How'd You Get This Number? // mamaspider

16 - nowhere to go

(oh, honey)

I catch Ned in the hall just after class ends so I don't lose him in the mess of teenagers. "Hey!" I stop him.

MJ catches up, hands looped in her backpack straps. "Sup, losers." She hums, the same familiar strand of hair falling in her face.

Immediately, a little flutter starts in my stomach. It goes away almost instantly, but it leaves me curious. What was that? "Hey, MJ!" I smile at her.

"Peter!" Ned grins, fist bumping me. We'd do the whole handshake, but I'm not really in the mood right now. "Are you doing okay? I mean, after last night and stuff...?" My eyes dart between his face and MJ's. "Don't worry, I told her."

I breathe a sigh of relief. "Thanks."

"No problem, man." He smiles at me kindly.

"So...?" MJ trails, raising her eyebrows at me in expectance.

"I'm okay." I smile back at her. I turn to Ned, "Thank you for letting me stay over."

He waves me off, "Totally, dude. Anyways, my mom's making spaghetti for dinner tonight, so you better get your taste buds ready. I already invited MJ, and you better—"

"Oh—" I interrupt, "I wouldn't want to overstay or anything! You guys have already been so nice to me and I wouldn't want to overdo it."

"Peter, you are in no way overdoing it, dude. You're practically my brother at this point." Ned chuckles, his eyebrows raised in emphasis.

I laugh tiredly in response, looking down for a moment as I think about it. I don't have anywhere else to go, anyways.

Wow. I really don't have anywhere to go...

That fact kind of smacks me in the face. I'm not going back to May. I don't even know if I'm seeing the Avengers anytime soon. I really have no where to live, sleep, eat.

"If you're sure it's okay...?" I raise an eyebrow at him.

"Dude!" He laughs, arms held out wide. "It's great! We can have so many sleepovers and play Rocket League all the time." I smile, amused by my best friend's enthusiasm.

We walk down the hall to the front of the school. "I have the internship today." I sigh.

"You're still going?" MJ questions, tilting her head at me incredulously. "Didn't they, like, completely betray your trust?"

"Well, sure—" I take a deep breath, "But I mean, it's my job, you know? I have an obligation to Mr. Stark." I don't know what I'd do if I let him down. He's, like, the coolest guy ever. You know, besides the fact that he hacked into my phone and listened to my conversations. His cool meter definitely went down for that.

"Respect." MJ hums, then snorts. We all laugh together, exiting the school and wandering into the parking lot.

"Dinner's at 6, guys." Ned calls out as we all part ways. "See you later!"

"See you!" I wave at them, turning to walk down the opposite end of the sidewalk. It takes me at least an entire block of staring at the ground before I realize MJ's been walking beside me the entire time. When I finally do notice her, I practically jump in my skin. My spider sense usually alerts me if someone is close by or possibly dangerous. It must not recognize MJ as a threat...

Hm. Interesting.

"You're really oblivious for a guy with superpowers." She chuckles. I wave my arms around to stop her, eyes watching the many face on the sidewalk who might have heard her. "Oh, no one's gonna care. Plus, for all they know, I was joking."

While MJ's logic may sound insane, she's actually kind of right. I mean, who's gonna be suspicious of two random teenagers walking down the sidewalk who just happen to be talking about superheroes?

"Good point." I laugh, raising my palms in surrender. "What are you doing following me? You don't live this way."

Her smile falls into a frown. "What, you don't want me here?"

I explode into guilt, "NO! No, no, no, no, no—that's not what I meant!" I can already feel the sweat clam up my palms.

MJ erupts into laughter, her smile radiating. "I'm kidding, Parker!" She insists. I take a minute to watch her as she laughs, her one loose curl bouncing around. The way her eyes glimmer a bit when she smiles catches my eye.

I blink out of my daze, laughing with her and scratching the back of my neck nervously. Before I even know it, we're at the tower. "Well, here's your workplace, dude." She looks up at the tower, hands stuffed in her pockets as she squints upwards. "I'll see you tonight."

"What—?" My voice cracks. "OH, yeah! Spaghetti dinner!" I laugh it off, backing up into the doors of the tower. "See you then."

She snorts at me once last time before disappearing in the sea of pedestrians. I flip back around and walk back out of the tower, sighing heavily. "Smooth, Peter. Very smooth." I grumble.

I hustle down the street, a bit nervous. I have something I've got to do before I get to the internship.

____

I bet you can already guess: the winner of the ship contest was SPIDEYCHELLE!

This chapter is so short because I had to separate one chapter into two, so enjoy part two right after this 👀

-crinkle cut fries