Hello!

FIFTY TWO. FIFTY TWO!

I am thrilled. I love the reviews. Thanks so much!

-Homey :D

Disclaimer: Peter doesn't belong to me. (^_^)

©HomeschoolGirl 2012, or at least this actual post is. The characters, not so much. But anyway, please don't use this as your own. Thanks!

Gwen lounged on her bed, studying her picture. She'd done that a lot over the past couple of days, hoping to catch a part of Peter in the picture—was that his reflection in her eye? No, just the glare from the camera. How about that little mark, in the far, far corner of the picture? Was that the very edge of his fingernail? No, just a picture frame. The truth was this: Peter wasn't in the picture. He was behind it. And she guessed that was just as good.

"So what do I do now?" She asked Mary Jane over the phone Sunday afternoon.

Her friend sighed. "Gwendolyn, my dear, now comes the hardest of the steps in Winning-Peter-Parker: You Wait."

"Wait? For what?"

"For the big K! The kiss!"

"But we almost kissed. That's the same thing, right?"

"Not really." MJ tsked. "There's a gargantuan difference between an almost-kiss and a kiss-kiss."

"Please, enlighten me."

"An almost kiss is just that; an almost kiss. It is the kiss that never was, the kiss that might have been but wasn't right for that moment, the kiss that could have changed everything. It's the kiss we all have, at least once in our lives."

Gwen groaned. "What if it's the kiss that never becomes a kiss?"

"It may very well be, Gwendolyn. It may very well be."

Gwen was becoming increasingly alarmed at her friend's Godfather-like persona. She scrambled for a change in subject.

"Did you get that part in the play?"

"That has yet to be confirmed. Rumor has it I'm playing Juliet." Mary Jane lowered her voice emphatically. "And a certain Harry Osborne is going to be my Romeo."

"Ooh. MJ. I saw his picture yesterday. He's cute."

"Hell yes he's cute! He's smoking. I'm gonna be all over that if only he gets the part. And if not, then I'll be all over him anyways."

"Did you know…?" Gwen hesitated, not sure if it was right to bring herself back into the conversation, but she couldn't help it. "Did you know he and Peter are friends?"

"Yeah. Of course I did. I used to run around with them."

"And now he's in the play?"

"He switched schools for a while. But he came back Monday, and he auditioned, and now…" She giggled. "He's single."

Something Mary Jane had said was still bothering her. "Did you say you guys used to run around together?"

"Uh-huh. Freshmen year. Before we became friends."

Gwen lowered her voice. "What happened between you and Peter?"

When Mary Jane replied, several seconds later, her tone was clipped. "I'm afraid I don't know what you mean, Gwen."

"Yes you do. You hate him. He's scared of you-"

"I don't hate him. I just don't particularly care for him."

"But why?"

"He's…" Mary Jane paused. "He's not what he appears to be. I found that out the hard way. He pissed me off, I pissed him off…"

"And the rest is history," Gwen finished. "But what do you mean he's not what he appears to be? What did he do?"

"Gwennie, I say this because I love you; wait it out. Get a taste of it for yourself. You'll find it out eventually."

"Was he…?" Gwen cleared her throat. "Was he a woman before, or something?"

Mary Jane laughed. "Gwendolyn, you crack me up. Like, seriously! You are so innocent, aren't you? I love it!"

Gwen couldn't help but feel a twinge that came whenever she felt like Liz or MJ was being condescending to her. It didn't happen as often as in the first slippery days of their friendship, but it still occasionally came out. They were more advanced than her. They'd done more things with more guys than she had.

"Sorry," Mary Jane apologized when there was no response. "Sorry. I didn't mean it like that. You know-"

Gwen sighed. "I know. Bye, MJ. Talk to you tomorrow."

"Gwen-"

But she'd already hung up.

"Hey Gwen, what're you doing tonight?"

The voice wasn't Peter's. Gwen turned around, searching the hallways for the mystery-guy, until her eyes landed on a boy standing to her left, just behind her.

"Flash. No."

"What? Why?" He ran a hand through his buzzed blonde hair.

"Because you're dating my best friend."

"She dumped me last night." He smiled, satisfied. "So there's no way you can say no, now is there?"

"Back off. Not interested."

"I'm interested. Why can't you be, too?"

Gwen spun around to glare at him. "Because I'm not."

"Please. I've seen the way you looked at me. I think it's about time you had your little piece of Flash. Every other girl has."

"And that's exactly why I don't want any piece of you."

"Now even a sliver?" He waggled his eyebrows.

Gwen curled her lip in disgust. "You're a pig."

"Go out with me."

"No."

"Go out with me."

"No!"

She began walking, faster, hoping to lose Flash in the throng of students. He kept right on her heels. Finally she reached the door to her homeroom, but he blocked her way.

"Gwen. I like you. Please don't tell me no."

"No!"

"Why can't you go out? I want a good reason."

"Because she's going out with me."

Gwen spun around. Her eyes bugged out. There stood Peter, right behind her, looking the cutest she'd ever seen him. He grinned at her.

"Oh, gross." Flash made a face. "I guess I don't want your sloppy seconds, Parker. You can have her."

He brushed past Gwen, bumping against her shoulder as she went. There was a loud bang as he disappeared from her line of sight.

She turned around, again, to be faced with strangest sight she'd ever seen. Peter had Flash pinned against a row of lockers.

"They're not sloppy," he said calmly, as if this sort of thing happened every day. "And they're not seconds. I just thought I'd make that clear." He let go of Flash and stepped back, looking thrilled.

A second later, Flash gave him a swift uppercut.

Everyone gasped as Peter fell to the floor, clutching his face. Flash only scoffed, then turned and strutted away. Gwen glared at him, furious.

And then she hurled her textbook right into the back of his big, beefy head.

He faced her slowly with measured, careful steps. He narrowed his eyes at her with utter confidence. Sure, he had strength—but she had brains.

"You might want to get that checked out," she said, raising her chin a bit. "That might have hit your occipital lobe, which can result in blackouts. You could also have trouble concentrating today—tracking things with your eyes might be a bit difficult. Or, you might have something as simple as a cephalgia."

Flash stared, looking worried. "Is that…is that serious?"

"Notice I said it was simple. Simple, but painful. So very painful."

"Should I go to the nurse?"

Gwen nodded gravely. "I think that would be best."

He hurried off with his airhead friends in tow.

Peter pushed himself up off the floor, laughing. "So tell me, Gwen, what exactly is a cephalgia?"

She grinned. "A headache."