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

twenty: thank you, MJ

I nearly spit the coke out everywhere and start coughing as it goes down my throat, laughing in between the coughing. MJ looks at me like I'm crazy as I start dying of laughter.

"What?" She asks.

"Nothing," I chuckle, regaining self control quickly.

"Why's that so funny? I mean, to be honest, that's kind of hot. Imagine dating someone you don't even know. Plus, the Spider-Man's arms are super muscular, I imagine he's like, really hot."

"Okay, dating someone you don't even know sounds like the opposite of hot. That's so...creepy. Plus, what if the Spider-Woman turns out to be, like, forty?" Why did I just use myself for that example?

"Nah. Her boobs are too small. I think she's like, our age." She says. I start dying of laughter right then and there, and I basically end up cackling. Leave it to MJ to be as blunt as that. And, I mean, sadly, it's true.

"Why is this so funny to you?" She asks.

"I don't really know," I lie as we cross the street and enter the park. The trees are still green, but they're fading slightly, and some are a yellow color, and I spot a few orange leaves, even. During fall, Central Park becomes absolutely stunning.

"Okay..." She says with a grin. We find ourselves an area of grass to sit on while we do homework, and I slide my binder out of my backpack and begin to work on history homework as MJ lies back and stares up at the trees.

Time passes and we say nothing, and I look over, thinking that MJ had fallen asleep, but instead she was just quietly reading her book, like usual. "Don't you have homework?" I ask.

"Yes."

I don't reply, I just simply smile and continue taking notes on a stupid chapter, switching between colored pens to make my notes prettier. I switch positions so that I'm laying on my stomach, and the grass feels cold underneath me, but in a good way. After awhile I hear a little girl dying of laughter, and I look up, seeing her and what seems to be her father playing in the distance. My eyes linger for awhile as I see the man bend down and pick the little girl up, spinning her in the air. The girl's long, blonde hair always out behind her in the wind, and the man laughs, a large smile on his face.

"What's wrong?" MJ asks, looking at me with slight concern. I didn't even realize it, but small tears were sliding down my cheeks. There's large lump in my my throat, and I just shake my head and wipe my cheeks quickly.

"Nothing."

"That's a lie."

I sigh and drop my pencil in the middle of the textbook, watching it roll and land in the middle crease of the book. A slightly stronger breeze had picked up, turning a few of the pages. If I spoke again, my voice would crack and I would basically start weeping.

"It's your dad." MJ states. I looked over at her, noticing that she too was looking at the little girl and her father. It suddenly dawns on me that I had been close with MJ for almost five years now, and I never knew what happened to her own father. He was never there, and she never spoke about him.

"Can I ask you something?" I ask, my voice wavering.

"Sure."

"What happened to your dad?"

It's silent, and I look over at her. She's closed her book and returned to staring up at the trees. Her hands rest on her stomach, and she closes her eyes.

"He left when I was eight." She finally says. She's calm, she doesn't look bothered, she looks rather peaceful laying there with her eyes closed. "Mom never talks about him. I just remember one night after school, he never showed up for dinner. Or the night after that. Or the night after that, and so on. At first, my mom had told me that he'd come back. But he never did."

I feel absolutely horrible, I seriously can't believe I didn't know that. "God, MJ, I'm so sorry I never asked. I just thought it was a sensitive subject and I didn't wanna make you upset. I'm sorry."

"It is a sensitive subject. And it's okay. I'm kind of glad you asked. I haven't talked about him with anyone...ever."

"Really?"

"Yeah." She answers. "It feels kind of nice to finally talk about."

"How did your mom react?" I ask slowly, staring down across, my eyes locking on the little girl and her father again.

"She was pissed and heartbroken at the same time. After that, we kind of grew apart, actually. She became so stressed and she was always at work, which I understand, I'm sure it's not easy to single handedly raise a child...a girl, for that matter. I don't know, I think deep down, under all the anger towards him after, she really was just heartbroken." MJ responds.

"Were you close with your dad?"

"Very. He often took me out to dinner after school on Fridays. He would let me get ice cream, and we would talk about school and sports and books. I loved him, a lot. I still do. We were so close." She says quietly.

"My dad and I were close, too." I murmur.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Every night, after gymnastics, he would drive me home and it would take forever because of the traffic. He would always show me his favorite songs growing up, and we'd completely jam out."

"Is that why you only listen to old music?" She asks.

"Yeah." I reply softly.

"That's cool." She replies. "I'm so sorry, Mads. I honestly completely understand in a way."

"Yeah. You do." I murmur.

"It must be so hard, too, unlike me, you've grown up with him. He was always there. And now, he's just...not." She says softly. The lump begins to form in my throat again.

"Thank you, MJ." I say quietly.

"For what?"

"For being here." I reply. My voice cracks.

~~~

Author's Note
lmao i'm literally publishing this at school wHOOPS, but anyways i'm planning to update this book every friday now!! i hope you enjoyed the chapter and thank you so much for reading, have a wonderful day!!