MAGIC TRICKS [PETER PARKER]

TWO

"NADIA, THIS IS LIZ ALLAN, SHE'LL BE SHOWING YOU AROUND TODAY."

I smiled at the tall girl as the principal introduced us, taking in her appearance. She had pretty brown eyes, hair that laid over perfect milk chocolate skin and a kind smile that reminded me painfully of Jenni. "Hey, I'm Nadia," I tried to smile sweetly, shaking Liz's hand. Liz gave me a sparkly grin in response, causing a sharp jab in my chest as I struggled to push away thoughts of my old friend.

I knew that if I was going to be staying in Queens, I wanted to try out school. It had been years since I'd last stepped foot in a school, through a miracle from God apparently, but i couldn't help and think that maybe it was time to go back. Maybe I would make some friends and hopefully find out more about the high-tech weapons floating around the city. It was my first day at Midtown High School, and so far as I could tell, the kids seemed nice. "So, welcome to Midtown Tech," Liz said cheerfully, beginning to lead me down the main hallway, "I'm Liz, senior class president, team captain of the-"

"H-hey Liz," a small voice said with a smile. I glanced up from my shoes to see Peter Parker smiling dreamily at Liz, his blue sweater rolled up to his elbows. My eyes widened, and i quickly looked away from the ogling boy before his gaze could switch to me. "Oh, Nadia, w-what-?" He frowned slightly and I met his eyes, offering a small wave. Liz glanced between us. "Oh, you know Peter?"

"Uh, yeah, we, uh..." I stumbled over my words, my tongue a weight in my mouth, and struggled to come up with a response. "We know each other from the Stark internship," Peter interjected quickly. I gave a small nod of my head, and Liz grinned. "Oh, well, if you're anywhere near as smart as Peter is, you should consider joining the Academic Decathlon team," she said, sending a weird look at Peter, "He just dropped out."

"Well, i-if Mr. Stark needs me I have to be here," Peter muttered. I bit my lip, my gaze trailing back to Liz. "I'll think about it."

"Another thing you should think about- coming to my party tonight," Liz grinned, "Both of you. Parties are great places to get to know people, especially if you're new in town." The bell pinged above our heads and Liz handed me a schedule. "Well, I hope to see you tonight, I wrote my number at the top if you need anything," she smiled before she took off down the hallway.

Peter was staring at me. "What?" I asked, tilting my head to the side. He shook his head, a few of his curly waves falling into his face. He brushed them back. "Nothing. What are you doing here? I thought you'd go back to... wherever you came from," he said, and I fell into place beside him as we started walking down the hallway together. "Last night, those weapons that they used- they shouldn't have them," I explained, looking down at my schedule to see where my first class was, "I mean, those are super classified military-grade weapons. I talked to my guy back in New York, he'd said he'd never heard of anything like it..."