Little Spy | Peter Parker ✓

[35]

EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS SITUATION WAS WRONG - Freya Knight was not meant to be in a mall, surrounded by fluorescent lights, children with severe cases of body odour and dripping noses, teenage girls who bitched far too loudly about bad relationships, and the stench of cheap, greasy food that smelled more like rotting flesh then anything else - a smell I, unfortunately, knew too well. The idea of shopping with friends was foreign and uncomfortable for me, and it was especially difficult, considering it was being referred to as 'bonding time' with two girls I could barely stand. I was not even sure how I had got there.

However, here I stood, lost in racks and aisles of clothing that served no real purpose - the trend of ripping jeans and calling it fashion seemed ridiculous, as did all the others - while Gwen and MJ rushed around me, gushing about something or other, probably something that paid no interest in me. While it was better than accompanying Inga to wherever foul place she took me to before, it wasn't by much.

"So," Gwen began, chirpy voice carrying even from several feet away, "are you staying for next year, Em?"

I moved to decline, but bit back my words; no one really knew of my real reason to stay, and it wouldn't do any good to say I was leaving right after the year finished. If anything, it would just arise suspicion, and that was something I didn't need to add to my pile of problems. "Yeah, maybe. Midtown is a good school, I like it here."

MJ grinned at my words. She held two tops in her hand, both strangely patterned and coloured and almost repulsive to stare at. She seemed to be enjoying this, at least much more than I was - though that wasn't hard considering the thoughts of disgust racing through my mind. "That's good because honestly, we'd miss you to death if you left! I mean, you've become part of Midtown. It just wouldn't be the same without you, honestly."

"Yeah, we'd all miss you. Especially Peter." The girl turned back to me, her thick hair swinging as she spun around. "Speaking of, how are you two? Anything...well...you know."

"Nothing's happened," I interjected, eager to drop the topic before it got too forward or too intrusive. I was not eager to have a repeat of the other day. "We're just friends."

"For right now." 

I turned my attention away from the duo and focused on a shelf of what was referred to as 'skater skirts', lifting one up with a disgusted curl of my upper lip. "No, we're just...we're just friends. We kissed but that doesn't change anything, right?"

The 'right' on the end of my sentence wasn't meant to sound so sceptical, but to the girls, it must have been an invitation to swoop in and offer their two cents apiece, even when it wasn't wanted. Gwen patted my shoulder as she joined my side, dark eyes full of sympathy. "Look, if you like him, you should make that known - Peter isn't going to pick up on your signals, no matter how many you put down. I mean, I'm still blown away that you kissed him - props to you - but you gotta push harder than that if you want something outta it."

"Yeah, Peter's...he's a gem of a guy, but he's lacking in the confidence category - not that that's a bad thing, but, well, means you gotta step up." MJ chuckled to herself. "There was this one time when I really liked the boy, and I tried to be really subtle and just drop hints - don't recommend."

Gwen snorted, "you didn't drop hints, you would just stare at him and math like a doofus. And when you finally figured out that didn't work, you joined the decathlon team and proceeded to almost make them lose - that's not subtle, Janey, that's just a really bad move. You hate math, and you almost made them lose because of it!"

"First off, shut up, I didn't really like him that much - if I had, well, it would have been much different. And, second," she said, turning her attention back to me, "he does really like you. You should know that by now. Honestly, take one look at him and you'd know he's hopelessly infatuated with you."