Peter Parker x Reader Go-Away Green

Eyes

There were eyes on you. You could feel them.

Look away look away look away look away.

Why were they looking at you for this long? Usually, if someone looked at you, you wouldn't even have time to deflect their gaze- they would've moved on before you'd realized it.

But this had been going on for at least ten seconds. Twenty. Thirty. Why were they staring so much?!

Look away look away look away LOOK AWAY.

Maybe if you managed to make eye contact with whoever it was and caught them in the act, they'd stop staring at you. But there was no way in hell you were doing that.

BRRRIIIIIIIIIINNNGG!

You closed your eyes and let out a sigh of relief as the bell rang for lunch. Another advantage of not taking notes meant that you didn't waste precious seconds collecting all your things into your backpack. You were immediately ready to slip out the back door and into the hallway before it got too crowded.

"(Y/N)?" came Mr. Harrington's voice.

You froze momentarily, your back facing the front of the class. You inched forward experimentally.

Forget me forget me forget me don't call my name again let me leave let me-

"(Y/N)!"

You took a deep breath, trying to quell the nausea in your gut. You shakily turned around and silently made your way to Mr. Harrington's desk, your head down.

Talking to people was harrowing enough, but he was a teacher! What if you'd failed a test, or forgotten to turn in an assignment? What if he'd caught on to your abilities? What if he noticed that you didn't take notes and thought you were cheating?

"I'm gonna keep this quick, 'cause I'm sure you want to get to lunch," Mr. Harrington interrupted your thoughts. "You've aced every single test you've gotten in this class, you write excellent papers- what I mean to say is that you're a great student. I don't know if you're aware, but I'm the coach for the decathlon team." Of course you were aware. "And because Liz unfortunately had to leave earlier this year, we're a little short. Not drastically, but we could use someone else for the team. Would you like to think it over?"

You were supposed to be just a name on a paper. He wasn't supposed to put a face and a personality to that name. How did he even recall you as a student? You'd never answered a question correctly in front of him because he'd never managed to call on you!

He'd mentioned your essays, your test scores- would you have to dumb it down in order to get his attention off of you? Hopefully it wouldn't come to that. Maybe he'd find another student. Besides, he now had an expectation that you would do well in class. If you broke that expectation, it would raise even more questions.

His eyes, tired and hopeful, made you want to go bury yourself under a rock. Your gaze darted away from his as you shook your head, careful not to do it too frantically, before muttering the only word you'd said all day: "Can't."

It only got worse at lunch.

You normally sat by yourself in a corner somewhere, or outside on occasion, just so long as you were alone. You would also take out a book and put on some headphones to communicate the fact that you were Not Interested in Conversation. You never actually read or listened to music, though. Instead, your attention fell on the ambient noises of the cafeteria and the people you could make out in your peripheral vision.

It was strangely calming, in spite of all the other people around you. Maybe it served as a reminder of how unnoticeable you were in a crowd this large.