Here to haunt me?

5. Auburn hair.

Juliette froze as she saw Ana sitting on her bed, seemingly waiting for her. Her friend's eyes were already on her, and she spoke immediately.

"Where have you been?! I had to cover for you with my parents", Ana said with an annoyed look on her face, "I told them you were staying to work on the costumes for a bit."

She responded, "Thanks." What else should she say? 'Oh, I was picked up by an Avenger, who told me the most terrific news and simultaneously screwed my alibi!' When her brother showed up, she'd have to lie even more than she had been doing for the last two years. As far as her host family knew, she was an only child. From the Netherlands. 

Because she stayed silent, Ana repeated her question, "Where did you go?"

Juliette panicked and blurted out, "Uhm, the vice-principal wanted to ask me some questions about the costumes for the Christmas show." She laughed a bit, trying to guess if Ana saw through her direct lie. "So you didn't actually lie to your parents."

Her friend still looked a bit suspicious, but she said, "Hmm. Okay, I'll take your word for it." Juliette immediately felt awful. I'll take your word for it? Why would she use that wording, now Jule felt like a bad friend. She probably was, but she had to protect herself. Her own safety over her friend's feelings. Ana suddenly gasped, and started excitedly;

"Oh my gosh, Jule. I was gonna tell you this, but I wanted to know where you were first." She took in a breath and spoke with a bright smile, "Wesley asked me out! He sat in your empty seat during art class, and asked me to go see a movie!"

Juliette gasped in return, and a grin spread to her face, just like it had done about an hour ago. "Oh, I'm so happy for you! I told you he felt the same way!" She hugged Ana happily, and asked her for all the details after they broke apart. They sat for almost an hour, talking about Wes. Her friend was clearly over the moon with glee, and couldn't stop talking about his face, his eyes, everything about him. 

After they had dinner, Juliette lay in bed daydreaming. She thought of her brother, on his way to see her. She wondered if he was as excited as she was. Maybe he had grown up, and her bubbly personality would be just another thing for him to dismiss. As he had been dismissing her for the last two years. 

Why hadn't he come to see her? If he'd survived, he should have had plenty of chances to visit. If she were in his place, she would definitely have gone to see him as fast as possible. Clint said he'd been fixing a problem back in Sokovia. She wondered what it could be. A few months ago, she had read something about a power plant out near the western border. Maybe he was involved in that? She'd just have to ask him when he was here. When, not if.

-

The next day, she sat at a table with Ana. Her friend was on her phone, like she always was during lunch break. Usually Juliette would listen to some music, but she was too busy thinking about Kate's offer to realize she hadn't put anything on. A group would be nice, she could talk about the complications of her powers with people who understood, who were experiencing the same thing. Kate had said her friend, Ms. Marvel, as her superhero name was, also hid her identity. Jule was already thinking about how nice it would be, and she hadn't even said yes yet.

So she took out her phone, dug up Kate's number, and sent her a text.

Hey, Kate, it's Juliette. I'd love to join your young superhero group thing, it would be nice to talk to people about this! I don't know if I'll be able to help much until I live alone and on my own schedule, but I would like to meet your friend and talk about it. Let me know when!

While she waited for Kate to respond, she felt eyes on her. She turned to the side, and saw Peter looking at her from a table away. He quickly turned around, but Juliette wondered if there was a reason he was so interested in her. A romantic reason, maybe.

It wasn't fair she had the ability to see his thoughts. If she couldn't, she would never have to pick between her sensibility and her curiosity. Hopefully he wasn't thinking about his ex again. She nearly slapped herself for her recklessness, but she slipped into his mind, and tried to keep a dazed, absent look on her face when she heard, saw and felt everything he did.

It was so loud. It had only taken him a few months to get tired of hearing everything, all the time. The boys behind him were laughing at a picture of one of their girlfriends. He considered turning around and hitting him into the table, but that wouldn't go well for the boy and himself. He refocused on the girls near him. He considered them his friends, they had been so welcoming with the Christmas show costume group. Ana was on her phone, and he heard her heartbeat rise. She was probably texting Wesley. He'd heard her heart do the same thing for months during class.

And then he moved his gaze to Juliette. She was deep in thought, staring into the table. He wondered what she was thinking about, and if she ever thought about him. He lost himself looking at her green eyes. They looked so beautiful next to her deep red hair. 

He felt his own heartbeat rise like a fool. For months, she had been all he could focus on, with her pink lips and the stunning accent that came with all her words. MJ had seen it, so she had broken up with him. It made him sad to think about how that must have been for her, but he forgot all about her every time Juliette spoke, every time she walked into the room. He was so hopelessly in love with her that he didn't even think about MJ anymore.

Then his mind drifted to the girl from the other day at the fight. He'd felt Rhino's swing, his senses had told him to move his arm up to stop it, but it wasn't necessary. Rhino's hand was stopped by something. Not him. It was probably barely noticeable for the people watching, but he had felt the tremor through the air. His spider sense traced the invisible shield to a roof nearby, and when he swung by it he saw her. 

She had a dark red suit, matching her hair. The hair that reminded him so much of the girl he was in love with. He was taken off guard and nearly hit a building, but before he could blink, she was gone. She just vanished into thin air. He knew she made the shield, so she must have been watching the entire time. It seemed he had a guardian angel. He felt Ana look at him, so he looked away-

Juliette retreated, dizzy when she was back in her own mind. She quickly muttered an excuse to her friend and practically sprinted out the cafeteria. She halted in a corridor, her mind racing. She breathed heavily.

Peter was Spider-Man, and he was absolutely infatuated with her. 

The boy she liked, and the boy she was so curious about, both the same. She pictured Peter with the mask on. He was a superhero. She couldn't believe it, how could a teenager fight like that? He was an Avenger. She actually wasn't sure he was, but he certainly knew many. He was the one who had been at Tony Stark's funeral. Clint knew him.

At least she knew now that Peter would not have told anyone about the girl he saw. His identity was as sacred to him as Juliette's was to her. She realized she was standing in the middle of the hallway, so she slowly moved back to her table. She told Ana she had gone to the bathroom, but she had to restrain herself from looking at the superhuman at the table next to hers. She sat down, and resumed in eating her lunch.

When she finally looked at the boy again, he noticed somehow, and met her eyes. She didn't look away. She studied his face, his posture. He had some similarities to his alter ego, but she could've never guessed it was him. She felt a bit nauseous, she had completely invaded his privacy. She was responsible to keep his secret now, too. But she would never tell anybody. She'd rather die than change his life like that. 

She silently made him a promise. I'll watch over you.