Simply Amazing ~ A Peter Parker Story

Daffodils

• • •

"It's very..." my dad stares at the dress dangling from my arms and finishes, "Blue."

"Yeah. It's azure blue."

He shifts his position on the couch and sets his laptop down on the cushion beside him,
"I mean, don't get me wrong you're going to look beautiful. It just isn't very...you."

I shrug my shoulders,
"I know. But I can't really do anything about it."

"Why can't you—"

My dad is interrupted by a knock at our apartment door. He dusts off his jeans and lifts off from the leather cushions,
"I got it."

I'm straightening out the fabric when I hear the door click open. My dad's voice bounces off the walls,
"Oh. How ya doing, Peter?"

My ears perk up and I lay the dress onto the coffee table. My socks slide across the hardwood floor and I stop behind my dad, looking past his shoulder to see Peter. My shoulders still melt when I see the warmth of his brown eyes.

"Pete, what are you doing here?" I ask.

"Can I talk to you for a second?"

I glance to my dad.

"What? Oh. Right. I'll be in my bedroom printing photos if anyone needs me," he tells us, pointing awkwardly in the other direction and disappearing down the hall.

Peter steps inside and shuts the door behind him. He pulls three bright honey-colored daffodils from behind his back. They're bound together by a red ribbon.

"I'm really really really sorry. I was an idiot and I blew you off yesterday."

I rub behind my ear,
"You can do what you want to do with your time Peter. You don't have to apologize."

He steps closer to me,
"No, no. I want to spend my time with you. You have no idea how much I do."

"Then what's stopping you?"

He parts his lips like he wants to tell me. But nothing comes out. Instead I add in a disappointed tone, "Right. You can't tell me."

We stand for a beat in silence. He tells me nervously in a shaking voice,
"Look, what I wanted to tell you yesterday was that I...I like you. And I wanted know if you would wanna go to Spring Formal...with me."

I can barely hear the words. I am simultaneously angry and hurt and in love with him all at once like some messed up chemistry mixture. It fizzles up and burns me inside.

I just stare blankly, not knowing what to do. The answer leaves my mouth subconsciously,
"No."

His eyes go glossy,
"Uh...W-What?"

I stare at the azure blue material cascading over the coffee table for a second,
"I mean, I'm sort of already going with somebody."

"Who?"

The answer leaves a sour taste on my tongue,
"Flash."

Peter's face looks almost nauseous. He grips the stems of the daffodils a little harder,
"You're going with Flash? ___, he's a jerk! How could you do that? You're supposed to be my best friend!"

I blurt out in a chemical reaction,
"You're one to talk! You're literally never around! I am the last thing that ever crosses your mind!"

His face flushes and and his throat is tightened,
"That's not true..."

The tears are rolling heavily down my face. Normally I would be embarrassed, but now I don't care. Now I let everything that has been clouding up my head out like a rapid train-wreak,
"I miss you, so much Peter. You just like abandoned me out of nowhere. I thought we were best friends, but you never tell me what's going on. I'm always wondering where you are all the time. I'm tired of constantly waiting for you to show up and always being disappointed. I'm tired of being unimportant."

One of his hands anxiously pulls on the white string of his hoodie. He takes a moment to think, and then our swollen eyes meet when he states,
"If I tell you everything...I could lose you."

"I think you already have."

Peter nods his head and lingers for a moment. He steps to the side and lays the flowers on the table beside the azure blue. The two colors contrast and hurt my head.

"I'll, just, go then," Peter whispers, waiting until he leaves out into the empty hallway to let the tears fall.

I find myself once again alone. Staring at the daffodils until the water from my eyes makes the colors mix into an indistinguishable haze.