The Masks we Hide Behind || Peter Parker [1]

four: just my luck

"Way obsessed," Peter says.

"Extremely obsessed." MJ adds.

He rolls his eyes and continues spinning his fork in his ketchup.

I spot Flash coming our way and elbow Peter lightly.

"What?" He asks.

"Just a heads up. Again." I mutter, taking another bite of the corn dog.

"What's for lunch, Pete?" He asks, sliding onto the bench in between Peter and I.

I roll my eyes and look at MJ, who's just glaring at him. I feel his arm wrap around me as I do so.

"You don't want to do that." I say.

"Oh yeah? What happens if I do?" He murmurs into my ear.

"Can't we just have a peaceful lunch for once?" I snap.

"Nah, that's no fun." He breaths directly into my ear.

"Okay," I say, raising my voice slightly and squirming out of his embrace. "Enough."

"Or what?" He asks with a smirk, leaning over. I watch as Peter grabs his shoulder. Flash whips around and faces him.

"Don't." He says.

"Don't what, Parker?"

"Flash, just leave." I say.

"C'mon, dude. Seriously." MJ adds.

"Don't touch her." I hear Peter mutter. I swallow as Flash stands up slowly.

"Okay, okay. I see how it is. Didn't know she was your girl." He says.

"She's not...we're not a thing." Peter says quickly.

"Oh yeah? Then what is she?"

"Flash, just leave." I say.

"What is she, Parker?" He says, inching closer to his face.

"Flash." MJ says, starting to stand up slowly.

"Peter," I say quietly. His eyes flicker from Flash to me.

"Don't." I say. Flash stands up.

"If you can't admit to it, it's never going to happen, Parker. You want her? You gotta take her. She's hot, she won't be single forever." He says.

"Leave." I say firmly, standing up.

"Okay, okay." He says, raising his hands up and backing up with his friends. They eventually walk away, throwing glances over their shoulders as they do.

I huff and sit back down.

"I really hate that kid." I mutter, finishing my corn dog.

"Don't we all," Ned says, peeling his banana. I look up at Peter, who's watching Flash as he leaves. I rest my hand on his lower thigh, hoping Ned and MJ don't notice. He looks over at me and our eyes meet, and we have a whole conversation like that. Just like that. No words needed.

~~~

"Today, you will be working in partners." Mr. Jones says, pacing the classroom. Fifth period. Chemistry, with Peter. And Flash, sadly.

Peter turns around in his seat, grinning at me. I nod. We work with partners a lot in chemistry, and I always pair with Peter. I mean, he's my best friend, and he's super smart. And, I'm not bad myself, so we get work done pretty fast.

"But, don't get too excited. I'll be picking partners for you." He says.

I huff and sit back in my chair, hearing Peter mutter something under his breath as the class groans.

"Let's get started, then. Jessica, you can be with Allan. Ben, you'll be with Oliver." Mr. Jones continues on and Peter turns around in his seat.

"I swear, if one of us gets paired with Flash." He tells me.

"We have to put up with it." I say, pressing my two fingers to my temple.

"Peter, you can be with Chelsea." He says. I sigh. Chelsea treats him like he's invisible. I watch him take his stuff over to Chelsea's desk.

"Terra and Wally, Jake and Cody, and, let's have Madelyn and Flash together."

You're kidding.

The class stops and stares, probably shocked. Most of the school doesn't think fondly of Flash, and MJ has informed me multiple times that everybody knows I despise him.

I force myself not to roll my eyes as Flash sits down next to me.

"Hey, hotness." He says with a grin. I glare at him.

"Don't call me that." I say. Mr. Jones continues to pair students together.

"Okay, then." He says. I sigh and look over at Peter. My eyes say help me. His say I'm sorry.

Everyone gets settled with their partners as Mr. Jones continues on.

"I chose your partners because this will be a project that's due in three weeks."

Oh, lovely. It's a project. I'm sure it worth, like, half our grade.

"This will be worth forty percent of your grade, so don't rush it, and work hard on it."

Wonderful.

He continues on about what we do for the project and stuff, and I calmly take notes about what we need to do, trying not to loose my shit.

"You're gripping that pencil very hard." Flash murmurs.

I look at my hands. My knuckles are white.

"Oh." I say, lessening my grip.

"Now, I'll let you discuss with the partner on how you two will get the work and studying done together." Mr. Jones says. I sigh as the class breaks into discussion. I turn and face Flash, forcing a smile. He doesn't have to force one, this is all a game for him.

"You aren't dumping all of the work on me. Been there, done that. Nope." I say.

"Okay."

"So, when do you want to meet?" I ask.

"Tomorrow's Thursday, right?" He asks.

"Yes, Flash."

"Tomorrow. After school. The library."

Actually, that's not bad.

"Sounds fine to me." I say as the bell starts to ring. I gather my stuff and stand up.

"See ya, sweet cheeks." I hear the cocky smirk in his voice. I make sure I shoulder him, hard, as I leave.

Author's Note
Sorry for the late chapter! I worked really hard on it haha. Hope you enjoyed it! Feel free to let me know if you see any mistakes in the chapter, and have a wonderful day! ❤️