Clessidra | Peter Parker.

18. ghost

She reached her in the kitchen and grabbed two plastic glasses to fill with as much alcohol as possible –which seemed the only answer to a properly enjoyable night-, and stepped next to Gwen, who at first ignored her completely.

"Is something wrong?" June asked, tilting her head to the side to try and look at Gwen's face, hidden by her hair.

"Everything is incredibly great, thank you for asking," Gwen replied sarcastically, filling her glass with alcohol and drinking it all with one gulp.

"Woah, quick and painless." June tried to smile, but she had the awful feeling that Gwen's behavior was because of her and she had no idea of what to say. Plus, she wasn't as skilled with jokes as her father anyway.

"Oh, cause now you're worrying so much about me. Please, June." Gwen pushed June aside to walk away, but the redhead stopped her by grabbing her wrist to make her turn again. She said nothing, because she had no idea of how to express the twirl of emotions she was having, but gladly Gwen spoke for her.

"God, he's completely blind, but you're not joking, either." she scoffed loudly and raised her hands in the air. "Why am I even in this situation? It's true that I'm a loser, but if it keeps going like this I'll lose my dignity forever."

What was she referring to? Was she really talking about Peter and herself? Because that wouldn't make any sense, as much as June hoped it would.

It was true that June had always felt bad for Gwen. She was a really cool and easy going person, but she had no friends, probably because her behavior pushed people away. Peter was the only person who had approached her without judging or hating her perfection and, as much as June had always felt extremely annoyed by it, she was glad that Gwen had found someone who appreciated her.

But now she was talking as if her worst secret had been revealed, and June couldn't help but translate her words in the best way for her, even if she didn't know what the meaning was.

"What are you talking about?" she asked instead. Gwen rolled her eyes and smiled as a single tear fell on her cheek.

"I would have accepted it more if Peter had used me as a coverage to hide his homosexuality. But this, this is way too embarrassing and out of character for me. And I love myself too much to allow it anymore."

By now Gwen was just rambling, even if there was a clear path she was following. She was never going to tell June how things really were, mainly knowing that she was smart enough to understand it herself, but the frustration of having been so easily fooled by love was annoying her more than anything else.

June tried to say something else, but Gwen cut her off by walking away, to Peter or away from the party, she didn't know.

She stared down at the two full glasses and, after a moment, she drank them both, closing her eyes for a moment as the alcohol burned her throat and made her notice how not eating dinner was going to be a problem. She went back to grab another glass for Simon and returned to him, looking around for Peter.

"Here," she handed Simon the glass as she moved around, trying to spot the familiar face.

"He went to the bathroom," Simon said without even needing for her to question.

June was getting impatient. Most of all, she was confused by Gwen's words since, if she had read any romantic book and had understood it right, they would have meant that Peter felt something for June too, which was even worse. She had spent way too much time wondering if he felt anything for her, and he had never showed any sign of interest. It wasn't possible that things had changed so quickly, and it wasn't fair. She had suffered for a long time, and she was never giving him the pleasure of confessing his feelings and immediately find out they were returned.