Pressure // MARVEL // PETER PARKER

CHAPTER 4: can you for once not reveal spoilers, miles?

'ELLIE, WHAT WAS going on yesterday?'

Ellie shrugged, clearly not wanting to tell it yet. 'Something with family.'

'You can tell us, you know that, right?' Morgan told her friend, smiling softly.

'Yeah,' Miles added, 'and if it gets too serious I'll just crack a joke. I mean, I'm king of cheesy jokes.'

'Wanna bet?' Oliver challenged Miles.

The four friends sat at their usual table, in the back of the room. When Morgan arrived at school, she found Miles waiting for her to walk with her to her next class and saw Ellie flirting with a girl in the hallway. They rudely took her away so they could have fun with the three of them, because Oliver (the killjoy) had to be at school early for some kind of presentation for chemistry.

'What's going on, Ellie?' Morgan asked, shooting an angry look at the two boys. She received an innocent look from Miles and a cheeky smile from Oliver.

Ellie sighed. 'Just my mom not wanting to take her meds. You know how Tori died before I was born, right?'

Morgan knew that. Tori, short for Victoria, was Ellie's big sister who died in a road accident about a year years before Ellie was born. Ellie's mom was in the same car, but she didn't die like Tori did. Ellie had always wished she could've met her big sister, but she couldn't. It was really sad. But as long as she didn't think about it, she would be just fine.

'Well,' Ellie continued, 'mom became depressed after she died. She used to take antidepressiva and could at least function, but recently she decided to skip the medicines and she's just high all the time. It just all got a little to my head yesterday, I guess.'

'I'm so sorry,' Morgan gasped.

Ellie gave her a sad smile. 'Doesn't matter. I'm not home, so let's not be sad here, too. Got a good joke, Miles?'

'What do you call Dora in an Iron Man suit?' Miles asked.

'Not another Avengers pun,' Ellie groaned, burying her face in her hands.

'FeDora!'

Oliver sighed really loud and looked at the ceiling, hoping for help. He didn't know what he would need help for, but it was just something people did. Morgan just bit her lip, looking the other way. She didn't want to be rude, so she just said nothing at all instead. Miles just looked at his friends, expecting a chuckle at least.

'Get it?' the Asian continues. 'Because the symbol for iron is Fe and a fedora is-'

'We get it, Miles. It's just really bad,' Oliver interrupted his friend.

Ellie still had her face in her hands. 'I made a horrible mistake. Note to self, never under any circumstances make Miles crack jokes.'

'I would say, your joke certainly hat some potential,' Morgan joked. Miles high-fived her.

'Hey, you!'

Morgan and Oliver turned around, Ellie and Miles already faced the right way as they sat on the opposite of the table. There Morgan's glance fell on a guy and a girl who had just yelled. A few people turned around too, but yelling in the cafetaria wasn't that unusual so they turned back. Morgan smiled at seeing the two people.

'Peter! Shuri!' Morgan called out while the two people walked over to the group of friends. 'I didn't expect you two to be here!'

'Guess fate wanted it after all,' Shuri smirked. Peter stood on her toes.

'One day, I'm going to kill you,' Peter told his friend. 'Don't worry, I'll make it a murder mystery. You'll be a special case.'

'You should leave some DNA from someone you hate on the crime scene,' Miles advised.

Ellie took her hands from her face. 'Hold on, why have you thought about that?'

'We haven't met yet, have we?' Oliver asked the two friends. 'I'm Oliver. Come sit!'

Peter and Shuri sat down, Shuri beside Ellie and Peter beside Morgan. Morgan started to fiddle with her fingers, unaware of that little habit. Ellie had a smirk on her face as she extended her hand to Shuri. Shuri didn't notice it, though. Or maybe she did, but she chose to ignore it instead. She placed her hand in Ellie's.

'I'm Shuri,' Shuri introduced herself.

'I'm lesbian,' Ellie told her smoothly.

Morgan choked on her drink, surprised by Ellie's direct flirting. Usually she was more subtle than this. Oliver whispered a "We know," while Peter quoted "I thought you were American." Miles just looked over at Morgan helplessly. He just sat there, awkward, in need for help. Morgan shot him a look, letting him know she didn't know either.

Shuri didn't flinch. 'Nice to meet you, then, Lesbian.'

'I like her, can we keep her?' Ellie asked Morgan. 'I'm Ellie, by the way.'

'I'm Peter, Peter Parker. If anyone was interested,' Peter interrupted the two girls.

Miles smiled. 'Two P's? That sounds like some cool superhero alter-ego. Like Bruce Banner. I'm Miles, by the way.'

'I wish I was a superhero,' Peter told the guy. 'Not that I am one. It'd be cool. Like Iron Man. He's amazing.'

Immediately Ellie, Oliver and Miles looked over at Morgan. She let her head fell on the table, showing her friends that she was absolutely done with them, but she did it a little too hard and shot up, rubbing her forehead. She shot the three friends a frustrated look to show them she just couldn't deal with them.

'I hate all of you,' Morgan stated.

Oliver smiled. 'I'd almost believe you.'

'Did we miss something?' Shuri asked, referring to her and Peter.

'Nope, absolutely nothing,' Morgan responded quickly before any of her friends could. 'Just them thinking they're funny.'

'Weren't you the one who made the cheesy hat pun?' Ellie asked wittily.

Morgan groaned. 'Yeah, but that was actually funny!'

Then the bell rang and Morgan quickly stood up. She put the tea she made at home back in her bag and made an attempt to walk away, but someone grabbed her wrist. Morgan looked at the hand and followed the arm to the person. It was Peter.

'I still don't know your name,' the blond explained.

And everyone except the girl and Peter themselves noticed how he used the word "I" instead of "we."

'It's Morgan,' Morgan smiled.