Chapter Text
Michelle can’t count the times she wished she had superpowers. Not that she has world-saving fantasies per say, but she could get behind having a little help in life.
Right now for example, some telepathy would be pretty damn useful. Because she’s been staring at Peter Parker for a full hour, and she cannot for the life of her figure out what he’s thinking.
She sighs. He used to be so easy to read, always talking with Ned about nerd stuff (Tribles or Porgs?), girls (okay, mostly Liz), and which college they would get into (MIT or Stanford?). He’d always shrug it off, say something lame and she’d scoff, sitting all the way over at the end of their lunch table.
This used to be easy.
But now, every time she’s staring at him -observing, really-his face is closed up, his eyes lost in a place she can’t quite reach. He appears to be perpetually worried about something, something bigger than a sixteen year old has any right to be concerned about.
Brooding is definitely not a look she likes on him. That frown is bound to create wrinkles on that big forehead of his, and his smile never quite reaches his eyes anymore. She would deny it if anyone were to ask, but Peter’s smile is probably her favorite thing about him. She’s witnessed it enough times that she could probably draw it from memory by now : The way the corners of his mouth start by lifting up hesitantly, as if unsure they’re even allowed to, only to break into a toothy grin that makes her feel warm inside. She’d kill to get on the receiving end of it, but she’s never been foolish enough to actively try.
She can’t recall the first time she noticed him. He’s always kind of... been there, in the corner of her eye. Like the smell of coffee in your kitchen or the sound of rain drops dripping down your roof. She still remembers when he chipped his tooth in sixth grade after an unfortunate encounter with a tree. She remembers the skinny twelve year old who gave her his own copy of Harry Potter after hers fell into a puddle. She remembers when she went through her growth spurt before any of the girls their grade, the hot tears welling up in her eyes from comments ripping her apart from hair to toe. He’d sit next to her at lunch and say small nothings to distract her until she wouldn’t think about it anymore.
She notices immediately the moment he starts disappearing from her life. It starts out as a couple hours per week, here and there. Then he quits band. Then chess club. And slowly, but surely, it’s as if an invisible hand is cutting his silhouette off of the background, replacing it with an empty chair.
And it sucks. She had heard about the Stark internship, so she’d reasoned with herself that she had no right to be upset about it. They weren’t even friends. So what if she glares at Tony Stark’s picture every time she passes that billboard? What could a forty year old man with delusions of grandeur want with a dorky teenager whose only extra curricular activity implied Lego death stars anyway?
And then, there is Liz. Tall, impossibly nice, smart Liz. He barely answers any of her texts, even when Michelle is staring at her phone with a Bobby Fischer-like intensity, but Liz’ phone unmistakably buzzes seconds after she send him one. She tries not to let it get to her. Really, she does.
After decathlon practice, Liz sometimes complains about how unreliable he is, but she has no idea, has she? MJ thought she could rely on him, always making her feel seen, understood.
No matter how observant she thought she had been, the cold, harsh truth still hits her in the face like a bag of bricks.
Somewhere along the way, Peter had stopped caring about her the way he used to, and started caring about someone else.
Michelle can’t count the times she wished she had superpowers. She just never thought she’d become invisible .
She sulks for a couple weeks, and then comes to the conclusion that all that time free of any Parker-related distractions can only be as good as she makes it to be. So she reads. Even more than she used to. She convinces herself that she doesn’t even need friends anyway. Besides, now that she’s not a part of his narrative anymore, she can be more objective.
Becoming a journalist certainly is a death trap of a career, but to hell if she isn’t going to give it everything she has. If she’s invisible, then she at least wants her voice to matter. She already has a way with words, and starts carrying a notebook with her everywhere. It’s good practice, according to their English teacher. There’s always a story to be told, she’d said.
For someone who hates being in anyone’s direct vicinity, MJ really enjoys figuring people out. But most teenagers at Midtown High don’t really have anything hidden. Their issues are pretty much written on their faces and dreadfully common.
Except for Peter Parker. She doesn’t think much of it at first.
But he comes back. By the end of the year, he’s being active in decathlon again, joins the robotics club, and even attends the school dance. Granted, he breaks Liz’ heart and she barely has time to flip him off before he disappears, but he still came. For her.
Which doesn’t make sense. Why would he leave so soon?
It’s not obsession. She’s just observant.
Just like she notices that when they were at the Washington monument, she wasn’t the only one to sit out the visit. And somehow, a hero well known for his New York bound life appears out of nowhere to help them all.
That alone ticks her. And since she’s so forgettable, she turns it into a strength, pretends she doesn’t hear when they’re whispering loudly about him. Spider-Man . She takes notes in the margins of the books she’s always reading, and pretty soon she has a decent idea of what Peter Parker might be hiding.
She doesn’t harbor much love for Superheroes. A bunch of white guys in costumes attracting more evil than they’re fending off? No thanks.
But Spider-Man is different. She’s seen enough footage of him on Youtube to admit that he really seems to care about the little guy. She scoffs. Show off. He appears to be able to cling to anything, webs allowing him to swing gracefully from building to building.
The new suit is definitely Stark technology, she scribbles down as she skims through a couple more videos. Does that mean he’s an Avenger?
She doesn’t care, she keeps reminding herself. It’s just a story, and it just happens to be him. She would do exactly the same thing if Flash had anything interesting going on.
There is definitely a story to be told there. She just doesn’t know which one yet.
Peter prides himself on being decently smart. He’s always had an easy time at school, teachers love him, but despite having been called a nerd in a variety of tones, he’s still not certain what Michelle means by hers. Sometimes it sounds angry, like spitting venom to his face. That’s usually reserved for days when being Spider-Man clashes with their class schedule. Sometimes it almost sounds like a term of endearment. Almost.
Unlike Liz or Ned, MJ keeps him accountable. He’s bailed on her enough times that he’s gone from feeling anxious about it to straight up accepting he’d go to some sort of special hell for it.
Not that he wouldn’t deserve it. MJ has always kind of been.. there. In the background. They’ve known each other for ages (she’s seen him with braces and zits on his face which is embarrassing enough) to know that her careless and blasé exterior is just for show. Because she cares. She cares a
Lot
. His phone is packed with evidence, texts, voicemails, missed calls. He’s not proud to admit he had only realized that once he had smashed it by accident and had to replace it. She may have considered him a friend at some point. And he certainly could use a friend right now.
Being Spider-Man is amazing. Being Peter Parker, however... It takes him his entire freshman year and several near death experiences to finally begin to appreciate what it means. Nothing prepares him for how much space the suit takes in his life, leaving only Ned and May in it. He loves them both to death, but Ned kind of lives through him and May is more protective than ever now that she’s learned about his secret. After the whole Toomes debacle, he kind of wants to take it easy for a while, and that involves building a life for Peter Parker outside of Spider-Man.
So he tries his best to make amends. Goes to class, participates in clubs again. Pays attention to people. The world didn’t stop moving when he was off patrolling and calling Happy every hour, but it’s still weird to come back to school once summer is over and see the change in people. Michelle is one of them. She’s more relaxed around the decathlon team. She’s also a pretty good captain. It does feel like she’s giving him a harder time than any of the other members of the team but he can take it, and makes sure he’s there for every practice.
Another change is that now that Liz is gone, Ned’s got a new crush. He can’t blame him. Betty Brant is a pretty neat girl, all silky blond hair and a seriousness that you rarely find in a person. So what if Ned signs up for the AV club to spend more time with her? Peter tries to support him any way he can, because that’s what friends do, even if that means spending less time with them. He owes it to Ned. Besides, it’s not like they’re suddenly going to forget about the half built Millennium Falcon in his bedroom.
But just as he wonders when they’ll get a chance to finish it, Ned gets sick for a whole week. He feels terrible about it, since they used to get their flu shot together. Ned really hates needles, but ever since Peter got bit, he hasn’t exactly been in the market for human illnesses. He promises him that he’ll bring some chicken soup but even sweaty and high with fever, Ned deflects his proposal with a jab about how things are going too fast between them.
Which is how he ends up with no one to partner up with on the new chemistry project. He turns around, hoping to find someone to share his work with, and his eyes only meet Flash’s, who in turn winks at him and proceeds to make a rude gesture.
He jumps in his seat when MJ drops a her bag on the table and smirks at him.
‘So, what do you think about partnering up on this, Parker?’
So far her plan is working. Peter’s scribbling down a bunch of notes, checking the tubes in front of them every now and then. He’s so focused on schoolwork that he doesn’t even notice her searching for clues. His backpack is lying on the floor between them, but she can’t exactly crouch down and go through it while he’s sitting here. She sizes him up carefully. His hair is a mess, and as her eyes trails down his frumpy grandpa sweater, she reflects on the videos she was watching earlier. For someone who’s so bad at keeping secrets, he’s done a pretty good job with concealing his figure.
He must feel her staring -observing, really- for too long because he stops writing and turns his head towards
her.
‘Did you just ask me to be your partner on this project so I would do all the work? Cause if you did, good job, it worked.’
He grins at her and just like that she’s thrown into a loop again. She can’t let him affect her. She needs to focus, no matter how stupidly cute his eyes are and how much she likes it when they’re staring at her.
‘Fine. Move your seat, I need to see what you’re writing in there.’
She grabs one of his pencils absentmindedly as she peeks over his notes. For someone so smart he sure has a terrible handwriting, so she gives up on proofreading fast, and instead draws cartoon faces of Peter. One of them says ‘can’t wait to be a doctor to finally have an excuse to write so poorly’ and Peter stifles a laugh.
‘Oh come on, it’s not that bad ! This is a three... or maybe a five?’
MJ slow claps.
‘And this is how our GPA dies. With thunderous applause.’
He stares at her with bewildered eyes.
‘Did you just quote Revenge of the Sith?!’
Oh no. Now she’ll never hear the end of it.
‘Yes, nerd. I’ve seen Star Wars. Even the bad ones.’
‘I thought you said it was “too white to even function” !’
Ah. So he does pay attention sometimes. It’s probably not the right moment to tell him that she watched the movies to see if all the geeky talk between him and Ned actually checked out and wasn’t just code for superhero stuff.
‘It is. But they’re trying to change that so, points for effort.’
His eyes are shining and he fidgets in his seat excitedly. MJ could have sworn he was a puppy in another life, because she can practically see him wagging his tail right now. Gross. With Ned gone all week, this is probably the longest time he’s ever spent without debating about who shot first. Thankfully, the bell rings without giving Peter much time to elaborate on a follow up question.
She grabs his notebook and places the pencil she took from him on her ear. She hopes to find something more interesting in it than their chemistry homework, provided she can decipher it.
‘ I’m going to keep this and take a quick trip to the British Museum to see if the Rosetta stone can help me translate it.’
She doesn’t even turn back when Peter yells.
‘We’re not even done yet !’
‘We can hang out later. Text me when you’re free, loser !’
The sun is setting over Queens when Peter finally decides to text her. He’s not usually this nervous, but he hasn’t been in touch with Michelle that much since he became Spider-Man and he doesn’t want his first text to be a royal fuck up. It doesn’t help that she’s the only other girl he’s ever talked to except Liz. But Liz never stole his pens or notebooks. Liz never challenged him or called him out on his behavior.
MJ is his friend now. Or friendly enough at least. He really appreciates it, but he also feels like he can’t exactly text her the way he texts Ned. Peter silently curses himself. Jokes come naturally to him when he’s wearing the mask, but they’re mostly fueled by adrenaline and anxiety. Being witty in real life isn’t as easy.
He starts typing.
‘Dear MJ, do you think we could meet at your earliest convenience so I could regain custody of my notebook? Sincerely, Peter Parker.’
No. That just sounds... bad. Like he’s being overly serious about work and he recognizes better than anyone that sarcasm doesn’t really read well on a text. Happy has made sure he understood that lesson.
‘Hey MJ, wanna grab a cup of coffee somewhere and work on our presentation?’
This sounds suspiciously like a date. He shakes his head. Hopeless. He stares blankly at his screen for what feels like an eternity. How do you convey to a girl that you’d like to hang out, in a platonic way, but also that you would really, really like to be her friend but in a non creepy way? Is there a song for that? There probably is.
He interrupts his musings when he sees the three little dots appear on his screen. He might not know what to say, but she does.
‘Hey Peter. I just realized that our chemistry assignment is due next week. I managed to transcribe your notes into an intelligible text so all we have to do is clean this up a bit and we’re good.’
He sighs with relief.
‘Do you want to meet somewhere?’
‘You make it sound like you’re about to abduct me in a van.’
‘I don’t even have a driver’s license.’
‘If that’s the only thing that bothers you in that sentence I’m not sure I want us to get together.’
Peter grins.
‘How do you feel about coffee shops?’
‘I don’t really like crowded spaces. The less distractions the better.’
She’s typing again, but he keeps seeing the dots disappear.
‘How about your place?’
He looks around, terrified. He’s never had a girl in here before, and he doesn’t even know if May would allow it. She’s never been bothered by Ned’s presence but Peter has a feeling this could read very differently. He’s still struggling to find an answer when his phone starts ringing. His eyes grow wide. Who uses their phone to call people these days?!
‘Did your brain just explode, Parker?’
He sure hopes heart palpitations and anxiety can’t be heard on the phone.
‘No, it’s just..’
He doesn’t know what to say. So for once, he leads with the truth.
‘I don’t think I’ve ever had a girl over and I don’t... know how to proceed.’
There is a pregnant pause on the other end of the line. That’s it. That’s how he’s going to die. Embarrassed, sweaty and alone.
‘I didn’t know you thought of me as a girl.’
Peter’s mouth gapes open. Of all the things she could have said, this is probably the most surprising one. He retorts immediately.
‘What?! Of course I think of you as a girl !’
He bites his lip, mentally cursing himself.
‘ I mean, oh no, this is bad...’
She chuckles.
‘Peter, you’re fine, I’m a girl, I’m just... glad you think so too.’
There is another silence, but it’s not an uncomfortable one this time. She breaks it after a while.
‘Listen, I don’t want to push your boundaries, but my mom’s renovating right now, so the house is a like, a mess. I figured going to your place would be easier. But we don’t have to.’
He sits right up.
‘No ! You’re right. My place is better. Let’s do this. Saturday afternoon?’
‘Alright.’
She doesn’t say goodbye. She just hangs up.