MAGIC TRICKS [PETER PARKER]

TWENTY

"GWEN."

The gentle blonde turned slowly to face me. We stood in a crowded hallway, buzzing with activity as students started to get ready to go home; this was the first time I'd seen her all day. She was pale, with dark circles under her blue eyes, and an oversized sweatshirt adorning her shoulders. Peter offered her a gentle smile as we met next to her locker. "I heard what happened. Are you all right?"

We stayed up listening to the police scanner and listening for any news on Gwen's apartment- apparently someone had broken in and attacked her, leaving two dime sized bruises on her neck, according to Ned.

Gwen gave a weak purse of her lips in response. "Yeah... At least no one is calling me New Girl anymore." I shared a strange look with Peter, who asked, "What do they call you now?" The blonde opened her locker, biting down on her lip as she retrieved her books from inside. "Crazy Girl. Fits, I guess," she mused, rolling her eyes, "Monsters aren't real, but yet, that's what I told the police."

My ears perked. "You were attacked... By some kind of monster?" Peter swallowed, staring me down. We had agreed to not upset Gwen, no matter what she told us, and not to tell her the thing that had attacked her was possibly the thing that attacked Peter and killed 13 others. I was dancing on the line, and he was warning me not to step over.

Gwen slammed her locker shut suddenly with a deafening clang, causing me to jump. "I saw what I saw. And I don't want to talk about it anymore." She turned on her heel and left briskly, before I could say anything else.

I grabbed Peter by the forearm and started to follow her, telling him lowly, "We have to tell her. She's not going to give us anything unless we give her a reason." He stopped abruptly, looking at me, concerned. "Are you sure?"

Rubbing his arm comfortingly, I nodded. "We have to." I felt as if I were the size of an ant, using Gwen for her experience, but it was something that only we could understand. If we were going to be the ones to stop the villain Ned had so creatively named the Vamp, if we were to stop him from killing anyone else, then we had to know what happened to Gwen.

"Gwen!" I called, jogging to where the girl was about to exit the building. I looked to Peter, taking a deep breath. "We need to tell you something."

The girl shook her head confused, and shrugged, agitation emitting from her pores. "Okay."

Running my tongue along my teeth, I opened my mouth to speak. "Uh... somewhere more private."

Gwen rolled her eyes, unknowingly aware that I had seen it, and we followed Peter into the empty-ish library, as students were packing up their books to leave. "What? What is it?" Gwen huffed, her curiosity growing with every second. I waited until it was nearly deserted before nodding at Peter with encouragement. He returned the look.

"Uh... I guess... Do I- should I just come out with it..." I fumbled with the words, and Peter grasped my hands in his own.

"I'm Spider-Man."