Chapter Text
“Hey loser, I thought I’d gotten rid of you back in New York” the markedly monotone, sarcastic voice hit Peter Parker’s ears like a symphony of harps, it was jarring yet refreshing, distant yet warm, strange yet familiar… he knew there to exist only one person with such a distinctly perfect voice.
“MJ” Peter turned around, and sure enough there Michelle Jones was in all her glory. Adorned in her classic black converse, which he was glad to see she hadn’t shed upon arriving at university, a pair of high waisted black jeans that were neither skinny nor baggy but somewhere in between, an open plain black shirt, and beneath it a white “find x” maths t-shirt tucked into her jeans. To be more specific, HIS white “find x” maths t-shirt tucked into her jeans. Not that he cared anyway, it always did look better on her. Her gorgeous curly brown hair fell loosely and wildly over her shoulders, and her smile held a slight sly smirk that could cross into a blank face in half a second. What remained most striking about her, however, were her eyes. The most gorgeous dark brown, whenever she looked at you it was as if there were a mirror reflecting the very inner workings of your soul right back at you… you look into Michelle Jones’s eyes and you see the very beginning of the universe. “Hi, how are you?”
“I’m good, thanks, you? Long time, no see”.
“Yeah…” Peter replied, staring at MJ for a millisecond before averting his eyes to the schedule in front of him. Peter and MJ had broken up right before the summer holidays. It was friendly and civil, and for a variety of reasons he definitely didn’t want to think about right now, but in any case, they remained on good terms despite not having seen each other the entire holiday. “Uh… how was your summer?” He asked, still not fully meeting her eyes, he didn’t even want to go down that path right now.
“It was good thanks, I mostly just spent it with my dad” MJ hesitated for a second, opening her mouth and quickly closing it, before deciding to go for it after all. “We’re good, right Peter?” Suddenly Peter felt horrible, here MJ was really trying to make conversation and act cool about things, and he was making the whole conversation unnecessarily awkward and uncomfortable.
“Yeah, yeah I’m so sorry it’s um… taking me a second to get used to, you know? Us not being…” He trailed off… why did he start that sentence when he had no idea how to finish it??
“No I totally get it” MJ started, “hey if this is too weird or you need more time, I can totally leave you a-”
“Nonono” Peter interrupted. If there’s one thing he wasn’t going to do, it was distance himself from MJ even further. He wouldn’t lose her in yet another way. “Hey, I’m good, I swear.” He cleared his throat and looked up at her again. “Hey, do we have any classes together this semester?” Pushing his schedule towards her, he watched as her eyebrows furrowed, scanning both simultaneously for any similarities.
“Looks like it’s just orgo” MJ sighed, handing him his schedule back.
“At least there’ll be something in that class to make it more bearable” Peter scoffed, and MJ let out a small laugh. Finally , Peter thought , we’re getting somewhere . Peter smiled up at her, and just as she caught his eye, the MIT class of 2025 President began his welcome speech. Both of them turning to look at him, Peter hardly noticed when a voice whispered in his ear from directly behind him, almost causing him to elbow his best friend right in the face.
“Hey”, Ned whispered, “Did I miss anything?” Peter chuckled. Of course Ned would be late to the first day of college.
“Nothing important, why are you late?” Peter turned his head slightly towards Ned, greeting his friend with their meticulously cultivated secret handshake before facing back towards the front.
“Well I-”
“Ahem…” The President started directly at Peter and Ned like a mother warning her child away from a cookie jar. Two minutes into adulthood, and he already felt like a child again. He heard MJ chuckle slightly next to him, as he and Ned looked guiltily over to the President.
“Sorry…” They both half-whispered in a slightly scared, slightly embarrassed voice.
“As I was saying…” The President droned on for another twenty minutes before the tours began, where Peter and Ned got separated from MJ, who was taken to the girls dorms, quickly promising to find her again soon before they left.
Peter felt slightly excited and slightly more queasy, his whole future was awaiting him, and all he could think of were three things:
- I miss May
- I hope the bathrooms are clean
- Am I in love with MJ?