Lonely Hearts ▷ Peter Parker | ✓

5 - YELLOW BLAZERS ARE SO LAST SEASON

"I thought you were sitting by me," Jason Ionello said, tilting his head. The two were best of friends, so it was surprising for all, Diana included, that Sally wasn't going to sit with him.

"You'll be fine," Sally said, waving him off, still smiling at Flash.

"Actually," Gwen interrupted, stepping forward, "Flash is sitting with us." She motioned towards the three of them, noticing with a grimace that Sally's eyes raked over Harry's body with an appreciative smile.

"Well, too bad," the girl said, catching sight of Gwen's frown, "He's sitting with me."

"It's okay, you guys," Flash said, glancing over at his teammates who were standing nearby, "It's not a big deal."

Gwen frowned, crossing her arms. "You haven't sat with us the entire week, Flash Thompson. I thought we were friends."

"We are," Flash said, hurriedly, "It's just..." he looked over at his other friends, shrugging at the smaller girl.

Gwen sighed, "Whatever. Um..." she looked around the hall, eyes brightening, "Peter! Do you wanna sit with us? You'll be sitting with Harry, but we'll hang around each other, you know?"

Peter, who had his camera slung around his neck, fidgeted with his glasses and blazer, ducking his head. "Uh, sorry, Gwen, I'd love to, but Ned and I are sitting together, so..."

"Oh," Gwen said, "That's fine. We'll catch you during the exhibit, though, right?"

"Of course," the boy said, clearly surprised to hear that someone wanted to see him, "That'll be fun." He nodded up at Harry, then at Diana, quickly moving past Flash and his other friends. Surprisingly, Flash said nothing to him, barely sparing him a glance.

"It's fine, Gwen," Diana said, "You can sit by Harry and I'll find someone else to sit with. Make new friends, you know?"

Gwen gave her a sad, but proud look. "Only if you're sure..." Diana nodded and she smiled. "I'm proud of you, Dina, you're spreading your wings. This is good..." she continued to talk as they walked towards the exit, leaving Flash to talk to his other friends.

Diana tried to pay attention, still wrapping her brain around the nickname. It wasn't a big deal of anything, just an omission of the first A in her name, but it still struck her. Nicknames were for people who were really close friends. It filled her with a nice, warm feeling. The feeling of being cared for.

"Moon! Cindy Moon!"

They all turned to see a boy, probably a junior, running up to Gwen, only to stop a foot or so away. "Uh, you're not Cindy..." then he brightened, handing her a paper, "You're her sister! Yeah, can you give this to Cindy, she said she wanted to try out for hockey, so she needs to see this."

He started to run away, but Gwen grabbed his arm. "Wait. Sorry, I'm not her sister. I'm Gwen Stacy."

"Oh," the boy said, taking the paper back, "You just looked like her, so I figured you're probably related."

Gwen pursed her lips in a tight smile. "Yeah, no, we're not related. Sorry."

"I can give it to her," Diana offered, taking the paper from him, "It's no trouble."

"Thanks," the boy said, already starting to run away. He disappeared back into the school and that was the last they saw of him.

Gwen took a deep breath as Harry started to laugh. "I looked like her so he figured we were probably related. Is he serious?"

Harry laughed, shaking his head. "Don't you just love the casual racism?"

Gwen groaned loudly. "I am so—I cannot believe that just happened to me. I'm not even gonna—I—No. No, I'm just gonna get on that bus and pretend this didn't happen. Let's go."