Spider-Man Imagines I

The Girl In The Computer | Ned Leeds

Peter plopped down on his bed, throwing his arms out and falling all the way back. He groaned, his head stuffed with annoying math formulas. His study guide fluttered to the ground as he jostled the bed and everything on it, including his best friend, Ned, who was typing rapidly on his laptop.

"Ned," Peter grumbled.

Ned didn't answer, just typed.

"Ned," Peter tried again.

"Hm?"

"Ned!" He smacked Ned's back, making the boy jump.

Ned turned around and glared at him. "What the heck!"

"We need to finish studying," Peter said tiredly.

"Sure," Ned said, turning back to the laptop. "Just let me-" His sentence fell short as he resumed typing.

Peter sat up. "Are you talking to that girl again?"

"Yeah," Ned said, hitting enter and sending another message. "And her name is ___, not that girl, and she's my girlfriend."

For several weeks, Ned had been talking to a girl exclusively online. They met on Facebook, which after a lengthy conversation on the comment thread of the official Star Wars page, lead to messaging on Messenger.

"If you met on Facebook, how do you not know what she looks like?" Peter asked. "Doesn't she have a profile picture?"

"No," he said. "She's very private."

Peter scooted close to his friend, hoping to get a good look at the screen. "Know what she looks like yet? Are you asking?"

"No," Ned answered, snapping the screen closed. "You mind?"

"How can you talk to her without knowing what she looks like?" Peter asked, shaking his head. "It's gotta be killing you, bro."

"I don't know," Ned said, shrugging. "It's easy."

"Okay," he said, "but what if she's like... ugly."

"No way, dude," Ned said. "She types like an angel."

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" Peter muttered. "What if she's catfishing you? You could end up on Catfish."

"Her name is ___. She lives in Queens," Ned answered, turning his laptop away and opening it again. He continued to type.

"But that's all you know about her."

"Uh, no," Ned said. "I know her favorite color, favorite food, and favorite movie. I know she loves science. I know her top ten favorite Disney songs and that she likes Star Wars a lot. She's super smart and kind and likes me, so."

"But what if she's not who she says she is," Peter pressed. "Dude, I don't want you to like this girl that could be some random weirdo. You guys are, like, dating. You should know what your girlfriend looks like it who she is."

Ned finally looked at him. He took a deep breath, frowning as he looked at the computer screen. He had easily thought on multiple occasions about how much he liked her. About how it must be love because he would easily throw himself in front of a bus for her or fight a million bad guys to keep her safe.

And now he was thinking about how weird it was that he would do all of those things without a second thought - and he hadn't even seen her before.

"Okay," he finally said. "Let's find out."

...

Ned sat on Peter's floor, laptop balanced on the tops of his thighs and bag of Doritos next to him. Peter dangled from the ceiling, reaching into the bag and grabbing chips while Ned read the message to him.