A/N: Hey everyone! I decided to continue the story and I hope you enjoy the roller coaster you are going to ride in. ;) Thanks for the reviews, alerts, favorites, etc!


Clarity

Chapter 2

If there's one thing I hate about lunch, it's the constant and loud noise. Sometimes I can't stand the rowdy freshmen that is the only other grade we seniors are with due to our schedule. Immature, insolent, crazy hooligans who—

I collided into a girl as I uttered out an 'oof'. Her lunch, which was a slice of pizza and soda spilled all over her blue, expensive-looking cashmere sweater. I gaped like a fish without water, my orbs practically falling out of my eye sockets. Suddenly, the cafeteria got deathly silent; every pair of eyes on us. Sure, now the room gets quiet!

"Watch were you're going," scolded the blonde, her blue eyes narrowing furiously me. That was when I remembered her. She was in my English class. Gwen Stacy—the pretty and intelligent girl whose father, a police chief, died a few months ago.

She sighed and placed her lunch tray on a nearby table - as I did also - and she then looked at her sweater with a sad expression. "This was brand new."

"I-I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking and—"

"It's okay," she said softly, dismissing the thought with a wave of her hand. She seemed to have calmed down, her anger subsiding. At that moment, I instantly relaxed and felt my shoulders release some of its tension. Gwen gave me a small smile before taking something out of her purse. She waved it with her hand and laughed softly. I chuckled also as I saw what it was: a stain remover.

"Never leave home without it," she joked. Unlike me, she was way much neater and cleaner than I was. If she ever saw my room—the clothes and shoes trashed on the ground; my bed comforters all over the place except the bed; the piles of paper scattered everywhere; she would have a heart attack. You could call me messy, but I prefer lazy.

"I'm really sorry though." I averted from her gaze, feeling ashamed of my clumsiness. "I could buy you a new sweater if you'd like. Although it won't be as pretty as the first one." To be honest, I wasn't the richest nor poor. My family had been stuck right in the middle; the middle class. Though things have been rough since the incident...

No, I can't think about that. Not now. I bit the inside of my cheek until I felt the metallic, bitter taste of blood. Gwen didn't seem to notice my distress, which was a relief. Instead she replied to my offer.

"That won't be necessary. It's okay, the stain will go away. You're Alex, right?"

I nodded and smiled at her as she squinted her eyes and looked at me once again, recognition flickering her face. "Yeah, I think we are in the same English class. Aren't you the late bird?"

The silence around me subsided as it began its usual loudness and shouts. I smirked and chuckled at her question; I was infamously known for coming late to my classes. "Yes. It's just one of the services I provide."

Gwen laughed softly. "Although I would love to spend more time with you, I have to go to the bathroom and remove this." She pointed at the orange-brownish blob at the middle of her clothing and shook her head. "This stain is driving me crazy. See you later?"

"Sure. Good luck with bob the blob." She grinned at my remark and left. Gwen wasn't so bad; in fact, she was really nice.

"Hey," said someone quietly, interrupting my train of thoughts. I turned around and saw a tall boy fiddling with his vintage camera, avoiding my gaze.

"Hey Pete," I greeted and I furrowed my brows in confusion. His shoulders were very tense and when he met my eyes, he looked like he was in an awkward position. "Um, Parker...you okay?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." His warm chocolate eyes told me otherwise as he continued to stutter his words. "Was that, were you, um." A nervous laugh. "Were you talking to Gwen?"

I nodded and looked at him warily. "Yeah, why do you ask?" I drawled cautiously.

"No reason," he replied quickly and stiffly. I felt more suspicion gnawing on me but I didn't press him any longer. Shaking my head, as if to drop the strange topic, I grabbed my lunch tray and ushered him to the table I usually ate. Already there was Joshua, who was alone and nibbling on his sandwich; listening to music. I sat across from him as Peter was to the right of me. When Joshua saw us (well, mostly Peter), his orbs widened while he took off his earbuds. He then wiped his mouth with a napkin and pointed his index finger at Parker's chest. "You."

Pete rose a questioning eyebrow in response. "Me?"

"Yes you!" Joshua then glanced at me and winked; a knowing smile on his face. "You are the first boy she's brought here in months. And you're pretty good-looking." My best friend wiggled his brows at Peter. My cheeks were burning a bright red and I groaned before facepalming.

I saw that Peter was in an uncomfortable position as he fiddled with his camera, a puzzled look on his face. "Well, um, thank you?"

I guffawed at this before playfully punching Joshua's arm. "This here is Peter. He's my partner and he's gonna help me with a project."

"Yeah, but he's still a boy," said a familiar voice and I whipped my head to the left to see my other two friends. Arielle sat down with a lunch tray in her hands as her boyfriend, Ryan, joined her but still had a protective arm snaking her waist.

"Fancy meeting you," I replied dryly yet a smile was curling onto my lips.

Arielle nodded and returned with a toothy grin before looking at Peter. "Hey, I'm Arielle, the gay is Joshua,"—Joshua smacked her head angrily—"and the straight guy is Ryan. My boyfriend."

"I can see that," said Peter as he chuckled.

Ryan glanced at me, trying his best not to smile and keep a composed look. But his blue eyes danced with mirth and mischievousness. I suppressed a groan; preparing for what he was about to say. "Is this Peter dude your boyfriend?"

I took a small bite of my pizza before rolling my eyes. They sure love torturing me, don't they?

"Fuck you, Ryan," I grumbled while I exchanged an apologetic and embarrassed glance with Peter. You shouldn't tease a grizzly, but I just did. Ryan was a six feet four wrestling guy with bulging muscles, short cropped blonde hair, and blue eyes that can turn you to stone in seconds. Never get into bad terms with Ryan or else you'll be sorry you ever did. The reason why he was even here was because he was dating Arielle, which has only been a month.

Ryan first blinked owlishly at me, still dazed at what I said. Then he narrowed his eyes at me, sending daggers, yet I froze instead of running. Arielle glanced between us and sighed ruefully. Joshua's mouth was a foot open, trying to speak but no words came out.

I closed my eyes, and sighed, waiting to be knocked out cold. But nothing came. I opened my eyes slowly. Instead of punching me right in the face, the grizzly's shoulders began shaking and he erupted into boisterous laughs. We all stared at him with surprised looks, Peter seeming the most shocked.

"Ha, fuck me?" cracked up Ryan, a single tear of joy rolling down his cheek. I don't know what was so amusing about my comment, but it was better than getting punched in the jaw. Cautiously, I joined in Ryan's laughter so he wouldn't feel left out. Joshua and Arielle did also yet Peter stood there; gazing at us with a curious expression.

Ryan swiftly planted a kiss on Arielle's cheek which were now flushing a baby pink. "Your friends are the best."

Arielle tucked her shiny and long raven hair behind her ears, smiling at us. "Who said they weren't?"

~o~0~o~

"Peter!" I whispered harshly at him, my eyes narrowed angrily. He only looked at me with a sheepish grin. "You said we would work at lunch!"

We were at the school library, planning on working here due to its serene and peaceful atmosphere. The librarian, Ms. Miller, didn't mind but now she looked at us now and then to see why we were bickering. If Peter and I can't find a 'solution', we won't have any place to do our project at all. I caught Ms. Miller peeking at us again, and sighed. Taking Peter's long and big hand, I half-dragged him behind the ebony bookshelves so we would be more hidden.

I turned around and folded my arms. "Why don't you want to work here?"

Peter cast a glance to the right and I followed it. At least even feet away from us was a blonde girl reading a book; seeming oblivious to our fighting. My eyes widened at who the girl was.

Gwen.

I saw Peter wave a hand right in front of my face. It was Gwen. The reason why we can't do our project is because of a super sweet, neat bookworm. I shook my head.

"Seriously?" I asked incredulously when I gazed at him with a flabbergasted expression. "What is with you and her?"

He didn't need to say anything. It was his brown eyes that spoke a million words. They were filled with regret, sorrow, remorse. Pain. If I knew any better, Peter was in a relationship with this girl. And he really liked her.

But sometimes, love hurts. A lot.

"You're going to prevent working on our project for some girl?"

Peter sent me an annoyed and irritated look. "She's more than some girl. Gwen's different than all of them. You included."

I shrugged and pretended not to be fazed by his last words although they did sting a bit. I sucked in a deep breath before sighing heavily. I've had two boyfriends in my seventeen years of life, but they were jerks. So I didn't mind if I bumped into them, and the feeling was mutual. I didn't go crazy and try to hid from them. But Peter and Gwen really had something, so it's presumable that he would care.

Suddenly, Gwen looked up from her novel and saw me; saw him. Her kind smile faded while her face fell. Their eyes locked and it turned into a dangerous stare down, I in the middle of it. I noticed that her shoulders tensed up as Peter tensed also; both of them a frightened stray cat ready to attack at any moment.

Gwen broke off from the staring and cleared her throat. As if nothing happened, she began reading her book again. But I heeded that her eyes weren't moving like they did when you read something. She probably had the same mutual feelings as Peter did for her.

"Peter," I said softly. The boy looked at me with an angry expression, his kind eyes now steely and cold as they darted to me. My gaze never wavered and he sighed frustratedly before running a hand through his disheveled hair. "I-I'm sorry. It's just that—"

"No need to explain," I interrupted quietly. His orbs were pleading, begging, me for us to go somewhere else. I bit my lip and thought for a moment, mulling it over. If the roles were switched, would he do the same for me? Would he even care?

And would I risk my AP chem grade just so this boy I barely knew can be happy?

Realization dawned on me; yes, I would. I stole a glance at Gwen to see her 'reading' the darn book. She caught me staring and I shook my head miserably. A small frown tugged my lips and I left the library with Peter right behind. I looked at the clock. Five minutes left.

Taking out a blue-inked pen and a small piece of paper from my notebook, I hastily scribbled my address and phone number before giving it to Peter. I received a confused look from him and I laughed at the expression. "That's where my apartment is. After I finish track, you can come over and we can work our project there. I promise that you won't see Gwen there. Though you will see my annoying brother."

We both laughed and he sent me a grateful and genuine smile. "Thanks Alex. See you at five?"

"Let's just hope we won't run into anymore ex-girlfriends," I joked as I playfully patted his shoulder. He laughed nervously and nodded.

"ALEX!" someone yelled and I tore away from the conversation with Peter to see Joshua with a pile of textbooks in one hand and waving at me with the other. Arielle and Ryan were right behind him, looking curiously at Peter and I. The once empty hallways of the high school were getting crowded, a sea of people forming.

I snorted at Joshua's over dramatic happiness but was elated to see him again. Biding a goodbye to Parker, I rushed to my classes.

~o~0~o~

"WINSTON, USE THOSE LEGS!"

I sighed at the screaming of my track coach. Sweat dripped down my forehead and I took in a deep breath before running faster. My legs felt like rubber but I didn't care; I love this sport.

The bitter freezing wind stung my rosy cheeks and I glanced to the left to see Arielle running beside me. She winked as she ran past me, her black ponytail bobbing up and down.

Oh no she didn't, I thought. Using every ounce of concentration, I slightly leaned in and forced my legs to glide more to run faster. Soon, I found myself right next to Arielle. Just a few more meters...

A dark-skinned girl passed Arielle and me as she crossed the finish line. I ended up second as Arielle was third.

Our track coach, Mrs. Peterson, a petite woman, crossed her arms. "Tomorrow I expect better! Good job Jones! Winston, what happened today? Practice tomorrow at regular time! Work those legs!" Mrs. Peterson wasn't a person of many words, especially when she was angry, so she huffed and left us.

I grabbed my bag and wore my black sweater. Using a towel, I wiped the sweat off my face and then guzzled my water. I caught a glimpse of Arielle who looked at me with her head tilted slightly. "What's up Ari?"

Her imploring green eyes seemed to bore into my soul, trying to search answers from my stoic expression. "You okay? That wasn't you running today."

I put my water bottle away and shrugged. "Tired. That's all."

She looked at me in a peculiar way but didn't press any longer. That was a characteristic that I loved about her; she didn't force you to spill every single detail. A simple answer was good enough for her. "Maybe you can relax by going to Starbucks? Ryan's gonna pick me up to head there in an hour."

I shook my head. "Can't, sorry. I gotta work with Peter for the project."

"I thought you were working during lunch?" she asked, confusion etched on her face. Her nimble fingers were running through her waist-length braid.

"Um, there were some...complications. He's supposed to go to my house in an hour or so."

Arielle's lip twitched into a grin. She stopped looking at me and moved her head to look at the bleachers. Then she began laughing rather loudly, which attracted the attention of the other athletes and downright confused me. "What's so funny?"

"I'm guessing Peter was a bit impatient," teased Arielle. I turned around and faced the bleachers to see my science partner sitting all the way in the back; waving at me.

My eyes widened. "Why is he here?"

Arielle stood beside me and planted her arms on her cocked hip. "Why are you asking me? All I know is that he's a cute, awkward nerd. Don't tell that to Ryan." She giggled after I rolled my eyes.

I bit back a sigh. "I'll see what he wants. Maybe I'll go to Starbucks. Text you later?"

Arielle was already walking down to the exit. "You bet!" she shouted back. Taking a deep breath, I walked up the bleachers and approached Peter.

"Hi," he greeted as he stood up from his sitting position. I noticed he had a skateboard sticking out of the backpack he was strapped against.

"I can't believe you actually watched me practice. You following me?" I smirked as the boy blinked and tried coming up with an answer, his cheeks turning a bright red. And he wasn't blushing because of the cold weather.

"Well, I um...didn't watch the whole practice. Came here about five minutes ago since I had some...errands."

The way he said the last word made me a bit suspicious. "Errands?" I repeated.

He avoided my gaze and muttered, "Yeah," which made me even more skeptic.

"Sorry if I sounded nosy or anything," I hastily apologized. "I was just curious."

"Curiosity killed the cat," implied Peter. At first, I thought he was serious but he wore that crooked smile.

Still, those words were stuck to my head like glue. The way he said it only intrigued me more; wanting to discover his mysteries and secrets. He sure was a cryptic person...

I coughed to break the awkward silence that ensued and Peter tried changing the topic. "You're a pretty fast sprinter."

Laughing, I said, "I don't do the 200m or sprint like you call it. I do distance."

"Oh, ok. You're a pretty good distancer,"—I began laughing so hard at this while Peter correct tried correcting himself—"wait, what? I'm lost about this track thing. I'm sorry."

"S'kay," I responded, calming down from my giggles. "I'm a runner. That's all."

Parker only scratched the back of his head as he laughed nervously. He bit his lip and was in some sort of trance as he raised his old camera and positioned it towards me. At first, I was startled but then knew what he was doing. As I smiled brightly, he took the picture.

He looked at me bashfully. I noticed that his eyes said a lot, even though I've known Peter for only a day. I didn't even need to talk to him to know what he was thinking. Though sometimes, he mystified me and I had no idea what he was doing. Like now.

"Sorry if I surprised you with the picture thing. It's just that the lighting and everything is so perfect," he marveled and I tried not to laugh at his photography-savvy personality.

"Everything was perfect besides my hair," I teased as Peter and I started going down the bleachers to head to my house.

Peter gasped dramatically as he waved his arms animatedly. "Oh no! A bad hair day!"

I playfully smacked him with my tote messenger bag. "You're one to talk."

This only made him snort while he rolled his eyes. "My hair is luscious." He took out his skateboard and began riding it as I ran to catch up with him. It was so strange how we could be in an awkward situation and then go from being completely normal. Then again, Peter and I were strange people...

~o~0~o~

I fumbled with the keys as I unlocked the door to the apartment. I saw the sight of our small kitchen and living room. "Mom! Andrew! I'm home~!" I sang as I gestured Peter to enter.

Like I mentioned earlier, my house is rather cramped, filled with millions of furnishing and items all over the place. Kind of like your grandma's or elderly relative's house—this place was owned by my ceased grandparents before us so that explains a huge part of it. The walls of the living room were a light green though you wouldn't be able to see it because of the pictures of my family posted all over it. There was a red loveseat in the middle and right in front of it was the small television. In the left corner of the room there was a tall lamp, some flowers and plants, and a coat hanger right next to the entrance of the house.

I took Peter's green jacket and my black sweater and hung it on the coat hanger. I trotted over to the kitchen and shrugged off my bag on the wooden table. "Mom?" I called.

"Maybe she's at work?" suggested Peter. I nodded before running my fingers through my tangled hair.

"Probably. She works at a factory and doesn't come till nine or ten." I went to our small white refrigerator and found a sticky note.

Dear Alex & Andrew,

Coming home late (as usual) due to work. There's some leftover macaroni from yesterday in the fridge. I will be back soon.

P.S. Alex, tell Andrew to get off that damn Xcube 180 whatever. He needs to do his homework—and you do too!

Love you more!: MOM

I smiled faintly at the note mother left me. As I opened the fridge, I saw the huge bowl of plastic covered macaroni while licking my lips hungrily. I did run a lot...

We have a guest, chided my mind. So I asked Peter if he wanted anything to drink.

Instead of hearing his voice, I heard a squeakier one. "Who the heck is this?" I didn't even have to turn around to know who it is. Sighing, I grabbed two water bottles and closed the fridge only to be inches away from the young boy's face, his hazel eyes locking with mine.

"Andrew," I said in a grave tone. I noticed that there were large communicating headphones covering his ears and a controller in his small hand. He was probably playing with someone on the XBox. Boy, how Andrew was addicted to that game system.

"What?" he questioned, scrunching his nose and making his freckles more evident. "He's like, the only boy you've ever brought."

I scoffed at him and wished that I could cross my arms but I had two plastic bottles in my hands. "Joshua and Ryan come all the time. And you remember Mike."

"Yeah, but you broke up with Mike - who was awesome 'cause he knew what Assassin's Creed was- and Ryan is dating that pretty girl. And we all know that Joshua is secretly a girl." My brother smirked at me as I furiously threw a water bottle at him. "OW! Abusive much?!"

I glanced at Peter, who was stifling a laugh although his shoulders were shaking. I shook my head and glared at Andrew. "Well, this is Peter Parker. He's my science partner and we're working for a project."

Andrew nodded in acknowledgement at Peter as they both exchanged hands. "What's you favorite game?"

Peter blinked as he tried coming up with an answer. "Um, Arkham Asylum?" I sniggered at his 'favorite game' in which I received a half glare from him.

My brother shrugged at this. "Batman is pretty cool. But Spider-Man is the best."

Parker's wore a strange smirk and it broadened as amusement clouded his eyes. "You're a fan of Spider-Man?"

I groaned, unwillingly waiting for the upcoming rush of words that would spill from Andrew's mouth.

"I'm his number 1 fan!" he squealed, sounding far from a man. "I have a phone case of him, have posters of him, have a t-shirt that says 'Spider-Man is the best!' And oh my gosh—"

"Don't you have Spider-Man boxers?" I teased in which my thirteen year old brother turned as red as a tomato. "Wow, surprise, surprise. Joshua isn't the only girl I know."

"Shut up," he muttered as he stalked off to his room. I chuckled softly while Peter erupted into a roar of laughter; he couldn't hold it in anymore.

"You better be doing your homework in there!" I yelled at my brother.

"WHATEVER!" he shouted back and I laughed even more. I loved him so much. Besides mother, he was the only other person I truly cared about. Even though I did love him, I'm going to take that Xbox and throw it out of our five-story window.

I diverted my attention to Peter, who had managed to calm down and was taking out his textbooks. He looked at me before chuckling again. "Sorry if I was rude. It was too funny."

"No need to apologize." I tossed a water bottle to him, though it was a bad throw and far off to where I wanted. Nonetheless, he still grabbed it with ease and I gaped at him, my eyes the size of golfballs.

"Is something wrong?" he inquired rather nervously as he took a sip of his water.

"Y-you just...H-how did you?" I cleared my throat after the stammering and took a seat by the table to begin again. "How the hell did you catch that? That's like, impossible!"

He flashed me a smile before writing something down in his notebook. "Cat-like reflexes."

"Sure," I deadpanned but looked at him curiously. "Then why don't you do sports?"

He shrugged as his eyes flickered mine. "Photography is my preference. So, what about our project? What do you want to do?"

I knew he was changing the subject (yet again) but didn't press on it. Peter was a secretive person, that's all. Besides, I've only known him for a day so I didn't have to know his whole life story.

Referring to his question, I smiled briefly and answered, "How about we do something that has one particle of unobtanium which has a nuclear reaction with the flux capacitor, carry the two, changing its atomic isotope into a radioactive spider?"

Peter looked at me like I had a thousand heads. He squinted his eyes and slightly tilted his head like a confused puppy. "Wait, huh?"

I would've laughed but instead I gasped dramatically. "No! It can't be!"

"Can't be what?" He sounded worried, genuine concern masking his orbs. Maybe I've been playing this joke for too long and should stop. Then again, I was never those type of girls...

"You haven't watched 21 Jump Street?!"

Peter blinked at me before saying, "Oh. That. Isn't that a book or something?"

"Parker!" I scolded but I was giggling inside. "Don't you have any fun in life?" I swore I heard him mutter, "You have no idea," but gently snatched his pen and took a piece of paper from his notebook.

"May I ask what you're doing?"

"Yup," I said, popping the p as I shoved the paper to him.

"100 Top Movies Peter Parker Must See?" he read aloud before snorting.

"And the 100th is 21 Jump Street," I quipped. "And I have the DVD (how do you think I remembered that long line from the movie?) so we can watch it together with the rest of the gang."

"Sure," agreed Peter but sent me a look that reminded me so much of my mother. "But after we do our project."

"Are you sure you don't want to do a project about radioactive spiders?" I smiled at him as his chocolate eyes widened comically.

"No thanks. And we have to to something with atoms." He seemed a bit...edgy after what I said but I shook it off. "Now, how about we do..."

Still, the thought was gnawing on me. What was with his changing behavior, especially with spiders? And his cat-like reflexes? This photographer was very mysterious and had caught my attention. I'll admit, I was curious. But those four words that Peter mentioned earlier still lingered in my mind. Something that would happen to me if I wasn't too careful.

Curiosity killed the cat.


A/N: Sorry if it was long! If you prefer shorter chapters, let me know and I will try to do my best!

Thanks for the reviews, alerts, etc. and please review! If you do review, I'll update faster *wink wink* ;D