You arrived in Prague and checked-in to your extremely fancy hotel. The walls were covered in expensive antiquities, diamond chandeliers that glittered in the light. As you walked through the large double doors and took in the ambience of the place you knew something was up- as if the tour company upgraded you all to this. You heard your fellow classmates' astonishment of the grandeur of the place and had to stop your eyes falling out of your head when you exaggeratedly rolled your eyes to Flash's claims that he was "home".
You all stood in the lobby in a circle surrounding Mr Harrington and Dell as they recounted your instructions for the evening. You were only half listening, your thoughts caught up with overthinking. You were pondering the sheer absurdness of this 'science' trip when you realised you had been staring blankly at the person across the circle. As your eyes focused and you snapped back to reality, you fixated on Peter's face. He looked just as out of it as you were, (surely also thinking about how quickly this trip had spiraled out of control, but little did you know...).
Once you both realised you had been staring at one another, shy smiles donned your faces. Your eyes were staring intently at one another as you continued to admire each other from across the group. This was the first time you really got to look at him. The way his front piece of hair was slightly out of place, they way the corners of his eyes crinkled when he smiled-
Your admiring was cut short when Peter's face shifted from your view. He turned around sharply and slinked away from the group, brining his vibrating phone to his ear. You sighed slightly as you let your shoulders drop- you hadn't realised how tense you become, but they also drooped out of disappointment as Peter's face was no longer able to be seen by you.
"And you've got your own rooms!" Mr Dell announced. You swung your head around to finally look at your teachers. The class gave exclamations of joy as Mr Dell began to hand out room keys.
You made your way up the staircase, toe to toe with MJ. As you made it to the top of the stairs, she spoke.
"So long roomie," she joked. You let out a laugh as you check the room number of your card and saw that it was the one right in front of you.
"Farewell, don't forget about me," you bantered back as you made your way into your room. As you turned in the doorway you heard Peter's voice.
"MJ," he called out as he lightly jogged up to her, suitcase, backpack and some other black bag he had acquired at some point throughout the trip. You shut the door quickly not wanting to watch. As the trip progressed your childish crush on Peter deepened into fleshed-out feelings. But knowing he still liked MJ hurt, but you couldn't force him to like you.
You set your things up in your room, basking in its opulence. Once everything was in order you decided to have a look around the hotel before you were due to meet the class in the lobby to attend the festival of lights (but what you weren't truly telling yourself was that you hoped to bump into Peter along the way). Your silent, 'non-existent' prayer was answered as you opened your door you saw Peter and MJ walking out of his room. He was now only holding his new black bag. They were talking in hushed whispers. You couldn't hear much as they were so far away, the only words you were able to make out were 'figured out.'
They continued to speak passionately- she looked relatively calm yet he looked at her incredulously. Their hushed voices neared you and their conversation became less private. They hadn't seemed to notice as they continued:
"You can't tell anyone MJ, okay?" Peter urged. She nodded, whilst also slightly rolling her eyes. You quickly spun around as they got closer, pretending to fiddle with your key card to your room as to not draw attention to yourself, and to listen in on what they were saying.
"Duh Parker, I'm not gonna go screaming it out to the world." She countered. What were they talking about? "It's probably the biggest secret we could ever keep."
They had a secret together? You head spun as the new information was absorbed by your brain. You began to think about Peter's plan... the necklace... the Eiffel tower. Had he asked her out? Were they-
They were now only meters from you and you knew that you looked stupid, standing facing your door. Besides, you wanted Peter to notice you were there. So, you spun on your heels and took a step out so that you were in front of you. They looked up in shock, eyeing each other from the side. They made eye contact, both coughed awkwardly before creating distance between them, as if caught doing something they weren't supposed to.
"Hey Y/N" MJ spoke nonchalantly. Her words were lost on you as your eyes were locked on Peter, and his were the same.
"Hi MJ" you mumbled, slightly registering her words, but keeping your eyes trained on the boy in front of you, who was smiling shyly.
"Okay," she dragged, awkwardly rocking on her toes. "Well, I'm gonna go." She said, looking between the two of you but not eliciting much response. "I'm just gonna go hang out with Ned," she said as she started walking backwards away from the two of you, "you know, see if he needs any help with, I don't know, a chair." She stated, emphasising the last word. Peter's face hardened. He whipped around to face her.
"MJ" he warned, pointing his finger at her. She raised her hand is faux surrender as she laughed
"I'm just kidding," she winked up before turning around and continuing up the corridor to Ned's room. Peter turned back around and was met with your confused face. You looked at him expectantly, waiting for an explanation.
"Oh, um," he chuckled, stumbling over his words, "That's just an inside joke of ours." He waved his hand dismissively in front of his face. "Just ignore her." He chortled awkwardly, his lips forming a tight lipped smile as he looked you.
You laughed lightly and smiled. You swayed on the spot, looking down on the ground as the an internal battle raged inside of you. Ask him to hangout with you- No! he's clearly with MJ-
You shook your head as you looked back up to meet his eyes. "Um," you started nervously, worried he wouldn't be listening, nor care, but he looked at you attentively as he waited for you to continue. "I was, uh, wondering if you wanted to hang out before we have to leave?" you scratched the back of your neck anxiously, bottom lip pulled between your teeth.
Peter breathed out as he looked relieved and almost flattered by your invitation. He seemed to search for the right words to say, as he looked nervously at his shuffling feet. As he looked back at you, something over your shoulder caught his attention. You turned to see MJ, head poking out of Ned's room. She raised her eyebrows at him. As you turned back to him you saw his brows pulled together in confusion, as his hands twiddled with the black bag in his fingers. He looked down at in recognition and his eyes widened.
"Oh! Actually, I've got to... I have to go." He finished slowly, he shoulders held in a shrug.
"Oh," was the only word that left your lips. You felt the disappointment pit in your stomach. You continued to stare at his feet as you nodded, "yeah, no, that's totally fine." Your eyes came up to meet his, praying you masked the sadness in them through your weak smile, "Totally fine."
"Okay," he said standing still for a moment before bouncing on the balls of feet and beginning to walk towards the staircase. You turned around to walk back to your room, shoulders drooped as you shamefully retreated.
"Hey Y/N," you heard Peter's voice. You spun around possibly a bit too quickly, eager to hear what he had to say. "I'll talk to you later?" he asked hesitantly.
"Sure Peter," you said, a light smile ghosting on your lips. Before he could see the utter defeat covering your face, you opened your hotel room door and shut it quickly behind you.
*
The walk to the Opera theatre entailed you trailing behind Peter and MJ who had strolled the whole way step-for-step but hadn't spoken at all. Although you had noticed this, the only thing that was relevant was their hands nearly touching each time their arms swung.
Peter looked dashing. He was wearing a blazer and white button up underneath, and you thought he looked incredible. The only thing that struck you as odd was that he was still carrying around that black bag. At this point you had just accepted that no matter Peter did, it was not conventional. MJ was wearing a floral flock that contemplated her complexion perfectly, the colours draped over her thin frame. As you made your way up the stairs to the entrance doors, you became very away of what you were wearing. You didn't think that when Mr Harrington had said to pack "nice clothes" you were actually going to wear them. So, you had packed a measly dress that was nice, but you had many other more flattering ones that you would have loved Peter to see tonight.
It was black and white and flowy. It was short, but long enough for the material to give shape to the lower half of your body. The waist cinched in with a tie, and the top came to a modest V in the middle of your chest.
As you entered the theatre it was practically empty, only a few elderly people slowly waddling to their seats. The class began to move towards the front. As the crowd parted you say Peter and MJ again.
"You look nice MJ," Peter complimented. You felt a sharped pang in your chest as you heard those words fall from his lips.
"Therefore, I have value?" she said sarcastically. She looked at him with a smirk. He laughed nudging her with his shoulder.
"Shut up, MJ," he laughed. She laughed too before moving forward.
"I'll save you a seat," she called over her shoulder. He shook his head as he turned around from her. As he did he collided with your body which has begun to walk forward to avoid listening from their 'flirty' (in your eyes) conversation any longer.
"Sorry," you squeaked. He had instinctively put his hands on your shoulders to steady the both of you. He cleared his throat awkwardly as he held you at arm's length, tentatively patting your shoulder before letting them drop to his sides.
"No, it was my fault really." He looked at you for the first time that night. He took in what you looked like in the dress, the way you had styled your hair and they way you had enhanced your features with your rare application of light make-up. "Wow, Y/N, you look, um... you look really pretty." He said sweetly.
Heat rose in your cheeks. You played the hem of your dress as you smiled sheepishly.
"You think so?" you asked. He looked you up and down again, eye gazing at you and lingering, his tongue peeking out of his lips spreading moisture across them.
"Yeah," he said breathlessly.
"Thank you," you smiled. "You, uh, look nice Peter." You inwardly cringed at your choice of words. Nice. Is that seriously the best-
"Thanks," he said sincerely. You both continued to gawp at each other for a moment- basking in each other, how you each looked smelt, looked, moved.
"Look! Opera glasses!" Betty's shrill voice cut through the tension surround the two of you. You both turned to see Betty and Ned shifting through the selection of glasses.
"Want to go in on a pair?" You asked Peter, gesturing over your shoulder to where Ned and Betty were stood. "You could add them to your glasses collection," you joked. Peter sniggered.
"You mean let's sit next to each other?" He asked fervently.
"Um, yeah, if MJ doesn't mind." You said.
He looked at you quizzically at the mention of MJ's name before stating, "No."
The heartbreaking wave of sadness hit you straight in the chest, you looked down at the ground as you hugged your arms into your body.
"I understand-" you started before Peter interrupted you,
"I didn't mean that," he said, fiddling with his ear, "How about you go ahead and I'll get us some."
"Okay," you smiled at him. You made your way to the class tyring to conceal the grin that was trying to break free on your face. You sat down next to MJ,
"Is it okay if I sit next to Peter," you asked her.
She shrugged, a disinterested look on her face, "Go for it."
You smiled at you settled into your seat. Ned and Betty made their way into your aisle, but you put your hand across the seat next to you, informing them that you were saving it for Peter. Ned nodded in acknowledgement, giving you a kind smile before taking he seat two p from you.
You sat there for a few moments, but as time lapse, you noticed Peter was taking a suspiciously long time. You turned around as the lights dimmed in just enough time to see his silhouette slink out the back of the theatre.
You contemplated your next move, your body shifting in your seat- bringing your hands to hover over the arm rest, then to gripping them, over and over again before-
"Screw it," you whispered before abruptly standing up from your seat and sneakily rushing out of the theatre to find the boy. What the hell was he up to?