ＮＯＶＡ ◼PETER PARKER◼

ｔｗｏ

After making it through four insufferable classes that she barely paid attention to, Lydia Blair made her way into the crowded lunch room of Midtown, desperate to sit down and talk about anything other than chemistry and biology like she had all morning.

Peter's eyes were immediately on her as she entered the cafeteria, ignoring anything that was coming from Ned and Nadia as Lydia took her normal spot in front of Peter, waving her hand to get his attention with a laugh.

"There a reason you're staring at me so hard, Pete?"

"He wasn't," Ned chimed in, motioned to Liz Allen as she hung the homecoming banner on the wall across the way. "Someone here has a bit of a crush on Liz."

The girls let out long strings of 'awes' at Peter as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Well, he was too far in now, guess it was time to just roll with it.

"She's a great girl," Nadia chimed in, eyeing Peter. She knew who he had really been staring at, but she figured she'd be a good friend and let it slide for now. "You should go for it."

"No," Peter spoke immediately, shaking his head and taking a bite of his sandwich. "No, she wouldn't go for me. Girls normally don't."

"Well, I for one think any girl would be lucky to have you," Lydia chimed in with a grin, leaning over to steal one of his chips. "And if they can't see that, then that's their loss."

Peter wanted to tell Lydia to stop, to stop with her cute little comments directed toward him all the time. It wasn't helping his massive crush on her in the slightest.

"Although, you should probably stop staring before it gets creepy-"

"Too late," the gang turned to the end of their table where their classmate, Michelle, sat with her nose in a book like normal. "You guys are losers."

Peter quirked an eyebrow, raising his hand.

"But then why do you sit with us?"

"Because I don't have any friends..." her eyes trailed to Nadia for a second. "Except Nadia. She's cool."

The bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch period. Lydia sighed, wishing she hadn't stayed after class and missed so much of lunch as the group go up from the table, Nadia pointing over to Michelle at the other end.

"And this is why Michelle is my favorite,"

Lydia laughed, walking over to Peter and linking her arm with his, dragging him off in the opposite direction of their friends.

"Oh hush," Lydia nodded her head toward the hallway for Peter. "Let's not be late for astronomy. We'll see you guys at decathlon practice after class!"

"Don't be late!" the pair called out for them, but Lydia and Peter were already off and down the hallway.

The room was dark, just as it always was at class time, the planetarium already lit up with the night sky showing in the sky above them. Peter and Lydia found their normal seats along the couches outlining the planetarium as the bell signaled the beginning of class for them.

Beginning her normal lecture, their astronomy teacher made her way around the room, speaking as she pointed out things in the night sky. Peter wished he could say he was paying attention, but instead he was watching Lydia as she threw her head back, staring up at the stars above her.

"You thinking about your mom?" Peter used to ask her that a lot when she'd stare at the stars. Since taking the Stark Internship he tried not to bring them up too much. He knew how much she loved the stars, but he also knew the memories that came along with them. A tiny smile crossed Lydia's lips at his comment.

"Always am," she responded, turning her head to Peter. A cough from the teach broke the pair apart, their attention on her. But the teacher's attention was on Lydia.

"Ms. Blair, I am aware of your fascination with the stars, but paying attention in class is of the upmost importance," she turned her back, still speaking to her as her British accent bounced off the walls. "We know that Earth is not the center of the universe — let alone the Solar System — but looking at the sky, it's easy to get confused. Stars appear to be rising and setting, as well as the planets, Moon and the Sun. And with more precise instruments, we can see some stars appearing to move back and forth relative to other ones. So, Ms. Blair, are the stars moving?"

"Yes, and no," Lydia replied immediately, pointing up at the planetarium above them. "I can walk laps around this room and objects in this room will, technically, move positions. What was once in the east is now in the west. The same thing happens when the Earth moves around in its orbit. Some of the closer stars can be seen moving back and forth across the background. I believe you defined it last class as parallax."

"So you've defined the motion of a star based upon Earth's orbit," the teach continued as she turned to face her. "But you haven't answered my question: are the stars moving?"

"Yes, but to a human's eye, not so much," Lydia retaliated. "You defined it as proper motion. It's all dependent on gravity, which moves everything in the galaxy which in turn means that the stars are moving."

"Yes, Barnard's Star is our biggest example, moving 10.3 seconds of arc per year," a small smile graced the teacher's lips as she pointed a finger at her prized pupil. "Enough side chatter, or I'll make you come teach the class everything you know."

Lydia smiled to herself, proud of having been able to answer the question how she had wanted it answered. It was a common occurrence, Astronomy class being her strong point in school.

Peter nudged her slightly with his elbow, a grin on his lips.

"Alright, miss know-it-all, save some astronomy for the rest of us,"

The pair laughed quietly together, finally focusing on class once again.

◾◾◾

It's honestly refreshing writing this story because they're so cute and innocent and nothing bad has happened to them yet meanwhile Deli and Lottie had their entire lives torn to shreds multiple times UGH