MAGIC TRICKS [PETER PARKER]

FIFTEEN

"SWEETHEART, ITS THE FIRST GAME OF THE YEAR. YOU HAVE TO."

I rolled my eyes at the small blonde girl standing at my locker. Betty Brant was coaxing me into coming to the basketball game that was coming up next Friday, her thick country drawl itching at every nerve in my body. Ever since Liz had left and I had gotten into my accident, Betty had been following me everywhere- the bathroom, the locker room, everywhere. At first it was kind of nice, having another friend to help me around, but now Betty was getting overwhelmingly annoying.

"I'm just not feeling it," I responded shortly, spinning the code into the lock keeping me from retrieving my books for AP Calculus. Betty gave me a sour look. "You're never gonna feel it until you feel it." She made "feel" into two syllables. Fee-yull.

I looked at her quizzically. That didn't even make sense. "I already told Michelle we would hang out tonight," I lied, glancing down the hallway for someone, anyone, to get me away from this girl. The blonde's nose scrunched into a scowl. "You mean Michelle Jones? Ugh-"

"Don't, Betty. Just, don't," I muttered; I wasn't going to sit around and listen to her trash my best friend. Slamming my locker shut, I started to back up, but Betty stuck her pink high-heel out behind the wheel, locking me in place. "Think about it, Sweetheart. You need to participate more, go out more, or you're gonna get depressed." The girl smiled and spun around.

You're the only thing that will make me depressed, I thought, rolling my eyes as she marched away.

"Wow, she's... something, huh?"

I turned my head to see not Betty, but another peppy looking blonde smiling down at me. I had never seen her before, but she seemed nice- pretty blonde hair, sweet green eyes, and a smile so bright it could light up the darkest room. I scoffed, shaking my head. "Something is an understatement."

The girl laughed and stepped closer. I noticed she had a bunch of books in her arms, and a nicer outfit than what I would have picked for a random Monday. I wondered for a moment if I had forgotten and it was picture day or something. "I'm Gwen Stacy. I'm new here," she beamed, balancing her books on one arm to reach out and offer a handshake. I shook her hand politely smiling in response. "Nadia."

"My dad is the new NYPD Captain," she informed me, "So that's why I moved here in the middle of the semester, in case you were wondering." I gave a small shrug of my shoulders. "Do you know where the AP Calculus classroom is?" Gwen asked when I said nothing else.

"I'm actually heading their now, if you want to follow," I replied. A beaming smile plastered across her face, Gwen nodded enthusiastically and we started off down the hall. I eyed her as we went, watching her lips move as she talked. "Thank you. It's tough being the new kid, ya know?"

"I do actually. I just started here a month or so ago," I replied smoothly, turning the corner to the math wing, "But luckily, I had a good friend to show me around." I sent her a crooked grin, and Gwen smiled back.

It was the start of a great friendship, I could tell.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★ ｡･:*:･ﾟ

"TIME OUT FOR MIDTOWN TECH."

The crowd murmured nervously in my ears. I found myself sitting on the end of the row in the gym bleachers the Friday after I had met Gwen, my chair folded next to me. Michelle sat directly behind me, too focused on the massage she was subconsciously giving me by playing with my hair to pay attention to what was happening on the court. None of my friends were particularly interested either, considering we weren't huge sports friends, but we agreed to stay until half time to support the team.

Peter returned from the concession stand with a slice of pepperoni pizza and some nachos. I intercepted the nachos when he tried to hand them to Michelle. "Did you guys hear about that stolen blood-bank van?" asked the girl, leaning into the bleacher behind me. Peter say down, pressing his lips together. "Yeah... yeah that was crazy," I muttered, stirring around the yellow cheese with a tortilla chip. "They didn't catch him, did they?" Michelle stared at us with her wide brown eyes, looking like she knew something we didn't want her to know. Yet, then again, she always looked like that. Peter, Ned, and I shared a glance; Peter had been a tiny bit bothered the day before when he and the police both hadn't caught the guy in the stolen van, and Ned and I tried to reassure him that we'd get him next time.

"Nope," a bubbly blonde spoke, sitting down in front of us. Gwen smiled up at me. "Hi Nadia."

"Hi Gwen," I replied, nodding my head at her. Michelle stared at me strangely. "Guys, this is Gwen Stacey. Her dad's the new NYPD chief."

Peter and Ned gave the new girl polite smiles, but Michelle was still frowning. I gave her a look. A whistle blew, and the game stopped for a moment.

"So, how's the game going? I don't really know anything about-" Gwen began, but a voice from the court cut her off.

"No! No, no!"

One of the players was screaming, jerking her body away from the police officer trying to quiet her down. A frown plastered itself on my lips. "Is that Rena Maynard? Did they find her sister?" Ned spoke, his eyebrows furrowing.

My eyes were focused on the tears rolling down the girl's cheeks. "I don't think that's it..." Rena's sister, Margo, had disappeared a few weeks ago with now explanation whatsoever. She was just gone. From the look on Rena's red face at the moment, I knew they had found her.

"That must be the girl they found..." Gwen muttered, biting her bottom lip. She glanced up at us. "My dad was called in on an emergency, a body on the border to New Jersey." I shook my head sadly, glancing up at Peter. We watched as she was taken off the court and into the lobby. "Poor Rena..." Ned sighed, looking at her with sad eyes. I vaguely remembered her sister; she and Rena were both in my Chemistry class, but we didn't talk much. She didn't deserve to die.

"Well we are definitely gonna lose now," I commented, trying to break the silent tension, "Rena was by far the best player..." Michelle shrugged next to me. "Do you wanna go get tacos again? This pizza sucks," she commented, letting the greasy triangle flop sadly back onto her plate. I looked at Peter and Ned, who nodded eagerly, and told Michelle, "Sure."

Gwen was staring at the game with a disgruntled look on her face, eyes sort of glazed over like glass. "Gwen? Do you wanna come with?" I offered, starting to push myself off of the bleachers. My forearms ached with the effort as I slid my bottom across the hard plastic to the edge of the seat. "Yeah... Yeah, definitely, just let me ask my dad," Gwen replied with a far-off look.

Peter mindlessly offered a hand and helped me into my chair, and I gave him a grateful smile. We started off across the gym floor to the lobby.

There was a few people waiting around for snacks or drinks, but not enough to where we had trouble getting out. I saw a deputy over by the bulletin board, taking down a "Missing" poster. I knew it was of Rena's sister. I stared at the girl in the picture as Peter wheeled me through the lobby, the rest of our friends close behind. Margo had familiar brown hair and was the spitting image of her older sister, the only thing different being the color of their eyes. Staring at the officer's hands as he crumpled the paper and tossed it in the trash, something was itching in the back of my brain.

I had a feeling that it wasn't the last time we would see Margo.

A/N:

what do y'all think of it so far???

I promise it gets so much more interesting. These are sort of just setting up for the real action okay? TRUSSSSTT me it's gonna get so much better maybe 1 chapter from now..... you wanna be here for it.

what about the new cover?? I'm actually so proud of that lol