This second chapter goes with the first one, I wrote them as one initially but it got too long so I cut it in two.

Hope you'll enjoy it!

67% sure

Her summer is painfully boring. She spends most of it in the library to read more and more books. She figures that by the end of summer she'll have read them all. Probably. One very hot day, she catches a glimpse of Spider-man as he swings by above her head. He's been more and more active since summer started, people call him Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man now. He mostly operates in Queens from what she's heard, but sometimes he's seen in Manhattan and Brooklyn, too. MJ loves herself a good mystery but this guy is good at keeping secrets, nobody seems to know who he is. She likes this about him. He's not like the other supers all looking for fame and stuff. He's just protecting the little guys. She knows that's what makes him quite popular around here.

Then September barges in and suddenly school starts again. It's weird, but MJ feels somehow happy to be back. Ew, how is that even possible. The first day she lays eyes on Parker she notices something different. He seems more focused and confident. She wonders if it's the Stark internship that did that to him. If so then maybe it's going to teach him how to stand up to Eugene Jerk Thompson. Doesn't seem like it though. She wishes again she'd have the guts to try and really be friends with him. But she quickly realizes he only has eyes for Liz Toomes. Not that she would want him to look at her the way he does with Liz. He's practically drooling over her, it's pathetic really.

A week goes by, and she notices slight changes about him. For starters, he's quit marching band and robotics lab. Which only leaves Academic Decathlon, and even that he's trying to get out of. They're supposed to go to DC for the national competition mid September, but one day during practice he tells Mr Harrington that he's not going to be able to come.

"I can't go to Washington because if Mr Stark needs me then I have to make sure that I am here."

"You've never even been in the same room as Tony Stark," Flash interjects annoyingly.

People then start to freak out because clearly they all know he's the best of them. Before she can stop herself, MJ says matter-of-factly: "He's already quit marching band and robotics lab." She then realizes everyone is now looking at her and she adds coldly, "I'm not obsessed with him, I'm just very observant."

It doesn't matter anyway. Peter's mind seems made up so Liz appoints Flash as his replacement and things are – mostly – settled. Apart from his lack of interest in extra-curricular activities, MJ has noticed something else out of the ordinary from Parker. Last year, he always spent time with Ned at school after class, but since the beginning of the school year, he's been running out as soon as the bell rings the end of his last period. She wonders where he's going all afternoon, but she can't really figure it out without following him and that's something she's not willing to do just yet. Everyone is entitled to their privacy.

Then, one day, as they're watching some stupid Captain America fitness program in gym class, she overhears Ned muttering something intriguing under his breath: "Do you know him too?"

"Yeah we met." Peter answers quietly. "I stole his shield."

MJ narrows her eyes, wondering what that's all about. Twenty minutes later, Ned screams out that Peter knows Spider-man, and MJ witnesses as Liz invites both of them to her party that night. From the hopeful look on his stupid face, MJ decides that she should probably go too, curious as if Parker really does know Spider-man or if Ned was just being a huge dork.

It is not like her to go to a party, but her mind's made up so she just acts confident once she arrives even though she doesn't feel much like it. She wanders around aimlessly in Liz's parents' freaking mansion, waiting for something, and it's not until Leeds and Parker arrive that she realize she had been waiting for them – for one of them, at least. It embarrasses her to even think about it.

They're muttering to each other in the house's hallway and she swoops in like she usually does. "I can't believe you guys are at this lame party." she says casually, spreading something on a piece of toast.

Ned narrows his eyes at her and points out: "You're here too."

"Am I?" she retorts, raising an eyebrow at them. Peter is not paying the slightest attention to her though. Liz comes by and greets them, and he is all eyes for her, which annoys MJ a great deal. She doesn't stick around for long after that. Right before she leaves, she sees Ned standing all alone looking at his watch, and she wonders where Parker is. Some part of her really wishes he's not with Liz, but she tries to keep that part quiet because it's embarrassing really. She will not catch feelings for stupid Peter Parker.

The next morning it's all over the local news. Spider-man destroyed some stuff in the suburbs, exactly around where Liz lives with her parents. MJ can't decide what to think about that. Is that a coincidence, or is Spider-man someone from Midtown? After all, he's never been seen in the suburbs before last night, which is weird. But if it is someone from Midtown, who could it be?

Her mind quickly goes to Peter, and she doesn't know if it's only because she's been a bit drawn to him lately or if there is actually a reasonable probability that he might be Spider-man. But it's stupid, and not at all an effective procedure if she wants to figure out who's behind that mask. First she has to lay down everything she knows about 'Spidey', then she can make hypothesis.

It's research time.

From what she knows, he has been around for roughly 9 months now. She finds the first accounts of a masked vigilante in Queens dating back to December 2015, online of course. She even finds a blurry picture of him from January 2016 in a local newspaper. The article states that an unknown masked individual helped out a little girl who had been stuck in a tree. He doesn't seem to have the same suit he does now, but MJ is pretty sure it is Spider-man. She looks around for hours to find everything she can about him. There are tons of videos of him now, the first one dating back to May, the last one from a couple of days ago. He's been very active during summer it seems, with at least two videos posted a week, but since the beginning of September, not so much.

MJ also finds out that there have been sightings of him in Berlin. It somehow doesn't make any sense at first, then she finds an article about the destruction of the Leipzig Halle Airport during that whole Captain America fiasco with the Sokovia Accords, back in June. The article makes mention of the super-heroes that were allegedly there, including a 'masked man wearing a red and blue spandex suit'. MJ goes back to the videos of Spider-man and notices that in the ones posted before June 10th, he was wearing a crappy costume, and after that, he seemed to get the upgraded one everyone knows now. She wonders if it is Tony Stark's doing or not.

That thought brings her back to Peter. Back in June, at the exact same time, he missed a couple of days of school, then came back on Monday with a black eye and the news that he'd been granted a Stark internship. Coincidence or not, she can't say. Too bad he is not coming to DC. It would have been easy to keep an eye on him and see if he was indeed hiding something or not.

"Hey, it's Peter!"

MJ doesn't look up her book but she holds her breath a second, listening intently.

"Hey guys, yeah, I was hoping maybe I could… rejoin the team?"

That is not going to please Thompson, MJ thinks. Sure enough he immediately starts crying angrily at Parker: "No, no way, you can't just quit on us, stroll up and be welcome back by everyone!"

Everyone else seems to disagree though, especially Mr Harrington, who gives Peter his place back and appoints Flash back to first alternate. He starts to protest, of course, and MJ decides to swoop in just to save him the embarrassment. "Excuse-me, can we go already? 'Cause I was hoping to get some light protesting in front of one of the embassies before dinner so…"

"Protesting is patriotic," Mr Harrington nods, "let's get in the bus!"

And they leave. MJ sits behind Parker, while Ned decides to go all the way back, which is unusual. Liz makes them work hard the entire 4-hour drive to DC, but like most of the time, MJ just dodges practice and reads instead. At some point, Peter gets a call and takes it to the back of the bus. He is too far for her to hear anything but he seems a bit more jumpy when he comes back to his seat.

She can't keep herself from wondering over and over if he is Spider-man or not. But it doesn't make any sense, how would a teenager get powers like that? And choose to help people and conceal his identity? It is so unlikely. She needs more proof before she makes up her mind. She has a sort of gut feeling about it but she knows it is not enough. After all she has a very scientific mind, and you don't make scientific discoveries solely based on gut feelings.

The field trip in DC can be divided in two parts. First their first night there and the Decathlon in itself. Then the aftermath.

On that evening, everybody slips out of their rooms to go to the swimming pool of the hotel they're staying at. MJ joins, even though she just reads while the others behave like idiots in the water. Parker is not there, and neither is Leeds. She's a bit disappointed that he's not around for her to keep an eye on him.

The morning after, Peter is nowhere to be seen. Ned tells them he is sick and that he can't come, and although everyone is disappointed, they don't have time to dwell on that. This is a big deal for most of them, and MJ finds it disturbing that Peter doesn't have more consideration for it. It goes well though, even without him. MJ gives the last good answer when they enter sudden death, and suddenly everybody is hugging her and they win the whole thing.

And it feels good. She's been thinking for ever that she doesn't have any friends, but at this moment she realizes she actually has. Or at least, she is part of a group of people that appreciate what she has to offer.

It's nice.

Mr Harrington brings them across the street to visit the Washington Monument before they go back home. MJ stays behind while the others all go inside, and her teacher takes a second to talk to her.

"Taking it all in, Michelle?"

"Oh yeah hum, I don't really want to celebrate something that was built by slaves."

"Oh I'm sure the Washington Monument wasn't built by –" he stops as a security guard actually nods to him like, 'yeah dude'. "OK, enjoy your book."

"Thanks." she smiles as he goes after the rest of the group. She sits down and quietly enjoys her book for a moment.

That's when the second part of their trip starts. A sudden explosion rattles the top of the tower, reverberating through it until ground level. MJ looks up, and so does everyone around her. Debris fall to the ground and people start screaming. And there he is. She sees him stop, she hears his voice, he seems distraught.

"Oh no no no, Karen what's going on up there?!" His voice is familiar, but MJ doesn't notice it right then.

Ned and the others are in that elevator.

MJ stands straight up and points her finger to the top of the monument, an awful fear weaving its way into her heart. "My friends are up there!"

"What?!" Spider-man immediately turns to her, then with a deeper voice assures: "Uh don't worry m'am everything's gonna be OK!" And just like that, she watches as he jumps on the monument and starts climbing it.

It's terrifying. In the spur of the moment, she doesn't even register how weird it is that Spider-man is actually there. All she can think about is "please, please save my friends."

He's finally reached the top of the monument, and is now trying to enter through one of the small windows there. MJ's neck hurts from looking up. Two helicopters are circling in the sky, ordering him to stop. How dumb can they be? Can't they see he is trying to help? He then does something that proves that he is actually really smart. He had been trying to break through the window, creating more momentum thanks to his webs, but without much of a chance since the glass is probably very thick. So he gets to the top of the monument, jumps over one of the helicopter, then swings onto the window and gets through it easily.

The next few minutes are excruciating. There is no way to know what's going on inside the monument. Then the word starts to spread that Spider-man saved everyone, and MJ lets out a huge sigh of relief. He did it. Whoever it is did it.

It takes a couple of hours to get everyone back to the ground since the elevator is completely ruined. Nobody knows what happened exactly. At some point, Peter appears next to her, his eyes wide with shock, his hair an absolute mess.

"Holy shit what happened here, is everyone OK?" he asks her, and he seems a little out of breath for some reason.

MJ narrows her eyes at him then shrugs. "There was an explosion or something. Your pal Spider-man saved everyone."

"Wow, that's –"

"Ned and the others were up there when it happened," she cuts him, eyeing his reaction. "They got lucky Spidey was around here, I wonder what he's doing in DC."

Nothing changes in his expression, but she could swear she sees the slightest shift in his eyes before he looks at her with a small shrug: "No idea, but yeah, that was… fortunate."

"Thought you knew him."

"Hum, yeah I do but uh, yeah we're not that close you know so…"

"Right." They stay silent for a couple of minutes. Peter seems a bit nervous after a while, and MJ can't help herself and stars to mess with him just a smidge. "So anyways, you don't look sick."

He looks at her with wide eyes and she smirks. "Um, um, yeah I um, I feel much better now I –"

"Don't sweat it Parker," she cuts him with a dismissive hand gesture. "I don't care that you weren't there for the Decathlon. We managed to win anyway so yeah. But everyone else is pissed." He suddenly looks miserable and somehow she feels bad so she adds with another shrug: "Well at least they were, before you know, they almost died and everything."

They don't talk much after that. They wait for the others to be safely back on the ground and then the medics make sure everyone is OK, and then they head back home. Like she predicted, everybody is so relieved to actually be alive that no one gives Peter a hard time because he didn't show up for the Decathlon.

The next day though, she inexplicably finds him in Detention. She never gets detention herself, but she likes to come down there to sketch people in crisis from time to time. Coach Wilson is a very good subject. She likes to pinpoint exactly what's going on inside people's head and add it on her drawing. The coach's line would probably be something along the line of 'Who am I?' or something. That's what she's trying to decide when she notices how restless Peter seems to be today. His shoulders are tensed, his fists clenched on the table. It doesn't surprise MJ much when he suddenly storms out of the room without a look back. He is definitely hiding something.

If only she knew what exactly.

Then something changes. There's this huge thing with the Staten Island Ferry accident involving some crazy flying criminal, Spider-man and Iron Man. That's all there is on the news the entire weekend. On Monday afternoon, she finds Peter in detention again. It's been ages since she's last drawn him – since his uncle's death, actually. She feels comfortable drawing him again, but can't figure out what to write inside that little bubble over his head. So she just darkens it with her pencil, before showing it to him with a sad pout.

He feels lighter though, in a way. He stops falling asleep in class, and seems to spend more time with Ned doing nerd stuff. Somehow he manages to ask Liz out for the Homecoming too – MJ hears Flash complain about it – and suddenly his smiles are bigger than she's seen them since his uncle past away. And it's a bittersweet feeling for her, but she still manages to feel happy for him, though.

He's been through a lot. He deserves that.

She shows up at the Homecoming dance, intending to have fun. She even puts on that yellow flowery dress her mother bought her a couple of months ago, and she's glad she does because it feels nice to get all dressed up to go have fun with people. She sticks with Ned, Abraham, Charles and Sally from Decathlon practice, and they do have fun for a while, dancing like idiots and laughing at each other. It's the first time it's happened to her, but ever since they won the Decathlon she actually feels like she belongs with these guys. Most of them are weird and socially awkward – and huge nerds, too – but she really enjoys being with them, even though she doesn't feel comfortable enough yet to show it much.

Maybe she will, one day.

At some point, Liz appears on the dance floor, and everybody swoons over how nice she looks in her pink dress. MJ can't help herself and looks around for Peter. She sees him behind the glass door roughly five minutes later. Ned waves to him happily, and she greets him with a middle finger and a smirk, as usual. He looks nice, all groomed in his suit, his hair combed back, a white flower pinned to his vest. Then he gets inside and finally she sees him.

She's never seen his face like that. It's a pure mask of shock and fear.

He walks across the dance floor right to where Liz and her friends are. They exchange a few words, Liz looking at him with surprise, and then he runs away. MJ watches as he does, her arms folded over her chest, wondering where he's going. Then Ned disappears too after a little while, and it becomes so clear that these two nerds are hiding something.

MJ stays with the others for a while, then she says she has to go to the bathroom and she finds herself in the hallway Peter disappeared in. There's a tie on the floor and she picks it up, wondering if it's his. Then she hears Mrs Warren's voice inside the computer room and she hides behind some lockers to see what's going on.

A few seconds later, Ned comes out of the class with a flushed face, followed by Mrs Warren. She orders him to go back to the dance and he does, without a sound. The teacher leaves the other way, so when Ned passes in front of her, MJ jumps out of her hiding spot and asks him casually: "Sup Leeds?"

"What the f– MJ don't scare me like that!" he screams, jumping out of his skin. He places a hand on his chest and glares at her with as mad of a face he can make.

"What are you up to?" MJ asks, raising her eyebrows at him. "Where's Parker?"

"What? Um, nothing, Peter had to go, he had a… a family emergency."

"Really?" She doesn't believe him. It's pretty obvious he's lying, he didn't even look her in the eye when he said it. He seems restless too, and she wonders again where the hell Peter is. She can't force him to tell her the truth though. "Too bad. I was looking forward to making fun of his dull face."

"Right, OK." Ned nods, fidgeting on his phone and probably not even listening to her anymore. MJ sighs and leaves him there, a bit hurt at his lack of conversation. But she can't blame him. She usually won't even talk to him at all.

It's all over the news the next day. Spider-man stopped that vulture guy from stealing a bunch of Stark's stuff and almost destroyed Coney Island's Luna Park in the process. The pictures of the wreckage are insane. But that's not even the worst part. Turns out the crazy vulture man was actually Liz's father. He had been stealing alien debris from Damage Control to make and sell crazy ass weapons ever since the battle of New York. Allegedly.

Dealing alien stuff pays good then if you can afford that kind of house, MJ thinks.

Once again, she wonders why Peter disappeared right when all that was happening. But that's not enough proof and she knows it. Still, she thinks there's at least a 40% chance that he is actually Spider-man. What happened in DC made that number higher than ever, but there's so much more to that. How he physically changed last year after their visit to Oscorp. How he doesn't seem very interested by Spider-man in the first place, when he's being an absolute fan girl about Iron freaking Man. That black eye when he came back after that three-day absence in June, around the exact same time Spider-man was spotted fighting in Germany. Spider-man destroying suburban gardens exactly when Liz has a party over at her house in said suburbs. And now him abandoning Liz for Homecoming when he's been drooling over her for months, and next thing they know Liz's freaking dad is actually stopped by the wall-crawler?

So many coincidences, that don't seem like coincidences to her at all.

Make it at least 50%.

But maybe she's biased, she can't help herself thinking. Maybe she is biased because she likes him a little more than she probably should. And she would like for him to be Spider-man, of course she would.

It would suit him.

She might be a little in over her head about the whole thing.

Monday afternoon strolls by and suddenly she finds herself sitting in the library for Decathlon practice. Liz is gone, she went back to Oregon with her mom while her dad is being trialed. Poor Liz. That's gotta suck.

Mr Harrington starts off the day by congratulating them again on their win, and everybody claps and MJ can't help her smile and does too. Then something happens that she did not expect at all. Mr Harrington goes on: "I'm a little ahead of the game but we will need a new team captain next year, so I am appointing… Michelle."

Everybody turns to her and they all applaud again, and they seem genuinely happy for her and it warms her heart. "Uh, thank you," she says when they stop, and somehow she decides to take the leap. "My… my friends call me MJ."

"I thought you didn't have any friends?" Ned says curiously.

"I… didn't." she retorts quietly. She's pretty sure nobody actually realizes what this truly means to her, but she's glad she finally did it. She doesn't like it when people call her Michelle, even though it is technically her name. She would rather have everyone using MJ, especially the huge dork sitting in front of her, but that she doesn't say.

Luckily for her, Peter's phone starts vibrating right after she so bluntly let them see just a little piece of her true self. She watches as he checks the message and frowns, then he is gathering his things and vaguely says: "I uh, I gotta go."

Time to mess with him. He's clearly asking for it anyway. Well.

"Hey where are you going?" she cuts him with a suspicious frown as he was about to stand up. His brown eyes widen a little and he slowly points to somewhere behind him, visibly nervous. God it's just so easy. "What are you hiding… Peter?" His mouth starts opening, and something flashes in his eyes, and then she takes pity on him and she starts chuckling: "I'm just kidding I don't care, bye!"

She goes on about practice and so he stands up and leaves quietly, not without a last glimpse at her. And she watches him as he goes, thinking to herself:

I will find out what you're hiding, Peter Parker.

Thanks for reading, please leave a comment to tell me what you think!