we all wear masks [ p.p ]

→ iii. late night mission

You decided you were being irrational, unreasonable, dramatic.

So what if MJ knew? Michelle was a mysterious person, and she knew a lot of things, and she could be trusted with any secret. There was no way she would betray his trust and tell you, and you knew that. More so, you knew that that quality MJ had–her loyalty–was what made her one of your best friends, and you were more than happy for her maintain that quality. You didn't want her to jeopardize her integrity simply to feed your own curiosity.

You let it go–and for a while it felt like everything went back to normal.
You let the school days pass dramatically slow, you sat at lunch with Liz and MJ as the three of you talked about the seriousness of climate change and what initiative you could suggest to the school board. Then, at night, your masked hero would show up at your window sill–extended hand inviting you off to a nightly adventure.

The subject of his identity remained untouched–and you preferred it that way. You learned from last time that all your questions and the knowledge you already had was making him uncomfortable, fearful–and the last thing you wanted was to be the source of any distress to him. In all honesty, all you wanted was for him to be safe and happy; so much so, you concluded you didn't even care anymore about who he was and how he knew MJ. All you cared about, at the end of each day, was that Spiderman was safe.

You were glad he had MJ, if you were honest, as you soon learned he talked with her about everything–including his late night adventures with you, but also villains and robberies and school work and everything. Most things he told you too, and you did everything you could to support him. Some things he couldn't share–because he couldn't let you in on too many details, but you knew; from both of them, that MJ was there to support him when you couldn't–and for that, you were grateful.

*

"Ned, can I borrow a yellow marker, please?" You half-whispered to the boy in front of you, shocked at yourself that you forgot all your markers on your desk at home.

"Why don't you ask Peter?!" He nearly yelled, nudging the boy next to him in what everyone could tell was an over-dramatic force.

"Here you go!" Peter let out, nearly stabbing you with a blue marker.

They were acting like complete idiots, and the last thing you wanted from Peter Parker was him being nice to you. It made hating him that much more exhausting.

"I didn't ask you, Parker, I asked Ned," you bit back.

"I-I know but Ned doesn't have one so here you can use mine if you like," he offered again, extending his hand across your table and offering you the blue marker.

"I asked for a yellow one," you said before rolling your eyes and getting back to your textbook. You'd just underline them with a pencil and mark them when you get home.

"I tried, man," Ned mumbled to his friend, but you were too busy underlining to hear it.

You made your way to the cafeteria, happy to finally have time with your friends–who didn't share any morning classes with you–but sad Liz had to take care of yearbook committee business during lunch period. So you gave MJ a slight nudge as you sat down, mirrored smiles as you asked her about her first period history.

"It was good actually, I think I'm going to write my essay about Maya Angelou," she said, voice muffled by her sandwich.

"I thought she was a poet,"

"C'mon, Y/N, you can't be serious. Maya Angelou was a poet sure, but she was and is a civil rights activist and she–"

"Okay, okay. I get it," you apologised, fearing you woke up the beast.