INVISIBLE | P. PARKER

TWENTY THREE

TWENTY-THREE;
SPIDER-MAN

"I WAS THINKING..." Cassie trailed off, playing with the edges of her notebook.

Tony dropped what he was doing to listen to what the brunette had to say, he didn't know why, but lately he had been getting slowly attached to her. She already felt like a daughter to him, but he wouldn't tell her that. Never.

The sudden silence in the living room made everyone look at the man with confusion, and their eyes diverted to the girl anxiously playing with her pencil. Natasha crocked an eyebrow as a small smirk slowly took over her features, the twins copied her act almost simultaneously.

"Oh, you think?" Pietro sarcastically said, causing her to roll her eyes.

"Very funny, Pietro. You are hilarious." She retorted in the same way, a little smile crept onto her features. "Anyway, uh–" She looked down at her pencil. "So, I was thinking if we can, uh, if we can get a piano? Maybe?" The girl pursed her lips together.

Next to her, Peter continued finishing his algebra homework and carefully listened to her words. Even though they weren't in good terms, Cassie rehearsed the exact words she would tell them, with him and the nervousness caused her to mess up the question. He didn't care, he thought it was adorable, anyway.

"A piano?" Wanda repeated, crocking her eyebrow with amusement.

"I didn't know you played piano." Tony mumbled, looking straight into her chocolate brown eyes.

"Oh, she's awesome." Peter stepped in, leaving his pencil in the table. "I've seen her, she is an amazing pianist." Cassie blushed and looked away, biting her lip. "She wants to go to Juilliard."

"Well, it's not a big deal." The girl muttered, playing with the tips of her hair. "It's just a hobbie."

"It's not just a hobbie if you plan on going to Juilliard." Vision pointed, crossing his legs with amusement. Cassie exhaled.

"I won't go to Juilliard." She stated, making Tony frown. "Right now, all I want and need is a piano, please? To practice?"

"Fine. I'll see what I can do." The man exhaled, making the brunette smile. "Now finish your homework, I don't want you to fail anything." He snapped, trying his best to not sound so fatherly but everyone noticed, the only one who didn't was Cassie herself.

+++

"I think you're wrong." Ned stated as he played with his pencil, Peter rolled his eyes. "I mean, Captain America would totally beat Iron Man in a matter of seconds. Believe me."

"Well, the videos from Germany say otherwise." Peter fumed, looking at the clock in above the white board. "I think Spider-Man is better."

"I think Spider-Man sucks." The teenagers stopped fighting when a third voice came into the argument.

        Peter really wished he hadn't looked up. When his eyes caught the sigh of Cassie, he felt his own heartbeat stopping. Maybe she wasn't wearing the same make-up and wearing the weird clothes from the other day, but for the first time she was wearing a pony-tail, and her bright smile made her entire face shine. It made her look beautifully natural, angelic almost.

"I'm totally kidding." She spoke, causing him to shake his head and look at her again. "Spider-Man is my favorite." Her smile widened as she dropped her backpack on the floor and sat on the desk next to theirs.

"Hey, Cassie." Ned nervously said, sitting straight. Peter looked at him as a wave of jealousy took over his body.

"Hey–uh, Ned... right?" The boy nodded rigorously with a small smile, Cassie pursed her lips together. "So,"

"So?" Peter continued, leaning to his side to hear her clearly through the muffled voices of the students around them.

"Uh, thanks for helping me with the piano thing." The brunette smiled, causing butterflies to take over his stomach.

"Uh, you're welcome." He squeaked, making Ned snort behind him. "What I said was true you know?"

"Oh, I thought you said that to get me to talk to you again." She teased, raising her eyebrows. Peter scoffed.

"Yeah, that." He played along, smiling at her. "That's a good manipulation technique that I learned from the best." The sarcasm rolled out of his mouth almost instantly, making her scoff as well.

Cassie smiled, "Wanna play?" She showed him the deck of cards.

"You know I do."