Rollercoaster - Peter Parker

15. Decathlon Members Assemble!

The rest of their break from school passed by in a blur. Caden and his family had headed to their extended family's house upstate. Jackie and MJ hung out with the older girl's 10 year old brother, Jaden, who was very excited to meet Michelle. And, Reese was surrounded by family all break long, so Ned and Peter spent most of the time going to each other's house and just hanging out.

New Year's passed by just as quickly, the holiday meaning only a day or two left of break which made all of the teens roll their eyes into the backs of their heads. However, the whole friend group did meet up at Ned's house, his parents and May chatting in the living room as they watched the countdown to January. The kids flew past them, slamming the door as they raced into Ned's room to watch the ball drop in Times Square.

The rest of Manhattan cheered with them as they all wished each other a Happy New Year, blowing their party horns and tapping their hands on every piece of furniture in Ned's room as a drumroll of sorts.

Caden and Peter blushed, watching couples - sometimes, even strangers - make out on the television screen. The two shared a glance, Peter leaning his head on Caden's shoulder, smiling as he felt a quick kiss press onto the top of his head.

MJ and Jackie shared a peck, smiling at each other widely. Then, they both turned to their friends to hug them, ringing in the New Year. Well, Jackie did most of the hugging.

Before they knew it, they were all back to the daily routine of Midtown. Their classes separated by loud, ringing bells; their days spread out on a half sheet of paper that was memorized halfway through the first day of school all the way back in September.

With tired faces all around, they joined each other at lunch. Peter curled up underneath Caden's arm, not as much for warmth as it was that he could just do things like that - no reasons needed. Besides, Tabitha had a different lunch period.

"God, will the snow ever stop?" MJ groaned, watching the snowflakes fall down to the ground rapidly.

Reese snorted, shaking his head despite her facing the opposite direction. "Doesn't look like it."

He was mostly right. It had been snowing - or, at least, they'd noticed it had been snowing - from fourth period onward, after someone had yelled  "Snow!" and pointed towards the window as if they all didn't live in New York. All they knew was that it wasn't snowing when they all walked into the school, heads hung over their school books from the moment they stepped into a classroom. It didn't matter much to them since it happened too late in the school day, about an hour after they would've been able to get an early release.

MJ's whipped her head around, turning to face Caden, waving a finger at the boy. "Take good care of my sweater, Giant," she paused, eyes flickering to Jackie to see her pout. She had no difficulty adopting her girlfriend's nickname for Caden, and mentally noting that he was wearing the gift she gave him, she just had to use it. "Don't get subway filth on it after school, and don't let May or Peter near it when they're holding something messy. That entire family is super clumsy. No offense."

"Mhm," Peter hummed a response, shooting MJ a clearly offended look. She shrugged in response, raising her eyebrows as if to say Don't even try to defend yourself.

"I promise not to," Caden commented with a small laugh.

Ned glanced over at his best friend who was wrapped completely in Caden's arms, firmly tucked into the older boy's side. "Seems like Peter likes it more than you do."

"It's really soft," Peter defended himself with red cheeks, sinking further into the warm, pink material.

"Mhm, we all know Caden looks good in pink," Jackie said, shooting a quick wink at the couple with a smirk.