Lovebug ── PETER PARKER¹

03. Memory Book

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        "Write lots of eye contact– intense eye contact."

        In the world of girls, there were three things that were absolutely mandatory. Support one another when someone is on their period. Never shame a girl for taking off her heels and walking barefoot. And host at least one sleepover in your lifetime.

         Sleepovers weren't all that common for Liz, Mia and Luna, seeing as both Luna and Mia had brothers, making a sleepover very difficult. There was also the fact that Luna and Liz had parents who were strongly against sleepovers, using the age old excuse of "you have your own bed, why sleep somewhere else?" But very rarely, the girls were able to host a three-way sleepover, usually only because they had a project together.

        This time the three girls chose to work as a group on their Spanish project, an easy assignment where they'd have to do a skit being a doctor, a patient and a parent. It was something they could have easily done in an hour, but once the opportunity for a sleepover appeared, they took it.

        Now the three girls were in Mia's bedroom, Luna sitting at her desk, attempting to do her science homework. Liz and Mia were on Mia's bed, a notebook on their lap. It was one of Mia's old notebooks from 2010, Justin Bieber's face splattered in the front. They found it hidden under a pile of elementary school class photos in Mia's closet, the notebook once containing a list of boys that Luna and Mia ranked in their classes. They'd have silly comments beside them like "nose picker -3" or "light up shoes +2".

          After a few jokes from Liz, they decided to find another use for the notebook. Mia joked about it being an update journal to keep for Luna and Peter's progress, and Luna made the mistake of immediately protesting the idea, only making the joke become a reality. Now the book was being written in by Liz, Mia telling her what to write while Luna tried to block her out.

          For the past few weeks, they've written down every interaction between the two, Mia joking that it'll be of good use when they get married in 10 years. If there was ever a time for Luna to question if she wanted new friends, it was right now.

        "Was it intense though?" Liz questioned, tapping her pen against the book. "I don't think it was all that intense."

        Luna rolled her eyes while Mia responded, "Fine, just write lots of eye contact then." Liz nodded, lowering her pen to the paper once more, writing it beneath the date. Mia looked over to Luna, a pen between her lips as she read her science homework. "Having fun Moonie?"

        "You know I don't like that name," Luna mumbled, rereading the same question for the fourth time.

        "Which is exactly why we still call you that," Liz replied, shutting the notebook and placing it beneath Mia's mattress. She made her way over to Luna, hovering over her shoulder to look at her homework.

         Luna turned back to look at her, the girl's head casting a shadow over her homework. "You're blocking the light, Lizzie," she said softly, Liz stepping aside. Luna's focus went back to her homework, the pen tapping against her lip. "Mia, what's important about the temperature of enzymes?"

        "A rise in temperature increases the activity," Mia responded, not looking up from her phone.

         Luna nodded, scribbling down her friend's answer. Liz stared at her curiously, waiting for Luna to begin working on the next question, but she hesitated. "Moonie, you're struggling with biology again?" she asked softly.

         Luna snapped her head to her friend, eyes wide. "No," she shot back, coughing immediately after. "I mean, no." She lowered her voice, ducking her head down to hide the embarrassed blush that crept on her cheeks. "I just... didn't understand that question."

         Liz frowned, nudging Mia's leg, making her look up. She pointed over to Luna, Mia's frown immediately matching hers. Luna was one of the smartest people both the girls knew, but the one subject she struggled with was science. They told her countless times that it was okay to not be good at something, it happened to the best of them, but Luna couldn't help but be ashamed that despite attending a science school, she was terrible at science. She didn't even know how she got in the school in the first place, her science grades were never that good, but she just assumed all her other grades outweighed that.

         Luna let out a sigh, dropping her pen to run a hand through her hair. Mia and Liz shared a look before Mia spoke up, "Luna, maybe you should–"

        "I'm fine," Luna cut her off, shaking her head. "I–I'm okay, this question is just complicated."

         "There's nothing wrong with getting tutored Luna," Liz reassured her, Luna's frown deepening. "I'm sure Peter could-"

        "Stop trying to set me up with him," She blurted, silencing Liz. "That's... he isn't interested. Okay? And I don't need help with science, I'm doing fine. See." Luna lifted up her paper, revealing a fully filled out sheet. "I don't need a science tutor." Mia and Liz slowly nodded, deciding the leave the girl alone for now.

        Luna turned back to her work, staring at last week's homework for a moment before pushing it away, revealing the almost blank sheet she was assigned as homework. She looked back to the two girls, seeing they were both busy with their own thing, before resuming her homework.

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Two days of new chapters? WooOooooOooah. I just wrote two chapters trying to procrastinate so don't expect this too often whoops

If you read Every Moment, a lot of stuff about high school Luna was revealed there, so you know Luna struggled with self worth during her high school years. My poor little moon girl.

also.... moonie (;