They were in gym class when Peter fucked up. Well, Ned fucked up, but Peter didn't make things any better.

They'd been doing the Captain America fitness test- after watching a canned video intro to it presented by the gym teacher, with Cap (Katya called him Cap in her mind, because that's what Natasha and Tony called him, but Katya didn't know how she'd address him if they ever met in real life) and Peter and Ned had been partnered for sit ups, whispering among themselves- poor Peter, ever since that night in his room Ned had been relentless. Katya was over on the climbing ropes, frustrated out of her mind trying to slow herself down and trying to pretend she wasn't able to do this one handed with a blindfold. Even then, she beat Flash and a couple of the burlier boys to the top, where she hung out for a second. Half the kids were doing sit ups, some were doing something called a pacer test, and there was a group of girls just…sitting on the bleachers? None of this was very organized-

"Peter knows Spiderman!" Ned's voice blurted out, loud enough to freeze every kid in the gym in their tracks. Ah, shit.

Katya slid back down the rope to the floor, as Peter scrambled up, addressing the group of girls that had been sitting on the bleachers. Katya recognized one of them as Liz,the girl Peter clearly liked. Okay, he'd never said as much, but it was beyond obvious. He practically short circuited whenever she was in the room (Also, why was she in the room? She was a senior, which Katya had gathered meant a different age and year than the 'sophomore' class she and Peter- and the rest of the kids in the room- so shouldn't she be with her own?)

"No I don't-" he stammered, the words tumbling from his mouth wantonly, "I mean, kinda, but-" they landed at his feet with splat.

"They're friends!" Ned announced proudly.

Flash dropped down from his own rope. "Yeah, like Coach Wilson and Captain America are 'friends'."

Peter was still stumbling his way through an explanation."I mean, I- I've met him, yeah, a couple of times-"

Katya trailed Flash as he walked closer to the scene, running through several scenarios in her mind as to how this could play out, none of them ending well.

"-But it's through the Stark internship. Mhm. Yep. But I'm not really supposed to talk about it-" he rounded on Ned, this last bit said through gritted teeth.

"Maybe you could invite him to Liz's party." Flash teased.

"Yeah, I"m having a few people over tonight," Liz added, although she sounded almost reluctant. "You're more than welcome to come."

Peter looked like he was going to melt into the floor. "You're having a party?"

Katya vaguely knew what that meant, only in that the word was used to describe wildly different types of social gatherings.

"Yeah, it's gonna be dope," Flash said, "And you should totally invite your personal friend Spiderman."

"Erm-"

"It's okay," Liz sounded almost sad, but in a way Katya didn't quite trust. "Peter's probably way too busy for parties anyway."

"Nah, he'll be there, right, Parker?" Flash goaded. Katya wanted to deck him.

Peter floundered for a moment, but the bell rang, prompting the rest of the students to head to the locker rooms. In the throng, Katya managed to make the rest of the way over to Peter and Ned, who were already arguing in half whispers.

"- You're an Avenger! If any of us has a chance with a senior girl it's you." Ned left for the locker rooms himself, just as Katya caught up to them. Peter looked like someone'd just smacked him with a fish.

"No." She told him flatly. "No, no, no." The sheepish guilt in his eyes told Katya he was thinking exactly what she'd guessed. "Spiderman is not a party trick."

"But you heard what Ned said," He told her, almost pleadingly, as they made their way over to the locker rooms themselves. "Liz has a crush on me, I-"

"Liz has a 'crush'-" What a weird word. "-On Spiderman, Peter, not you. How do you expect this to go?"

"I don't know, maybe he could swing by for a few minutes-" they'd reached the area where the girls' and boys' locker rooms split. "I haven't thought it through yet."

"That's right, you haven't." She told him forcefully, a tone she only ever used in training. "Don't be an idiot."

Peter blubbered for a bit, shaking his head, all the way into the boys' locker rooms. Katya sighed. He was going to be an idiot.

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