golden | peter parker

twenty one

Peter regretted the words he said, as soon as they flew out of his dumb mouth. But he never got the chance to apologize. Penny and Michelle had cut off all contact with Ned and Peter. They left all groupchat's, ignored them in the halls, ignored them in gym, they even sat outside for lunch, just to avoid the boys.

Every time Peter would try and talk to Penny, something would always get in the way. It was like she had a sixth sense of detecting him approaching so she could avoid him.

In Algebra and Bio Penny came in right before the bell rang every day, just so there was no way he could talk to her. If there was any free time to do whatever they wanted, Penny spent it in the bathroom or talking to someone she knew Peter would be scared to interrupt.

The lengths she was going to just to avoid him would have impressed Peter, had it not been for the fact that every time she did another shred of his heart was ripped from his chest. Needless to say, it was torture for him and it had only been a week.

Peter hated every second that was spent not talking to Penny. He knew he messed up, hell he double compounded it. He did whatever it was in the first place, and then yelled at her on top of that. He couldn't even forgive himself, how would Penny?

He kept himself busy though, Spiderman was always stopping crime. Mr. Jameson was still writing negative articles about him, but the photos always showed a different story.

See, Peter liked to keep tabs on Penny. He couldn't talk to her as Peter, so he decided to make sure she was okay as Spiderman. More often than not he would stay hidden, but sometimes he would come out into the open when he noticed her camera around her neck. He would never stop to talk to her, but he would stand still long enough and close enough for her to snap her photos.

Although he would've loved to talk to her, he couldn't risk compromising himself. So he watched from a distance. It may have been creepy, but it eased Peter's conscience knowing that he could at least keep her out of harm's way.

Peter stared longingly at Penny from across the room, they were in Biology and she was scribbling down her work in a flurry.

He was struggling a lot more this time around with Penny being mad at him. At least last time if he talked to her she would respond. At least last time she would glance at him every now and then. But this time, it was like Peter had been wiped from her mind. No matter how long he looked at her, she never even attempted to look back.

But Peter was always subtle with how long and how often he would stare, he couldn't let anyone notice. Especially not Penny.

Penny knew every single time he stared at her. She couldn't see it, but she could feel it. That and the girl who sat next to her, nudged Penny every time Peter was looking.

Penny was in all sense of the word, done. She was done with Peter. Done with the lies. Done with the bruises. Done with torturing herself. Done with constantly worrying. Done with second guessing herself for the sake of him. But most importantly, she was done with lying to herself.

She could feel this anger and hatred all she wanted, but she would never be done liking Peter Parker. Penny sighed and glanced up at the clock. Only 20 more minutes before class was over and she could go home.

"Penny? Peter? Can you come here please?" Mrs. James asked from the front of the room, grading papers at her desk.

Penny's face dropped and she hesitantly stood up, careful to not look at Peter as he tried to catch up to her.

"Your work on gene therapy and superheroes, I have some concerns," The older woman said, wringing her hands together.

"Um, really? What was bad about it?" Penny asked nervously, she for sure thought they were going to get an A, was she wrong?

"With all due respect Mrs. James, our project was very well thought out. It was creative, and original, and even though I wasn't here I know that Penny killed the presentation. Surely, we didn't get a bad grade," Peter speculated, ready to defend his grade at all costs. "And I know that-"

"Peter, shut up and let Mrs. James talk," Penny hissed, annoyed that he didn't know when to stop talking.

Peter immediately shut his mouth, surprised she had said anything to him at all. It was the first time since the party, and it wasn't by choice.

Mrs. James laughed slightly, "You can rest assured you got a good grade. But my concern lies in the fact that, well, this research is exceptional. And your prototype replicating Captain America's super soldier serum with sugar? Phenomenal. I think you could aid the scientific community by releasing this to the public. If you would allow me to be so bold, I would even sign you up for a speaking role in New York's Scientific Festival."

Peter's eyes widened in shock. How cool was this? A chance to showcase their theories and research, and a way to get on multiple radars for college? This was one opportunity that they could not possibly-

"No thanks, I'm good," Penny replied, sounding almost bored of the offer.

"What?" Peter and Mrs. James asked in unison.

"Penny how could we pass this up? It's the chance of a lifetime!" Peter argued, not believing his ears.

"You can showcase this all you want, I don't care. I'm a photographer, not a scientist," She countered back, "And I'd rather be dead than caught spending more time with you," Penny muttered.

Mrs. James raised her eyebrows in surprise at Penny's hostility towards Peter.

"Ms. Collins-"

"Thank you for the offer Mrs. James, but I'm good," She said turning on her heel and sitting back down.

Mrs. James glanced remorsefully at Peter, "You can go alone if you would like. It's still an amazing opportunity."

Peter gazed wistfully at Penny who was furrowing her brows and fervently doing her work. He sighed heavily, "Sorry Mrs. James. I'd rather present with Penny, than present alone. It wouldn't feel right."

Mrs. James gave him a tight lipped smile, "Of- of course. If you ever change your minds, be sure to stop by."

Peter nodded and headed back to his seat. As he passed by Penny's desk he stopped. She didn't even look up.

"Can we talk?" He asked, hope in his voice. Penny rolled her eyes.

"We already spoke at Mrs. James's desk," She clipped back at him, still doing the worksheet.

"You know what I meant," Peter pushed. She slammed her pencil on her desk.

"Oh? I know what you meant? Yeah Peter, I got the hint, loud and clear. You made it pretty obvious screaming it in front of everyone. There's no reading between the lines, because you said exactly what you meant to, and I'm only complying. So yes Peter, I know exactly what you fucking meant," Penny spat angrily.

Peter took a step back, not expecting that reaction at all. He didn't know what he was expecting, but it wasn't that.

"Please, an actual conversation," He begged.

"Isn't that what this is, a conversation? Or were you hoping you would have time to prepare a new gift that would magically make everything better? Take your own advice and leave me alone, Peter. You almost make me wish that I had continued to ignore you on that first day in Bio."

Peter's eyes widened, small tears starting to form.

"Oh-Uh, okay," He said quickly, turning away before he could start crying.

Penny immediately regretted her last sentence, but couldn't bring herself to apologize. Obviously she was just mad and didn't want to be bothered, but Peter couldn't help but think that maybe they shouldn't have met at all.

Penny wanted to say sorry, she really did, but if she went up to him it would make her look like she didn't stand for her morals. So she stomached her grief and ignored him once again, letting those be the words that would linger in their minds for yet another week.