Peter

Years from now, when and if someone asked him, Peter Parker would be able to tell them the first time he had ever seen Ryland Palmer. She was standing in front of him in the line at New York City Bagels and Coffee. The first thing he noticed about her was the red tint to her dark brown hair. If she sidestepped into the shadows, you couldn't see it. But when the light was shining just right, it was there. He wasn't much taller than her, just tall enough to see over her head.

She was wearing light wash jeans with a worn out Queen shirt loosely tucked into it. Her converse clad foot tapped rhythmically which made him believe she had headphones in that he couldn't see. Her book bag was slung carelessly on her shoulder. She clutched her wallet in one hand. He was captivated by her. Maybe it was the fact that he had come to this coffee shop every morning since the start of the school year, and he had never seen her before now. Or he just thought she was pretty.

"Alright, next." The barista looked the girl up and down appreciatively and grinned. He was tall, his skin tanned as if summer was just yesterday instead of two months ago. Peter looked down at his own scuffed Converse. "Name and order, lovely?"

"Ryland, and a large Americano, please."

"You got it." He winked at her as he wrote her name down. Ryland shifted, her body language stiff. "That'll be $4.57, miss Ryland."

As she was reaching into her change pouch, the coins went everywhere. The girl swore quietly under her breath and crouched down. She glanced up at Peter, who was just staring at her. Her cheeks were rosy. It took him a second to get his wit together but after watching for a few seconds he crouched with her to help her pick up the loose change. She glanced at him again and gave him a grateful grin. Together they stood up and she held her hand out. He cupped his hand below hers before depositing the change into it.

"Thank you, so much." She smiled at him again. A smile that made his heart ache.

"No problem."

She quickly handed the change over to the barista, who wasn't smiling as big now. She took her receipt and walked over to the waiting area. Peter quickly ordered his black coffee, paid, and walked over to where she was standing. Her headphones were back in, but she grinned at him.

"I always have to find a way to embarrass myself. Anywhere I go."

Peter grinned, "It could be worse. It could've been your coffee that spilled onto the floor."

"Don't put that into the universe." She laughed. He chuckled, but they let the conversation die out. Ryland plugged her earbuds back into her ears. The foot tapping started all over again. Her music must have been low enough for her to hear when they called her name. She grabbed the coffee, shot Peter one more grin, and walked out the door.

It wasn't abnormal for him to meet girls who he couldn't find the courage to talk to for more than small talk. He shook his head at himself as he grabbed his own coffee and headed out the door. It was only thirty minutes until the first bell and it was at least a fifteen minute walk to school. He kept looking forward, as if he had crime blinders on. His spidey energy would have to wait until after school.

"Hey, Ned." Peter grabbed the straps of his book bag as he approached his friend. Ned glanced at his friend with an odd expression.

"You seem rather chipper this morning." Ned eyed the coffee in his friends hand. "How many of those have you had?

Peter held this cup only, "Just the one. Why can't I just be happy? The sun is shining, birds are singing…"

Ned was way past listening at this point as he scrolled through his phone. Peter glanced over to see if he could catch a look at what he was looking at. He didn't get the chance when Ned locked his phone and put it in his pocket, his mouth gaped open.

"There she is." He was looking at someone up on the steps of the school. Peter followed his eye line to see Ryland the Americano drinking, coin dropper. She was tossing her cup into the trash can and looking around. She looked desperately lost.

Peter decided to play dumb, "Who?"

"That's the new girl in our grade. I had heard she was transferring here last week, but I thought it was going to end up some lame ass rumor because she never showed."

"I saw her at the coffee shop like ten minutes ago."

"Did you talk to her?"

"I mean kind of." They started going up the stairs. "I helped her pick up the change she dropped and she made joke. We laughed, she left, I left, and here we are."

"Dude, you suck."

Peter whipped his head to look at him, "What? Why?"

"A hot girl gives you the opening to ask for her number, and you totally flush it down the toilet. You need some love in your life."

"You're one to talk. I don't see many girls flocking to get your attention."

"I'm shy. You're a web wielding, latex wearing badass."

Peter looked around, "Please, say that louder."

Ned looked around, too, "Okay, you're a web-!"

Peter shoved him and shook his head. "I'm going to class. I suggest you do the same."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm going." Ned rolled his eyes and walked off in the opposite direction that where Peter was walking. Peter snorted before continuing on to the class he had a feeling he was going to dread, French.

Mr. Dieye stood at the front of the class with a clipboard and paper. He looked up at Peter with expectant eyes. "Bonjour, monsieur Peter. Comment allez-vous?"

"Je vais bien, professeur."

"Supre." Mr. Dieye tilted his head as Peter walked by. Peter looked at the clock and saw that he still had a few minutes to listen to music. He pulled the headphones he had resting around his neck onto his head. Peter let his head fall onto his folded arms.

The chair next to his pulled out and a black Jansport bag was dropped to the floor. A black Converse clad foot came into view his eyes traced up the jeans covered leg, a worn out Queen shirt, and straight into the beautiful haze; eyes of Ryland. She was staring at him with a curious expression.

Her rosebud lips pulled into a smirk, "Are you following me?"

"I uh-…" He grinned. "I got here first, so wouldn't you be following me?"

"Touché." Ryland sat down. "He said this was the last seat open, is that okay?"

"Yeah, sure." Ryland smiled and looked away. She pulled out a notebook and a pen out of her book bag. "So you're obviously new."

"What gave me away?"

"Well it's almost Halloween and school started the first week of September."

"You've got me , I just moved here from Atlanta with my dad." She flipped her notebook open and looked at him, "I know absolutely nothing about New York except they have that parade every year on Thanksgiving."

"The Macy's Thanksgiving Parade?"

"Ugh, yes." She shook her head, "Why can't I ever remember that?"

Peter smiled, "It helps being from here. I've heard Atlanta is pretty cool."

"It's the city known for being progressive for sure, but it's no New York, right?"

"Right."

The final bell rang and Ryland turned to face the front. Peter let his eyes linger on her face for a few more seconds before he also turned to the front. He was hyperaware of her being next to him. He felt excited and nervous. He couldn't focus all of class, and it caught him off guard when the bell rang once again.

"Man I have a lot of catching up to do." Ryland shoved the notebook into her bag. "We were just starting conjugating -er verbs. I have zero clue what imparfait is."

"I'm sure you'll get the hang of it. If not the school offers a lot of tutoring help."

"That makes me feel better. Normally, if we move we-"

"Hello there." A tanned arm swung around Ryland's shoulders. "You must be the new girl. With a face like that and legs like those, I would definitely remember if I'd seen you before."

Ryland looked unsure as she looked down at her legs, "Thanks, I think."

The guy plucked the schedule from her fingers and quickly scanned through it. Ryland felt uneasy as a Grinch like smile curled on his lips. "I have Psychology next, too. Come on, I'll walk you to class."

Ryland looked back at Peter with a helpless look as the guy began leading her away, "I'm Flash Thompson, by the way. Also known as the best thing to walk into your life."

Peter was confused as to what just happened. He heard a dry chuckle from behind him.

"Flash really just stole what could have been the first girl to ever get your number."

Peter turned around to see Michelle sitting behind him. She had her usual know-it-all smirk resting on her face. He pressed his lips into a thin line then turned back around. He swung his bag back over his shoulder and made his way to his next class.

Ned was already tucked into a chair and was scrolling through his phone. Peter slid into the seat beside him and this time was able to look over his shoulder to see what his friend was going through. Ryland's smiling face was staring back at him.

"Are you really stalking her instagram right now?" Peter shook his head.

"She has like three thousand followers." Ned continued scrolling, "Her dad is like a B movie producer. She has pictures from all over."

"They just moved from Atlanta."

Ned raised his brow at Peter, "Who's the stalker now, hm?"

"I'm not a stalker." He rolled his eyes, "She's my new French partner."

The photo he had pulled up was one of Ryland sitting on a tree branch, her brown locks blowing in the wind. She was smiling, or laughing, but Peter could tell that it was fake. The laugh didn't reach her eyes.

"You said she's your new French partner?"

"Yeah."

Ned chuckled, "She's way out of your league."

"Thanks, Ned." Peter plopped into the desk chair. Coach Jones walked into the class and instructed his students to take out last night's homework. The whole time he tried to keep himself focused on the board, yet his mind kept trailing back to the girl who everyone was talking about.

Ryland

Ryland had met plenty of men in her lifetime due to her father's small celebrity. She had been to many movie sets, many wrap parties, and many opening night screenings. She had met B roll movie stars who would tell her all night how they were going to make it big time, they were going to star in the next ground breaking blockbuster. Yet none of them were as snobbish as Flash Thompson. Unlike her French class, the teacher didn't bother putting her into an assigned seating, so Flash had plopped them into two desks next to each other.

"You're a little tall for my liking, but we will make it work. You just can't wear heals."

"What?"

"We already had homecoming, but we have a winter formal after Thanksgiving. I need a date, and what would be better than to walk in with you on my arm?"

Ryland felt her heart rate increase as she tried to find ways to let this guy down. She didn't even know him, yet he was preparing to take her to a dance that was a little over a month away? Ryland forced a smile onto her face.

"I don't dance, I actually avoid it at all costs." Ryland pulled a notebook out of her book bag. "Thank you for the consideration though."

Luckily as Flash processed her words, Miss Cox stood up from her desk. She started to go over what the next chapter would consist of and when the test would be. The teacher went ahead into her notes for the day. Ryland kept her eye on the clock, and right before the bell rang she stuffed her notebook into her bag. She shot up and bolted from the classroom.

"Ryland-" Flash tried to quickly shove his notebook like she had done, but she was taken away with the current of the students walking down the hallway before he could catch her. Ryland glanced behind her to see if he was trying to catch up with her, but her body collided with another. Two cold hands wrapped around her arms and quickly steadied her from falling back.

"Woah." Ryland looked up to find two bright green eyes peering down at her. The guy had a small smirk on his face, and amusement shined in his eyes. "Where you going so fast, Speed racer?"

"Away from someone known for their speed." The guys eyes went from her face, over her shoulder, where his smirk deepened.

"I see Flash Thompson wasted no time in getting his slimy tentacles all over you. Come on, let's get away before he sees you." The guy dropped his hands to his sides then turned so that they were walking side by side. "I'm Harry."

"I'm Ryland."

"It's nice to meet you, Ryland." Harry smiled a charming smile. "You must be new around here. Even though New York might be huge, this school is not., you know who's been here for a while and who hasn't."

"Yeah today is my first day here." Ryland tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, "The people here are… something else."

"Who else have you met?"

"Peter Parker is my partner for French class. We kind of met this morning when I embarrassed myself while getting coffee. He seems nice."

Harry got a strange look on his face before he responded, "Yeah, I used to know Parker pretty well."

"It sounds like there's a story there."

"Nah, not really. We were close when we were younger, but he started to get closed off and secretive."

"That must've been hard." Ryland felt uncomfortable as she didn't know what to say to comfort him or if she should even try to comfort this stranger. Her father moved them around so often that the bond of a best friend never stuck with her. She found friends who she would go shopping with and see movies with, but none of them knew her deepest feelings or secrets. As soon as she moved, she just became a distant memory for them no matter how hard she tried to stay in their lives. There was no place for her once she was gone.

"Friends come and go. No point in sulking about it."

"That's a good attitude to have." Ryland chuckled. She glanced down at the paper in her hand, "Do you have any idea where I can find classroom 112?"

"That's a calculus class."

"Yes, it is." Ryland quirked a brow at him, "Is there something you would like to add to that sentence?"

"Most juniors take algebra two. Calculus is a senior class."

She shrugged her shoulders, "I'm good at math."

"That's a relief." Ryland dropped her book bag in the seat next to Harry's and plopped down. There was a small scuffling noise that drew her attention away from what Harry was saying to the door of the classroom. Peter was squeezed between the door frame and a larger boy. Peter looked over her shoulder at Harry before looking back at her. Their eyes met briefly, but Ryland couldn't help but grin at Peter.

Ryland turned her back to the boys, but Peter's friend led him to the two seats in front of Harry and her. The friend sat in front of Ryland and immediately turned around to look at her. Ryland felt her eyes widen.

"Yes?"

"I follow you on instagram."

Peter looked over at his friend, his face contorted with a mix of confusion and appall. "Dude."

Ryland glanced at Harry, who was also staring at Ned with a look of confusion and mild disgust. She didn't know what to say. It had been since she lived in Atlanta since her last post. She also had so many followers she rarely looked at who followed her, or who even commented/liked her posts.

"Oh, well. That's nice."

"My user is NEDtalks, if you want to follow me back or give me a shout out."

"NEDtalks?"

Ned shrugged a little bit, "You know, like TED talks? But I'm Ned, so NEDtalks."

The bell rang, which saved Ryland from having to respond. Ned turned in his seat and Peter was still looking at Ned with the same expression.

"What?"

Peter rested his forehead against his hand, "I can't believe you, man."

"Good morning, class." A woman with a sleek ponytail dropped a large binder onto the desk at the front of the room. She flipped the binder open. to the first page and briefly glanced over whatever was on the first page. "Shall we begin?"

As hard as she tried to focus, Ryland couldn't. All she could do was stare at the back of Peter Parker's head. Ryland tapped my pencil against the side of the desk as her leg bounced to the same beat. A smooth pale hand reached over and covered the pencil. Ryland looked over to see Harry smirking at her.

"I know, I'm bored too." He whispered a small smirk, "But you're going to drive me crazy with all of that tapping."

Ryland felt some of her tension slip away as she grinned at him, "Sorry."

He tilted his head in a small nod and turned back to face the front of the class. As she was turning to face the front of the class once more, her eye caught Peter's. He had his head turned downward, as if he was trying not to get caught looking at her. Peter quickly looked away and kept his head forward until the bell rang. As soon as the chime echoed through the room, he was on his feet. He glanced at Ned as he waited for him to get up. As soon as he did, they were out the door and lost in the sea of people.

"I can't remember the last time I saw Parker so worked up." Harry stood and slung a strap off his shoulder. "I like it."

Ryland rolled her eyes and stood. "I don't get him worked up. He probably has a lot on his plate right now."

"Don't lose any sleep over Parker. He isn't worth it." Harry looked at her with his deep green eyes. "Come on, Speed Racer. I hear there's french fries in the cafe today."

I haven't posted a story in so long. Would love feedback! Also I'm having issues coming up with a title, so if anyone has some ideas, I am very open to hearing them!