Iron Lightning [ I ] P. PARKER

XXXI. ANSWERED PRAYERS

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
"answered prayers"

It had been an hour and a half since Jade started and she was finally finished. Liz was about to call her mom in when Doris (her mother) was already knocking on the door to let Liz know Peter was here.

"Do you have a ride?" Liz asked sweetly.

"Oh, yeah, Michelle and Ned are picking me up," Jade smiled while putting her stuff away.

"Oh, okay. Thank you so much for doing this for me, I owe you," Liz smiled back as she slipped her shoes on.

"Oh, no, you really don't, it's just a small treat I like to give people," Jade laughed, it was a lie but whatever floats the boat, right?

They walked down the stairs and into the kitchen together, as they were about to round the corner Jade could hear the familiar voice of Peter.

"I'm not old enough to drink,"

She stopped for a moment when she heard him. Her heart broke even more in that moment and she thought she was going to throw up. She wished she could push down her feelings for the dumb boy.

"Hey, you okay?" Liz asked noticing Jade's pale face.

"Uh—" Jade's voice cracked and she coughed to clear it. "Yeah, yeah. I'm.. good."

"Come on then!" Liz laughed, grabbing Jade's arm lightly and pulling her from the corner.

"Wow!" Toomes said seeing the two girls. Now Jade was definitely going to throw up, she totally forgot the whole reason she was even here. "Wow, wow, wow you do look beautiful."

"Please, don't embarrass me, dad," Liz smiled nervously and walked closer to them. Jade still in shock at everything, stayed back a little.

Peter was standing there awkwardly holding his corsage case and Jade could tell he was nervous, but he actually looked petrified.

"Doesn't she, Pete?" Toomes asked him.

"Yeah, yeah," Peter said as Liz came beside him. He looked towards Liz, "You look..." he trailed off and looked at the ground awkwardly.

"Once again, that's the right answer," Toomes said pointing his knife at him. He paused for a second and looked towards Jade, "And you look beautiful as well, Jade."

Peter quickly looked up to see Jade standing nervously far off beside them all, and for the moment he saw her, his fear and nervousness faded away. No matter how mad she was at him or how horribly petrified he was at Liz's dad, Jade could always make him at ease. He just wished he expressed that feeling to her before. He missed seeing her and hanging out with her, he wished he'd have just kept his mouth shut that day.

"Thanks," Jade said awkwardly, clearing her throat again. Then she turned her head towards Peter and smiled softly.

Peter tried to smile, his nervous state not helping him. He would have continued staring at her if someone didn't call on him.