Narrative: Peter Parker and Michelle Jones were definitely NOT in love with one another. And Denial is just a river in Africa.
A/N: This is really just a long winded enemies-to-lovers trope introspection, because I might have a bit of an obsession.
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"For the love of Thor, would you just screw him already and end us of this misery?!" Elizabeth "Betty" Brant whined in annoyance to the girl beside her as they were in the library, practicing their flashcards. The others surrounding her: Ned Leeds, Liz Allan, and Cindy Moon, snickered hysterically at her suggestion. However, said-girl she addressed, Michelle Jones, glared at her, causing Betty to further tease Michelle with a sly smirk and raised brow.
Unable to muster a defensible reply to her earlier actions and against Betty's goading, Michelle huffed in silence, continuing on with her work and ignoring more commentary from the others. However, she only did so after sending one final, fierce glare towards Peter Parker—who'd been the cause for her onslaught of ridicule prior to.
As one can see, it is a truth universally acknowledged, or at least it was in the minds of the students attending Midtown High, that Michelle Jones and Peter Parker were not exactly on friendly terms with one another. In fact, there was no greater and (in most of the student body's view—even to some gossipmonger staff members) more entertaining, pair of enemies residing in the walls of the building.
No one knows exactly how their rivalry had emerged. Perhaps, it had occurred during freshman year when Peter, along with his rowdy, ragtag gang of prepubescent teenage friends, had started a food fight inside the cafeteria, and their first unfortunate victim had been none other than the new girl, Michelle. Or it could have transpired during their study hall in the same year when Michelle, who'd been a library assistant at the time, knocked over a top shelf of books right on top of Peter's head. Whether it had been accidental or on purpose, no one would ever know, nor question it. But the news had spread around fast through out the relatively small school that Michelle Jones had the guts to play with the fire that was Peter Parker.
And the whole school knew of the growing, and slightly dangerous tension between them as they both ran against one another for the title of captain on the Academic Decathlon team: a club the school held as their pride and joy seeing how successful it'd been every year. The tension only just expanded when it'd been announced that they'd work together as co-captains because the vote from the team and Mr. Harrington was a tie, therefore inconclusive. Or in Michelle's very "optimistic" judgement, indecisive.
Some figured that their rivalry would last a life time. While others had said that it would blow over after high school or once the two would "get their shit together and realize they were meant to be." Curtesy of Ned Leeds and Harry Osborn and their hopeless romantic ideals. Though most had perceived the relationship between the two to be on the spectrum of borderline annoying and entertaining, others, especially the close friends of both Peter and Michelle, viewed their dynamic to be the foundation for a great friendship or maybe even more.
Yet, it was nobody but the two that could truly determine the fate of the nature of their relationship. And had anyone asked either of them, Peter and Michelle would say for certain that they were definitely NOT in love with one another. There was no possible way for that to ever occur in their eyes.
Michelle, who'd been the first to scoff the notion to be preposterous when her friends had brought it up, couldn't see how she and Peter would ever get past associates on a level of cordial relationships. She didn't see him as an affable and agreeable person from the moment they met, nor could she say she was magnanimous enough to be able to speak of him in such a way. Her abhorrence towards him and his actions would voluntarily blind her of the chance for something greater to blossom between them.
To Michelle, Peter was vile, rumbustious, supercilious, and overall incorrigible. A goober and a half like the insult her mother would always offer. Peter would perpetually step on her toes or go beyond her boundary of sensible. He'd perform countless of pranks or stunts that would manage to or eventually pull her along; such as the tarantula he brought in that she'd accidentally bared witness to then had to cover him for lest she got in trouble by association. Then, he would constantly banter with her in any conversation they'd engage in, and oppose all her decisions and question any of her authority. Which would lead into yet another argument for the day. And taxing what little strength she had not to bury him six-feet under.
He was provocative not only in a physical sense, but an emotional one too. Although she often found him an unruly vagabond, she couldn't resist the erratic beating of her heart that he'd stir whenever her eyes would lock with his as he or she would act in defiance against the other. Or when he neared her proximity so close that she could feel the heat of his body mingling with her own. Or when he sent her a smile either of mischief or one purely genuine. So... the line between love and loathing was deeply obscured and nearly mistakable that it'd cause an inward battle to arise and leave the latter to be champion, thus resulting in unbearable emotions. But it was also Michelle's pertinacious mind and will that objected the possibility of anything amorous. She'd despise Peter Parker and that was her resolve.
Whereas said teen, who'd sat directly across from the girl just a few tables over and involved in a similar conversation with his friends about her, had the exact same mentality. Peter Parker despised everything about Michelle Jones. To him, she was far too aloof, sedate, judicious, and so studious that it was more pretentious than impressive. A shrew if he'd ever seen one. He thought of her as exceedingly pompous, and when he'd voice the thought, it prompted her to aver that it wasn't due to her grandiloquence, but more his lacking knowledge of the English lexicon. Which would irk him even further. And when he'd offer a solution or suggestion to her issues or her verdicts, she'd launch into a row with him rather than take his words into consideration. She had a stick so far up her ass, in his opinion, that captain star-spangled's righteousness could hardly compare.
And that same stubbornness of hers was the cause of his own inability to settle an accord with her. Associates was the very thing they could agree on, mentally, in the instance of their ties to one another.
But what lied within his feelings of resentment and opposition, also brought about a sense of ambivalence. Sure, she was the object of his sufferance, but she was equally that of his affections. She was the only one that could fill him with a different kind of joy by the way her lips curved into a smile after every quip they'd cast in their discussions. Or by the way she'd challenge him which would propel his mind towards more hard work so he can prove himself to her. Or by how fixated she'd get on her own work as a captain or a student, or on the book in her hands. He was also besotted with her looks amongst her indescribable personality. She was tempting in every way, from the features of her face to the curves of her body that he would unknowingly but shamelessly scan over, and she didn't even know it. Or maybe she just didn't care enough to. But he did, and he often found himself trying to halt the urge to pull her close and cut off both the enmity they try so hard to uphold and the tension that went through the roof. It was these mixed feelings that often had him vexed and elicit him to act in loathing towards her as to suppress the other type of emotions.
Both teens, in the author's and audience's opinion, were just too stupidly obstinate to admit their actual feelings.
Yet sometimes, in the quiet setting without leering eyes, they would display more than dislike towards one another. Like underneath the tables they would be situated behind for AcaDec competitions, where Peter would grab hold Michelle's hand as to coax her relax because her anxiety would often get the better of her. Or like when the team left the two alone and it'd lead them into serious and friendlier conversations. Sometimes they'd be about what occurred through their days or their lives, and other times it'd be the hardships they've endured and prevailed. But most times, it was about things they discovered about each other that no one else had knowledge to.
And sometimes, they'd hold moments beyond gazes, through acts of kindness or just by circumstance, where nothing else in the world mattered. Like the time they'd gathered with their friends to Harry's house and participated in a game of truth or dare. Peter and Michelle were coincidentally (not) selected for a game of seven minutes in heaven. They both reluctantly stood up and walked to the closet arranged for them. For the first few minutes they were standing in an awkward silence than speaking with rancor, wanting nothing more than for the game to conclude. Yet, when their eyes found each other like it habitually would, their emotions would kindle once more. It was if their bodies moved on its own, but they were standing closely with barely a foot of space. Their breaths and hearts matching pace, and their eyes entranced like a spell was casted upon them.
In the next few seconds that transpired, they were inching closer and closer until their lips finally met. Then, all tension finally combusted as the kiss, rather than a gentle flame full of fireworks like the stories Michelle's read, was passionate and chaotic. They were clawing at each other with need and want. Hungry for the taste and the contact of their lips. But something in them was telling them to pull apart, quickly breaking their moment. Michelle hand instantly went to her lips, wondering what she'd just done. While Peter was just staring with widened eyes, disbelief over what had just happened. The sound of an alarm from the opposite end of the door broke them from their shock.
Without thinking, they were fixing themselves up making sure there was no trace of the disheveled mess their actions left. When the door finally opened, with a see of matching grins eying the pair, they quickly made their escape making sure not to touch each other. They avoided each other for the rest of the night and the rest of the week, for that matter. But every time they were met in compromising positions, their minds would dangerously refer back to that moment. And the many similar to it.
So yeah, maybe Michelle Jones and Peter Parker didn't actually hate each other as much as they thought they did. As much as anyone believed they did. And maybe it was actually just a facade. A misconception in a world full of them so they could battle in a war of false hatred rather than duel with confrontation. But in truth, Michelle and Peter were perfectly fine with that. Because then they would continue to be stranded in each other's company rather than be faced with the possibility of losing the other. And maybe someday, they would finally get the chance to reveal the truth of their emotions and would no longer hide in fear of them; but for now, they would continue to be head over heels in denial.