The whole day was a mess.
Astrid woke up the day of her first date with Theo with not only nothing to wear since most of her clothes had been taken to wash but with a new cracked phone.
She dropped her phone a handful of times, enough not to worry about getting a crack when she dropped it before getting in the shower.
So, she didn't check it right away but when she finally did pick it up, her entire screen had been scattered.
"Of course!" Astrid groaned, getting dressed in sweats and a tank top before leaving her house in a hurry.
It didn't take long for her to arrive at the Stacy household and for Mrs. Stacy to open the door with a smile, "Astrid. Que bueno verte de nuevo."
"Usted tambien," Astrid replied to her best knowledge, "Um... Gwen esta acqí?"
Gwen's mom made it a rule that Gwen and her friends only spoke to her in Spanish, in an attempt to get not only her daughter speaking more Spanish but her friends who she spent most of her time with to speak the language.
That's why Peter and Ned rarely found themselves visiting her and Astrid and Harry knew more Spanish than they originally did years ago.
"Stop torturing her, darling," Mr. Stacy suddenly said as he appeared beside his wife, "Gwen is upstairs in her room."
"Gracias!" Astrid said in a hurry before rushing upstairs.
She burst into Gwen's room where Gwen looked up from her book, a small smirk on her face since she heard her best friend just moments before, "You know, your Spanish is actually getting really better- for a non-latina at least."
Astrid said nothing but hold her phone out to show her the screen, immediately making Gwen go wide-eyed.
"Woah. Baby finally gave up huh?"
"Today of all days!" Astrid groaned, throwing herself on the bed in frustration.
"It's just a phone," Gwen tried to reassure her, "I'm sure my dad knows someone who could fix this for cheap."
"Someone who could fix it by tonight?"
"No, but... you don't really need your phone. You have Harry."
"It's not only my phone," Astrid sighed as she sat up, "I have absolutely nothing to wear."
Gwen gave her a look, "Your closet's bigger than my room. You can't say you have nothing to wear."
"The maids decided today of all days to do my laundry. She took everything but my sweats and sweatshirts and now I have nothing to wear!"
"Okay," Gwen said slowly as she stood up, "We can fix that. My dresses may be a little booby on you but, it'll work. Guys love boobs!"
"I'm going on a double date with my brother."
"Okay, so chic turtleneck it is."
That's how Astrid found herself later that night rather uncomfortable as she sat next to Theo, across from Harry and Liz.
Not only was she uncomfortable with her clothing, but she was also uncomfortable with the date as a whole.
It felt weird to get to know Theo with Harry staring her down the entire time.
It also didn't help that Liz had picked a particularly loud place for them to go on their date.
"It's rated five stars," she tried to explain when a couple of kids running by knocked over their drinks- straight onto Astrid.
"Oh my god!" she squealed, feeling the liquid seep through Gwen's top.
Theo quickly attempted to help her but Liz already stood up.
"Harry, get the check. Come on Astrid, let's get that off of you."
Astrid reluctantly followed Liz where she quietly cleaned off the shirt to the best of her ability.
By the time she finished and Astrid thanked her, washing her own hands, Liz sighed.
"You're not having a good time, are you?" Liz asked, only getting silence from Astrid, "I swear this isn't Theo's fault! Honestly, don't let this ruin anything between you two."
"It's hard not to," Astrid mumbled, drying her hands, "Isn't the first date supposed to be magical and all?"
"Maybe in the movies," Liz scoffed.
Astrid only nodded but she couldn't help but wonder if her first date with Peter would've been magical.
She didn't get to think much about that or him when she and Liz joined the boys outside the restaurant.
"Where are we headed to next?"
"How about a walk in the park?" Liz quickly suggested, knowing she'd be able to separate herself and Harry from Astrid and Theo if they did this.
Before Harry could even begin to protest, Liz dragged him off with Astrid and Theo following.
"How's your shirt?"
"Gwen's shirt is... surviving," Astrid chuckled a bit, "I'm sorry we had to cut dinner short."
"Don't be," Theo now chuckled, "If anything you saved me from being stared down by your brother for the rest of dinner."
"Sorry about that too," Astrid sighed, "I don't know why he always acts like that, honestly."
"I do. You're his little sister."
"By five minutes!"
"Still younger," Theo gave her a look, "God if my kid sister ever went out on a date, I'd be on that date with them watching their every move."
"See that's the problem with you guys- you need to learn to trust our judgment."
"Hey, it isn't about your judgment. It's just about the fact that to an older brother, no guy will ever be good enough for his sister."
"You've got that right," Astrid scoffed, looking at Harry who turned around yet another time, "At this rate, I'll never get married cause all Harry will do is scare all the guys away."
"Not necessarily... you just need a guy to stand up to Harry- realize that you're way too important to let Harry Osborn scare him away."
Astrid slowly nodded as she stopped, turning to face him, "How about you? You think you're up for it?"
"I think," Theo began, trying to get his words straight, "I think a future with you in it, is a future I'd definitely want."
He's definitely a charmer, Astrid thought as she looked up at him.
"I'm not that special," she chuckled nervously.
Theo shook his head though, "You definitely are though... and I plan on showing you that."
Before one good thing could come out of this date, like her first kiss with Theo, they were interrupted by the excited yelps of a young boy who pointed up at the sky.
"Look mama! It's Spider-man!"
Astrid immediately pulled away from Theo to catch a glimpse of the web-slinger going right past them.
She stared at him in awe as he got further away.
She only snapped out of it when the boy's words registered for the first time, "Wait. Did he just say Spider-man?"
"Um... yeah?"
"That's my name! I totally created that name!" Astrid giggled.
Theo only smiled at her, although he desperately wanted to tell her she probably wasn't the one to come up with that name, he remained silent, deciding he would rather have her happy instead of bursting her bubble.
While the date did not exactly go as planned, he cherished the day no matter what yet he still wasn't sure if she felt the same way.
Meanwhile, Astrid could only think of Spider-man, excited to tell Peter about the short but very important sighting.
Peter.
written: October 4, 2018
posted: January 8, 2019