Malen'kaya Zemlya [2] [P. Parker]

3.5 Coathangers

After dragging Hayley in to help me, she caught sight of my speaker and immediately started playing music.

Both of our music tastes were extremely odd, so there was a wide variety of genres.

She pulled a short black dress out of the back of my wardrobe and threw it on the bed where I sat. It was the fourth item in the small pile she had collected of things that I could wear.

Then she pulled an open-backed green dress from the very back. "What's this?"

I screwed up my mouth. "I'm not wearing that."

"Did something happen?" she asked. "While you wore that dress, I mean?"

I nodded. "But it wasn't too bad. I'm saving that dress for a really special occasion."

"Such as a date?" she asked, teasing in her voice.

I nodded but paused. "Peter and I have only been on two proper dates."

Hayley sat next to me. "Oh, jeez."

"I'll ask him on one tomorrow." I shrugged. "Is there anything else in there?"

With a sigh and a sharp look at me, my friend stood up once more and dove back into my coathangers.

"There's this," she said, coming out a few minutes later.

She was holding a plain maroon skater dress I didn't even know I owned. It had long sleeves and a high neckline. I didn't remember ever even seeing it before.

"It's nice." I nodded.

"Hold up, there's a note." Hayley held her hand up to stop me. "It says... For your next escapade - Louis. Aw, that's so sweet!"

I smiled. "Yeah, it is."

The party was loud.

Even from the street where I was in a car, I could hear it.

I'd managed to wrangle Hayley into coming along and living life for once. She was in a yellow dress that I'd brought maybe six months ago with Renée but had never worn.

Peter had called me to ask whether we, well, I (he didn't know Hayley was coming at that point) needed a ride.

I gratefully accepted and May showed in up her car with him and Ned about twenty minutes later.

At that moment, in the car in front of Liz's house, I was regretting everything.

I sighed, leaning back into the seat. "I don't wanna go in," I whined to Hayley as May talked to Ned and Peter.

Hayley poked my arm from my right. "You have to."

Ned, on my left, nodded, pausing his conversation with May for a moment. "Yeah, you're here now and you look bomb, so don't even stress."

I tipped my head back. "Thanks," I said dryly.

"You're welcome," he replied with a satisfied nod and smile.

I turned my head to give him a blank stare but he didn't look back at me.

With a heavy sigh, I turned my head back and unclipped my seat belt. "Okay, let's go. Before I back out again."

Hayley cheered. "That's the spirit! Now come on. You've fought the Avengers. You can face a little party."

I exchanged a knowing but tired look with Peter in the rearview mirror. "Yeah. Not proud of that. Let's go."

We clambered out of the car but I poked my head back in before Hayley shut the door. "We'll wait for you at the door?"

"Nah, you go on in." Peter smiled nervously. Then he turned to May. "This is a mistake. Hey, let's just go home."

My eyes narrowed slightly at his comment. "Uh, I don't think so, Parker. If I'm going in then you are too."

"I-"

I cut him off by shutting the door. Hayley and I started walking up to the front door of the house.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Something's gonna go wrong tonight," I said in a low voice, my face drawn and my fists clenching and unclenching. "I can feel it."

(A/N)

I'M BAAAaaAAAAAaaaaAAAAK!!!!!

I'm finally back from my extended and very lazy holiday with another chapter!!

Sorry it's been so long, but I started watching Glee on Netflix and I can't stop watching it (I started watching it about two weeks ago and I'm already a quarter way through season three so I'm proud of myself).

I don't like this chapter but oh well.

Also, this is the 32nd chapter on the document and I've got 42 written (well the 42nd is half-written) so this is not good I need to write cos I haven't in about a week and a half this is bad this is bad this is very very bad but glee keeps distracting me with fantasies that I could ever be half as good at singing as they are ahhhhhhhhhhhhHHHHHHHHH

I'll chill.

(also I was sick today so I've been home all afternoon and I got literally nothing done and I'm pretty sure my drama group for our Shakespeare scene got less done since I wasn't there which is great since we're doing it in six days... o_o... shoot me now)

And that's my life rn so I hope you all had a great two weeks without my nonsensical ranting.

-lost_in_a_book__