Thank you all for the lovely reviews! I'm so glad you guys are excited for this scene/chapter. I had so much fun writing it. Hope you enjoy!

I linger at the edge of the hallway and see a middle-aged man talking to Peter. My heartbeat is so loud, it's pounding in my ears and I can't hear anything they're saying. What am I doing? I should be hurrying off to my next class like a responsible student. I should be staying far away from Peter Parker, who just got into major trouble with the principal. I should not be waiting for a chance to talk to him.

I've calmed down enough to snap out of my little panicking session, and I take another peek at Peter, whose back is to me. I try not to eavesdrop, but I can't help myself. "She looks familiar," the man, who I'm sure is his uncle, murmurs curiously.

Does he mean me? I feel a faint blush on my cheeks. Just then, Peter turns and glances at me. I quickly turn my head, unsure of where to look.

"She's the girl on your computer!" Peter's uncle announces triumphantly.

I look up, a smile quirking on my lips when I see Peter frantically shaking his head. But his uncle glances over to me and says loudly, "He's got you on his computer. I'm his probation officer." Then, patting Peter on the shoulder, he mutters, "Don't forget Aunt May."

Peter laughs and calls out, "Okay." He spins on his heel to face me. He nods and motions at the retreating figure of his uncle. "He's a character. That's my uncle. He's a pathological liar. He thought you were someone else."

I'm practically dying of internal laughter, but I keep a straight face and decide to mess with him. Walking closer, I crinkle my brow and pretend to look hurt. "Oh man, you don't have me on your computer?"

Immediately Peter straightens up and rushes to correct himself. "Well, yeah, I mean, like, I took a photo of the debate team, and you're in the debate team, so…" He gestures. "So he must have seen––I was touching up stuff––" He makes another vague hand motion.

I force a brief grin, suddenly genuinely worried. "Touching up stuff?"

"Come on." He laughs, sort of realizing that I've been giving him a hard time. "I was…I'm not gonna answer that."

For a few wonderful and way too short seconds, we both laugh together. It feels good to laugh. So much of my life has been full of stress lately. But I sober up as I remember exactly why Peter's uncle was here. "Did you get expelled?"

"No, no," he rushes to assure me. "I didn't get expelled. I got community service."

I nod as we fall into silence. Way to cut the conversation short, Gwen. I take a step back, ready to walk away, but he speaks up rapidly.

"Um, so, uh, you want to––I don't know…um?" He bites his lip, at a complete loss for words.

Why are his eyes such a chocolate-y brown? I can't stop staring into them. I should probably look away, but I can't. Darn it, it's like he's hypnotized me! But the thing is, I don't want to look away.

Wait, wait. Question. What was he asking? My mind quickly catches up and processes what he just said. I have to choke back a gasp.

Does he mean what I think he means? Does he mean go out on a date? Ugh, for once, could he just speak plainly and not dance around the question?! "Want to what?" I ask casually, despite the fact that my heart's beating abnormally fast.

"I don't know. Just, uh…" He stares at me. "Um." He scratches his head. "I don't know, we could, uh…or we could do something else, or we could––if you don't feel like, we could––"

"Yeah," I blurt out way too eagerly, though admittedly I have no clue what I'm saying yes to.

"Yeah?" He looks hopeful, in this sweetly boyish way.

"Yeah, either one," I say with a teasing grin.

He grins back at me. "Really?"

"Sure." Do I sound too enthusiastic? Or worse, not excited enough? This is so not fair. I'm a smart, straight-A student. I have an answer for every question in class. I always turn in my homework on time. But I am completely clueless when it comes to boys.

"Okay. All right, good. Sounds good." He's doing that half-grin thingy again.

"Cool." Why can't I form coherent sentences? I try to think of something to say and come up with a total blank.

We both fidget. It's awkward again, but in a good way.

"Okay. I can't right now, I can't right now," Peter says quickly.

"Yeah, no," I interject with a fake laugh. We're both kind of talking over each other now. What does he mean, not right now? Is that a good sign or a bad sign?

"I'm so busy right now."

"I know, me too, ugh." I laugh again. Since when did I turn into one of those girls who never stops giggling? It's like when I was constantly smiling before, only worse.

I give a half-wave, stepping away. Better leave now before I make my crush on him any more totally obvious. But hey, he. likes. me. back. Right? Kind of? He must, if he's sort of kind of maybe asking me on a date. Or am I reading way too much into this? This is torture. How do all the other girls in school deal with boy problems like this without going mad?

All these thoughts whirl through my head in the tiny second as I start walking off, but he calls after me, "But uh, maybe, uh…"

"Yeah, just, you know." I spin around and smile what I sincerely hope is a normal, and not maniac-looking, smile. "Some other…"

"Time, all right." He laughs as he finishes my sentence. "Okay. Bye."

"All right." I feel both insanely thrilled and scared as I walk off. At some point in our conversation, we probably should've stopped babbling and clarified exactly what we were talking about. I still can't be sure if he likes me.

Okay, I decide as I continue walking down the hall. I'll glance back. If he's still there watching me, then that means he likes me. If he's already gone, then he doesn't like me, I tell myself firmly. Best to settle this once and for all.

I dart a hesitant glance back. Peter's staring after me. He hasn't even moved from where we were standing. I hurriedly turn my head back around, but I can't stop the crazy grin on my face, or the butterflies spreading through my stomach.

So this is what it's like to be in love.

Thoughts on this? I had fun writing this, but I would love to know if you guys think Peter and Gwen are in-character. Thanks for reading!