Wendy's second mistake was expecting an easy win.
She thought it'd be about the same as all the other matches. How strong could Peter even be? It turned out just as strong as Wendy. He caught her off-guard and almost took her down within the first few seconds. She gritted her teeth and forced him over to her side. He pushed against her.
Her first mistake had been setting stakes, to begin with. A mistake she didn't realize until she was struggling to slam his hand to the table. She was too overconfident, too cocky. She should've expected Peter to have some kind of trick up his sleeve. Their hands quickly grew clammy as they wrestled for dominance. She decided to try something else.
She stared directly into his eyes. Maybe some intimidation would knock him out of the running. Their gazes locked. There was something in his eyes she'd never seen before. Desperation. It was then she realized that Peter had been entrusted with Spider-Man's identity by either Tony Stark or Spidey himself. It was probably in his contract with Stark Labs. He could get into serious trouble for revealing Spidey's identity. Not to mention there was a reason Spidey hadn't told her his identity yet. Was she betraying him by making this deal with Peter?
But didn't Wendy deserve to know who she was letting into her room every day and kissing for hours on end?
Wendy's third mistake was feeling bad for Peter because, in that moment, he slammed her hand to the table.
The crowd went silent. Everyone knew what that victory meant. It meant Wendy Carter had to kiss the guy she'd hated since middle school. It meant Spider-Man's supposed girlfriend was going to kiss Penis Parker. It meant Wendy Carter lost a bet. No one could think of the words to say. Wendy had never lost a bet.
Until now.
Wendy, with a steady calmness that had sent terror through many's hearts before, rose from her seat and excused herself to the bathroom. Once the door was locked and she was sure no one had followed her, Wendy grabbed fistfuls of her hair and screamed. What had she been thinking? She was so dumb. She wasn't allowed to be dumb. She had to be smarter, faster, better than everyone else. That's what was expected of her.
And she disappointed everyone.
Wendy sat down on the plush carpet and fought the urge to vomit. She'd lost a bet. She never lost bets. There it went, another part of her identity stolen by Peter Parker. This was her own personal hell. She'd been embarrassed in front of all of her friends, the cheer squad, the football team - everyone. She could never show her face in school again. Part of her badass persona had been stripped from her. Would anyone take her seriously?
There was a knock at the door. She startled and wiped the tears from her cheeks. Her makeup was running. She sniffled and stood up. She rinsed her hands off quickly before calling out, "Hello?"
There was a pause and then, "Wendy, it's Peter." He sighed so forcefully she heard it through the door. "I know I'm probably the last person you wanna see right now, but we really need to talk." She bit her bottom lip and debated her options. She could let him in and let him see what a mess she was, or she could tell him to fuck off.
For some inane reason, she let him in.
He slipped inside the bathroom. The second he caught sight of her he surged forward and took her face in his hands. She flinched but didn't move away. He wiped tears from the corners of her eyes with one thumb while the other absent-mindedly stroked her cheek. His touch was warm and so strangely familiar. Their eyes met and he leaned in just the slightest.
The moment shattered and Wendy felt a rush of burning anger. She pulled Peter's hands off her face and scowled. "You know for someone who claims to be so close with Spider-Man you sure are eager to kiss his girlfriend." His face fell.
"I'm sorry," he said softly. "It was just a dumb joke. You don't - You don't - You don't have to do anything you don't want to do."
Wendy rolled her eyes. "We made a bet and I lost. Now I have to pay the price. That's how this shit works."
"Seriously, Wendy, you don't-"
"No!" she interjected. He froze. She leaned in. "You wanted a kiss. I'll give you a kiss." She pulled his face towards her and smashed her lips against his. She expected it to be awkward and clumsy. She expected Peter to not know what he was doing - after all, who'd be willing to kiss him? But for some inexplicable reason, they fell into sync. His hands cupped her face delicately. It was like he knew what she liked. The tip of his tongue swept her bottom lip. Wait-
She gasped and pulled away. Peter looked dazed. Speechless, she pushed past him. She had her hand on the doorknob when he reached out and grabbed her arm so gently she almost didn't feel it. She turned her head, panting slightly, her cheeks flushed.
He licked his lips (the same lips she'd just kissed) and cleared his throat. "Wendy, please, we need to talk."
"I don't have anything to say to you," Wendy mumbled. With that, she rushed out of the bathroom and into the living room. Everyone seemed to have moved on - Liz, genius as always, had asked Flash to DJ and now most everyone was dancing and therefore paying no attention to Wendy. Her friends swarmed her within seconds.
"You okay?" MJ asked, throwing an arm around Wendy's shoulders. Wendy shook her head.
Liz nodded solemnly. "I'll call a car."
Moments later, Wendy and her girl gang excluding Liz were crammed into a sleek black town car. Wendy rested her head on Margot's shoulder and tried to focus on the music seeping through the speakers. When they got to Margot's apartment, her grandma let them in before going to bed. Erin, Angie, and Margot worked on getting out all the ingredients for the cupcakes they'd planned to bake. MJ and Wendy sat at the counter, MJ calling out ingredients while Wendy stared intently at the granite countertop.
"What's up with you?" Erin questioned once the cupcakes had officially been started. "You haven't said a word since we left the party. Did something happen with Peter?"
Angie's head shot up from the bowl of sugar, eggs, and butter. "Did he hurt you?"
"No!" Wendy exclaimed, panic shooting through her. "I - can I rant?"
"Go off, baby girl," MJ encouraged with a wink.
Wendy stood up from her seat and started pacing to expel some nervous energy. She really didn't want to say it out loud. If it was said out loud, it was suddenly far more real. If she kept her mouth shut, it would stay in her head as just some stupid thought.
She took a deep breath. It rushed out of her all at once. "Remember Liz's party that Spider-Man was supposed to come to? Someone roofied my drink and I barely remember any of it and that was one of the reasons I was so pissed at Peter and I really don't want to talk about that, okay? And the basketball party? I only went and drank to get my mind off of Peter."
"You were that mad?" Erin prompted.
Wendy shook her head. "No. I wasn't mad at Peter. I was mad at myself because, and please don't make fun of me for this, I was kind of developing this weird crush on him. And now I'm moving on with Spider-Man but I just kissed Peter at the party-"
"Why?" Angie interrupted.
"I don't know!" Wendy cried out. "I don't know why I kissed him! But I did and as we were kissing I realized that he kisses, tastes, and feels exactly like Spider-Man." The room went silent. Her friends exchanged looks. They were all smart girls. They knew what Wendy was implying.
Margot gasped. "Peter and Spider-Man are lovers?"
Okay, maybe not all of them knew what Wendy was implying.
"No, you useless lesbian," MJ sighed. "She's saying she thinks Peter is Spider-Man. And it would make sense. The Stark internship-"
"The poem," added Erin as she stirred the cupcake batter.
"Why Peter's been so weird lately," Angie said.
Wendy slammed her hands on the counter. "Stop! I don't want to talk about this. I-I don't want to think about this! I can't - I can't handle this right now, okay? I can't deal with this on top of everything else so can we please just leave it alone?"
Her friends dropped the subject, but it plagued Wendy the rest of the night. Deep in her chest, she knew the oh-so-inconvenient truth. But she didn't want to know. So she buried it in the back of her mind and immersed herself in her friends.
Knowing all the while she was only preventing the inevitable.
*
i told y'all you ain't ready