"Excuse me, are you finished with that?" asker Peter, gesturing towards the folded newspaper in the man's hand.

Wordlessly, the man tossed the newspaper to Peter. Opening up the folded material, he began to search for the job adverts, hoping to find something that interested him. McDonald's… nope. Grocery store? Nah. Laundromat maintenance… definitely not.

Peter was drawn away from his search when a white-haired, elderly man taking the seat next to him on the subway train. He had a moustache with a slicked back hairdo and a pair of shades covering his eyes. Something looked oddly familiar about him…

Now distracted from his task, Peter put the newspaper aside, making a mental note to look for a job later.

"Could I borrow that?" came the polite voice of the elderly man who had just sat next to him.

Handing the newspaper to him, the man chuckled, "I'd like to see if there's anything on Spider-Man today, if you don't mind."

Peter smirked to himself, beaming at the fact that people loved Spider-Man. It was a weird, yet very rewarding feeling knowing that he was popular, yet, still wasn't.

Feeling the train come to a stop, Peter stood up and heaved his backpack over his shoulder, ready for whatever school would throw at him today.

"Here's your paper, mister," said the old man, handing it back to Peter as he was about to step off the train.

"Thanks," said Peter, seeing a bit of resemblance in the man. He kind of looks like… nevermind.

After stepping off the train and heading towards the school's front doors, Peter noticed Michelle walking towards the school. I wonder where she lives if she walks to school all the time, thought Peter as he stared at her. Wait, that's a little creepy.

Peter felt the urge to go talk to her just because he felt like it, but stopped himself. Remembering what Ned said yesterday about talking to her, Peter gave a sad sigh and entered the school.

Today, Ned didn't seem to be answering his texts, which virtually left Peter with nothing to do, since he had already done the homework last week. The only thing remotely interesting happening today was his meeting his Mr. Harrington after lunch.

Turning his head, he looked over at Michelle, who was sitting in her usual seat again.

Having nothing better to do, Peter began to study her. As usual, her messy hair covered half of her face and she had a book in front of her. Today she wore a grey, zipperless hoodie and a pair of black, worn out jeans. Nothing too extravagant, but Peter didn't mind. The look suits her, thought Peter as his gaze shifted towards her face.

By no means was Michelle ugly. In fact Peter thought she was one of the better looking girls in the school, if not, the best. She had a very natural yet attractive look and obviously didn't go out of way to be as flashy as possible. Not that she needs to, thought Peter, still gazing at her. This information wasn't anything new; Peter had noticed it long ago, yet no one else seemed to acknowledge it. As far as he knew, she was still as lonely as ever, despite her good looks, above average intelligence and sarcastic yet playful personality. Not to mention how beautifully brown her eyes were…

"Is there something on my face?"

Peter snapped out of his thoughts only to realize that he was staring directly into her eyes. Trying not to overreact to being caught red-handed, Peter gave an uncomfortable smile and ungracefully said, "Uh, I was just, uh, wondering what book you're reading…" as he attempted to suppress his blush.

Michelle raised and eyebrow and slowly said, "The Fellowship of the Ring."

Peter blinked in response. "I didn't know you were into that kind of stuff," he said carefully. In fact, Peter was sure that he hasn't heard of a single book she's read.

"I'm not," she responds as she turns back to her book. "But, I'd thought I'd give it a read after your presentation the other day."

Furrowing his brow in confusion, Peter wondered what she exactly she was talking about. He couldn't recall doing a presentation on anything in the past couple of weeks. The last one he did was a movie review on the Lord of the Rings trilogy…

Wait, she actually listened to that? Peter could remember how uninterested his classmates were when he had done his twenty minute presentation on his love of Middle Earth. But, as it seemed, someone other than Ned had actually bothered to pay attention to him.

"Oh," was all Peter could say, realizing that that project was well over a month ago. Anyway, the book had caught him off guard since Peter's presentation was about the movies, not the books. Figures, he thought, knowing that Michelle loved books. He was quite sure he's never seen her without one.

Realizing that he had still been staring at her, Peter tore his eyes away and tried to occupy himself by attempting to text Ned.

A couple of boring periods later, Peter found himself sitting alone at lunch, picking at his fries. He shoved a couple of them in his mouth before he unzipped his bag and retrieved the newspaper he had been reading that morning. Sighing, Peter resumed his search for a job.

Not two minutes later, Peter found himself looking at the comics section when Michelle sat down across from him and pulled out a book.

"Hey loser, what's got you so interested?" she asked as she stole a fry.

"Oh," replied Peter, folding the newspaper and pushing it aside. "Nothing."

They sat in an awkward silence. Peter desperately wanted to talk, but he knew he probably shouldn't. Ned was right, he couldn't risk his secret identity again. He decided it was best to sit in silence.

...

"So…" Peter started, mentally kicking himself, "what's it like being the new decathlon captain?"

Without missing a beat or bothering to look up from her book, Michelle replied, "What? You'd rather have Liz?"

I knew I should've kept my mouth shut, thought Peter as he tried to give a response. "No," he said frantically, "you're a good captain and all, but that's not what I meant- I just wanted to-," Peter sighed in frustration and gave up. "I'm just trying to start a conversation," he admitted, "This silence is killing me."

Michelle put down her book and looked up. "Well, if you're really wondering, being team captain is great," she said, without a hint of enthusiasm. Peter just smiled in response before she stole another fry and continued, "But, the team can't afford to have you go missing every other day."

Peter went wide-eyed, knowing that their conversation was already heading into dangerous waters. Before he could give his usual excuse about the "Stark internship", Peter realized he couldn't do that. His supposed "internship" hasn't existed since the day his suit was taken away.

"Well," he started, attempting to come up with some other excuse, "I've been into, uh, photography lately." It wasn't exactly I lie, except for the fact that he hasn't picked up a camera since he was bitten by a radioactive spider.

Michelle raised an eyebrow. "So you'd rather run off and take pictures than be at decathlon practices."

Peter wasn't sure how to respond, uncertain if it were a question or a statement.

"What could you possibly be photographing if you're so willing to miss academic decathlon for it?"

"Uhhh," was all that could come out of Peter's mouth, before a thought came to his head. Don't fucking say it, Peter, he thought, knowing this is exactly what he was trying to avoid. He opened his mouth anyway and continued slowly, "I've been… uh, taking pictures of… Spider-Man?" sounding unsure and making a mental note to punch himself in the face afterwards.

"Oh, I see," said Michelle sarcastically, "Your friend in spandex is a lot more important."

Peter suddenly learned how to breathe again. It seemed like Michelle was completely unaware of his extracurricular activities. He hoped.

Narrowing her eyes at him, Michelle said, "You're stressed about something. I can tell." Of course, this did nothing to ease Peter. "Want me to pull out my sketchbook and show you?" she continued, a smirk playing on her lips.

"No, thanks," chuckled Peter nervously. She can tell I'm freaking out right now, thought Peter, trying to come up with an explanation for the thousandth time. "I'm just," he began, "stressed about getting a job." That was one of the first things he said today that wasn't a lie.

"Hmm," was the only acknowledgement he got as Michelle pulled Peter's plate of fries toward her. After a bit of a pause, she continued, "I assume that's why you got the Daily Bugle in front of you?"

"Yeah…"

Michelle pursed her lips in thought before she said, "You're Spider-Man's photographer, right?"

"Yeah, I guess. Although I wouldn't say-"

"Shut up, I'm trying to help you," interrupts Michelle quickly.

Peter stared at her, dumbstruck. He certain didn't expect Michelle of all people to help.

"You could sell your pictures to the Daily Bugle," Michelle suggested as she gestured towards the newspaper, "if they're any better than the shitty ones they put on their front page,"

Taking the paper into his hands, Peter couldn't help but notice how blurry the image of himself, er, Spider-Man was. In fact, the photo looked like it were taken by an onlooker watching him swing by, before deciding to lower the quality drastically and send in the photo after attacking it with extra coarse sandpaper.

Peter thought about Michelle's idea for a minute before smiling and saying, "That's actually not a bad idea."

"What do you expect?" asked Michelle coolly as she stuffed a fry in her mouth and returned her gaze to her book. "I came up with it."

Chuckling to himself, Peter reclaimed his fries as he began brainstorming ideas for a good picture. Spider-Man and photography were two of his favorite things, and a job like this would be something he could enjoy. He would be able to repair his somewhat damaged kitchen thanks to the help of MJ.

"Thanks for the help, MJ," said Peter with a smile on his face. "It means a lot."

"Yeah, whatever," she replied, keeping her attention to Middle Earth, which was pretty much her own way of saying, "You're welcome."

Peter groaned when the bell signalling lunch was over, aware that Mr. Harrington was waiting for him in the decathlon room. Packing his bag, Peter stood up and headed towards one of the cafeteria's exits.

"Hey loser," came the voice of Michelle from behind him. Peter turned towards her as she continued, "class is this way," as she pointed her thumb behind her. "Don't disappear again."

Deciding it was best not to lie about his whereabouts, Peter said, "I've gotta talk to Mr. Harrington right now."

MIchelle said nothing as she raised an eyebrow. Staring at her pointed look, Peter huffed and turned back around before heading towards the meeting room.

He did expect some kind of punishment, but this? This caught Peter completely by surprise.

"Suspension? For how long?"

"That's still to be determined, but for now, you're off the team."

Peter wanted to ask why he suspended from the team, but he already knew. He constantly missed academic decathlon meetings and practices, and missing the nationals had been the last straw. His poor time management and extracurricular activities had almost resulted in his team losing the final.

Looking at the ground, Peter mumbled, "I understand, sir."

His team coach put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Look, Peter, you're one the smartest kids in Midtown High, but you're just not dependable. We can't afford that on our team." He took a deep breath and finished, "I'm sorry, Peter, but it's for the best."

Before Peter even had the chance to get another thought in, a voice came from the doorway behind them.

"No it's not."

Both of them turned and Mr. Harrington exclaimed, "Michelle! Shouldn't you be in class?" as his shoulder slipped off Peter's shoulder.

Ignoring him, Michelle continued, "Kicking Peter off the team isn't going to help at all. He's like, the smartest guy in the school."

Peter just stared at her, flattered. She was defending him, plus, that was like the first compliment she's ever given him. Mr. Harrington had said almost the same thing to him a minute ago, but hearing it come out of MIchelle's mouth was different.

Mr. Harrington interrupted his thoughts with, "Michelle, you have to understand that Peter hasn't-"

"I feel like the team's captain should have a say in who stays on the team and who doesn't," interjected Michelle with determination in her eyes.

"Yes, but-"

"Despite his constant absences, Peter brings a lot to the team," said Michelle. "Everyone looks up to him, he helps out with studying and when he actually shows up, he works harder than anyone."

Wide-eyed, Peter continued to stare at Michelle in shock.

After a moment of silence, the head of their decathlon team gave a loud sigh and said, "Fine, but make sure to manage your time better, Peter."

Peter received a pat on the back and sheepishly headed out of the room with Michelle. They silently agreed to walk to class together.

After a short silence, Peter uttered a "thank you" for second time that day.

"Whatever."

Stepping into class late, Peter sat next to Michelle in the empty seats at the back. As Peter started to pull out his work, his thought lingered on MJ. She had willingly helped him today, and he didn't even need to ask. They were simple gestures, though it meant the world to him. The fact that Michelle seemed to care enough to support him felt surprisingly good, and she didn't seem to want anything in return. It was just one more thing about her to admire…

The rest of the day seemed to go by much quicker. Michelle's help really did brighten Peter's mood. Thanks to her, he now had a solid idea for a job, and he was still on the academic decathlon team.

When his aunt left the apartment for her night shift at the hospital, Peter was left with nothing to do. Ned was unavailable and Peter couldn't just leave. He was still grounded.

After watching a few episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars on Netflix and checking out a few videos of him swinging around the city, Peter was yearning for something to do. He got up from the couch and walked around the apartment (on the ceiling) before something caught his eye in Aunt May's room. He went around the hole giant hole in the ceiling to get a better look.

An idea came to his mind, and Peter knew his aunt would never find out. But, he knew should be sneaking around behind his aunt's back again, especially since he was still ground for the remainder of the week.

He knew it was a bad idea.

So Peter grabbed his camera, snuck his suit out of his aunt's room and left the apartment.

Sorry for the wait! This chapter is a little bit shorter, but, whatever. Please feel free to leave feedback, thanks!