Lovebug ── PETER PARKER¹

04. Into the Woods

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        The day started good. Luna woke up a minute before her alarm, saving her the agony of listening to the annoying beeping. Her hair wasn't an unruly mess, the waves deciding to cooperate this morning. She picked out an outfit the night before, and was feeling really good in it. It was an amazing morning.

        Until she was informed her sister was taking her to school.

        Usually, Luna liked not having to take the train. It was crowded and sweaty and always smelled weird. So getting driven for twenty minutes instead of riding the train for 50 minutes sounded like heaven. The one issue was that Diana Giraldo was a terrible driver. She drove too fast over speed bumps, making Luna go flying. She'd do her makeup with one hand, constantly looking away from the road as a result. And while she had a good playlist, typically the Spice Girls, she always seemed to talk over the music, no matter how high the volume was.

         But when her sister offered her a ride, she realized the only way to save her shirt from being completely wrinkled was to accept the ride. Mia was already sitting in her kitchen when she got downstairs, Diana texting her immediately after Luna accepted the ride, knowing the two girls came as a duo.

         "Ready?" Diana asked, a croissant hanging from her mouth. She paused to take in her sister's outfit, before pointing to the ankle boots she wore. "Are those mine?"

        Luna looked down to her shoes, tapping the toes together before lifting her head with a sheepish smile on display. "Maybe," She trailed off.

         Diana shrugged, "Whatever. Let's just go, I need to get a coffee first."

         The drive to school wasn't as bad as she expected, only one smack against the top of the car, and she got an ice coffee as well. Eventually Diana pulled up to the school, almost hitting a few kids running across the street in the process.

        "Oh look," Mia stuck her head between the front seats, pointing to a figure. "Peter arrived just in time to see the cute outfit you wore for him." Despite her request to stop the teasing, the teasing resumed immediately the following morning. Luna really thought she'd seen the end of it, but the next morning, Liz ran into Peter on her way home, and immediately texted their groupchat about it, starting it up all over again.

        Diana followed where Mia was pointing, grinning when her eyes landed on the boy with his hands tucked in his pockets. "That's the boy you like?" She pointed as well, Luna slapping both their hands down as her cheeks flushed. "Wow," she chuckled.

        "What?" Luna questioned.

        Diana shrugged, "You like your men like you like your chocolate; white." Mia immediately bursted into giggles, Luna's mouth falling open in shock. She never considered that she had a type, and she knew Diana knew that as well, but she saw the opportunity to poke fun and fully took advantage of it. "So you wore this cute outfit for him?"

        "No," Luna shook her head, not even bothering to meet Mia's narrowed eyes. Were they not in the time and age where a woman's choices didn't revolve solely around males? "I wore this cute outfit for myself, I'm not here to impress anybody." Diana grinned, raising her hand for a high-five, pleased with that response. The two girls left the car following that, realizing there was only ten minutes left before the first period bell rang, and they still needed to find Liz.

        They stopped at Mia's locker before going to Luna's, Mia typing a text to Liz while she waited. Not that it was needed, as Liz found them immediately. "Guys!" Eyes turned to Liz as she ran down the hall, almost knocking over Luna, her heeled boots not providing too much stability. She leant against the girl out of breathe, Luna sharing a concerned look with Mia. "The" breathe, "roles" breathe, "are posted."

         Luna's eyes widened, not questioning Liz any further before slamming her locker shut and rushing down the hall. The two girls trailed after her, Luna moving as fast as she could without losing her balance. There were a few people surrounding the bulletin, Mr.Warren stood to the side, watching people's reactions. His eyes lit up when Luna approached, and he pushed himself off the wall to meet the girl.

         "I think you'll be quite happy with your role, Ms.Moon." He smiled at the girl, Liz and Mia grabbing onto one another in excitement.

        Luna smiled slightly at the drama teacher before stepping forward, scanning the sheet for her name. The lower she got on the list, the more nervous she became as she saw all the other talented actors also taking part in the musical. Her hands flew up to her mouth when she found her name, and she turned back to Mr.Warren. "Really?" She squeaked, and the teacher nodded.

        "I look forward to working with you, Ms.Moon," He grinned at her, before walking off.

        Luna turned to her friend excitedly, "I'm Little Red Ridinghood." Liz and Mia both squealed, throwing their arms around the girl for a group hug. The spring musical this year was Into the Woods, and Little Red Ridinghood happened to be one of the leads in the play. Just being apart of the show was enough to make her happy, but being one of the leads was Luna's equivalent to winning the lottery, at least at this age. "I've never been happier to be short and adorable in my life," Luna joked, both girls chuckling.

        She didn't even care that she walked into biology late, bringing a lot of unwanted attention to herself. She slumped herself into her seat in the back, her lab partner looking at her oddly as she let out a dramatically loud sigh.

        And that's how the rest of her day went.

        Luna walked into each class with a smile on her face, her head usually leant against her hand as she hummed I Know Things Now, one of the many songs she'd have to sing for the show. Nobody seemed to question the girl, just letting her remain happy and in her own world.

        It was Ned who noticed her ridiculously happy mood, poking the girl with his pencil to see if she'd react. Luna snapped out of her daze, looking to her arm where Ned poked, then back up to Ned. "What's up?" She asked, completely oblivious to the fact that she was radiating happiness.

        Ned gestured to her with his pencil, "You." Luna's brows knitted together in confusion, and Ned continued, "What's got you in such a good mood?"

         Luna's lips tugged up into a smile, and she looked to their teacher, before looking back to Ned. "I got a lead role in the musical." Luna's smile widened when Ned did a silent fist pump, before sticking his hand out for a fist bump, which Luna met with her own fist.

        "I'll definitely go opening night," Ned whispered, his eyes trailing over to his best friend who was focused on the board. "With Peter." Luna nodded, unfazed by his statement, seeing as she didn't expect Ned to go by himself in the first place. "I mean, Peter said we were gonna go even if you were just a supporting, but yeah, either way we would have been there."

         Luna could feel the heat creeping up her neck, and she looked past Ned to Peter, who was squinting at the board. She refocused her gaze onto Ned, smiling softly. "Thanks, Ned." Ned nodded, turning his attention back to the equation on the board. Luna's eyes landed on Peter, and she found herself smiling a little wider as she wrote down the equation in her book.

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I mean, I saw my school's production of Into the Woods, so that's about all I know about the musical whoops