I Am Karen - Spider-Man / Peter Parker [1]

Chapter Nineteen - To Be Peter Parker

One evening Maria was stood beside her locker, pulling out the necessary books she needed, unaware of the boy who was making his way towards her. Once she had packed her bag, Maria slowly closed her locker door to reveal Peter nervously rubbing his neck just a few feet away. He was clearly unsure of how to approach Maria or what to say. Maria studied Peter for a moment, she just took the boy in; she hadn't seen him in so long for him to be stood in front of her ... it was like a breath of fresh air. Eventually, he noticed that she had noticed him. Peter gave her a smile before he closed the distance between them meanwhile Maria hiked her backpack up onto her shoulder.

"Hey" Maria said, breaking the silence that had occurred between the two of them. It was one word but it brought a smile to both their faces - it was one word that shattered the silence that had formed for weeks.

"Um ... Ned and I are building a LEGO Death Star, 3000 pieces" Peter started unsure, his eyes flickering to the people around him. The corridor was of course full and as usual more popular girls had heard him and rolled their eyes. Maria glared at them which quickly shut them up before she turned back to face Peter. The boy was wringing his hands together anxiously. "W-would you like to join us? I've h-heard you wanted to build one." Maria had to frown at those words. The only one who knew about her desire to built a LEGO Death Star was Michelle and what was she doing telling Ned and Peter about that? Knowing there was no point dwelling on that fact, Maria smiled brightly at Peter.

"Sure, I would love to." Peter nodded excitedly, pleased at her acceptance, an action that Maria copied. Peter came to her which meant he had to have forgiven her for her harsh words. Maria was glad to believe that there was a chance at saving their friendship that had come to mean so much to her.

~8~

It didn't take long for the end of the day to come around. The boys had decided to build the LEGO at Ned's house. At that moment, Maria, Ned and Peter were sat in Ned's room with the nearly completed LEGO Death Star in the middle of them all. It had taken some time but they had constructed the large model, piece by piece. There was just one final piece: LEGO Emperor. The small LEGO piece even had lightning firing from his hands. Ned was holding the piece with great care. He studied the small figurine before he looked towards Maria and then Peter. Maria knew what was coming. Ned turned to his best friend and offered him the figurine. The honour of placing the last piece. Peter took it with a smile before he clicked the figure into place. The Death Star was fully operational now.

The trio stared at the finished model with sheer relief and awe.  The gigantic model was really cool to view. Suddenly, as was tradition, Ned and Peter began to do their own handshake which Maria still found to be too long. However, she still smiled as she watched them. They were great friends despite everything that had happened to them both over the weeks - after all Ned could have blamed Peter for almost dying but Maria questioned if Ned even had it in him to be mad.

"Why is that so overly complicated?" Maria asked once the boys finished the handshake. Peter only chuckled at her words whilst Ned clambered to his feet.

"Hey, leave our handshake alone" he said with a mocking look of annoyance before he left the room. Maria watched Ned leave before she turned her gaze to Peter who was sat with his arm resting against his propped up knee. He was fiddling on with his fingers whilst a frown was firmly placed on his forehead. The sight caused Maria to frown as well. However, before she could speak Peter beat her to it.

"I'm sorry, Maria."

"For what?" Maria asked, tilting her head in confusion. He hadn't done anything; he hadn't exactly had the opportunity to do something that warranted his apology since they hadn't spoken in weeks.