"Good afternoon, Peter," Mr. Summers greeted from behind his desk as I stepped in through the door. "I see you're here early again."

"Good afternoon Mist… I mean, Scott," I said quietly as walked to my usual row, trying my very best not to limp. After thinking about it, I took the desk in the front row, happy to have weight off of my left leg. The pain would subside once class was over, I was sure – tended to heal fast.

"Are you okay Peter? You seem to have a little bit of a limp."

Internally I sighed. I really wish Mr. Summers wasn't so perceptive. "I had a rough night," I said. It wasn't untrue. Even when I got home, my night wasn't over. I donned the suit and went on patrol after I listened in on a few calls. Some of them were simple – a Breaking & Entering here, a carjacking there. But there was this one gas station robbery that I responded to that was a bit frustrating. The store itself was rather small and cramped, so dodging gunfire was a bit harder than usual. I ended up taking a shotgun shell to my left leg. I eventually did take down the gunman. But after using my webbing to patch myself up, I called it a night. When I got home, I bandaged the wound a lot more thoroughly with gauze. While the wound healed in the morning, my leg was still very sore.

"It seems like a lot of people had a rough night last night," Mr. Summers commented. "You heard about what happened at the St. James Theatre?"

"Yeah, um… I was there," I replied reluctantly. "…That was part of my rough night."

"Oh." Scott frowned. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine – thanks to Shadowcat and Frictor. I'm guessing they're heroes."

"I'm glad you're okay." Scott then smirked. "Though, I have to admit, I'm surprised that you're into Theatre."

"I'm not, not really anyway. I just… ran into my favorite barista and one of her other regular customers. They had an extra ticket for the show and they convinced me to come." I smiled slightly. "To be honest, I had a good time until the bad guys showed up, so it wasn't all bad."

"Well, that's certainly a silver lining. Will you be hanging out with them again?"

I paused. "…I don't know. I'm not sure that's a good idea."

Scott made noncommittal sound. "Are they trouble?"

"No… I am, I think."

"Does this lead back to the conversation we had the day before?" It took me a moment to recall what we talked about. Once I remembered, I nodded. "Well, you already know my thoughts on the matter." He smiled slightly. "You went out, you had a good time up until the thugs showed up. I don't think you should throw that connection away."

I almost scoffed. That's exactly what I did… for the most part. "…I can't make any promises."

"I didn't expect you to," Mr. Summers replied with a nod. "But… just don't end up like me. A life without a good support system is a life asking for self-destruction, after all."

Not for the first time, I wondered what type of life that Mr. Summers led.

As per usual, I went to Peter Pan when class was over. When I walked in, I saw Ned at the counter, looking at something on his phone. As always, MJ was at the counter in her uniform. Once she saw me, she smiled that small smile of hers. I knew there was going to be a snarky greeting.

"Hey loser," she said.

And, like clockwork, I smiled back at her. Like she said the night before, I never took her jabs to heart. I knew they were halfhearted and they were a sign that she wanted to become close with someone.

"Ah-ah, remember, I'm an American Idiot now," I replied.

At that, MJ scoffed. "I'm pretty sure you were already one beforehand."

I chuckled. "Touché."

MJ's smile became a bit wider. "So, let me guess – the usual to go?"

I opened my mouth to say yes. But then I saw Ned wave at me from the corner of my eye. I looked at him and waved back. After a moment, I looked back at MJ and shook my head.

"No… I think I'll stay for a bit," I replied. MJ raised an eyebrow at me in mock confusion.

"Okay, who are you and what have you done to Peter Parker?"

"A barista once told me that we should be weird together," I pointed out.

"Do you always do what a barista tells you?"

"Just the ones I trust."

MJ was given paused as her eyebrows rose and her mouth went slightly ajar. She then turned away, but not before I could see the light blush on her face. "Go sit down. I'll have your order ready in a moment." As she moved to get my order, I smiled before I walked over to Ned.

"Hey," I said as I took a seat next to him. He looked at me and smirked slyly.

"Glad you have time for me after flirting with your crush," he replied teasingly.

And just like that, I stuttered. "C-crush? What d-d-do you mean? I-I-I-I'm just making friendly c-c-con – "

Ned laughed out loud. "Relax, I'm just screwing with you." He passed me his phone, making sure it was turned sideways as I took it from him. "Take a look at this."

I looked down at the screen as Ned tapped it, prompting a video to play. It was cellphone footage from inside the St. James Theatre. As people were ducking behind seats for cover, it showed Frictor taking multiple shots to the chest as he stalked towards one of the gunman. As soon as he was close enough, he snatched the rifle from the gunman and hit him across the face with the butt of it. Another gunman tried to run up behind him, only to suddenly lose his footing and land on his back as if he slipped on ice or something wet. The footage shifted to the right, showing Shadowcat phasing through one gunman before sweeping another gunman off their feet with her right leg. Others tried to gang up on her, but she merely phased through them before using some fancy kicks to take them down.

"They do know how to handle themselves," I commented as I nodded. "They're awesome."

"Well, they're no Spider-Man," Ned said with a shrugged. I had to force the smile off of my face. "But they managed to save everyone." He then lowered his voice to a whisper. "Maybe they don't have to come on Monday."

"It's not like we got their number or anything," I pointed out. "I can't contact them to call it off. Even if we did, I'd like to see them for myself."

"Fair enough." Ned then changed the subject. "Are you doing anything tomorrow night?"

"Just simple errands in the city," I replied simply. Actually, Saturday night was one of the days I tend to have my longer, more widespread patrols. I felt a pang of sadness in my chest. Ned would have known this before the spell. But now, the euphemism went over his head. Ned, for his part, looked a bit excited.

"Well, if you're not too busy, my home is going to be empty. My parents and my Lola…" He paused. "That's Tagalog for grandma." I nodded. "Well, anyway, my folks are out for the weekend and I was thinking that you can come over. MJ and Betty already are coming over that night. But if you want to come early and help me get some food…" He trailed off, rightly figuring that I'd get what he was saying.

"I'll let you know, man," I replied. "I'll call ahead."

At this point, a plate and a cup of coffee was set on the counter in front of me. I looked at the pastry that was on the plate. It looked like a donut with no hole in the middle. It was covered in this frosting whose brown shade was so dark that it might as well have been black. I looked upward to see MJ giving me a look.

"You never said which pastry you wanted, so I decided to surprise you," she said. "…Just be careful with that one."

I looked back at the donut. "How come?"

"One of my coworkers decided to be a dick and make a flavor combo to reflect 'my morbid personality'. Joke was on him – I like it. But… I don't know if you're into that kind of thing. So… if you don't like it, I can just give you a different one. It's no big deal."

I stared at the donut. I then picked it up with my right hand and took a bite out of it. It was… an interesting combination of flavors. The frosting was dark chocolate, but there was also some licorice in it – more than a hint, but not to the point of it being too much. The filling of the donut was… well, there was a lot going on. I was able to pick up vanilla, cinnamon, and… cardamom? I kept on chewing before I swallowed it. I looked back at MJ, who had this subtle look of anticipation on her face.

"…I like it," I finally said. "…I think it suits you."

"Oh really?" MJ replied, raising an eyebrow. I felt myself get flustered.

"I, uh… I…" I grabbed my cup of coffee and took a sip, if only to give myself a moment to gather my thoughts. From the corner of my eye, I saw Ned giving me a smirk, which didn't help things. I lowered my cup and let loose a breath. "…Sometimes people see things… or other people… and sometimes they get the wrong idea about them. And because of that, sometimes they don't really give them a fair chance. I uh…" I swallowed the lump in throat. "I think you're like this donut in that… well, I think people can only understand how awesome you are if they give you a shot, you know?"

MJ smiled. It was a small smile, sincere smile. It was one she didn't give often. Her face went a bit pink, and she shook her head. During this, another customer walked in. "I have to get back to work before I'm overwhelmed by your corniness." With that, she walked up to the register and greeted the customer.

"She liked that, you know?" Ned said as he nudged me with his elbow. "…Do you mind if I use that for Betty?"

"I do mind," I said a bit too quickly as I looked at him, causing him to lean back a bit. Thinking quickly, I smiled. "MJ and Betty talk. The last thing I'd want is for Betty to be mad at you after finding out I ghostwritten your romantic words." Don't get me wrong, I didn't want Ned to be on Betty's bad side. But I really wanted what I said to MJ to be a moment unique to us.

"You're right," Ned conceded. "But maybe you can write some stuff down for me."

"I think you and Betty are doing great already. Besides, I'm not that good at that stuff. I just get… lucky at times."

As I continued to eat my donut and drink my coffee, Ned and I talked about different subjects – Star Wars, Legos, and the fact that February was around the corner, and that meant talking about Valentine's Day. I knew that there was going to be a dance at Midtown, but I had no intention of bringing it up with MJ. Surprisingly, Ned didn't bring it up.

Eventually, I left the coffee shop, saying bye to Ned and MJ before I headed out. Once I was home, I went on patrol again. As I swung through the city, I thought about how things were going for me at that moment. I was friends with MJ and Ned again, I was sure. That was against the plan. But then again, my current plan was going against the original plan that involved telling them everything after the spell was cast.

Maybe it was a sign.

I was taken off of my thoughts when I saw J. Jonah Jameson's face on the screens in Time Square. I cut my webbing and descended before I landed on the top of a flagpole on all fours. I don't know why, but seeing J. Jonah Jameson's segments became a morbid part of my nightly routine. So I stared at the screen as I stood up, ignoring the people that were looking up at me.

"…and once again, Spider-Man proves how much of a destructive menace he can be, destroying a gas station just to take down a single gunman!" he barked. After he said this, footage of the aftermath of that robbery was shown. I frowned – most of the damage was caused by the gunman himself as he tried to shoot me. Once the footage ended, Jonah's face was on the screen again. "Once again, a supposed good Samaritan upends the livelihood of a man trying to make ends meet. And to make matters even worse, Spider-Man is now inspiring even more Vigilantes! The night before, two new masked menaces – Shadowcat and Frictor – have made their presence known!" Still images of them Kitty and Craig was shown on the right side of the screen. "And there'll be many more to come until someone steps up to stop this wave of vigilantism that plagues The Big Apple!

"So, that's exactly what we, The Daily Bugle, will do. Count your days, Spider-Man. Soon, we'll be able to put our plan into motion – our plan to take you down and expose you once and for all! Just stay tuned, New York City – it will be quite the doozy! For now, this is J. Jonah Jameson signing out, reminding you to be well and stay well. And there's no better way to do that than by taking Daily Bugle Supplements…"

I stood there in silence for some moments. I then scoffed before I jumped and shot a strand of webbing so I could get back to webslinging. As I swung through the city, I shrugged off J. Jonah Jameson words. I knew he was full of hot air. Or, at least, I was sure. I doubt there was anything he could do to me except run another story about me being a menace. There were supporters of me, there were detractors of me. Nothing needed to be said to the former and nothing can be said to the latter.

And this guy just might be my boss in the near future, I thought to myself with a smirk. I wonder what he was like off of the camera. Hopefully he wasn't as intense to his employees. Then again, if he was, that would explain why Ned didn't want to work there.

I was taken out of my thoughts when I heard the sound of sirens below me. I looked down to see a car being pursued by four squad cars. I took in a breath.

It was time to go to work.