Chapter 26

"Mr. Parker!"

Gwen immediately perked up at Ms. Marconi's voice.

"Y-yes?!" Peter blurted out in a panic.

Gwen tried blinking the sleep away as she quickly tries to assess the situation.

For a few moments, apart from a few snickers from the back of the class, the class stayed silent as Ms. Marconi stared disapprovingly at Peter.

"Seeing as you're clearly too knowledgeable to pay attention in this class," Ms. Marconi said sarcastically, with Peter wincing guiltily at her barbs. "Maybe you wouldn't mind sharing the answer then?" she continued.

Peter blinked in confusion for a few moments, his eyes darting wildly across the class, which seemingly further irked Ms. Marconi.

Gwen, who felt just as confused, but relieved to not have been called out, quickly leaned back in her chair and lowered her head, in hopes of remaining inconspicuous.

"Uh, uh, yeah, yeah," Peter mumbled. "Umm…,"

Ms. Marconi rolled her eyes in disapproval, and went up to the board, and tapping it loudly with her ruler. "Linear acceleration. Two points. Calculate. How," she said, pointing to the two points and the arc connecting them.

"Uh… well, mass cancels out, so it's just gravity times sine," Peter answered, before hesitating slightly after catching the look of annoyance of Ms. Marconi's face.

"Correct," she sighed, before turning back towards Peter. "However, being smart doesn't give you the license to be disrespectful young man," she continued, making Peter wince once again as he stares guiltily at the ground.

"And that includes you too Ms. Stacy," she said while turning to the board & wiping it clean. "Don't think I didn't see you,"

"You know, I'm starting to feel worried about you, blondie," Betty sighed, as she takes her seat next to Gwen. "Forget about dark circles, you're starting to look like some kind of sleep-deprived zombie. Keep this up and you won't even need eyeliners,"

Gwen lets out a sigh of her own, as she stares down her plate of food.

"What have you really been up to, huh?" Betty questioned her, whilst taking a bite of fries from her plate.

"Well, you know, just, swinging around," Gwen said softly, snickering to herself at her own joke.

"Huh?" Betty looked back at her in confusion. "What do you mean 'swinging around?',"

"N-nothing," Gwen quickly flashed them a smile and waved the question away. "Late-night cramming," she answers as she tries to wave away the question.

MJ shook her head, and lets out a long sigh, before turning to the pair of girls. "Suit yourself," she said in disapproval, before continuing. "Practice at my place. After school. Sharp. No excuses," she said in a matter-of-fact tone, that left them no room for any discussion.

"Hmmm?" Gwen widened her eyes, and nodded along in a non-committal manner. "Yeah, sureee…,"

"What's that supposed to mean?" MJ said, as she glared at Gwen. "Stacy-,"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be there," she rolled her eyes in annoyance as she takes a bite off of her plate of food.

"Go on first, I'm gonna go take a quick walk. Get some air," Gwen gestured, as she waved Liz away towards class.

As Gwen made her way towards one of the school's entrances, she lets out a small sigh as she considered her current situation.

As much fun as she's been having, being Ghost-Spider, and swinging around the city, she couldn't help but feel that the late night's been taking a huge toll on her daily life. Sleeping in classes is pretty much a daily occurrence nowadays, she could feel the eye bags forming under her eyes, and while her grades haven't started dropping yet, she feels like its only a matter of time at this point.

If there's any consolation to all this, it's that Gwen has a newfound appreciation for coffee, drinking it almost religiously at this point in order to help her stay awake.

'I wonder how Spidey handles all of this,' she thinks to herself. 'He's probably just used to it, or maybe he doesn't have to work in the morning,' she sighed.

'Now that you mention it, I wonder what does he do for a living,' Gwen mused. 'Huh, do you actually earn money from being a hero?'

As her feet made their way on auto-pilot towards one of the vending machines at the entrances, she continues to think to herself on how to manage the current situation.

As the both of them was staying deep in their thoughts, neither noticed the other reaching out towards the coffee machine.

"Ah-, S-sorr-,"

"Oh, uhm, S-sor-," Gwen pulled her hand back at the sudden touch, before being taken slightly aback at the sight of Peter.

"G-gwen? Oh, uhh, what are you doing here?" Peter blurted out, smiling goofily as he stares at Gwen.

"O-oh, uhm, coffee," Gwen nodded, as she smiled awkwardly, and pointed at the vending machine in front of them. "Y-you?"

"Huh? Oh, same," Peter smiled sheepishly, before standing awkwardly in silence together with Gwen.

"So, uhm…," Gwen muttered, before gesturing towards the machine.

"Oh, no, sure, you go first," Peter said quickly as he backed away from her.

"Uhm, okay," Gwen nodded, before turning back towards the machine, and picking her favorite mocha-flavored can.

She then smiled softly towards Peter before taking a few steps back behind him, as he picks out a can of coffee from the vending machine.

Peter looked back in surprise as he sees Gwen standing there, holding her coffee in hand.

"Uhm, since we're here, I just thought, we might as well walk to class together, you know?" Gwen said softly, trying her best to play down her nerves. "Unless, you don't want to of c-,"

"Y-yeah, s-sure!"

Gwen walked in silence with Peter down the hall, taking the occasional sip from her drinks. The few times that she stole some glances towards him, she noticed how he would also be glancing at her, as she couldn't help but turn her head away in awkwardness.

After a few minutes, Peter started to clear his throat and turned towards her.

"So, you've started to drink coffee now?'" Peter asked, smiling softly as he does so.

Gwen took quick look at her can and couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, I guess so,"

Peter nodded along, as he takes another sip from his can.

"Great job in Ms. Marconi's class earlier," she smirked, as she recalled the earlier events.

Peter lets out a soft chuckle. "I got lucky," he shook his head as he smiles sheepishly. "Sorry for dragging you into it though,"

"Hmm? Nah, that one's on me," Gwen shook her head in disagreement. "If anything, I'd say you saved us both from detention,"

Peter shrugged his shoulders. "Saving, might be a bit of a stretch," he joked, before taking another sip. "How're you holding up anyway?" he asked, sounding slightly concerned.

"Hmm? With what?"

"I don't know, band practice, I guess? You seem out of it these days,"

"Please, I don't want to hear that from Mr. 'Slacker' himself," Gwen rolled her eyes sarcastically. "Mr. 'I-sleep-in-every-class-but-i-can-still-answer-everything'. You're way worse than me,"

"Oh wow, how'd you know my middle name?" Peter joked, before offering his hand out for a handshake. "Benjamin 'Slacker' Parker, at your service ma'am,"

Gwen couldn't help but chuckle slightly at his antics. "Glad to see you've learnt nothing from Ms. Marconi's rant," she said as she pushed away his hand.

"No fair," Peter rolled his eyes. "I am remorseful. I just show it differently,"

Gwen smiled to herself as she shakes her head at Peter's antics. "How about you then? What have you been up to, that you're always falling asleep in class?"

Peter shrugged his shoulders dismissively. "Well, you know, stuff," Peter replied, brushing away the question. "Just, that, you know, somethings come up recently, so…,"

Gwen rolled her eyes, smirking to herself. "Recently? Please, you've been slacking off ever since Be-,"

Gwen immediately cupped her mouth as she realized what she was about to say.

"Hmmm?" Peter looked at her on confusion, as Gwen's face turned from joy to distress. "What's wrong?"

"I-I'm sorry," Gwen shook her head remorsefully. "I-, I'm sorry…," Gwen repeated softly, before turning away from Peter.

"H-hey, it's okay, I-, you didn't do anything," Peter said, trying to calm her down.

Gwen closed her eyes, letting out a long sigh of disappointment & disapproval at her own self. "I'm sorry Pete. I shouldn't- I…" she said as she shook her head apologetically, and continued walking in silence.

*Zing*

"YEAHHH!"

"I… guess that was better…, right?" Glory offered meekly at the end of their rep.

MJ frowned as she blows her bangs out her face. "Nowhere near good enough though,"

"Chill out Red, we still need to work on it, we get it," Betty rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Being a bitch about it isn't gonna make things go faster,"

MJ rolled her eyes, but kept quiet in agreement, before turning towards Gwen.

After a few moments, Gwen realized that she was expecting something from her.

"What?"

"What do you mean what?" MJ retorted back.

"I mean 'What?' what," Gwen raised her eyebrows, acutely aware of the glances that the rest of her bandmates are firing towards her.

"Oh, I don't know, anything to say, maybe?" MJ continued, slightly sarcastically.

"What?" Gwen said defensively. "No, I don't have anything to say,"

"Oh wow, okay," MJ continued, her sarcasm growing as she goes on. "Glad to see the heart of our band is very self-aware, Ms. Drummer,"

"What are you getting at MJ?" Gwen fired back.

MJ continued to glare at her for a few more moments before letting out a long, frustrated sigh.

"Stacy, you need to get your act together, you're out of sync," Betty chimed in, looking her usual disinterested self.

"Hah, out of sync," MJ laughed sarcastically. "Please, you're all over the place," she added, rolling her eyes in annoyance.

"What, you guys are ganging up on me now?" Gwen said defensively, as she feels herself getting heated up. "I'm playing the usual bea-,"

"No, you're not," MJ groaned in frustration as she cuts her off. "Your tempo's off, your drumming's weak, there's no energy behind it, it's lifeless!"

Gwen opened her mouth to fire a retort, before biting it back. She then turned towards the rest of her bandmates, hoping for some support, but Glory & Betty turned their heads away, seemingly agreeing with MJ.

"Well, if I'm so weak, then maybe you should go & get yourself another drummer then," she growled, before starting to pack her bags and standing up to leave.

"I've got better things to do with my time than sit here and listen to all your shit," she continued, before storming off out of the garage.

Gwen felt her problems washing away off of her as the wind blows through her mask. Even after getting used to the swinging, the thrill of it never really stops.

For all the troubles 'Gwen Stacy' seems to be having with her everyday life, 'Ghost-Spider' couldn't help but enjoy the thrill & adrenaline of hers, swinging & leaping from rooftop to rooftop, the feeling of her body being light as a feather as she twists & flips around the city.

She eventually arrived at their usual meetup location, being later than she usually is, because of her band practice. Gwen immediately leaned on one of the flag poles, having been taught by Spider-Man before that she could use any part of her body to stick to anything.

As the minutes ticked down, Gwen realized Spider-Man was nowhere to be seen. She lets out a soft sigh, as he must've started patrolling without her.

Gwen considered swinging around the city to look for him, but stopped herself when she was reminded of how big New York actually is, and that she would have no real idea of where to start her search in the first place. ('Thinking back, I got really lucky that I even found him initially, huh?')

'I wonder if Spidey actually has a phone number that I could've contacted him on,' Gwen mulled to herself.

'Getting an actual superhero's phone number,' Gwen shook her head, blushing slightly at the thought. 'Never in a million years,' she smiled softly to herself.

Eventually, Gwen decided to call in an early night, deciding to head back towards her house, maybe patrol the few blocks she had to pass through along the way.

As she swinged across the rooftops in a more relaxed manner, she couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed at missing Spider-Man today. Her mind quickly wanders off towards the argument she had with the 'Mary Janes'.

'I know they're right, but they didn't have to be so blunt about it,' Gwen frowned to herself. 'I can hear it too you know. It's not like I don't realize how much I suck,'

As she was hanging around, perched on one of the rooftops, a nearby commotion caught her attention as a man dressed in black & white stripes, and a goofy hat, was making a ruckus.

"Robble robble 'Bandito'! We'll rob our way into infamy!" he exclaimed as he ran way comically with his dog at his side.

"Seriously?" Gwen shook her head in disbelief, before leaping into action, slightly glad to have something to take her mind off of things.

*thwip*

"Hold it right there buddy," Gwen said as she held the robber back with a line of webbing. "Where do you think you're going?"

The robber, caught by surprise at the sudden pull of her webbing, fell on his back on the pavement, his dog whimpering slightly as he sees his owner on the floor.

"Argh! Spider-Man! My fated nemesis!" the robber spouted comically.

"Ookaaay," Gwen raised her eyebrows slightly under her mask, in amusement. "Sorry buddy, you're close, but it's the wrong gender. Try again,"

The man blinked in confusion for a few moments, as the rest of the onlookers, stare at the pair.

"Sp-Tarantula-man?" he tried softly.

"I said, the wrong gender, not spec-. You know what, never mind," she groaned, before firing a ball of webbing to pin the robber in place.

"Curses, Tarantula-Man! You may have stopped me now, but this isn't the last you've heard of the 'Bodega Bandit'!"

"Wait, what?" Gwen stopped herself momentarily, before pinching her nose in frustration.

"You again! I know I've seen you somewhere before!" Gwen moaned in annoyance.

*thwip*

"Woah, nice catch Ghost," Spider-Man quipped in as he drops in out of nowhere. "You know this guy from somewhere?"

"Spidey!" Gwen said in surprise.

"Spider-Man!" the Bodega Bandit exclaimed in unison.

"Heyya," Spider-Man waved back at the two of them. "Feels like I'm a minor celebrity,"

"W-well, it actually takes two of you guys to actually stop me! Behold the power of the 'Bodega Band-'!"

"Shut up," Gwen said as she fired a ball of webbing towards his mouth.

Gwen could hear Spider-Man chuckling slightly from under his mask.

"You guys know each other before? Is he like, your arch-nemesis or something?" Spider-Man chuckled.

"N-no! No he's not!" Gwen said defensively, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"Rrrrgh… Bodega Bandit. You are the worst arch-nemesis – – ever," she groaned.

"Uhm, you should really…, tear that off," Spider-Man then gestured towards his mouth. "It's kinda hard for him to breathe if you leave him like that,"

"Oh shit-," Gwen exclaimed, as she quickly kneels down next to the robber, trying to tear apart the webbing she fired at his face.