarrassing scene at the lockers, Luna had to somehow find a way to avoid Peter's eyes as she walked past him and slumped into her seat in algebra. She didn't have the time to be worrying about wether or not he thought she was pretty, she had to find a way to perform a monologue so perfect it got her the lead in the musical, while looking the way she did.

        It may have seemed like it was just one musical, and she could sit out, but it wasn't. As the youngest in her family, she would be the last to go to college. Meaning the college fund would be milked for all its worth by both her older siblings before she even got to touch it. She had the grades, now she needed the extracurriculars to get her the best scholarship there was to offer. Being apart of clubs wasn't enough, she needed to be top notch, and to be top notch, she needed to put on the best show anybody has ever seen.

        And nobody could put on a good show while almost falling over from a powerful sneeze.

        With her cheek pressed to her desk, she turned her head to face the boy sat beside her. Ned Leeds stared down at her with concern, while simultaneously trying to look as if he was listening to their math teacher drag on about the importance of labeling. "I'm ugly and my life is over," Luna sighed dramatically, turning her head so her forehead was pressed against the cold surface of the desk.

         Ned's eyes widened at her words, unsure of how to respond. He expected her to say something like a sickness, to which he'd respond with go see the nurse, or something about a fight with her friends, and he would attempt to offer some sort of advice. But no, her problem was that she thought she was ugly. Everybody knew Luna Giraldo was far from ugly, himself included, but telling her "you're not ugly" didn't seem like the right answer in this case. Even if he did tell her, he was positive her head would stay pressed to the desk, a hopeless sigh leaving her parted lips.

        Looking cautiously to the teacher, Ned was quick to throw a piece of a paper at his best friend's head. It bounced off Peter's head and onto the floor, said boy turning to his friend with a glare. He relaxed his glare when he saw Ned's wide eyes, his friend gesturing to Luna with a number of weird hand gestures. Peter, of course, didn't understand, so Ned gave up, turning back to the distraught girl beside him.

        "Well, I uh, think you rock the whole dead look." Why did he say that? No girl wanted to hear that they looked dead on top of already thinking they were ugly.

          Luna turned back to face him at his words, processing what he said. She rocked the whole dead look? She probably shouldn't have smiled at his response, she knew if he told Mia the same thing she most likely wouldn't speak to him again, but she wasn't Mia. She found his effort to cheer her up sweet, so a smile graced her lips, Ned's shoulders relaxing. "Thanks, Ned," she whispered, sitting up in her seat just as the teacher turned around. His eyes landed on Luna, nodding to himself when he saw she was writing in her book.