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“Hey, kid. Get outta my seat.” Bucky stood beside the desk Peter had seated himself at and nudged him with his bag when Peter failed to move.
“No.” Peter’s voice was trembling and his face pale, but he looked Bucky right in the eye as he said it. “Yesterday I was sat on the other side of the room and you told me I was in your seat. The day before that, it was a different seat. None of these seats have been yours so, no, I will not move.”
Bucky shrugged. “Suit yourself then.” He plonked down in the seat behind Peter instead.
Peter shot MJ a panicked look, but she just smiled encouragingly. He took a deep breath and faced the front.
Ten minutes later, after the teacher had outlined the lesson and encouraged everyone to get on with their work, Peter felt something strike the back of his chair. Then it repeated. He ignored it. It happened again. And again. And again.
“Will you leave me the hell alone?” Peter hissed, twisting around in his seat to glare at Bucky. “I’m getting sick and tired of your bull—”
“Mr Parker!” The crisp tones of Miss Potts cut across Peter’s words. “There’s a spare seat in front of my desk. Please occupy it.”
As Peter gathered up his belongings, muttering under his breath the while, MJ turned to give Bucky an accusing look. The expression of unhappy bafflement on his face stopped her in her tracks. She ripped a piece of notepaper out of her folder and scribbled a quick note.
Wait for me after class
Then she screwed up the piece of paper and lobbed it at Bucky’s desk.
She dawdled at the end of class while putting her things away in her bag. She knew Peter would want to talk, but he had band practise first. Bucky also dawdled, until they were the only two people left in the room.
“Peter thinks you hate him, you know.”
There was a flash of pain across Bucky’s face before he schooled his expression.
“He thinks you’re picking on him, bullying him. And I must admit, I thought the same thing, before today.” She paused, eyeing Bucky closely. “But now I think you’re just really bad at flirting.”
She folded her arms across her chest and watched him sputter a protest before subsiding, head hanging low.
“That’s what I thought,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Boys. How is it you never seem to know how to just say Hi? All you have to do is ask him what he thought of the homework or what he watched on tv last night or tell him you think his glasses are cute or something. It’s really not that hard.”
“But he hates me now, doesn’t he?”
“Honestly? You’ve got a bit of work to do, but I don’t think he actually hates you. Just try being…nice.”
Bucky nodded, looking thoughtful. “OK. No promises but I’ll try.”
“Good.”