head in the clouds [peter parker]

01.

PETER PUT HIS earbuds in his ears as he walked into his apartment building, his backpack strung over one shoulder. he hummed the song playing on his old ipod, and he subconsciously walked over to the elevator without looking.

he raised his hand to press the button, but there was already a finger there. he jumped back, knocking one of his earbuds out. he looked up to see lynn grove.

"hey peter," lynn smiled at the boy, who was wide eyed and on the verge of drooling.

"oh-hi, h-hey lynn," he managed to say, pulling out his other earbud.

"whatcha listening to?" she nodded towards his ipod.

"this?" he lifted it up slightly before shrugging. "just some music."

lynn pursed her lips, her eyebrow raising. "that's what a ipod is for, if i remember correctly."

peter's cheeks got red and flustered and his throat went dry.

i've done it now, he said to himself. i've made a fool out of myself.

before he could speak, the elevator chimed and the doors opened, and they stepped in.

"what floor?" she hummed, pressing the floor she lived on.

"uh, this one," he stepped forward, pressing the button. this was probably his most brave advance he's ever made toward the girl, and his palms had already started to sweat when he walked back to the opposite corner.

"just below me, huh?" she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

the ride up normally took a short, three minutes, but about a minute in the elevator shook and the metal surrounding the two shrieked to a hault.

"just great," lynn sighed, placing a hand to her face, pressing the red button.

"crap–aunt may is going to kill me!" peter started to panic. he realized he had his suit in his bag, and that made him even more panicked.

he could pry the door open with little to no ease but he decided against it.

"h-help will come, yeah, it will," peter whispered, internally freaking out.

"god if i don't get home by dinner all the police departments in all five of the boroughs will be looking for me," he ran his hands through his hair, pulling at it, groaning.

"pete, for god's sake calm down!"

his head shot up and he whispered to himself "pete?"

"what is it?" she cocked her head to the side, curious.

"huh? -oh..nothing." he lied to her.

peter noticed the minor detail and was shocked. she called him 'pete'. not 'peter', but 'pete'.

"say, while we're in here, we might as well get some homework done, right?" lynn glanced at his backpack before looking at him.

peter fumbled with the strap on his backpack and sat down. he was slow when he unzipped it, taking care to not show even a glimpse of his suit.

he pulled out his chemistry binder and a pencil case and ended up laying on his stomach.

lynn took her backpack off too, copying peter and lying on her stomach next to him.

peter flinched as she did this, watching her relax and prop herself up on her elbows. he stared at her for a while. the way her hair delicately flowed in front of her shoulders as she wrote. the way she bit her lip in concentration. it drove him absolutely insane. how was he supposed to work like this? he couldn't concentrate while she was sitting right next to him.