The Spider of Oz

~2~

After the first class had ended, Dorothy grabbed Ned's arm and pulled him out of the class.

"Were you being serious?"

"What? No! I- I wasn't."

Dorothy narrowed her eyes at him.

"Really? Because it totally makes sense that he would be a hero. And you sounded pretty terrified afterward about what you had said."

Ned groaned and covered his face with his hands. Through his fingers came his slightly muffled voice, "I wasn't supposed to tell anyone that he was Spider-Man."

"Spider-Man?!" Dorothy squealed.

"Ahg! I- I- ohh," Ned groaned again. "I wasn't supposed to say that either."

Dorothy couldn't concentrate throughout any of her classes leading up to lunch. If what Ned had said was true, which she was pretty sure it was, that meant that Dorothy had met an Avenger, she just hadn't known.

But Peter? Peter Parker? He didn't seem like the superhero type. Dorothy shrugged while she thought about it. Of course, she didn't even know that much about him in the first place.

Then at last, lunch came. Dorothy could barely contain her excitement as she got in line for food. Her stomach growled, but Dorothy couldn't tell if it was from hunger or the butterflies fluttering around inside her.

Once she had gotten her lunch, Dorothy practically ran over to where Ned and Peter already sat. She saw that Peter looked slightly annoyed but mostly worried. Ned seemed both nervous and excited.

Seeing their facial expressions made Dorothy slow down. How was Peter going to react? Would he be mad at her?

Dorothy sat down across from the two boys and whispered, "Are you really...?"

Peter nodded slightly. He hadn't made eye contact with her yet.

"How did it happen? How long have you been doing this? How does Ned know? Oh wait, he's your best friend, of course he knows. Do your parents know? Do they allow you to-"

"My aunt knows." Peter cut her off, but he still wasn't looking at her.

Oohh...

Dorothy suddenly felt guilty. He didn't have parents. She knew how that felt.

"But look," Peter finally met her eyes. "You can't tell anyone. And I mean anyone."

"Sorry." Ned said quietly from beside Peter.

Peter sighed and rubbed his temple, "Ned, it's fine, okay? I know you didn't mean to. What's done is done."

"'Sup losers."

Dorothy turned to see Michelle Jones, or MJ walking towards them. MJ often didn't talk to them, but just sat at the opposite end of the table and read her books.

MJ grunted as she sat down next to Dorothy then leaned in and whispered, "So, are we talking about how Peter's Spider-Man?"

They all stared at MJ in shock.

"Wha- how, wha-" Peter fumbled over his words. "How do you know that?!"

MJ shrugged, "I figured it out."

They all wait for further explanation. MJ frowned at them.

"I mean, it's pretty obvious."

Peter shook his head, "Dude, wha-" he gave a short laugh and shook his head again.

"Oh, and Peter?" MJ said. "If you die, I'm stealing your suit." She stood up. "And your identity." She began to walk away.

"Man," Ned muttered. "She has no heart."