Rollercoaster - Peter Parker

03. Smart and Nice

Peter open his mouth in surprise. He stammered a bit before fully answering. "Enough about Caden and me! How's, um, Jackie?"

Ned chuckled, smirking at Michelle. "Yeah, MJ, how is the woman of your dreams? Have you guys texted yet today or are you saving that in trade for time to spend together? Privately."

MJ narrowed her eyes at the boys, her cheeks turning the slightest shade of pink. "Everything is going well, and I don't know why either of you feel the need to know." She crossed her arms, turning back to her book.

"Because, MJ," Ned told her. "Friends need to be updated on every single thing happening in the other's love life."

Peter rolled his eyes. "Not every single thing, but it would've been nice to know you have a crush on Jackie."

MJ continued to ignore them, reading for the duration of the bus ride. Ned and Peter finally stopped pestering her and started to discuss Ned's new Star Wars Death Star Lego model that they were planning to build.

-

Walking into the school to Peter was pretty much like walking into a war zone. Flash being on his bus wasn't even the worst of it, because that day he wasn't obnoxious on the bus, but right after they stepped off, the 'joking' started.

Peter zipped up his sweater, feeling exposed. Ned gave him a worried glance while MJ gave Flash and his entourage deadly glares. Peter eventually evened out his breathing, distracting himself by rubbing the soft, cotton material of his sweater in between his fingers.

He quickly spotted Jackie, Caden, and Reese next to Caden's locker and focused his attention on them instead of on Flash's insults. He rushed over to them, weaving through the sea of people and wondering how he didn't realize before that somehow New York's entire population went to his school or so it seemed that way.

"Caden!" he greeted the boy, joining the trio at the older boy's locker. Caden looked towards him with a tired smile, the light in the hallway reflecting in his bright blue eyes.

Peter stared for a moment until being interrupted by Ned who nudged his shoulder violently. Peter cleared his throat, swinging off his backpack to open it. "Oh! I brought your sweater back! I, uh, cleaned it... I mean, it smells nice. I washed it. I'm not sure what kind of detergent my aunt uses, but I think it smells nice-"

"Wow, Peter!" Jackie exclaimed, giving the small boy a toothy grin. She looked to Caden with raised eyes before looking back to Peter. "That's so nice! I didn't know people could be smart and nice. Isn't he so nice, Caden?"

Ned smirked at Caden, wondering what the older boy was thinking. He turned to MJ to see what her reaction was to the situation to find her no longer next to them. He assumed she saw Jackie and bolted, probably thinking it was going to be an interrogation on the girls' relationship.

Caden blushed slightly, avoiding eye contact with Jackie and Reese. He smiled softly at Peter, taking his sweatshirt from the boy's hands. "Thanks, Peter, it's really nice that you washed it and everything."

Jackie, Ned, and Reese shared a glance as they watched the two boys stare at each other. Caden broke their glance, shoving the sweatshirt into his locker to avoid Peter seeing the vibrant blush on his cheeks.

Peter smiled widely at him before turning to Jackie. His eyebrows drew together in concern, looking down at the older girl. "Jackie, I heard about the robbery and stuff at your house last night. Is everyone okay?"

Her eyes widened, surprised that people were talking about the incident so soon. "Um, yeah. We're all okay. Thanks for that, Peter." She flashed a gentle smile at him, appreciating his concern for her and her family.

Caden smiled widely, practically jumping in excitement. "Peter, we saw Spider-Man! Oh my god, it was so awesome! He saved Jackie and her family from those robbers, and then," Caden took a deep breath, still smiling. "he talked to us! He actually had a full-on conversation with us-"

"Yeah, yeah. We know. Then, he told you how cute you were. Give it a rest, dude," Reese deadpanned, clearly jealous that he wasn't there to see Spider-Man for himself.

Ned coughed and glanced at Peter quickly with a slight smile. Peter took the moment to widened his eyes, pretending this was news to him. "That's so cool, guys! I know how much you love Spider-Man, Caden," he said, smiling at the two.

"Wait a second..." Reese looked to Peter with one raised eye, a look of confusion on the older boy's face. "How do you know about Jackie's house already? It's not like she publicly announced it."

Peter blushed vibrantly, his eyes widening. Caden turned to him with a look of confusion. The small boy turned to Ned for an answer to see that his best friend also had no clue what to do. Soon, all of the three older teens were looking at Peter with confusion written all over their faces.

"W-Well!" Peter stammered loudly, causing startled and annoyed peers to glare at him. "I was just in the neighborhood because my aunt needed something when she was at work."

"At midnight?" Reese scoffed, disbelief coating his tone. Peter laughed nervously, tugging at his sweater in sheer awkwardness.

"Oh," Jackie replied, saving the boy from further embarrassment. "Where does she work?"

Not wanting to embarrass himself any further, Peter erased the first lie entirely. "Actually," he forced out a small chuckle. "My bad. I wasn't bringing anything to my aunt's- well, technically I was -I remember she was telling me to get something for her after I finished my Stark internship for the night," Peter told the three, emphasizing for important his job was.

Caden's eyes widened and a smile appeared on his face. "You don't mean Tony Stark, r-right?" he asked Peter, trying and failing to seem nonchalant.

"Shit, guys," Jackie looked at her watch, pulling Caden as she turned to leave in the opposite direction with Reese. "The bell's gonna ring."

The tall boy didn't take his eyes off of Peter, excitedly waiting for an answer. Peter smiled proudly at Caden, standing up a bit straighter. "Yeah, it's Tony Stark! I'm his intern-" he stopped himself abruptly. "But, we're not really supposed to talk about it." He shrugged apologetically, seeing Ned smiling at the two out of the corner of his eye.

Caden blinked in shock, allowing himself to be dragged away from Peter. "Well, um, I'll see you at lunch!" he called down the hallway with a bright smile.

"Peter," Ned spoke quietly, hardly able to contain his excitement. "That was smooth!"

-

A/N: IM SORRY THIS IS SUCH A BORING CHAPTER AND NOTHING HAPPENED IN IT AT ALL IM SORRYYYYYY please forgive me