MAGNOLIA ｡PETER PARKER [DISCONTINUED]

11. DOROTHEA TANNING

chapter eleven; dorothea tanning

Maggie inwardly groaned as she saw Ned and Peter awkwardly ambling down the main hall, trying not to appear suspicious. She was seated in the library, having been excused from assembly on account of her hearing aids acting up a little the previous period. Her nose had been stuck in a book as a few other sophomores played chess across the room. It was only when she saw the flash of khaki pass the window did she lower her literature and inch forward curiously. She saw the Death Star patch on Ned's bag, and she got to her feet, grabbed her hearing aid and decided to investigate.

She hadn't seen Peter much since the party, where he had disappeared and left them to figure out socialising on their own. Maggie didn't have a bad time, she enjoyed being with Ned, but it was a bit sad that the brunet boy couldn't have joined them. 

"First, we put the glowy thing into the mass spectrometer," she heard Ned mutter, though his voice didn't really seem to have that setting. 

"We gotta come up with a better name than 'glowy thing'," Peter responded softly, and Maggie quirked her eyes a little as they jumped in front of the library window, as if they'd just seen something. She quirked an eyebrow and walked through the exit, coming face to face with a frightened Peter Parker. "Maggie?"

"What's going on?" She asked, though Peter held his finger up to his lips. Maggie stepped towards them until she was at Ned's side, not having a clue what was going on. She could hear a conversation between two adults around the corner, but she didn't want to raise the volume on her aids seeing as they were low on battery as it was. 

"That's one of the guys that tried to kill me," Peter gasped after taking a quick look. Maggie's eyes widened and she smacked his arm in shock. He looked over at her with wide eyes and shrugged sheepishly, trying not to be affected by her worried stare. 

"We gotta get out of here," Ned exclaimed, and Peter quickly shook his head.

"No, no, no, I gotta follow them," Peter insisted, to which his two friends exchanged an irritated look. "Maybe they can lead me to the guy who dropped me in the lake."

"Someone dropped you in a lake?" Maggie inhaled sharply, crossing her arms over her chest. 

"Yeah, it wasn't good," Peter mumbled distractedly, looking around the corner once more, before moving away so that he could go after the men. Ned tried to grab his arm, but it was swatted away. "I'll be fine, just stay there!"

Ned and Maggie both held in groans at Peter's actions, but before Maggie could question anything, one of the members from the chess club, Tiny, tapped on the window behind them. "What're you doing?"

"Nothing!" Ned said quickly, though it was unclear if he was assuring Tiny or himself. "Yeah, you good?"

 Tiny grinned in response. "Chess."