"Hey, May, I'm back!"
Peter carefully carried the cake box through the front door, doing his absolute best not to jostle it and ruin the frosting. This time, he had not swung home on webs. Between keeping the cake intact and living out his best New York skyline fantasy, rookie Spider-Man had wisely chosen the cake. Luckily, the bakery was not far from home, so walking back had not been much trouble.
Aunt May was busy in the dining room, where the table had already been set with nice dishes. She looked up and smiled at him.
"So, how was your first day of high school?"
"Great!" Peter set the cake box down on the table. "I met two new friends, the clubs were really interesting, the school has its own TV program, and... anyway, everything was great."
In truth, aside from the two classmates who barely counted as real friends yet, plus the Detective Club, he did not have much of a strong impression of school life at all. When most of your energy went into being your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, high school had a hard time competing.
But obviously, that was not something he could tell May.
"Is today some kind of special occasion?" Peter asked, deliberately changing the subject as he pointed at the cake. "You actually ordered one."
May picked it up and checked it over.
"Oh, nothing too special. It's just my old friend Anna's birthday. She just moved back to New York after spending some time in Pittsburgh, helping take care of her niece after the girl's mother passed away."
Her expression softened as she carried the cake into the kitchen to cut and plate it.
"Ben went to pick them up. They should be here soon."
Peter nodded.
No wonder Aunt May cared so much. A friend helping raise an orphaned girl who had lost someone close... that hit a little too close to home for the Parkers.
He stepped into the kitchen to help. As May arranged things on plates, she added, "Oh, and that girl is a freshman at Midtown too, just like you and Gwen. You might've already met her."
"Uh... I don't really pay much attention to girls," Peter said awkwardly, scratching his head. "Even if I had seen her, I probably wouldn't remember. Not many people are exactly lining up to introduce themselves to me."
"You really are something," May said with a helpless shake of her head. "You've only ever had a handful of friends your whole life. You should try being a little brighter."
"I am bright!" Peter protested immediately. "I made two new friends on the very first day of school, and they already want to come over and build LEGO with me."
"Really?" May's eyes lit up as she set a fresh batch of muffins on the table. "Then you have to tell me ahead of time. I'll need to make dinner for all of you."
"They're definitely going to fall in love with my aunt's muffins..."
Before he could finish, the rumbling engine of Uncle Ben's old car sounded outside.
May took the tray from Peter's hands.
"Would you go greet our guests for me, Peter?"
"No problem!"
Peter headed for the front door. His enhanced hearing had already picked up a set of quick footsteps approaching fast. He opened the door at exactly the right moment, just before the knock came.
The red-haired girl standing outside clearly had not expected the door to swing open so suddenly.
She wore a white T-shirt and light denim shorts, and her long red hair glowed like sunset fire in the evening light. Her hand was still frozen in midair, and the bright smile on her face had not even had time to change.
Then, in the very next second, she recovered completely. Bracing one hand against the doorframe, she gave Peter a playful wink.
"Face it, Tiger," she said, lips curving into a sly smile. "You just hit the jackpot."
Gwen was sprawled over her computer, looking up drum tutorials.
The school rock club had absolutely blown her away earlier that day. Several high school bands had been performing in the gym, and compared to the ballet she had practiced for years, rock had felt wild and free in a way that was impossible not to love.
"Dad's definitely going to call it 'hippie nonsense' or something. He doesn't understand the spirit of rock at all," she muttered as she closed the page.
She was just wondering whether she should bring dinner to her father at the precinct, since he was supposed to be working late, when she heard the front door downstairs open.
Gwen ran down in surprise and found that George had actually come home early. He had already taken off his uniform jacket and draped it over the back of the couch.
So New York had actually been peaceful for once?
Captain George Stacy had actually gotten off work on time?
"Thanks to Spider-Man," George said, spreading his arms as if asking for a hug. "He stopped that bank robbery this morning, and later this afternoon he intercepted a car full of robbers carrying high-tech weapons. He also saved my daughter."
Gwen froze in place, not moving an inch.
"Seriously? A hug?"
George cleared his throat awkwardly.
"What, your dad can't ask for a hug? You got back from London last night and went straight to sleep. This morning, I wasn't even up yet. We've been apart all summer."
Gwen sighed and gave her father a hug.
The mention of Spider-Man immediately reminded her of what had happened that morning.
"So why does the Daily Bugle keep smearing him? He's obviously doing good things. He saved us."
"Who knows," George said, grabbing a beer from the fridge. "Jameson practically bows to the Avengers, but Spider-Man drives him insane. Funny thing is, back when Spider-Man couldn't write messages in webbing yet, he'd leave handwritten notes for the police. At one point I thought the handwriting looked familiar, but later I realized it didn't match anyone I knew."
Familiar handwriting?
Gwen thought of Spider-Man wearing the same sneakers as Peter.
"Could it be Peter?"
"Peter? Peter Parker?" George stared for a second, then burst out laughing. "No way. Sure, they both write like teenage boys, but it's definitely not him. I know Peter's handwriting."
"You could still let me see it. Maybe I'd recognize it as one of your old friends you've forgotten..."
"It's already in evidence storage."
Then George abruptly turned serious.
"Anyway, I was thinking of stopping by the Parkers'. Should I change first?"
Gwen stared at him and pointed at herself.
"Should I maybe ask why?"
"We're going to thank them, Gwen. This morning you were out there in that mess... my God, thank heaven Ben was there and you were okay. We need to thank them properly, don't we?"
"More accurately, Spider-Man saved us."
"Yes, but I can't exactly track down Spider-Man to thank him. And I forgot this afternoon."
So Gwen had no choice but to humor him.
"Fine. I haven't had dinner yet anyway. Maybe I can score one of Aunt May's famous muffins. Just don't dress too formally. We're only going over for dinner."
George gave an exaggerated sigh of longing.
"Oh, May's muffins. I would die for May's muffins."
Talking as they went, the two of them headed over to the Parker house and knocked on the door.
George waited, expecting whoever answered to come after a moment.
But when Ben opened the door, George, who had been about to say something, heard cheerful conversation and laughter coming from farther inside.
"George? Didn't expect you home this early." Uncle Ben warmly clapped the captain on the shoulder. "May was just saying we should've invited Gwen too. Come on in. Plenty of muffins."
"Looks like you've already got company, Ben. Maybe I should..."
"No, no. Nobody ever complained about having one more friend at the table."
The Parkers had guests?
Curious, Gwen followed her father inside, barely paying attention to the exchange of thanks and polite responses between him and Ben. She craned her neck, trying to see who had come over.
Then she froze when she saw the unexpected figure sitting in the dining room.
"Mary Jane Watson?!"
The classmate she had just met that day at the rock club was the Parker family's guest?
Gwen's scalp practically went numb.
They had talked about a lot of things, but the one thing she had absolutely not mentioned was her father's attitude toward her playing rock music. If Mary Jane accidentally brought it up, Gwen was dead.
Compared to that, Peter, who had clearly been getting grilled to death by the effortlessly social Mary Jane, suddenly did not look nearly so miserable anymore.
How was she supposed to signal Mary Jane not to say anything?
"Hey! Gwen!"
Mary Jane's bright greeting made everyone turn at once. Peter took the opportunity to get out of there as fast as possible, quickly shifting out of the seat so Gwen ended up between him and the red-haired girl.
May looked at them in surprise.
"You two already know each other?"
"We're classmates," Mary Jane said with a dazzling smile.
Just like that, the awkwardness transferred from Peter to Gwen. Gwen could only answer with a stiff, "Yeah."
Then Aunt May started complaining about how Peter needed to make more friends.
"This is wonderful," May said happily. "All our friends together, and the kids already know each other too. George, this is Anna, one of my best friends from school. Anna, this is George, our neighbor, a good and upright captain."
George politely greeted Anna in return.
"It's a pleasure meeting all of you, especially Gwen's friends. I'm really glad she's made some good ones..."
Gwen felt like disaster was hanging right over her head. And this was exactly the kind of thing she could not discreetly text about under the table.
In the end, she decided the only way out was to get ahead of it herself.
"We met today at club recrui..."
"Outside the dance club!" Gwen blurted, cutting Mary Jane off before she could finish.
Peter, meanwhile, chose to continue being a silent little bird and focused on cutting up his muffin.
Mary Jane only froze for the briefest fraction of a second before smoothly recovering.
"Right. Exactly. That's where."
The adults, fortunately, did not seem all that interested in the kids' tiny private secrets and just kept chatting.
Leaning closer to Peter, Gwen whispered smugly, "See? I'm better at making friends than you."
"And now you're making your new friend lie for you?"
Gwen's white sneaker came down hard on Peter's foot.
Peter somehow kept a smile on his face, nodded, and let out a long, suffering sigh.
(End of Chapter)
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