1. A Girl, Her Best Friend, and a Superhero (Peter Parker)

Chapter 9

I decided to walk the whole way home instead of riding the subway. I felt like getting some fresh air, and Peter's sweatshirt blocked out the cold. I walked along, taking in everything around me. I had always liked the city, how the sidewalk was always filled with people walking around, going into shops or apartment buildings, or how the street was always jampacked with cars. Sometimes, though, the commotion seemed to engulf me, making me wish I was able to watch everything happen from above, instead of right in the center of it.

I got to my apartment, ready to quickly finish my homework and watch a movie before going to bed.

"Sup, Jones!"

"Jeez!" I jumped, not realizing he was sitting on my couch. "Do you ever hang out at your own apartment?"

"Why would I do that? This is the only time I can annoy you now that you've gone off to be with your nerd friends. Look, they already have turned you to the dark side." He points to Peter's sweatshirt, which had the school's logo on it.

"I'll have you know, this isn't my sweatshirt." I realized too late that this was the wrong thing to say.

"Who's is it then?" I didn't answer him, but stared at the ground, not daring to look at him. "It's Peter's isn't it? You know what, I don't know why I bothered asking, I already knew the answer." He grabbed his coat off the island and started heading to the door.

"Will, wait!" I grabbed his arm before he could open the door. "It's not like that I swear."

"You want me to believe that? Fine, look me in the eye and tell me you feel nothing for this Peter kid." He let go of the door and turned to face me. I looked at him, staring into his furious blue eyes. I opened my mouth, but I couldn't get any words out. He would know that I was lying no matter what I said.

"That's what I thought." He opened the door and walked out, slamming it behind him. I should have gone after him, or tried to stop him again, but I knew it was no use. My best friend felt more for me than I felt for him, and there was nothing I could do about it.

~~~

I texted Will all night and the whole next day, asking if we could talk. Peter was nowhere to be found at school again, adding to my worriedness. I would have texted him asking where he was, but I realized I didn't have his number. I saw Ned a couple times during the day, but before I actually caught up to him to ask him where Peter was, he had disappeared.

I watched the clock the whole day; it seemed like it was moving backwards. I planned to go see Will as soon as I got out of school, but with each passing second I got more and more nervous.

He had become almost like a brother to me in the past two years, and seeing him like that was killing me. I had always guessed he felt something more for me, but he hadn't really proved it until Peter came along. I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to lose my best friend, but I couldn't do anything about not feeling the same way, or about how I felt for Peter.

Finally, school ended and I hopped on the subway, heading to Will's apartment. I reached his building and ran up the stairs, not bothering to wait for the elevator just to go to the second floor. I took a deep breath before I knocked on the door to his apartment, taken back when Will's dad opened the door.

"Hi Samantha. Have you heard the news?" He looked like he hadn't slept at all last night.

"What news?"

"Will's missing." His voice caught at the end, almost like he was trying not to cry.

"Missing? When did he go missing?"

"He never came home yesterday. People said they saw him leave school, but they didn't know where he went."

"He came to my place after school. We got into a fight and he took off really mad. Do you think he just went to cool off somewhere?"

"I think that was his plan, but someone must have interrupted him. We found his car out near the edge of the city. I think he was visiting the lake we used to go to when he was younger."

"Was there no sign of him in the area?"

Mr. Bouler shook his head. I felt like I was about to burst into tears, but I choked them down, trying to stay strong. All concerns of Peter and how my best friend felt about me vanished from my mind. My only concern was finding him before it was too late.

Author's Note
Here it is! I haven't had much time to edit this so sorry for any mistakes you find! Next part will be up tomorrow. Don't forget to vote and comment!