"Come on, Clark. I don't want to be late. The usher here is really strict about people arriving on time," Peter said as he quickly walked down the street.

"We have plenty of time," Clark replied as he strolled along.

Peter hurried up to the theater door expecting to see the same obnoxious usher, but to his surprise there was a different person standing there.

"Hello, sir. Welcome to the show," the usher said with a warm smile on his face.

Confused but also very relieved, Peter asked, "What happened to the last guy who was the usher here?"

"Well, I'm not supposed to say anything," the usher whispered, "but if you won't say anything I'll tell you."

"Not a word," Peter said, his curiosity piqued.

"Well, you wouldn't believe it, but what I heard happened was he got fired because of some old lady. She came down here and told the management that her nephew had been treated rudely and she wanted the usher fired." The usher paused dramaticallyfor a moment, then continued. "Management wasn't really paying her any attention until the phone rang. Mrs. Harding, the main contributor to the theater, called and asked if there was an elderly lady complaining about the service someone had received there. She then told them if they wanted to continue to receive their funding to do what she said. Can you believe it?"

Peter couldn't help but smile as heard about what his Aunt May had done. "No, I can't believe it. I have never heard of anything like that happening before."

The usher shook his head in disbelief. "I know. Enjoy the show."

Peter and Clark settled into their seats near the front of the theater and waited for the curtain to rise. They didn't have to wait long and soon both were engrossed in the play. At one point during the play Mary Jane looked out into the audience and her eyes connected with Peter's; he smiled brightly at her while she blushed, paused for amoment, and thencontinued on with the play. The play finished with thundering applause from the audience.

After the play was over Peter and Clark went to congratulate Mary Jane on a great performance. Just as they approached the backstage door, it opened and Harry appeared from behind it.

"Harry," Peter said, startled. "What are you doing here?"

"I just came by to tell MJ what a wonderful performance that was," Harry said flatly. "Who is your friend, Peter? We haven't been introduced."

Clark could see how awkward the situation was and extended his hand while he introduced himself. "Clark Kent, nice to meet you."

Harry took Clark's outstretched hand and grasped it firmly. Instantly Clark's face had a look of pain on it.

"Didn't hurt you, did I?" Harry said sarcastically.

"No," Clark said as he snatched his hand back.

"I've got to be going," Harry said as he brushed past Peter, bumping him. They watched him walk away for a moment before turning and entering the dressing room.

When they entered Peter saw MJ sitting on a stool in front of a large mirror at the far corner of the room. There was a small, white counter with a bouquet of flowers over to one side. As Peter approached he could hear music playing on the small radio close to her feet.

I'd give up forever to touch you,

because I know that you feel me somehow

Sooner or later its over,

I just don't want to miss you right now

MJ turned around as she saw them approach.

"Hi, Peter!"

"The performance was magnificent," Peter said as he leaned in to give MJ a small peck on the cheek. However, MJ turned and kissed Peter on the lips, closing her eyes. Peter's eyes widened in surprise; then he relaxed and time seemed to stand still as he enjoyed the moment. He then hesitantly pulled away. MJ slowly opened her eyes. She knew it was wrong to kiss him; but she had never gotten that kiss to prove to herself that he really didn't have any feeling for her.

"I'm glad you came to see the show."

Her eyes still had a slightly glazed appearance to them. She eventually seemed to realize there was another person in the room as she asked, "Clark, what did you think of the play?"

"I really enjoyed it and I thought that you were wonderful," Clark said.

A knock turned everyone's attention as John Jameson entered the room.

"John! I want you to meet someone. This is my friend, Peter Parker and his friend Clark Kent," Mary Jane exclaimed.

John extended his hand while smiling warmly. "It's nice to finally meet you, Peter."

"Same here," Peter said unenthusiastically as he shook his hand.

"Hi," John said as he shook Clark's hand.

"We need to be going MJ. That was a wonderful performance," Peter said as they turned to leave the dressing room.

As they walked down the street Peter was rather quiet, just lost in his own thoughts. The silence was getting to Clark, so he decided to start talking. "So, what was the deal with that guy we met in the hallway? He acted like he couldn't stand to be near you."

"That was Harry Osborn. He probably can't stand to be around me right now. He thinks I killed his father," Peter said sadly.

Clark's eyes got big as he replied, "Why would he think that?"

"You know when I said the Green Goblin died as a result of a fight with Spiderman. Well, Harry's dad was the Green Goblin," Peter said solemnly.

Clark didn't know what to say, he was soshocked. They walked in a silence for several minutes.

Clark then thought of something he thought might cheer Peter up. "So, what happened with you and Mary Jane back there?"

"Oh, it was nothing," Peter said, shrugging it off.

"Nothing, come on. Neither one of you were even aware anyone else was in the room," Clark said trying to get Peter to talk about it.

"Well, she is about to get married to John," Peter replied.

"Okay, but you can't tell me after what I just saw that she doesn't still have feelings for you," Clark said.

"Yeah, maybe you're right," Peter said smiling as he thought about it.

-------

The next morning Peter went to see Aunt May. "Hi, Peter! How are you?" she said as she hugged him.

"I'm just fine," Peter said, smiling. They walked into the dining room together. "Peter, would you like something to drink?"

"No, thanks. I'm fine, Aunt May." He sat down while Aunt May poured herself a cup of tea.

"I'm glad you're doing well. You seem to be in a very good mood today," she said as sat down.

"I went to see MJ in her new play last night," Peter replied with a twinkle in his eye.

"Ahhh. I see. She is a really nice girl. Did you enjoy the play?"

"Yes, the play is great. You know what, I found out something interesting when I was there," Peter replied mysteriously.

"What was that, dear?" Aunt May asked.

"They have a different usher working there," Peter said trying very hard to keep a straight face.

"Oh, really," Aunt May said as she took a sip of her tea.

"You wouldn't by chance have had anything to do with that, would you?" Peter asked.

"Now, what would make you think a silly thing such as that?" she replied innocently.

"I talked to the person who is now working as the usher and he told me a very interesting story about how the last guy got fired. Something about someone going down there and complaining about rude treatment and receiving a phone call from a big contributor to the theater," Peter said, smiling mischievously.

Aunt May looked slightly embarrassed, "I just couldn't stand by and let them treat you like that."

"It's okay. I'm glad that you are concerned about me," Peter said, patting her hand. "So, how did you do it?"

Aunt Mae got a look of great pride on her face. "My new neighbor, Ruby, has a granddaughter that works over at the theater. She is the one that is in charge of putting things together for the bigwig contributors. Ruby is always talking about all the swanky stuff they do. I told her about how you were treated. She thought that was wrong and thought just like me that something should be done about it. So, we came up with the plan for me to go down there while she called on the phone and pretended to be one of the contributors."

Peter just sat there in amazement of his aunt for a moment. "Is there anything else you have been up to you haven't told me about?" he said, smiling.

"Well....."