Spider-Man Season One: Freestyle

8-1: Infested Part 1

I could tell things were looking good for me when I was greeted outside my final period by one of my favorite faces to see. That may sound a bit strange, but when you have the life I do, there are plenty of faces you'd rather not see. Like ever.

But this was Mary Jane Watson. Definitely on the other end of that spectrum, and also my girlfriend. Basically.

MJ met my eyes immediately as I stepped through the doorway. I couldn't help but smile as I walked up to her. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

She brushed bit of her red hair aside from her cheek. "Tiger, do I really need a reason?"

I blinked and laughed as we started walking together. "'Tiger'? Are you trying to tell me something?"

MJ smiled. "Try not to read too much into it."

"Will do." I nodded. Despite the fact that I had almost no idea what I was talking about at this point, my self-confidence could not be shot down.

As we walked away from the classrooms toward our lockers, we talked pretty casually about our day and what was going on with us. Things had been looking really good for me lately. Harry was opening up to me a lot and kept inviting me to spend time with him. There was obviously my current relationship status. And as Spider-Man, I felt better than ever with the new suit. Granted, I wasn't telling her about that yet, but that was a big part of how I was feeling.

Once we were at my own locker, I began to focus on getting my things. As I asked her rather passively what her plans were for the night, I barely noticed at first that the flow of the conversation had halted. When I did notice, I pulled my head back from within the locker to look at her. "Sorry, what was that?" I asked.

Her hair had drifted partially in front of her face again, but she seemed to ignore it, hanging her head a bit as she replied, "I was asking...if you wanted to go out tonight. Like a date."

I blinked and shifted my hand to make sure I didn't drop the books I was holding. "Seriously?"

She nodded. "I was honestly kind of waiting for you to suggest it, but we've been hanging out for over a month now, and considering the closest to a real 'date' we've had was on New Year's Eve..." She shrugged. "Be nice to make it official, you know?"

"Yeah, totally." I responded, possibly too fast. I shoved that out of my mind. "I would...love to."

She lifted her head a bit. Her green eyes seemed to flash as they reflected more of the overhead light back at me.

Something clicked in my brain, and I felt my heart sink. "...ah...but, I have to help Gwen with something tonight."

MJ tilted her head. "Oh."

I scrambled to try to explain. "It's just...you know, a couple weeks ago she asked me to help her set up for something. She's apparently got a display in the art show tonight. I almost forgot it was tonight."

"Wow..." MJ ran a finger along the bottom of her chin. "That's really cool for her."

"Yeah, I guess so." I nodded. "Anyway, I guess tonight's not a good time. But, maybe tomorrow? I don't know."

"Relax, Tiger." She smiled. "We can figure something out. Go help her out." She turned and, with a little wave, walked off down the hallway.

I sighed. "Right. Gotcha." My disappointment was immense. I knew I should have put more attention on that, but there was just a lot going on. Something about remembering about this new responsibility left me...annoyed.

I slung my backpack over my shoulder and walked toward the exit. No big deal. I thought, I've got a good way to blow off some steam.

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