This was my first actual party. Of course, we always had dinner parties at Ashington over the holidays. Those were always fun, spending the late hours running around the castle, playing games and pranks. That was what I considered fun. Not the loud banging music, barely being able to hear a word a person standing next to you was saying. And the pranks were turned into peer pressure far too quick.

I knew this was not the kind of party I wanted to be at, but I did it anyways.

"Mars?" I heard someone yell to me.

I was avoiding most people, hiding away in the kitchen around the snacks. If I was going to be at a party, I might as well enjoy it stuffing my face.

"Corey, hey." I smiled at the boy. It had been awhile since I talked to Corey. The last time I remember talking to him was when we were defining our relationship, which had naturally taken its place on the back burner as he figured out what he was doing with his life.

"Surprised to see you here."

"I'd be surprised to see me here too!" I chuckled, trying to raise my voice over the music.

Corey ran a hand through his hair. "I hope you're not doing this to impress anyone. That's not the Marley I know."

I sighed. "It's so complicated right now." I couldn't exactly tell Corey all that was going on. I knew Corey. He'd be too worried. Plus, I didn't want him to get too involved when he had to deal with environmental team that was trying to figure out the source of the historic storm.

"Don't change, Mars." Corey said.

"Don't worry, Corey. I'm still Marley Sheppard, a KK. I'm just.. Marley Sheppard, the KK trying some new things.."

He looked at me skeptically before turning towards the rest of the party.

I groaned to myself. I was not having this party. And especially when midnight rolled around.

I could have been in bed. Instead I was listening to this:

"Okay! Time for seven minutes in heaven!" Sabrina yelled, quieting the group of Churchill students. Most of them I didn't know, some I knew from small roles I had when I was part of the theater team.

"Let's see who spins first!?"

I knew who she was looking for as her eyes scanned the room. And as I looked around, I was searching for the same person.

Then I remembered that it must have been an hour since I had seen Peter. I was so caught up in avoiding Sabrina and him together that I lost him altogether.

Without thinking twice, my heart started pounding. Where was Peter Parker?

I scrambled to the kitchen. No sign of the boy.

Made sure the bathrooms were clear.

He wouldn't just leave me like this, would he?

My breath hitched as I struggled to the door, throwing the gray hood from my jacket over my head.

I darted out the door, trying to peer into the darkness that consumed the rest of the street.

"Looking for something?"

A voice broke through the darkness, and I felt as if I had jumped ten feet in the air.

I looked behind me to find Peter sitting on Sabrina's roof.

"How in the world did you get up there?" I tried to yell quietly.

He shot me a look that said 'did you really just ask that?'.

"Sorry, dumb question." I pulled my jacket closer to me.

"So.." I went on. "Are you coming down or do I have to find a way to join you?"

Peter stood up and swiftly flipped off the roof, landing firmly on his feet.

"Maybe you can help me brush up on my moves." I chuckled. When I first came to Churchill, I was highly involved in the athletics department. Over time, I slowly moved to the theatre department, and now into the animal sanctuary and apothecary. Let's say, it's been a few years since I landed even a small flip.

Peter started walking away from Sabrina's house. This time I was the one lagging behind him.

We were halfway to the coffee shop when curiosity got the best of me.

"So, you weren't feeling it? The party I mean.."

He shrugged, staying silent.

I let out a breath. I guess I wasn't going to get anything out of him, and it wasn't my place to pry.

As the coffee shop came into view, Peter turned to me. "Did you tell Sabrina?"

"Sorry, I'm not following. Tell Sabrina what?"

"That I'm Spiderman."

"I haven't said one word to her all night. And that's the last thing that I would bring up. She's all over you enough as it is."

Peter lost the glisten in his eyes as he watched the ground beneath him.

"Is that such a bad thing?" I asked.

"She just.. She kept asking me about it."

"Peter, as much as I despise her, I bet she was just curious."

"Okay, but, she was talking like it mattered."

"It kind of does, not many people are superheroes."

"Yes, but I don't have to be a superhero because of some lucky powers I got."

I hadn't noticed, but by this time we were a few decibels under yelling.

Peter sighed. "Mr. Stark told me that if I'm nothing without the suit, then I shouldn't have it. And since then, it became less about me. More about.." He motioned to everything around him.

"The little guy?" I quirked an eyebrow.

Peter nodded in response, gulping a breath in.

Before we entered the coffee shop, I turned to Peter. "I'm not going to tell you that Sabrina really does care about who you are as a person, but I will say that she's an idiot if she doesn't notice Peter Parker beneath the Spiderman. I've only spent a few days with him, and he's pretty cool."

I smiled at Peter before heading into the coffee shop.

"Cool person, awful bodyguard." I said over my shoulder, laughing.

I heard Peter chuckle behind me.

"Eight o'clock?" Peter asked as I headed up to my bedroom.

I nodded my head. "Have a nice night."

Peter took a seat at the coffee bar as I went up to my room.

I could tell he had a lot on his mind, since he wasn't going to his bedroom. I was kind of upset that it didn't seem like he took my words to heart, but then I couldn't quite understand what he was going through. People had always known I was the KK, it wasn't in question. And it wasn't a cool super power. It was just who I was.

While Peter was learning to adapt to this new lifestyle, I think Peter's main hold up was coming to terms with how he wanted to be viewed by the public. By friends and peers. And I completely understood that conflict.