The Girl in The Tree ~A Peter Parker Fanfiction

One

"Girls are like apples on trees. The best ones are at the top of the trees. The boys don't want to reach for the good ones, because they are afraid of falling and getting hurt. So, they go for the rotten apples from the ground, which are easy to get but not as good. The apples at the top think there is something wrong with them, but in reality they are amazing. They just have to wait for the right boy to come along, the one who's brave enough to climb all the way to the top of the tree."

•Third Person PoV•

Y/N awoke to the sound of her alarm, shooting up out of her bed, and then looking at the clock. She reasoned that five more minutes of rest would be okay, and then settled back in.
As it usually does, five minutes turned into half an hour.
"Y/N!!!! Wake up!" A voice yelled, and Y/N let out a cough as her brother jumped on her bed and proceeded to shake her awake.
"Mom says you're late for school!"
"WHAT?!"
Y/N launched off the bed and grabbed some clothes, and then ran into the bathroom and locked it.

It was Y/N's first day of high school in her junior year, this year starting at Midtown High. Did she want to go? No. Was she nervous? Hell, she was super nervous. After what happened at her last school... she didn't want to mess this year up for herself.
After putting on a flannel, dark jeans, and some combat boots, she grabbed her makeup bag, flying to do her makeup and hair. After it looked decent, she scrambled down the stairs.
"Hi, hon," Mom said, and handed her a blueberry waffle.
"Hi-mom-gotta-go-first-day-of-school-can't-be-late-bye," she said quickly and ran out the door, shoving the waffle in her mouth. The bus was going up the street. She didn't have a car yet, but she had saved up almost enough to get one.
She waved her arms frantically, hoping the bus driver would notice her. He did, and opened he doors.
"New student?" He grumbled.
Y/N nodded, her mouth still full of waffle.
"Go grab a seat, then."
Y/N walked down the isle and found herself an empty seat, which she plunked her bag down on and pulled out her headphones. Her phone immediately started playing music, which she didn't really object to. She leaned her head back against the seat and waited anxiously to get to school.

Once there, the bus was nearly full. The bus driver opened the doors and everyone got out and into the bus lot. Y/N noticed she was the only one who wasn't talking to anyone. "Day one and I already look like a loner," she thought, but followed the line of kids going into the school.
Suddenly, the bell rang, and kids began shouting and running to get to their classes.           Y/N started running too, but had no idea where to go. Once she got into the school, she saw a sign that said "Front Office" And darted inside.
A snobby-looking older woman sat at the desk directly in line with the door.
"Can I help you?" She asked, sounding irritated.
"I'm a new student. Your website said I could get my schedule this morning?" Y/N asked.
The lady sighed. "Name?"
"Y/N Y/LN." The lady started to type, and then a printer spewed out a schedule.
"Thank you!" Y/N yelled as she ran out the door. The corridor was deserted, and there were no signs on the walls to indicate where any of the classes were.
Y/N turned around, and saw a boy leaning against a wall and typing on his phone.
"Excuse me," she said. The boy looked up.
"Do you know where the English room is? It's my first day and I don't know where to go," Y/N said and smiled sheepishly.
The boy put his phone in his pocket and looked down at his feet. "Y-yeah. This way."
He started walking. Y/N followed him.
"Your name is?" Y/N asked, trying to break the icy awkwardness.
"Ned." He didn't look at you.
"I'm Y/N. Um.. you like Star Wars, I see?" Y/N noted Ned's Star Wars shirt.
Ned only nodded. The rest of the walk he stayed silent. Suddenly he stopped, and then gestured to the classroom in front of him.
"This is it," he said. Y/N thanked him and was about to go in, when another boy charged down the hallway.
"NED! Come on, we gotta go, I just got an alert from Karen, someone is-" he stopped abruptly once he noticed you. "Hey...." he said, trying to play off his excitement. "Who's this?" His foot tapped on the floor of the hall quickly.
"Y/N. She's a new student," Ned said, and the boy held out his hand to her.
"Nice to meet you, Y/N," the boy said. "I'm Peter. Peter Parker."
Y/N sheepishly took Peter's outstretched hand and shook it. As he let go, he glanced back at Ned quickly and his eyes widened.
Y/N cleared her throat.
"Well, gentlemen, I should get into class. Nice meeting you, Peter." And with that, Y/N walked into her class and found that every eye was on her. From behind the closed door she could hear Peter and Ned whispering loudly.
The teacher's sharp gazed snapped her from her thoughts.
"Miss Y/L/N, I presume?" She said sourly, and gestured to an empty seat. Y/N smiled apologetically and sat down.
The teacher resumed with her lesson, but Y/N paid no attention as she stared off into the distance, thinking.

~•~•~

Lunch rolled around, finally. Y/N didn't know where to sit, because, of course, nobody wanted to talk to her.
However, a girl caught her eye. The girl was waving at her, but just to make sure, Y/N gestured to herself questioningly. The girl nodded, and beckoned Y/N over. Y/N sat down across from her, relieved.
"You're the new girl, right?" She said, staring at Y/N intently.
"That's me," she replied.
"I'm Michelle. And you are... Y/N. We have Chem together." Michelle stuck out her hand and Y/N shook it.
"So.. where are your other friends?" Y/N asked, trying to make some form of conversation.
"I don't have any, other than people on my decathlon team. You know, I was observing you in Chem, and you look like you would make a good addition to the team," Michelle said, picking at the bookmark on the book in her hand.
"Well, I have nothing else to do, so why not?" Y/N smiled.
"Good. I'm the president of the team, and our first meeting is after school. See you then?"
"Definitely." The bell suddenly rang, and you glanced at your schedule.
"I have Trigonometry next, do you know where that is?" Y/N asked Michelle.
"That's on the way to my next class. I'll show you," Michelle replied, and the two set off.

~•~•~

•Your PoV•

The long, boorish day ended. And not a moment too soon. You practically ran out the door, just because you didn't want to get caught in the current of teenagers.
You remembered that Michelle wanted you to come to decathlon, but not for another half hour. To pass the time, you spotted a tree partially hidden by the building, with enough foliage to almost completely conceal you from anyone watching.
You took hold of a lower branch, and swung yourself up onto it. You climbed the tree until you found a good spot in the middle, with a clear view of the ground below and a comfortable branch to rest on. You pulled out a book from your backpack and began to read, soothed by the little rustle of leaves.

After a while, you hear footsteps heading in the direction where you are, hidden in the tree. You lean to the side of your branch, trying to peer through the leaves to see who it is. You quietly put your book back in your bag and slip it around your shoulders. You look down again,  leaning on a smaller branch to keep your balance. You see a patch of brown hair, and crane your head a little more to see who it is.

That's when the small branch snaps, and disorients your center of gravity. You flail your arms to try and grab on to another branch, but you miss and plummet straight down to the concrete below. You can't even scream. You let out a little squeak, and brace yourself to land hard on the ground.

However, instead of feeling your head getting smacked on to the pavement, you feel two strong arms cradling your waist and the underside of your knees. Whoever it is that caught you, you just bury your head into their shoulder.
After you regain your breath, you look up.
Peter Parker.

He's staring at you, a little bewildered.
His eyes are a warm shade of brown, with flecks of gold that you hadn't noticed when you met him earlier.
Y/N, pull yourself together.
You suck in a breath, and quickly disentangle yourself from his arms.
You brush off your jeans, and hurriedly try to fix your messy hair.

"Uh, uhmmm.." you stutter, all of your composition gone.
"Thanks," you finally whisper, and look down at your feet.

"What were you doing in that tree?" Peter said, and you could see him holding back a laugh. His anxiousness from earlier seemed to be gone.

"I was.. Uhm." You gestured with your hands, but nothing came out of your mouth.
Think, you butt nugget.
"I was just reading. Just trying to pass the time, since I have decathlon now."

Peter gave you a knowing smile. "Michelle said you were coming to Decathlon, I'm part of the team."
For some reason, you felt really really nervous around him. Especially now, in this awkward situation.

"Would you.. would you mind showing me where to go?" You asked sheepishly.
Peter nudged his head to the side. "Follow me."

A/N
How was the first chapter, everyone? I feel like it was a little boring, but I kinda wanted to capture the scenario of what's going on before we get into the good stuff.
Keep reading! Make sure to vote and comment!