Inseparable ➳ Peter Parker

1 - Day One

The alarm buzzed through the air, interrupting my blissful sleep. 

"Ugh," I groaned.  I slid out of bed and onto the floor, sitting with my feet underneath me.  Grabbing my phone, I checked the time. 6:50. That should be enough time to get ready and get to school.  Before putting my phone down, I quickly scrolled through my friends from back home's Instagram accounts.  A few of them have posted farewells to me, along with some embarrassing photos of us together, making me grin. I put my phone down and started to get ready.

Once I was finished, I bounded downstairs with my backpack.  I found my mom sitting at the dining table, sorting through some papers and sipping on a cup of coffee.

"Hey, sweetpea," she greeted me, glancing up and smiling.

"Hi," I replied.  Grabbing a muffin and sinking my teeth into it, I sat down on a stool at the kitchen island.  "How long does it take to get to school?" I asked in between bites.

"Well, first I need to drive you to the subway on my way to work, which takes about 10 minutes.  Then from the subway its about 15 minutes, then a 5 minute walk from the station to the school, but today I'll be with you when you walk into school" she relayed to me, not looking from her papers.

"Mhmm, and which school is this, again?"

"Midtown School of Science and Technology," she replied.

I glanced up at the clock on the wall.  7:25.  "And when does school start?" I inquired.

"I think it was 8 o'clock, someone said."

Oh, shit.

"Mom!  It's 7:25! We've gotta go! I absolutely cannot be late on my first day! Unless I make a fashionable late entrance, which you and I both know I can't pull off," I stated, putting my backpack on and slipping my feet in my shoes.

"You're such a drama queen, Camella," Mom chuckled to herself as I ushered her out the door.

 The entire way to school, I was buzzing with anxiety. I should've eaten more than just a muffin.

"So, the principal's office is somewhere down this main hall on the left," Mom informed me as we approached the building. "He wants to talk to you about academics and all that jazz." She adjusted my shirt and gave me a weak smile.

"Mom, I'll be fine," I laughed. I turned and began walking up the steps just as the morning bell rang.

"I know. You look cute by the way," she called after me. I looked back, waving one last time.

On the inside, the school was pretty big.  I searched longer than I thought I would've had to.  Finally, I found the principal's office.  The secretary sitting at the front desk was super nice and let me right in to meet with the principal.  He mostly talked about how impressed he was with my grades and how he thinks that this school will be a good fit for me.  I just sat there with a smile plastered on my face and tried to look like I was actually listening.  At the end of our meeting, he stood up and shook my hand and told me that the secretary, whose name was Mrs. Murphy, had my schedule and locker ready.

At Mrs. Murphy's desk, she handed me a couple of pieces of paper. I was about to walk out and go find my locker when Mrs. Murphy stopped me.

"Hold on a minute, doll. I've gotten a student to show you around today. He'll be here in a few minutes, just go wait in those blue chairs outside," she told me sweetly. I said thank you and went out into the hallway.

I managed to sit down for about 15 seconds before getting up and pacing. It was a nervous habit of mine.

Oh, God. What if this guy is a total nerd? Or even worse, what if he's really hot? I'll just clam up and not be able to do anything!

I took a deep breath. Calm down, Camella, I thought to myself.

Looking up, I saw a figure turning a corner and start walking towards me.

Ah, this must be him.

I stopped pacing because I thought it would look weird, so I stood with one leg tucked behind the other, jiggling slightly because I just couldn't seem to keep still. As he got closer, I could see that he had chestnut brown hair and was wearing a dark blue zip-up hoodie unzipped over a gray t-shirt and some jeans. I couldn't help but feel like he was familiar.

"Hi. You must be the new girl," he said in a somewhat high-pitched voice that I thought I had heard before. He hadn't quite reached me and was still walking. He stopped about a foot away from me and I looked him over.  Everything was okay, until I looked into his eyes. Big, soft chocolate brown eyes that you could get lost in. Instantly I knew who this boy was.

"Peter?" I asked softly.

I saw his eyes widen slightly. "Yeah, um, did the secretary tell you that?"

I took a small step closer to him.  "Camella. Camella Taylor, remember?"

Peter opened his mouth and then closed it again. I could see the recognition in his eyes.  "C—Camella? I thought you moved to Chicago?"

"I did, but my mom got transferred back here."

We stood there in a few moments of silence, just staring at each other.

Peter and I used to be best friends. And when I say best friends, I mean it. We did everything together. We were in the same classes, we hung out every day, we had sleepovers. It was like a part of my soul was in another body.

I remember the first time we met. It was the first day of kindergarten and I was sitting in the corner playing with blocks, but everybody else wanted to play house, so I just sat there all alone. Then Peter came up to me and asked me if he could help me build a castle. I agreed, and from then on we were the best of friends.

Almost 8 years of being attached at the hip with Peter, and then came the pain of having to tell him I had to move. It was unbearable. The last few days of being together were amazing, but horrible at the same time. Then, at the airport, Peter and his aunt May were there to see me and Mom off. I remember when we stood at the terminal, Peter and I cried into each other's shoulders for a solid 5 minutes. Then watching Peter fade out of view was like a chunk of my soul being ripped off slowly and painfully. I cried myself to sleep on that plane ride. I thought I'd never recover from my heartache, but once I got to school there, I slowly began to enjoy myself.  By the end of eighth grade, the name Peter Parker was nothing more than a memory.

Now, as I stood there in front of him once again, I could feel those memories from long ago slowly trickle into my brain like tea being poured into a mug. It took all of my willpower not to start crying. Among all of those thoughts floating around my head, I wondered how Peter dealt with my absence. I wondered how long it took for him to move on.

"So, I'm supposed to see your schedule to know where to show you," Peter said, snapping me back to reality.

"Oh, sure." I took out the paper and handed it to him. While he looked it over, I must have been staring or something because Peter looked up at me and asked, "Are you okay, Camella?"

"I, um—" I stuttered. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. I rushed forward and wrapped my arms around Peter. 

Surprised, he stumbled back. "Um, Camella?"

"I've missed you," I whispered into his shoulder. He didn't respond, and I thought I had taken it too far. I mentally cursed at myself and was about to pull away when I felt Peter's arms wrap around my back.

"I missed you, too," he replied. We pulled away after a few seconds, smiling at each other.

Peter laughed slightly. "So, it looks like you have first-period algebra. Lucky for you, so do I."

I laughed as Peter lead me down the hallway to my first class.

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edited a/n - meet camella taylor, everyone. 

{edited 4/11/20}