Spider-Man: Marvel Knight

Chapter 3-Best Friends

No school...could you believe that? No school! They had to have been the luckiest seniors in the entire world. The possibilities of what they could do were endless. They had all been busy during the Summer, Peter with his project, Harry helping his dad, and Gwen working at a food kitchen, so they hadn't really had time to be best friends lately, so it was almost like God just went through and saved them.
The trio decided to go to the Brooklyn mall for their free afternoon. Harry and Gwen talked to each other the entire walk there to catch up on all the crazy stuff that had happened with their lives the last couple months. Their small friend stayed almost completely quiet. They silently wondered why Peter was being so quiet.
The reason was that he felt his pocket buzz. Peter pulled out his phone and saw who was texting him. It was MJ.

MJ: hey tiger😜 whatcha doin?

Peter: nothin much...going to the mall.

MJ: hold up one minute... The mall?? Wow. Wow! never thought you would be the one to skip school. good for u boo👌

Peter: that hurts that you would think that of me😂 no you wish... we got the day off because of an... incident that happened today.

Mj is typing...

Mj: let me guess. does this incident have something to do with a certain jerk named flash thompson?😖

Peter: MJ, of course it does when does it not

Mj: oh my God, he didn't hurt u did he???😠😠

Peter: well I guess I'd be lying if I said he didn't.

Mj: Peter why does he always attack you? Why? It's almost like he lives off of preying on the weak...I'll give him a piece of my mind, or my fist, when I see him when I come back!

Peter is typing...

Peter: first of all, I'm relieved that you would do that for me, second of all, I'm not that weak, third of all I got my butt kicked sure, but Harry received most of the beating. Got kicked.And stuff. And fourth, I think that he's learned his lesson after Gwen came in and kicked him right up mainstreet

Mj: atta girl😘 wait, Harry got hurt? Peter you two have to be more careful!

Peter: you know what, enough of what crappy things are going on in my life, what's going on in yours? How's actress school.

Mj: drama school, get it right,🐯, and it's great. It's hard to make friends though, here. Sure I'm popular in New York, but here I feel as if everyone can see right through me and are shouting "geek, geek, geek!"

Peter: I'm sure that you're doing great, MJ. Talk to you later maybe?😁

Mj: lol will do, tiger, ttyl8r

Harry turned to see Peter's head in his phone. He knew what was going on. "Who are ya texting, Pete?" Harry spoke up. Peter finally came out of his hypnotic state. It seemed that he did that anytime he talked to Gwen or MJ, especially MJ. He had loved her his entire life, but he had to admit that Gwen was stunning, herself. They were both so pretty, and he knew that they would never see him as husband material.
"What?" Peter said, immediately putting his phone back in his pocket.
"You've been awfully quiet back there, nerd," Gwen said with a smile. "You're obviously texting MJ, aren't you?"
Their friend scoffed at their words. "How do you know?" Peter asked defensively.
Harry looked back at him and smirked. "We've know you your whole life, Pete. We know when you miss your friends... especially MJ, lover boy."
Peter sighed. They were right: he totally missed her. He hadn't seen her since the middle of last semester when they were juniors, which is when she left. That was one of the saddest Christmases he had ever had to go through. "It's just been so long y'know," he said. "It just kinda sucks that this is the first time that we all really got to hang out together, and MJ, the light of our group, isn't here."
His friends stopped and turned to him. They knew how much friendship meant to Peter. They were the only friends that he had ever known, but at the same time they were enough. They out their hands on his shoulders and pulled him into a small group hug to comfort him. "We'll always be your friends, Peter, no matter what happens," Gwen said.
Those words made Peter want to start crying. He felt loved...more loved than anyone else in the world.
As they pulled away from the hug, he tried to stop the thing from getting so serious. Peter smiled and said, "Another thing I was worried about was her becoming crazy like those other actresses and singers. What if she ends up like Madonna?!"
Harry and Gwen suddenly bust out in laughter from Peter's corny joke. "I don't think you have to worry about her ever becoming like Madonna, weirdo," Harry said jokingly. "This is THE Mary Jane Watson we're talking about here."
Peter chuckled along with them. "Yeah true enough."
Harry then pulled Peter over to him and Gwen. "Come on, you guys," he said. "Enough with this argument about our friend becoming a crazy, and slightly more attractive, Madonna. Let's go get something to eat."
They decided to eat at the Brooklyn Cheesecake Factory, simply because it was good, expensive, and Harry had a lot of money. Anytime they went anywhere, Harry had to spoil his friends no matter what; only the most expensive stuff was bought in their presence. If they wanted something, they got it. Being the son of a billionaire had it's perks, I guess.
After they ate their fill and joked around, Peter suddenly spoke up from his inner thoughts. "Guys, sometimes I wonder why you hang out with me." Gwen and Harry eyed Pete with confusion.
"Um, Pete, what kind of question is that, man?" Harry asked.
Peter scratched his head. "You two and MJ are some of the most popular kids in school. Why ruin your reputation by being friends with me? Have you ever thought of that?"
Gwen grabbed Peter's shoulder. "Because we're friends. Best friends the four of us. We've known each other since pre-k and we're not giving that up."
"And someone had to, you know, watch after the little guy," Harry said with a wink and a smirk.
Peter chuckled at the pun. "Clever," he said. "Thank you, guys."
Harry thought for a moment and then pulled out his phone. He opened FaceTime and set the phone up against the salt shaker on the table. "Who are you calling?" Suddenly, the phone screen opened on a strand of crimson hair. Peter could.recognize that hair from anybody, even if it was over the phone.
"What's going on, Harry?" MJ said over the speaker. She looked and saw all of her friends in one spot. "Hey, you're all together. Hey, Gwen!"
"Hey, MJ," Gwen responded with a smile.
MJ's eyes moved to Peter who was sitting in between them. "Hey, tiger," she said with a sweet smile.
Peter smiled at his friend that was over the phone. He felt relieved when he saw her beauty again. Her emerald eyes could put anyone in a trance. "Hey, MJ," Peter responded.
"Anyway," Harry continued, "now that the gang is all here, are you guys ready for that science fair tomorrow?"
"What?" MJ said with a sarcastic ring. "There's a science fair thing and I'm not in New York! No fair. You guys have fun."
"You'll be there in spirit, MJ," Harry said with a smile. "Gwen, you ready for what's gonna go down?"
Gwen sucked on her teeth for a second and spoke up. "Yeah, about that... I won't be able to go."
"What? Why?" Peter and Harry responded at almost the exact same time.
"I've been having to work more hours at the kitchen with the staff being cut short after the whole attack with Hydra and the Avengers. Sorry..." she said embarrassed. NY's Broadway lane was im a rough area right now because of an attack on the city by Hydra. Luckily, the Avengers were there to stop them.
Harry turned to Peter. "Well then, me and Peter can get some bro time together tomorrow. You can bet that I'm going."

The next day

"What do you mean you can't come?" Peter shouted into the phone. Harry was coughing and hacking on the other side of the line. He sounded sick.
"I can't go, Pete, I'm sorry *cough cough*... I think I got food poisoning yesterday. I feel like total crap right now...." Harry said, sounding weak. "Hey man you don't have to go alone if you don't want. You can come hang out here today. It's Saturday, dude...we *cough* we can just relax!"
There was silence on Peter's end for a little bit. "Yeah... Yeah I might do that..."
Harry's coarse voice spoke up. "Hey look, I'm sorry man. Maybe we can go next year. I'll make it up to you."
"Yeah," Peter said while hanging up. Harry was right, he shouldn't go by himself, because of his anxiety, but c'mon it was just down the block.
"Well crap," Peter said to himself. "Guess I'm going alone."