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Back in the school at their next class, Zoee and Peter slump in, heading to the back of the classrooms where their empty seats are. The pair of friends plop down at their desks attached to the seat, Zoee immediately regretting throwing herself like that as pain cracks at the back of her head. She grabs at her scalp, laying her head down on her free arm. She peeks over at Peter as she feels a comforting pat at her knee. She knows it was him; Zoee wouldn't dare let anyone else touch her as he does.
Zoee moves her hand away from her head and starts to move it down to his, wanting to feel his skin against hers calm her down. Her breathing is still quite heavy at the scene from outdoor lunch, her anxiety and thoughts going through the roof. She starts to wonder how many people saw the fight, and how many more would know about it with all the rumors.
Zoee grabs at her knee and lifts her head to look down and get a better look. She doesn't feel or see Peter's hand. Instead, she watches as his hand retreats to his desk and his attention is on someone else.
"It was stupid, but it was great." She hears and her attention gets moved as well, to what a surprise, Gwen Stacy. She swears she sees Peter's pupils form into hearts as he looks at the blonde. She can't help but feel a burning sensation in her chest, which she knows is anger and jealousy. Her consciousness laughs at her, mocking at how stupid she feels and how Peter will never feel the way she does.
Zoee herself can't even exactly describe what she feels for Peter, but she knows that it's enough to make her jealous and feel this rage against the innocent Gwen Stacy.
"You should probably go to the nurse, you might have a concussion." Gwen continues, looking at Peter with sympathy. She then swivels around in her chair and faces Zoee. "You too, you fell to the ground really hard."
More like I was thrown into the ground, The Atkins girl thinks bitterly but nonetheless nods with a somewhat straight face, trying so hard not to roll her eyes. Rolling eyes sounds painful to Zoee, as the pain in her head turns into full-on throbbing. Zoee starts to tip to the side as her vision gets dizzy and blurry. She quickly catches herself but closes her eyes to soothe her vision and now a migraine.
"I'd still go to the nurse though," Gwen quips, turning back around in her seat to face the board but keeps glancing back at him. Zoee opens her eyes, blindly grabs at her stuff and stands up, almost falling back. She is fed up with their obvious flirting about if Peter knew his own name and since her head isn't getting any better, she is going to take up on Gwen's offer of going to the nurse.
She feels Peter's gaze on her back as she quickly shuffles her way out of the classroom. As she glances back at him and her vision clears for a moment before stepping out the door, she sees that Peter has his eyes back on the blonde. Zoee grunts lowly and finally walks out, feeling extremely betrayed because the Parker boy hasn't made any more efforts to check up on her, especially since Gwen started talking to him all of a sudden.
Zoee's thoughts start to run wildly in her mind once more, taking off most of her attention and not helping her make her way down the hall. Her body suddenly collides with another, her bag being clutched in Zoee's arms as she braces herself and hopes not to fall.
Hands grab at her shoulders making Zoee flinch back at the touch. "Hey, Zoee, calm down. It's just me." A female voice soothes, and Zoee feels a wave of relief at the person who steading her.
Miss Almond, a tall red-head with a freckled face is standing upon her, a worried look on her face. The Almond lady used to run a support group twice a week during lunch at the drama/dance classroom. She named the group the drama club when really the students with emotional problems met up to talk about their feelings. Miss Almond wanted to maintain confidentiality and Zoee wonders if the group still runs today; she hasn't attended every since her first hospital visit. Zoee now has an actual therapist she can communicate with privately.
"Are you okay?" Miss Almond asks and Zoee shakes her head before grabbing at her scalp carefully to not hurt herself. The teacher's face twists in worry. "Do you need to go to the nurse?" Zoee then nods and her bottom lip starts to tremble. Miss Almond is quick to act, rushing her to the nurse quickly to have her checked out.
♡
"Are you sure you're okay, honey?" Soft hands pull Zoee's brown locks back into a loose ponytail and keep pressing the ice pack more into the bump on the back of her head. Zoee glances up at Aunt May wincing a bit. She nods slowly and gives her a soft look with her eyes to try and convince her.
May Parker gives her a soft smile before placing the ice pack wrapped in a paper towel next to the couch cushion next to her. She rubs her back for a few moments before making her way back into the kitchen. "If you need me, I'm gonna finish making dinner."
Zoee sighs and frowns, staring down at the floor and letting her vision go out of focus. She rests her head on her crossed arms, feeling her phone buzz once again, but choosing to ignore it.
It's Peter still trying to desperately communicate with her through text, but Zoee doesn't feel like answering him. She basically wants to give him a taste of his own medicine as she feels like he abandoned her for Gwen Stacy, even if it was for a few moments. Zoee might be being a bit too harsh, but her crazy thoughts are back, telling her that Peter will leave her for Gwen so to avoid that happening, she will avoid him to see how he likes it.
On the other hand, this might drive Peter away and then it will be her fault but she can't seem to think straight. She blames it on the hit she took on her head.
When Miss Almond took Zoee to the nurse, the worker there decided to send the young teen home as she was experiencing awful consequences from the harsh hit to the head. The nurse gave her an ice pack and went to contact her mother as Zoee and Miss Almond started to chat through a pad and pencil the nurse let them borrow.
They caught up on how Zoee was over the past year and Zoee was able to learn that the support group is still going on and that she is welcome to join again. Zoee might take up on this offer, seeing as there's a chance that Peter will hang out with the girl he has been obsessing over since she finally gave him some attention. Once they were almost done with the conversation, the nurse informed the Atkins girl that her mother couldn't make it and that she sent Uncle Ben instead.
"Hey!" Peter's voice calls in after the front door closes shut. Zoee closes her eyes to pretend to have fallen asleep, but her eyelids keep moving which is a dead giveaway. Peter also notices this when he leans down to press a feathery kiss to her forehead.
"Hey." He murmurs softly, kneeling down on the carpet close to her. "Why haven't you answered any of my texts?"
Zoee gives him a one-shoulder shrug, opening her eyes slightly to peer up at him. Peter gives up immediately and drags himself into the kitchen, making Zoee frown even more. He didn't keep pressing like he usually would, wanting to get out information from her to try to help. This leads Zoee to quickly conclude that he's going to leave their friendship. Tears spring to her eyes at the thought.
But what Zoee doesn't see is that Peter throws her a worried glance and stares at her for a few moments with a frown before he follows him Uncle Ben into the basement.
