°°°
ELEANOR DID NOT KNOW how Peter had pulled off an excuse for missing the decathlon. She watched from afar how he discussed with Mr. Harrington, who just nodded in a understanding way.
The rest of the students were just silent, waiting for the yellow bus to arrive to finally head home. After a few minutes, Peter came back towards Eleanor, who hovered behind all of her friends, also in silence. So many feelings had struck her heart: Peter, the familiar feeling of tiny bits of glass on her hair and knees, her desperation for not knowing how to use her powers for good, and so on.
"Hey." He said, stopping her train of thought. "He believed me. Told him it was some bad stomachache. Thanks to the accident, he didn't mind."
Eleanor just looked at him with soft eyes, that started to water slowly.
Peter raised a brow. "You okay, El?"
In response, the girl just placed a finger on her lip, indicating him to be quiet, and hugged him, wrapping her arms around his neck. For a few seconds, he didn't know how to respond, but she then felt his hands around her waist.
"I'm just.. glad you're okay." She said softly. He then felt Peter hug her even tighter, and before the tears could escape from her eyes, she broke the embrace, punching him slightly on the shoulder.
"Ow! What's that for?" He asked, his hand instantly going to the hurting area.
"That's for making me worried sick about you." Eleanor playfully replied, making him laugh.
"I'm sorry, I just have so much to tell you. Want to be seat buddies?"
It was the girl's time to laugh. She nodded, feeling warmth all around her body.
Fifteen minutes after, the bus finally arrived, and everyone climbed up, and sat on their respective seats. Eleanor chose the seat on the back of the bus, so no one could hear what Peter and her would be talking about. At the middle of the hallway, she saw Peter talking to Liz, happily. He nodded as she sat on a shared seat closest to the window. Peter smiled, and approached Eleanor, as she moved her backpack to make space for Peter.
"Hey, uh." Peter started, scratching the back of his head. "Liz invited me to sit with her, so-"
"Oh." Eleanor said, looking down at her fingers.
"A-are you okay with it?" Peter asked, and Eleanor didn't look up. "I promise I'll make it up to you when we get back."
The girl kept playing with her fingers, then she took a long breath, and smiled at Peter. "I'm okay. Go on."
"Great! Thanks, El. You're an awesome best friend." He responded, and walked down the bus's hallway, sitting next to Liz.
Eleanor watched from afar in silence, until she felt two people sit on her left, and then on her right.
"We.. kinda saw that." Ned started, as Eleanor's eyes were still glued on Peter and Liz. They seemed to have fun, they kept laughing and laughing.
"You okay?" MJ asked, and the other girl felt she was looking directly at her.
"It's fine." Eleanor finally spoke. She saw how Liz touched Peter's arm, before placing her head on his shoulder.
Suddenly, a knot appeared on Eleanor's throat, and she felt someone's arm go around her shoulders.
"I know how much it must hurt." Michelle started. "You've liked him for a while, been there when he most needed it, just for him to be with someone else."
Ned then looked at MJ, squinting his eyes, mouthing a 'Really?'. In response, MJ just shrugged her shoulders, and whispered, "I don't know how to cheer people up."
"It's fine." Eleanor said, still glancing at Peter and Liz. "He's happy, and that's what matters the most, isn't it?"
Both of her friends at her sides stayed quiet. They didn't know what to reply, so they all mimicked her actions. Eleanor's expectations of an exciting, loud, and fun trip back home were now too high.
°°°
It was the next day, and Eleanor had found herself arriving to school without Peter. After a long night of crying her heart out with her mother (the elevator event and the Peter thing was just too much for her), she wanted to be alone for a while. So, she took her time walking to school. To her surprise, she arrived early, just to catch MidTown High's news broadcast playing on a TV.
"This past weekend, Midtown's Academic Decathlon team defeated the country's best to win the national championship. Later that day, they also defeated death." A guy Eleanor hadn't met yet talked on the screen.
"Explosion. Sally scream. Flash scream. Everybody screamin'." Abraham then appeared, along with exaggerated camera movements.
"There were purple lasers and smoke everywhere, It was just like a Bon Jovi concert." Charles said, then it changed to a frame focusing on Mr. Harrington.
"As you know, we made it out alive, and that's the important thing. I couldn't bear to lose a student on a school trip. Not again." Then the camera man zoomed into the teacher's face, making Eleanor chuckle.
"Thankfully, no one was seriously injured, thanks to the Spider-Man." The guy continued, and with Liz's friend, Betty sitting next to him.
"Thank you, Spider-Man." They said at the same time, before the guy continued talking. "Up next: The Spider-Man mania is sweeping the school. How can you show your spider spirit?"
Eleanor was about to continue walking towards her classroom, when a comment from the same guy caught her attention.
"It's weird though, Betty. We haven't seen Rogue for a while. I can't be the only one who expected to see her at Washington, am I?" He asked, receiving no response, making the environment way more awkward than it already was.
"Yeah," a guy in front of Eleanor started. "That electric chick hasn't been anywhere lately."
"Maybe it was just a one time thing." His friend replied, and they walked off.
Eleanor seemed to have forgotten the bundle of feelings she had been carrying on her chest with that.
People were counting on me. She thought. And I'm just here sitting on my ass? I've got to do something.
She was about to walk to her class when she collided into someone's chest.
"H-hey, El." The other person said as Eleanor took a step back and apologized.
"H-hi, Peter."
"Why haven't you been responding to my texts? Is everything okay?" He questioned, and was about to grab Eleanor's hand when she moved it to move the hair strands on her face behind her ear.
"I'm fine." She said quickly. "So, have you got an update on the flying-machine guy?"
"Yeah." He started, and they moved near the lockers. "The guy is stealing from Damage Control-"
"That's what he makes his weapons with!" Eleanor interrupted with her whispering, before blushing. "Sorry, continue."
Peter just laughed in response. "So, now that we know that, all we've got to do is catch him."
"Alright. I'm in." Eleanor smiled, and they both started walking. "We're leaving now?"
"Yeah," Peter responded, as they kept strolling. "I don't think anyone will notice-"
"Page, Parker." The principal stopped them in their tracks. "My office."
°°°
Eleanor rested her chin on her arms as the standard Captain America detention video played in the TV in front of her. This was her first time ever in detention, and she thought it was way more fun than this. The only people inside the room were MJ, Peter, the teacher, another kid and her, but she knew MJ just went for the fun of it.
"We should leave." Peter whispered to Eleanor.
In response, the girl took her bag, and simply strutted out of the room, with Peter following shortly after.
"Wow, that was a change." He said to her as they scurried down the hallway.
"What do you mean?" Eleanor asked, looking both ways as they exited the school.
"You always seem to think your actions through. You took charge back there."
By that time, they were already walking through the football field.
Eleanor knew deep inside she wanted to change that: no more holding back, no more thinking things way too much.
"I guess it was time I got off my ass."
Peter just laughed, and said: "Hold on, I need to get something."
The teenager then approached one of the lockers, and only using one hand, lifted them all up, and a box with stuff that seemed to belong to him appeared.
"What the hell, Pete? How long has that been there?" Eleanor asked, amused.
"Way too long."
°°°
"May?" Peter asked, as he peeked through his door. The girl beside him looked both ways on the hallway, making sure no one was around. "She's not here, come on." He said, pulling Eleanor from her arm.
Both teens walked into Peter's bedroom, and as they did, Peter immediately said: "Sorry about the mess."
Eleanor chuckled, as she sat down on his bed. "It's okay. So, what are we gonna do?"
"I can remember a bit of the bad guy's license plate, but just a bit. We're going to need Karen's help." He said, placing his Spider-Man mask on.
Eleanor raised a brow. "Karen? Is that like, your Friday?"
"Yeah, yeah, basically. Hey, Karen. What's up?" He spoke, and Eleanor grabbed her phone as Peter talked to the artificial intelligence.
A text from her mother made her eyes widen.
Mom: I just saw a girl that looks exactly like you on the lobby as I left!
The girl tried to play it cool as she typed a response. She also needed an excuse for not being able to reply to her mom for a while.
Eleanor: That's weird, haha
Eleanor: Hey, I'm going to help MJ with some school work she has some trouble with after school.
As Peter kept speaking to Karen, Eleanor waited for her mother's reply, which arrived shortly after.
Mom: Okay, just stay safe! 😘
Eleanor smiled, and locked her phone, turning her attention back to Peter, who had just taken off his mask.
"So." Eleanor started. "What's the plan?"
"There's this guy, Aaron Davis. He was the guy who tried to buy the weapons from the vulture guy. We just got to pay him a visit."
"So, that means.."
"Suit up."
°°°
a/n: sorry for the late update! I hope u all like it!
Please, leave some comments, let me know what you think!
-a.