A Cup of Hot Chocolate

Prologue

3 Years Ago...

"Come on, Gwen, get your act together," I muttered quietly to myself as I nearly tripped on the edge of the sidewalk. Picking up my feet and checking my brand new pair of heels for any signs of scrapes and scratches, I let out a sigh of relief when none could be found. It wasn't everyday your parents got you shoes and a brand new outfit that were worth more than their grocery bill, and I had three growing brothers with endless pits for stomachs.

I was already on edge after giving the most clichéd speech on child abuse, because I felt for sure that I had failed completely. It wasn't that I was exactly bad at giving speeches, but the teacher had fallen asleep halfway through it. This, of course, ended with me awkwardly walking over to her desk and gently shaking her awake before finishing the rest of my torturous research topic.

My cheeks burned red in embarrassment as I recalled what had happened less than thirty minutes ago. Luckily it was done and over with now, and I could begin enjoying my life once more instead of dreading standing in front of the class, feeling like a complete idiot.

So as I hurriedly made my way towards my first goal to enjoying life, I took in the sights and sounds of New York City, basking in the bright sunlight and endless chattering citizens. I loved living in the city because there was always something fun to do, like getting a cup of hot chocolate after failing an awful speech.

Adjusting the strap of my black purse on my shoulder, I popped my head into the cafe, savoring the warm smell of freshly baked pastries and other desserts. If I had more than five dollars, I would have gotten almost one of everything. Although it was a small cafe that had about three marble two seater tables to sit at, Beny's Delice was extremely popular in the summertime. Besides, most customers sat on the polished benches outside. That way they could enjoy the scenery of Central Park across the street.

After ordering a small cup of French hot chocolate, I ventured outside and had just closed the door when my clumsiness decided to kick in once more. The end of my right heel caught on the edge of the doorway and I awkwardly lunged forward to save myself and the hot chocolate, but accidentally rammed straight into a guy.

"Ah! I-I'm so sor-" I began to apologize, but I went silent as I could only watch in horror as my cup of hot chocolate flew from my hand and into the air towards the guy's face. In less than a second he flinched backward, avoiding getting hit straight on, and reached out to snatch the once deadly flying beverage. However, it still didn't stop us both from falling to the ground as our momentum caught up with us.

I winced as the concrete dug into my left knee and on the bottom of my palms, it felt like a thousand paper cuts had been sliced into each wound. Yet the stinging sensation was hardly enough to keep my attention for long, because I had somehow ended up landing between the legs of the guy I had run into.

I expected him to be yelling, or moving to get away from this horribly awkward situation, but instead my jaw dropped slightly as he handed me my cup of hot chocolate with a slight smile gracing his lips. "I do believe this is yours?"

Blinking dumbly at his words, not registering their meaning and focusing only on his slight British accent and warm chocolate brown eyes. From this close up, he looked like he was in his early teens, which was close to my age. His lanky body rose and fell due to his heavy breathing from under me, and to my further embarrassment my face began to turn a rosy pink. Yet my favorite feature on him was his wild, mess of hair.

When I remained unresponsive after a few seconds, his face took upon a look of concern as he reached out to gently shake my shoulder. "Um, are you okay? I mean you didn't get hurt right? I'm so sorry, here let me just..." Setting down the cup of hot chocolate on the sidewalk, the stranger's gaze left mine for merely a second which was just enough time for me to regain my wits again.

"No, don't worry about it. I'm fine," I stammered, trying to reassure the guy that I was alright. "I've just been really clumsy today. It's my fault that this happened. Here let me give a hand." Gently pushing myself up, wincing as I irritated the fresh wounds on my body before I reached down and helped the stranger up.

"Oh, thanks," he said before taking my hand and lightly jumping to his feet.

Feeling my face reddening as I took the still steaming cup of cocoa from his hands, I couldn't think of anything past a simple apology, but I lamely tried to anyways. "I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going. Is there someway I can make this up to you?"

"N-no, no, don't worry about it! It's my fault."

I laughed lightly as he tried to blame himself for my horrible crime, and stared down at my awful high heels that had started this whole mess. "Okay fine, it's neither of our faults. It's these stupid heels. I swear that I'm never going to wear anything except my Converse Shoes and boots for the rest of my life."

Rubbing the back of his neck in a nervous sort of way, the stranger studied me closely before quietly saying. "My name's Peter Parker, what's yours?"

"Gwen Stacy, I go to the Midtown High School. I was there earlier giving a speech, so that's why I'm so dressed up." She stopped to motion towards her outfit before looking back and asking with a curious expression. "Have you heard of it?"

Recognition at the name of the high school clearly showed on his face as he replied with. "Yeah, I go there actually."

"Really. I've never seen you around before?" I questioned him as he reached for his worn out skateboard that had landed a few feet away from where they landed on the concrete. Flinging it over his shoulder, he held onto the end of it with it's wheels facing upward toward the sky. He stretched his legs a bit as if to test out the extent of his injuries before he cleared his throat and gave an explanation.

"I'm just not one of those people that stick out of a crowd, I guess." Frowning, he seemed to become lost in thought over something.

Instantly I found myself wanting to protest. How could a guy like Peter not stick out of a crowd? Every part about him seemed unique from what I could see, including his lack of reaction to almost having a hot beverage spilled in his face. If it wasn't for his quick reflexes, then he would have been in agony. In fact, he seemed more concerned about me than his own personal safety.

After about twenty seconds of awkward silence, he appeared to have snapped out of whatever meditative state he was in. Nervously he ran a hand through his ruffled hair, and gave a noise of distress that I probably wouldn't have heard if I hadn't been focused so intently on him.

"Do you-?" His voice drifted into silence before he cleared his throat and tried again, making a few hand gestures as he spoke. "Would you like to do something, or maybe, I don't know go somewhere?"

Lifting an eyebrow, I smiled enthusiastically and replied with, "Sure, either one sounds nice." I wrapped a hand around strap of my purse, and struggled not to laugh at the obvious surprise decorating Peter's face.

We stood there in silence watching one another on a busy street in Manhattan, waiting for someone to break the silence until finally Peter gave her an apologetic look. "Except I'm busy right now with a biology project. I always forget something"

"Yeah, I'm busy too this week too, so next week?"

"Next week sounds great," Peter agreed, as he placed his skateboard down and placed a steady foot on it. "I have to go now or I'll miss the subway, so do you want me to just meet you by your locker tomorrow?"

"It's locker one hundred and forty." I began reaching to open my purse for a piece of paper and a pen. "Do you need me to write it down, so you won't forget."

He shook his head back and forth and with an grin he told her confidently. "Trust me, I won't forget, Gwen."

My look of concern was the last image he saw of me before he rode off into the mess of people, disappearing from my view faster than I would have thought possible. It must have been fate that allowed us to meet up in such an unlikely place, because he was right about one thing: Peter Parker definitely didn't stick out of a crowd when he didn't want to.

Taking my first sip of warm cocoa, my body shivered in delight at the sweet and bitter taste as I headed back towards my apartment in the opposite direction that Peter had gone.

Maybe my clumsiness wasn't such a bad thing after all, I thought before I did a quick recount of all the major events that had happened in the past hour. A terrible speech, run in with a possible future boyfriend, and I got the most delicious cup of hot chocolate to have ever been devoured. I had to admit that today had been rather productive and exciting to say the least.

A/N: Well this actually started out as my college English Narrative essay and ended up being a fanfiction, and I'm not sure if I'm going to continue it or just leave it as a one-shot so let me know what you think.