Oh hey there, Peter Parker

Chapter Two

Ch. 2

Kennedy got home that night from the internship around ten p.m. After she was introduced to Peter Parker, she spent the rest of her workday signing non-disclosure agreements and filling out insurance papers. Basically, signing away her freedom of speech outside of the workplace. Even for an intern like her so much of the stuff she will deal with is classified to the general public. Pretty intense stuff for an over-glorified coffee-fetcher. Flopping down on her apartment couch, she kicked off her shoes, pet her cat, Pretzel, and pulled out her laptop. Time to work on some homework.

Kennedy's school situation was different than most other traditional students. She couldn't afford to go to college, not fully. Online classes were the only thing she could do if she didn't want to be swimming in student loan debt for the rest of her life. Yes, she was smart, but apparently not smart enough to get very many scholarships. Queens was a very competitive area for scholarships.

She only got the internship out of pure luck. It was recommended to her by her High School science teacher, and she barely made it into the interview process because someone else dropped out. She guesses she really wowed the interviewer and Ms. Potts, because now she's here, and official intern of Stark Industries. This position is going to be her leg-up in the business world.

Kennedy spent her whole life being surrounded by incredible people who were able to be heroes. She wants to be a hero too, through the only way she knows how, through the business world.

When you sit down and really think about it, superheroes are kind of similar to CEO's. And Kennedy wants to be right in the center of it, someday working right next to Ms. Potts. And Peter.

Um, what? She stopped typing for a moment. Where did that come from? You've only known the kid for less than 12 hours, DO NOT start fantasizing about him. She couldn't believe herself. For one thing, he's still in high school, and for another, there's NO WAY he'd be interested in her. He's probably already got a cute little sweetheart in Upper-town High, or wherever it is that he goes. He's a cute boy, someone who probably enjoys running and only wants a girl who can keep up with him physically. Whereas Kennedy was the type of girl to only run if something's chasing her, and that's a maybe even then. No way would he go for someone like that.

"Great," she said aloud, "I've hurt my own feelings." Sighing, she put away her work and started towards her bedroom, ready for bed after a long day of work.

🕷

"Could I get a medium caramel latte please? And an orange scone?"

"$4.57 please." Kennedy handed the money over to the barista. It was about 7:30 in the morning, so the coffee shop wasn't too crowded, except for the odd elderly person and high school kid. She stepped aside to wait for her order to be ready, scrolling through her phone.

"Kennedy?" She looked up from Instagram at the sound of her name, expecting her coffee and scone to be ready. Instead, Peter stood in front of her with another kid.

"Oh hey there, Peter Parker," she said with a smile, tucking her hair behind her ear nervously. "Are you heading to school? Will I see you at the tower later?"

"Um, yeah, I'm going to school, and I'll be at the tower after that." The kid next to Peter elbowed him, and he spoke up. "Oh right. Kennedy, this is my best friend Ned. Ned, Kennedy." Kennedy reached out to shake his hand.

"It's very nice to meet you Ned. Do you go to school with Peter?" Wow, bad at small talk much?

"Yeah, we go to Midtown together. I've never seen you there, are you new?"

"Oh no, sorry. I'm not the new girl in town trope. I graduated from high school last year. I take classes at Queens College, and I'm an intern at Stark Industries."

"Oh, an older woman, nice Pete." Ned winked at Peter, who promptly shoved him away. Kennedy blushed at Ned's implications, no matter how untrue they were.

"Aha, sorry about him, he's weird," Peter rubbed the back of his neck, while Ned protested. "Anyway, I wanted to ask-"

"Order for Kennedy!" The barista called out.

"Ope, sorry Peter, I've got to go! I don't want to be late for Ms. Potts. I'll see you later, okay?" And with that, she took her drink and scone, waved goodbye to the pair, and walked out of the coffee shop.

"Bro, you didn't tell me that she was hot!" Ned said to Peter after a few moments.

"Shut up dude, you're being so weird." Peter said, pushing the giggling Ned away again, before going up to order.

🕷

"Good morning, Ms. Potts!" Kennedy called when she saw her boss across the lobby. She was surrounded by a group of people, all of whom were clamoring for her attention, it seemed. Upon closer inspection, Kennedy realized that the group of people were all reporters. Ms. Potts looked up when she heard her name being called, and gestured for Kennedy to come over. Taking one last sip of her latte, she began to walk over to Ms. Potts. The female CEO was had on a stunning pin-striped suit and wore a pair of pumps like they were Kennedy's own white Keds. How she was able to move so gracefully in her 6-inch Jimmy Choo's, Kennedy had no idea.

"I'm so sorry ladies and gentlemen, but as it seems, my intern just arrived, so I will not be taking any more questions. Thank you." And with that, Ms. Potts grabbed Kennedy's shoulder and walked with her towards the elevator. As soon as the doors closed and they started making their ascent to the 86th floor, Ms. Potts let out a sigh. "I can't thank you enough for coming when you did. I swear, I was just about to call security. It's a good thing that the press only has access to the lobby." She straightened her outfit, took a deep breath, and then turned to Kennedy. "Alright, we've got a lot of work to do today."

🕷

"Hey, Kennedy!"

Kennedy looked up from the paperwork she was delivering to be filed at the sound of her name. She grinned over her shoulder at him.

"Oh hey there, Peter Parker. How was school?" She slowed her pace so Peter could catch up to her. He was wearing a blue flannel, jeans, and sneakers, yet somehow he made them look as good as a three-piece suit.

"Well, you know, school was school." Peter said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. School was school? What the heck is that? C'mon Parker. "Not as much fun as being here"

"I get that," Kennedy smiled, "I bet you have way more fun here working in the labs with the famous Tony Stark than some lousy high school."

Peter smiled and ran his hand through his hair, thoroughly mussing it up more than it already was. Kennedy found that gesture really endearing and adorable and- Stop it Kennedy, you're gonna get your feelings hurt.

"Obviously not. Plus, I don't get to see you, since y'know, you don't go to high school or anything." Peter's eyes widened at what he said. "Which isn't bad! No, I mean you are in college - well not technically college, but you do take online classes, which is cool. I'm not judging your school situation or anything. I mean-" Kennedy reached out to put her hand on Peter's arm.

"Slow down, Pete. You're gonna give yourself any aneurysm," she laughed. Peter nodded. She had the prettiest blue eyes he'd ever seen, which is saying something, considering he's met Captain America.

Kennedy could almost count all of the freckles on his nose, if only she could lean in a bit further...

Suddenly, Peter's watch started chiming and Kennedy quickly took her hand away from Peter's arm.

"Oh no! I'm late for Mr. Stark. I gotta run, but I'll see you later, right Ken?" Peter called over his shoulder. He was already making his way down the hall.

"Yeah, of course! I'll, uh, see you later Peter!" Kennedy was blushing from the sudden nickname she was given. Usually, she hated it whenever someone tried to shorten her name like that; it sounded so masculine. Yet, when Peter said it, she didn't mind at all. Shaking her head in amusement, she continued down the hall.