Pointe Shoes and Spider Webs

40. News Paper

Daphne's first day at Midtown Tech went as expected. Lots of questions from her classmates about who she is, where she's from, why she's here. She keeps her answers short. Political even. The less they know, the better. She shares most of her classes with MJ, which is probably for the better. Every time she's in the same class as Peter, she can't really focus on anything but him. Maybe she'll get better on ignoring him over time. She needs to keep her grades up to keep the scholarship, so she can't afford to slack. MJ and Ned were excited to see her again. Apparently, they're the only ones who know about Peter doing ballet and based on how Flash and a few other students treat him, it should stay like that. At least for now.

The final bell rings. Peter walks out of the classroom with Ned, who nudges him.
"So..." Ned raises his eyebrows at him. He grins mischievously. "Who's gonna be your date for the Halloween party?"
"Ah, man," Peter groans. "I totally forgot about that."
"Um, hello-ho" Ned pushes his head forward and shakes his head slightly. "Daphne's like, right around the corner. Ask her!" Peter freezes and stares at Ned.
"You think she'd say yes?" Ned rolls his eyes, a little irritated at his best friend's denseness.
"Duh," he pushes out. "She stares at you when you don't look, the way you stare at her when she doesn't look. I'd bet my entire Lego collection on her saying yes." Peter bites the inside of his cheek.
"Okay, but what if she does say no?"
"Then I will eat my entire Lego collection."
"Ned, come on!" Peter whines. "What if she's already going with someone else?"
"You're kidding me, right? This is her first day here. Ask her!"

"Hey, guys!" MJ and Daphne walk up to them and Peter jolts.
"H-hi!" He manages to get out.
"Yo, MJ, I want to show you something that's in my locker and Peter has a very important question for Daphne so we should go now-" Ned says quickly as he pushes MJ away from the group. MJ raises an eyebrow at Peter who shrugs apologetically. Daphne laughs.
"A very important question, huh?" She cocks her head and smirks. "What's up?" Peter swallows and stares at her wide-eyed. His mouth opens slightly to talk, but his voice is stuck. Daphne chuckles at his sudden shyness. It's cute. He fixes his posture and resets his brain by blinking a few times.
"Doyouwanttogotothehalloweenpartywithme-" he mutters quickly. She barely caught what he said when Flash suddenly interrupts them.

"Hello there!" He moves to stand next to Daphne and she rolls her eyes.
"I believe I was having a conversation with someone who's not you, Flash." She smiles passive aggressively at him.
"Oh, don't worry, babe, I won't take much of your time."
"Don't call me that." He ignores her and puts his arm around her shoulder. Peter is boiling with rage.
"I was hoping to accompany you to the Halloween party next week?" He wiggles his eyebrows. "I can get us some top notch matching outfits. I was thinking of me as Dracula and you as-" She interrupts him.
"Oh, Flash," she scoffs, lifting his arm like it's a gross wet towel so she can step away from him. She moves to Peter and puts her arm around his waist. Peter looks at the hand on his side and then at her. Daphne defiantly looks at Flash with a big toothy grin. "I already have a date." A victorious feeling washes over Peter. 

Date?  He smiles wide. Date! 

His own arm snakes around her back and he places his hand on her shoulder. Flash stares at them wide eyed and scoffs loudly.
"Next time you won't say no to me," he threatens. Peter can feel Daphne freeze against him. Flash doesn't notice Daphne's sudden change in mood and storms off. Peter looks at Daphne worried.
"Are you okay?" She stares ahead, at nothing. She shakes her head slowly. Suddenly the weight of what Flash just said and did dawns on Peter. He turns to face her and holds her shoulders with both his hands, trying to get her to look at him. It seems like she stopped breathing. "Flash is nothing like David." She gasps at his name and looks Peter straight in the eye. Her expression aches every part of him. Fear. She doesn't say anything back, she just looks at Peter. "I promise you, Flash is all talk, no action. I'm here, with you, 'kay? I won't let him hurt you." Daphne nods slowly and steps closer so Peter can embrace her. He can feel her shaky breaths against his chest. He softly pets her hair. "I got you."

...

The walk to ballet class was quiet. Daphne had her backpack clutched to her chest again, even though Peter is with her. Flash had really shaken her up. She was quiet during ballet class too. And even after class. To Peter's surprise she wanted to walk home by herself. Did he do something wrong? He asks if she's sure and when she says she is, he accepts her wants and lets her leave.
"Parker?" Madame Touha calls to him from her office and he turns around. She doesn't sound like she's in a good mood. He walks to the office and she gestures for him to get inside. "Close the door," she says. This must be serious. She's reading a newspaper and looks up at Peter, raising her eyebrows. "What's this?" She throws the newspaper on her desk and Peter swallows when he sees the front page.

SPIDER-MAN PERFORMS JUMP COMMON IN CLASSICAL BALLET TO DODGE SEVERAL BULLETS DURING ARMED ROBBERY.

Peter laughs nervously.
"Must be slow news season if that makes the front page."
"Have you actually read the article?" Peter clenches his jaw and picks up the newspaper, his eyes glide over the letters. It's about Spider-Man's sudden change in how he carries himself and the fact that he started incorporating classical dance moves since September. He swallows. He didn't expect anyone to really notice, but apparently his die-hard fans caught on really quickly. He glances up at Madame Touha.
"Ha, isn't that a coincidence," he tries.
"Why are you here, Peter?" She leans forward on her desk. "Why do you want to learn ballet?" He tightens his muscles, wrinkling the newspaper slightly.

"Because my mo-"
"Cut the bullshit, Peter." She stands up and grabs the newspaper from his hand. She points at the picture of your friendly neighborhood superhero. "Is my school teaching Spider-Man ballet?"
"I-"
"Yes or no, Peter." Peter looks down and frowns. There's no way he can get out of this now, but he really doesn't want to answer. Madame Touha repeats herself slowly, emphasizing every word. "Yes or no." Peter licks his lips and looks back up at the head of the ballet school.
"Please, don't tell anyone," he whispers. Tears of frustration prick at the back of his eyes. He should have been more careful.
"I'm not going to," Madame Touha says sincerely. "I just don't like liars." She walks around the desk to stand across from Peter. "I knew you were lying from day one. Figured the truth would come out one way or another. I just didn't expect this truth." Peter stays quiet and keeps looking down. He doesn't want to meet Madame Touha's piercing gaze. 

"Does Daphne know?" He shakes his head aggressively. It's times like these where he realizes he's still a kid and it frustrates him. "Good. Keep it that way." Madame Touha walks back to her desk and sits down in her chair, sighing deeply. He carefully looks up.
"Do I have to quit the classes?" His voice cracks and Madame Touha's eyebrows raise into her receding hairline.
"Quit? Oh, no, Daphne really needs you for the pas de deux." She smirks at Peter and he allows himself to breathe again. "And I've had three young boys apply to the school in the past few days. All cause Spider-Man does ballet." Madame Touha holds up the three application forms. "You showing off your ballet skills during your fights has been the greatest PR I've ever had. Other schools have also reported on more boys applying than usual."
"So I can stay?" He fiddles with his fingers.
"Please!" She nearly begs. "Just no more lies." Peter takes a deep breath and repeats her words.
"No more lies!"