Snippets of a Spiders Non-Spidey Life

Textbooks are Expensive and I'm Running Out of Coffee (Part 2)

'Ned'

'Cool.' She was relieved, it wasn't library boy Peter. Why was she relieved at that?

'So how did the mystery library person get you to notice them?'

'He bought me tea.' MJ said, not registering what she was saying.

'Oh my god. What's his name?'

Michelle looked up in surprise at the question with her eyes wide.

'I've got to get to school. Bye Betty.'

Michelle got up and raced out the door before Betty could say anything in return. She hadn't meant to tell Betty any details about Peter. She knew from experience, that once a little bit of information had leaked out, the rest would be forced out of her in ways she hadn't noticed until the details were out in the open for all to see.

Betty was her best friend and had been since freshman year. She was the only one who didn't seem to mind about Michelle's slightly abrasive attitude towards others around her and continued to hang out with her, unlike everyone else who began to ignore her near the start of the year. It wasn't that Michelle was mean to them; she just had built tall barriers around her. It was the way she protected herself from everything going on in her surroundings. She preferred to block everyone out and not get hurt again instead of trying to let them in. She was just very selective on who got to see the actual Michelle Jones. Betty was one of those lucky few.

Making her way onto the college campus and eventually into the room she was in, she put on her headphones. She loved listening to music. Even if she didn't have music playing through her headphones, just having them on was basically a universal sign for 'don't talk to me', something she was grateful for. She didn't really like talking to people she had never met as it made her uncomfortable but the small talk that came with it just bumped it up to the next level of awkwardness.

Walking into the room, she was met with a few fellow students, who were much better at time management than the majority of her class. She was only five minutes late and the professor hadn't even arrived yet so she was doing well. She took her usual seat off to the right hand side of the room, not sat near anyone. A few minutes later, a hoard of students and the professor arrived and the start of the lesson officially began.

Once the lesson had been finished and extra research and studying had been set, the usual journey from the college campus to the secluded warm corner in the library was trekked. It wasn't that long of a journey but the heavy weight of the books and supplies on her back always seemed to weigh her down and make the walk seem at least twice as long as usual.

The familiar and welcoming sight of the library grew closer and closer until the front doors were in MJ's reach. She yanked open the door with a sense of urgency and took the final step to be enclosed in the building. Silently, she made her way over to the corner she had claimed as hers and scanning the bookshelves for the textbook she needed as she went.

Her heartrate began to increase as she looked over where she knew the textbook should be but wasn't. Her eyes flicked backwards and forwards, still spotting no sign of the book. Heading over to her corner in a last ditch attempt to find it, she finally let out the breath she didn't know she was holding.

Sat in her corner was the book and, most importantly, Peter. Wait, no. Sat in her corner was Peter and, most importantly, the book, also known as the only way she was going to pass her class. Peter had sat down in the seat he was in the day before, leaving MJ's usual seat vacant for her to sit in. On the table were two cups of steaming hot drinks, exactly the same as yesterday but instead of a smiley face drawn upon her cup, there was her name written in a neat cursive font.

At that moment, Peter looked up and smiled at her.

'Hey, I got you that tea you liked again. Wasn't sure if you were going to turn up or if you'd hidden somewhere else in the library but the book was still on the shelf so I assumed you just hadn't gotten here yet.' Peter said in an almost whisper, respecting the rules of the library.

'Thanks' MJ whispered almost silently back.

She quietly took her seat next to him and brought out everything she needed for her studying. She brought out equipment after equipment, filling up her side of the table, before she finally pushed her bag off of her lap and onto the floor under the table.

'How are you so organised? I can barely find my alarm clock in the morning despite its insistent beeping.' Peter questioned.

'Sort of just grew up in that sort of environment, guess it just sort of rubbed off on me.' She took a deep breath and turned her pad of paper to the correct page. 'Everything always had its correct place and it had to be there. I suppose it's just ingrained in my mind that everything has to have its own spot.'

'Yeah, my aunt wasn't really like that. She has all these miniature ornaments and trinkets scattered around the place but they all have their own little stories. It probably didn't help with me leaving all my stuff around the place either.' Peter said with a little laugh, getting back to scribbling some important notes down on his paper and Michelle following suit.

Peter let out an annoyed groan, running his pen on the paper over and over again with it leaving no inky trail behind it.

'You good there?' Michelle said with an amused smile.

'My stupid pen ran out and it's the only one I've got on me.' Peter moaned, stabbing his paper with it.

'You only brought one pen and you're calling it stupid?'

'Yes, it knows I desperately need these note so it decided it would just give up on me.' He sighed exaggeratedly, plonking his head on the table.

MJ had to try and conceal her laughter. It wasn't very successful.

'Do you have one I can borrow, if I promise not to destroy it?' he pleaded with his puppy dog eyes.

'Fine. One pen for the idiot coming up.' She said reaching into one of her various pencil cases.

'You know, Michelle, it's not very nice calling people idiots.' He said matter-of-factly.

'Ok. One pen for the loser coming up.' She said in a comical tone, handing Peter one of her pens.

'Thanks.'

A few hours later Peter's phone chimed. Looking down at the phone he shook his head and proceeded to look up apologetically at Michelle.

'Hey, sorry but I've got to go, my roommates have managed to set fire to the oven again and would you believe me if I said I was the most sensible out of all of them and there's four of them?' Peter smiled.

'I'm not sure if I should be more concerned that you said again and are acting like this is a daily occurrence or that you are the most sensible. Anyway, go save your roommates, I'll see you tomorrow if you haven't burnt to a crisp by then.' She replied with a small wave.

'Bye.' He said rushing out the door, trying to wave without dropping everything he was carrying, which made him look more like a t-rex than anything else.

His long forgotten hoodie lay scrunched up on the back of his chair. It looked like Michelle was going to have to hold onto it until she saw him again.