Rollercoaster - Peter Parker

25. Happy Birthday

In early April, just days before Caden's birthday, it was a day of silence for Peter's friend group. It was the annual Day of Silence for the LGBT community which Midtown had begun to participate since the previous year. Peter had quickly volunteered to sit at the Spectrum GSA table during his lunch period.

He was mainly hoping to avoid Caden because he couldn't bring himself to look at him for more than a second. He screwed up badly, he knew that. But, he was also angry at himself for not explaining himself quicker. For not immediately texting or calling Caden trying to explain how even though he was completely in the wrong, he wanted to protect his boyfriend and avoid Caden figuring everything out in that way.

Peter was texting Ned underneath the table he was sitting at in between the two cafeterias. It wasn't the most polite thing to be doing as he sat with stickers, a half a bag of lollipops, and a poster signed by dozens of students in front of him. The lunch period was at its point where everyone was too busy eating to walk around.

Come over to sign the poster and get a lollipop, Peter typed, tapping his foot anxiously underneath the table. He added quickly, Make sure he doesn't follow you please.

What is he now? My stalker? Ned joked, sending a million shrugging emojis Peter's way.

C'mon... MJ already signed at the beginning of lunch and didn't stay long. Just get over here and vow to be silent!

Being single has really made you snippy.

Snip, snip. Peter followed that up with a scissors emoji before putting his phone back into his hoodie pocket.

While joking about it over text was easy, Peter frowned at Ned's message. He hated being single, especially when things ended so horribly. He doubt Caden liked it either when everything went down so close to his birthday. That is if he even bothered to spend a fraction of a second thinking about Peter without wanting to light him on fire or whatever tactic he's use to get the boy permanently out of his life.

Even if powers essentially got him into a breakup in the first place, he'd beg anyone to let him have the power to time travel. That way he'd be able to not be a horrible boyfriend and person in general. That way they'd still be together.

When Peter looked up to see Jackie. Reese, and Caden following Ned, his jaw hardened. Ned sent Peter an apologetic glance, mouthing a 'Sorry' Peter's way as he signed the poster, grabbing a sticker and lollipop before heading back towards the cafeteria.

"What exactly does this day represent, Peter?" Jackie politely asked, approaching the table with Reese.

Caden hung back behind the two, his eyes focused on the stack of stickers. He didn't look at Peter which was expected, but Peter couldn't help but sadly watch him for a few seconds.

Reese cleared his throat, causing both Peter and Caden to look to him. The two boys caught each other's glance for a quick moment before Caden looked down at his feet.

"Sorry," Peter mumbled, his cheeks flushing as he handed Jackie three stickers to pass around to the group. "Well, this day is essentially a day of silence for the LGBT community. It's where school communities take a vow of silence to highlight how LGBT members have been silenced and erased from societies in the past whether in school or otherwise. It really brings awareness to the bullying, harassment, and other negativity that LGBT people face."

The three nodded their heads almost in unison. Jackie gave her friends the stickers and Peter quickly tapped the poster to draw their attention to it. "You can also sign to take the vow of silence. And, you can even take a lollipop after you sign. That's mainly why everyone's signing anyways."