VIOLET KNIGHT 》 PETER PARKER [1]

jaquie. [1.5]

"Do you think you'll make it to nationals with the team this year?" Cora asked, stuffing her hands in the pockets of her winter coat.

"Yeah, I think so. Flash needs to touch up his physics, though. Abe needs to make sure he doesn't use the bell for comedy during the comp." Michelle said, laughing about the last part, but her face dropped. "I just hope Peter doesn't bail on us again. I was lucky last year."

"It wasn't luck," Cora said, "you knew the answer. Besides, winning Nationals for the team granted you the captain position after Liz left. So, maybe it's a good thing he bailed."

Michelle's face turned up into an expression that was a mix of annoyance and disgust. "Stop being so.. so.."

"So what?"

"Positive." The taller girl sighed, "you're so fucking positive all the time."

Cora gave her a pout, "you say that like it's a bad thing." She said, Michelle, rolling her eyes.

"It is sometimes." She muttered under her breath, but Cora heard it and stopped walking, turning to face her.

"How is it bad?" She asked, crossing her arms and shifting her weight onto one foot. Michelle realized she had heard what she said, and she let out a sigh.

"It doesn't matter what happens. You always try to be positive. You're my best friend, and I love you, Co. But, it seems like you live in a utopia." She said, unintentionally offending Cora and causing her face to drop into a glare.

"Oh! Well, I'm so sorry that I don't see the bad parts of every situation as you do! My apologies for not being a pessimist. I've literally never seen you get excited over anything." Cora told her, her face stiff. She didn't know why Michelle was so angry at her all of a sudden; she had no real reason to be.

"It's not called being negative, it's called being a realist, Coraline." Michelle retorted, using her full name on her. Cora's jaw tensed more if that was even possible.

"Firstly, I've told you to not call me that. Secondly, a realist is someone who sees both negative and positive outcomes and tries to balance them. That is not what you do." Cora snapped, taking a step towards her. "I don't know what the hell I did to get this rise out of you, MJ. Let me know when you cool off."

After that, Cora walked in the opposite direction to the metro station. Was she angry? Maybe a bit. She was more upset than angry. She and Michelle had never fought before, other than jokingly arguing about movies and vines.

Going down the grimy steps into the underground metro, she bought her ticket with the money she was supposed to use at the Cafè and got on without hesitation. It was already past the rush hour, so the train wasn't too crowded.

The ride was long. It was boring. Worst of all, it gave her too much time to think about what happened with Michelle and only let it upset her more. Taking in a deep breath to prevent any tears from flowing, the train came to her stop after an hour and a half. She checked her phone, 5:53 pm on the screen.

Cora walked the rest of the way home in the brisk, cold air with the snow falling into her face. She let out a heavy breath as she felt a tear slip and she quickly wiped it away from her face as she turned onto her street. She hated crying. It made her feel vulnerable and weak, which was what she couldn't be.