Chapter Text
Lara Jean had gotten used to the New York City lifestyle.
She’d found an amazing bakery a few blocks from their apartment and a small bookstore where she sometimes found herself studying for hours without realizing how late it had gotten. The city had felt overwhelming at first—too loud, too crowded, too fast—but somehow, she’d grown to love it.
Trina, her dad’s new wife, had originally been from New York, which was what gave the Coveys the idea to move in the first place. Besides, Kitty was enjoying it too. In fact, it seemed like the whole family was perfectly fine with the arrangement.
Lara Jean wasn’t sure she was ready to admit it, but she was, too.
As Lara Jean got ready for her first day as a junior at Midtown School of Science and Technology in Queens, New York, she stared at the box sitting in the back of her unorganized closet.
Her letters.
Her most prized possession.
She wrote one whenever she had a crush so intense that she didn’t know what else to do with it. The letters weren’t meant to be sent. They were simply a place to put feelings that were too big to keep in her head.
Sure, it had been a little awkward packing up her room and leaving her old life behind, but she couldn’t leave such an important part of herself in Oregon.
She pulled the box out and ran her fingers over the lid.
Five letters.
Five boys.
She smiled to herself before putting the box back where she’d found it.
New city.
New school.
New year.
No new crushes.
That was the plan.
And Lara Jean was very, very good at plans..
Usually.
“Lara Jean!”
She flinched.
Kitty, her younger sister. Stood in the doorway, already dressed and somehow looking completely prepared for the first day of school.
“You have five minutes.”
“Five minutes until what?”
“Until we’re late.”
“We’re not going to be late.”
Kitty gave her a look as she crossed her arms.
“Yeah right.” She scoffed.
“Okay, give me a minute..”
Lara Jean grabbed her bag, stuffing her last few things inside of it.
Kitty rolled her eyes and disappeared down the hallway.
Lara Jean took one last look at herself in the mirror, patting her hair and taking a deep breath as she stepped out.
The hallway was already much louder than Lara Jean had expected.
She stood just inside the entrance of Midtown School of Science and Technology, gripping the strap of her bag as students rushed around her. Everyone seemed to know exactly where they were going. They moved in groups, calling to each other from across the hallway, laughing as they shoved open lockers and hurried toward their first classes.
Lara Jean checked the schedule on her phone.
Room 304.
She looked up at the signs hanging above the hallway.
None of them said 304.
“Great.” She whispered to herself.
Lara Jean followed her through the crowd, trying not to look as overwhelmed as she felt.
She’d been to the school before. She’d toured it with her dad when they’d first moved, and she’d spent the entire tour imagining what it would be like to actually go here.
Now that she was here, it somehow felt different..
Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad?
At least, that was what she kept telling herself..
Eventually, she reached a set of stairs—By the time she reached the third floor, the warning bell had already rung.
Students began disappearing into classrooms, and the hallway slowly became quieter.
Lara Jean looked down at her schedule again.
Chemistry — Room 304.
She found the room at the end of the hallway.
She hesitated outside the door. It was a fresh start, so why did she feel so nervous. She took a breath and walked in.
The teacher was already writing something on the board.
“Ah, you must be Lara Jean.”
Every head in the room seemed to turn toward her.
Lara Jean immediately wished she could disappear.
“Yes.”
“Welcome. Grab any open seat.”
She nodded and quickly looked around.
There were only a few empty desks.
One was near the window.
The other was toward the back, beside a boy who was currently attempting to spin a pencil with his hand. Lara Jean stared.
He noticed. The pencil fell.
“Hi.” She blinked, placing down her bag and taking a seat beside the boy.
“Hi.” He smiled awkwardly.
“New?”
“Is it that obvious?”
“A little.”
“That’s unfortunate.”
He laughed.
“I’m Peter.”
“Lara Jean.”
“I know.”
Her eyebrows lifted.
“You.. know?”
He pointed toward the teacher.
“She said your name.”
“Oh.”
“That would be a weird thing to know otherwise.”
Lara Jean smiled.
“Right.”
Peter moved his notebook over to make room.
For a few minutes, they both paid attention to the teacher.
Or at least, Lara Jean tried to..
She found herself glancing at the boy beside her.
Peter Parker.
He had messy brown hair that looked like he’d run his hands through it too many times, and there was something about the way he sat that made him seem permanently uncomfortable in his own chair.
He was also doodling in the margins of his notebook.
Lara Jean leaned slightly closer.
It looked like a spider.
She looked at him.
“Do you like spiders?”
Peter immediately covered the drawing with his hand.
“No.”
The answer came far too quickly.
Lara Jean smiled.
“Okay.” She laughed.
“I mean—spiders are fine.”
“Right.”
Peter looked at her.
“You’re making fun of me.”
“Maybe.”
He smiled.
Lara Jean looked toward the front of the classroom, trying to hide her own smile.
She had been at Midtown for less than an hour.
And somehow, she’d already made a friend.
The bell rang before she could decide what.
Everyone around them immediately began packing their things.
Peter shoved his notebook into his backpack.
“Soo.. What do you have next?”
Lara Jean looked down at her schedule.
“English.” She replied
“Same.”
She looked at him.
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
He stood and swung his backpack over one shoulder.
“Want me to show you where it is?”
Lara Jean smiled.
“That would be nice.”
Peter nodded.
“Cool.”
They stepped into the hallway together. For a moment, neither of them said anything. Lara Jean glanced at Peter. Peter seemed to know exactly where he was going.
Lara Jean followed beside him, trying to remember which hallways they’d just walked through. She had a feeling that if Peter suddenly disappeared, she’d have absolutely no idea how to get to English.
They turned down another hallway. Lara Jean looked around.
“How do you know where everything is?”
“I’ve been here for a while.”
“That makes sense.”
Peter pointed ahead. “English is right there.”
Lara Jean looked at the room number.
“Wow.”
“What?”
“You actually knew where you were going.”
Peter smiled.
“I told you.”
“I didn’t believe you.”
“I noticed.”
They reached the classroom, and Peter held the door open for her.
“After you.”
“Thank you.”
Lara Jean walked inside.
She wasn’t sure why such a small thing made her smile.
Maybe because the day had started with her feeling like she didn’t belong here. And now she was walking into her second class with someone who had already made the school feel a little less unfamiliar.
It was strange how quickly a person could become familiar.
They found two seats toward the middle of the classroom. Lara Jean sat down and pulled out her notebook. Peter dropped into the chair beside her.
“You always sit next to strangers?” she asked.
“Only the ones who make fun of me.”
“So I’m special?”
Peter looked at her for a second.
“Maybe.”
Lara Jean felt herself smile before she could stop it. She looked down at her notebook. Okay. Maybe she was going to have to be careful with this boy.
Not because anything was happening.
Obviously nothing was happening.
They’d known each other for approximately one class period.
The English teacher walked to the front of the room and introduced herself before passing out a short writing assignment.
“Nothing complicated,” she explained. “Just write about a place that feels like home.”
Lara Jean stared at the blank page.
A place that felt like home. She thought about Oregon. Her old bedroom, her sisters, her dad. Home had always been a collection of things rather than one specific place.
She began writing. Beside her, Peter was staring at his own blank page.
“You okay?” Lara Jean whispered.
“Yeah.”
“You haven’t written anything.”
“I’m thinking.”
“You’ve been thinking for five minutes.” Lara Jean smiled. “What are you going to write about?”
Peter glanced at her.
“Queens, I guess.”
“Why?”
“I mean i’ve lived here my whole life, it’s home.”
She nodded. “That makes sense.”
Peter looked at her paper. “What about you?”
“I’m not sure..” She spoke.
He leaned slightly closer, reading off her page.
“You’re from Oregon?”
“Yeah.”
“You miss it?”
Lara Jean thought about that. “A little.” Then she smiled. “But I think I’m starting to like New York.”
Peter nodded.
“Good.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re here now.”
Lara Jean looked at him.
Peter seemed to realize what he’d said.
“I mean—because you’re going to be here now. Not because..”
“I know.” She said, cutting him off.
They both looked down at their papers. Lara Jean bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling.
Maybe he was just nice. That was probably it. Peter Parker was just a nice boy. And Lara Jean was going to leave it at that.
Probably.
By lunchtime, Lara Jean thankfully had made a friend to eat with.
“Peter!”
A chubby boy with dark straight hair waved from across the cafeteria.
Peter waved back.
“That’s Ned.”
Peter motioned for Lara Jean to follow him. They walked over to the table. Ned looked at Lara Jean, then at Peter. His eyes widened slightly.
“Oh?”
Peter frowned. “What?”
“You made a friend.”
Peter looked offended.
“I have friends.”
“Yeah, but—”
“Ned.”
“Okay.”
A girl sitting across from him looked up from her phone.
She glanced at Lara Jean.
“New?”
Lara Jean nodded.
“Yeah, I’m Lara Jean.”
“MJ.”
Lara Jean smiled.
“Nice to meet you!”
“Likewise.” MJ said, smiling softly.
Peter sat down besides Lara Jean
Ned leaned forward. “So where’d you move from?”
“Oregon.” She replied as Ned’s eyebrows lifted, “That’s really far.”
“Haha Yeah..”
“What made you move here?”
Lara Jean hesitated for a second.
“My dad got married, and his wife is from New York. So we decided to move.”
Ned nodded.
“That makes sense.”
MJ looked at Peter.
“How’d you meet?”
“Chemistry,” Peter answered.
“She was lost,” he added.
Ned laughed as Lara Jean shared a smile. She liked them. She hadn’t expected to.
She’d spent so much time worrying about whether she’d make friends that she’d forgotten people could actually be nice.
The conversation moved from school, teachers to interests and hobbies.
Lara Jean mentioned the her interests from baking, to reading and writing.
Peter looked at her.
“You write?”
Lara Jean nodded.
“A little.”
“What kind of stuff?”
She shrugged. “Mostly stories.”
Peter smiled. “Cool.”
Lara Jean looked down at her lunch.
There it was again. That feeling. Small, barely there. No, definitely there, She pushed it away. No new crushes. That was the plan!
She had literally reminded herself that morning.
And yet Peter Parker was sitting beside her, making her laugh like they’d known each other longer than a few hours.
Maybe plans weren’t as reliable as she’d thought..
By the time Lara Jean got home that afternoon, she was exhausted. She dropped her bag onto the floor of her bedroom and fell backward onto her bed. Her first day was finally over.
And somehow, it hadn’t been terrible. Actually, it had been…
Good.
She thought about her new friends, Ned and MJ.
And, unfortunately, Peter. She rolled onto her side.
Peter Parker.
She didn’t know much about him. He was smart.. he was funny. He apparently didn’t like spiders?
She smiled. That last one was still weird.
Lara Jean sat up and pulled out her homework, she decided she wouldn’t think about him. At least not tonight, she lasted approximately twenty-three minutes.
Eventually, she gave up and started getting ready for bed. The city outside her window was still awake, New York never seemed to sleep.
Lara Jean sat on the edge of her bed, brushing her hair while she watched the lights from the buildings across the street. She was starting to understand why people loved this city.
There was something comforting about knowing that even when she was sitting alone in her bedroom, there were thousands of other people awake too.
She turned off the lamp. Then she heard something. A soft tapping against her window?
Lara Jean froze.
She waited.
Tap.
She slowly turned toward the window. Nothing. Probably a branch.. Except for the fact there weren’t any trees close enough to reach her window.
Tap.
Lara Jean stood, she walked closer..
“Hello?”
Nothing.
She pulled the curtain aside. And screamed.
A figure in a red and blue suit was crouched on the other side of her window.
Lara Jean stumbled backward.
The figure immediately raised both hands.
“Whoa! Sorry!”
Lara Jean stared.
The person outside her window was wearing a mask.
A Spider-Man mask.
She blinked.
“Y-You’re Spider-Man!”
“Yeah.”
Lara Jean looked around her bedroom as if someone might explain what was happening.
“Why are you on my window?!”
Spider-Man looked down. “That’s actually a really good question.”
“You don’t know?”
“I mean, I know why I’m here, but explaining it would take a second.”
Lara Jean stared at him.
“You’re a superhero.”
“Technically.”
“And you’re standing outside my bedroom.”
She should have been terrified. Well, she was.
But mostly, she was confused. Very, very confused.
Spider-Man shifted awkwardly. “Can I come in?”
Lara Jean stared at him.
“No.”
“Fair.”
He nodded.
“Okay.”
There was a pause.
Then Lara Jean noticed something.
He was smiling beneath the mask.
She could somehow tell.
“Do you always visit random girls’ windows?”
Spider-Man immediately shook his head.
“No.”
“Good.”
“I don’t.”
“Okay.”
“Definitely not.”
Lara Jean raised an eyebrow.
“Then why are you here?”
Spider-Man looked at her, for a moment, he didn’t answer. Then he shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Lara Jean frowned, that wasn’t a very satisfying answer. But somehow, she had a feeling she was going to see him again. And she had absolutely no idea how right she was.