Chapter 5

"You flaked?! What do you mean you flaked?" Ned asked incredulously.

"I-I was busy…," Peter rubbed the back of his head. "Some stuff came up you know?"

"No, I don't," Ned stared at him blankly. "Pete! We're nerds! We don't do 'stuff'!"

"Not true," Peter said defensively. "I got that expo project that I was working on, &Ms. Marconi's chemistry assignment…" Peter continued, trying to deflect the accusatory glare his friends are giving him. "and May needed help around the house,"

Ned placed his hand on Peter's shoulders before shushing him. "Are you hearing yourself right now? She's basically asking you out on a date!"

"It's not a date," Peter frowned at his best friend. "I told you, it was to help her out with her homework assignment,"

Ned stared at Peter blankly. "What did I say wrong?"

Harry lets out a small chuckle hearing their antics. "I gotta agree with Ned on this one Pete," Harry said, shrugging his shoulders. "You don't just get 'chances' like this everyday,"

"What are you talking about, studies are studies," Peter insisted. "It wasn't a date, it's never been a date, it's never gonna be a date, okay?"

"You ever heard of this thing called… a 'study date'?" Harry said, pausing slightly to give it a dramatic effect. "My young padawan, you have much to learn," Harry flashed him a smirk before slinging his arm across Peter's shoulders.

Peter rolled his eyes in annoyance before brushing his arms away. "Like I said, busy,"

"With what? It's not like you ever hand the assignments on time anyway," Ned chuckled softly.

"W-well," Peter started, before pausing. "L-like I said, busy with stuff,"

Harry shook his head before letting out a soft sigh. "Always doing this, or doing that. I swear Pete, I have no idea what you do with your time," he moaned.

"Trust me, neither do I," Peter muttered slowly under his breath.

"Hmm? What was that?"

"N-nothing! Ahaha,"

"Mr. Parker,"

"Yes sir," Peter looked up at the large & rotund Coach Nelson.

"You do understand, we have something called, 'Sportswear'?" Coach Nelson said sarcastically.

"Uh-Yes sir?"

"Then why in the world, are you still wearing your DAMN SWEATER!" he yelled at Peter.

Peter flinched slightly at the sheer force of Coach Nelson's voice. "Oh, what? This?" Peter gestured towards the oversized sweater he has on. "I-uhm, have a skin disease?" Peter tried.

Coach Nelson glared at him for a few moments, before letting put a small sigh. "I don't get paid enough for this," he muttered slowly. "Get in Parker," he said as he shoved Peter into the court.

"O-Oh, okay," Peter stumbled into the court for a few moments, before heading back towards Coach Nelson.

"What is it now Parker?"

"Coach Nelson, sir. I uhh, have a stomachache," Peter smiled sheepishly at him, now clutching his stomach slightly.

Coach Nelson rolled his eyes in disbelief. "U mean like the last 20 times where you've had, the same 'stomachache' every time?"

"Uhh, yeah?"

Coach Nelson pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Fine, fine. Fine, go sit by the water," he gestured Peter towards the side of the court, before turning his attention back towards the others already playing inside.

Peter went to the nearby bench, took out his sketch pad, and started working on his web-shooter designs. As P.E. went on, Peter got more & more absorbed into the calculations & settings he envisioned for the final design.

"What you got there, Peter?"

"Hmm? Just my web-shooters," Peter answered off-handedly. "I'm trying to make it so that I can adjust the velocity & viscosity on the go. That way I won't have any problem with aiming from afar,"

"Your 'web-shooters'?" Liz asked, now peeking over his shoulder, staring at the sketches he's made.

"Wh-whoa!" Peter quickly closed his sketch pad, and turned towards Liz. "Liz?!"

"Peter,"

"Liz!"

"Peter," Liz flashed him a sly smile. "You were saying?"

"H-huh? I was? No, I wasn't," Peter quickly corrected himself.

"Something about, a web-shooter?" Liz mulled softly as she walked to his side & took a seat on the bench with him.

"W-web? Nah! I meant…" Peter eyes wildly searched for some idea. "T-tape… Tape Shooter! Yeah!"

Liz eyed him curiously. "Tape?"

"Y-yeah, ahaha," Peter rubbed the back of his head in panic. "I've uhh, been working on a tape shooter, to uhh, shoot tape across large distances,"

"You… want to shoot tape… across large distances?" Liz asked inquisitively.

"YES! I mean yeah! Coz you never know when you might need to tape something across a building," Peter laughed nervously. "N-not that I'm crossing any building in particular,"

Liz flashed him a quick smirk, clearly enjoying seeing Peter squirm. "I see," Liz nodded calmly while looking over at the other boys playing in the court. "So, this is what the 'brilliant' Peter Parker does with his spare time. Sketching up 'Tape-Shooters'. Interesting," Liz said sarcastically.

At that moment, Ned slowly came over, out of breath, and headed straight for Peter and his bench.

"Pete. Need. Water," Ned managed before falling into Peter's arms.

Peter held his friend up before sitting him down on a nearby bench. "Come on man, stop messing around. I'll get you some drinks,"

Ned beamed at Peter for his suggestion. "Best-est Buddy ever!"

Peter rolled his eyes in annoyance, before grabbing a water bottle from the nearby water box.

Ned quickly gulped down the contents of the bottle Peter handed him. As he wiped the water from his lips, he realized Liz was sitting with Peter on the next bench. "Oh hey Liz!" Ned waved cheerily at her.

"Hey Ned," Liz waved back at him while smiling warmly at them.

"What're you doing here?" Ned asked.

"Cheerleader practice," Liz shrugged her shoulders slightly. "We're taking a 10 minute break,"

"Oh okay," Ned nodded in understanding before taking another massive gulp from his bottle.

"Just thought I'd drop by, you know, see what you guys are doing," Liz smiled warmly at the boys. "Wondering, you know, what one of the prized member of the 'School Decathlon' team, is doing with their spare time," Liz turned her smile towards Peter.

"Well…, It's technically Gym," Peter offered weakly.

"And I see you're working up such a sweat from the bench here," Liz continued.

"Uhh, mental gymnastics?" Peter joked. "That sounds like P.E. right?"

Liz drops her smile and narrows her eyes into slits, and stared straight at Peter. "Seriously?" she remarked, making Peter shift uncomfortably in his seat. "It almost seems like you're not taking the decathlon seriously," Liz said coldly.

"Of course I'm serious about the Decathlon," Peter assured her. "It's all I think about, 24/7, trust me," Peter beamed at her, trying to weasel his way out of trouble.

Liz continued staring daggers at Peter, before letting out a deep long sigh. "Peter, we really need to do well this year," she pleaded.

"Yeah, I know," Peter flashed her an awkward smile.

"A lot of peoples hopes are resting on this,"

"Yep, got it,"

"Not to mention how big of a help this will be on our college application,"

"Yep, super helpful,"

"I know you're smart Peter, but please take this more seriously,"

"Yes ma'am, 100% serious,"

"For some of us this is life & death,"

"A bit much, don't you think?"

Liz stared straight at him. "No," she answered coldly. "The entire school is relying on us to take back the Inter-State Trophy back to Midtown this year,"

"Right, no pressure,"

"Pressure!" Liz widened her eyes, stressing the situation to Peter. "And if we win this one, we can go to the nationals. Just imagine the possibilities fo-,"

"Liz, what're you doing there? The break's over, come on," one of the midtown cheerleaders shouted from their side of the hall.

"I'll be there in a minute!" Liz huffed out in annoyance, before turning back towards Peter. "We're not done yet Parker," she threatened, before strutting off. "We're picking this up where we left off, you got me Peter?" Liz eyed him angrily, while walking away.

Harry whistled slowly as he joined Peter on his bench, slightly sweaty from the game ongoing in the court. "Pete the Lady-Killer, hohoho," Harry teased. "Save some for the rest of us mortals man,"

"Shut up," Peter rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Man, Liz is pretty scary when she gets into something huh?" Ned noted.

"Yeah," Peter nodded, all too eager to agree.

"Also pretty hot though," Harry added, also nodding thoughtfully.

"Yeah…," the other two nodded in unison, eyes still lingering on Liz and her cheerleader friends.

"Like She-Hulk," Ned chimed in thoughfully.

"Ye-Wait what?"