1.3

                                    

                                          

                            

                                
                            
                              
                                  
                              
                              
                                
                                  
                                  
                                
                              
                             
                            
                            
                          
                          
                          
July 14th, 2016
                          
Gwen was sitting in the gymnasium of her school. She was wearing yellow shorts and a blue tank top. The same colors as everyone else in the gym. She was talking and laughing with Liz, Betty, and a few other girls. At first they were discussing Liz and Gwen's party that they were throwing at Liz's house. The group thought it would be a good way to fully introduce Gwen to people.
                          
For some reason they were now playing a game about the Avengers.
                          
Every so often Gwen would glace over at Peter, watching him do sit-ups and wonder if he really was the trigger for her nightmare last night. Whenever she would look at him, she would get a knotted feeling in her stomach.

                          
"Now, see, for me, it would be F Thor, marry Iron Man, and kill Hulk," Betty stated, listing them off on her fingers.
                          
"Why are we playing this game," Gwen laughed, "I wouldn't choose any of them because I grew up with them. Iron Man is my dad, guys."
                          
A girl named Charles then spoke, "Well, what about the Spider-Man?"

                          
"It's just Spider-Man," Betty stated, not very interested.
                          
Gwen looked at the blonde, "Did you guys see the bank security cam on YouTube? He fought off four guy."
                          
Betty then gave a smirk, "Oh my God, the daughter of Tony Stark is crushing on Spider-Man."

"No way," Charles said in disbelief.

Gwen started to blush as she gave a shrug, "I mean kind of."
                          
The girl didn't know why but she decided to admit this for the first time. She knew Peter most likely didn't hear her. But Gwen did think she had a crush on him. She wasn't a hundred percent sure. But after the nightmare she had because of him, Gwen knew she cared for him.

                          
"Ugh, gross," Betty huffed, "He's probably like, thirty."

Liz then nodded in agreement, "You don't even know what he looks like. Like, what if he's, like, seriously burned?"

                          
Gwen rolled he eyes at the question. She knew who Spider-Man really was, and she liked who it was. "I wouldn't care. I would still love him for the person he is on the inside," She said truthfully.
                          
"Peter knows Spider-Man!" Ned yelled out.

The whole gym went silent and Gwen felt her face grow red at the thought of them hearing her say she had a crush on Spider-Man. The girls around her were giving Peter bewildered looks.
                          
"No, I don't. No. I... I mean..." Peter tried, standing up and trying to cover for himself.
                          
Gwen wanted to tell him he didn't have to explain, but she couldn't. She had to remain as clueless as everyone else.
                          
"They're friends," Ned explained, trying to show Peter off.

                          
Flash then walked over from the rope he was climbing up, "Yeah, like Coach Wilson and Captain America are friends."
                          
"They're friends," Ned explained, trying to show Peter off.

Flash then walked over from the rope he was climbing up, "Yeah, like Coach Wilson and Captain America are friends."

                          
"I've met him. Yeah. A couple of times. But it's, um... through the Stark internship. Mm-hmm," Peter stated, his voice small and nervous.
                          
Gwen felt bad. She didn't like the way Flash was treating Peter. So she decided to step in, "Yeah, I think you have. You're lucky, I haven't even met him before."
                          
"Well, that's awesome," Flash smiled, not letting the situation go, "Hey, you know what? Maybe you should invite him to Gwen and Liz's party. Right?"
                          
"Yeah, I'm having a party at Liz's house. Kinda to show me off to the school. You're more than welcome to come," Gwen stated
                          
She bit her lip out of nervous habit. Gwen was going to invite him later. Now it seemed like she wasn't going to invite him at all.

"Having a party?" Peter squeaked, his voice was so small that Gwen had barely heard it.

                          
Flash continued to walked closer to Peter, "Yeah, it's gonna be dope. You should totally invite your personal friend Spider-Man
                          
"Um..." Peter started, but he couldn't think of any words.

Liz then came to his rescue, "It's okay. I know Peter's way too busy for parties anyways, so..."

"Come on," Flash cut in, "He'll be there. Right, Parker?"
                          
Gwen wanted to say something but the bell announcing the end of class started to ring. The girl gave a sigh as everyone started to leave. She stayed put on the bench and waited until everyone was almost gone.

When she finally stood, Gwen walked over to Peter. The girl put an awkward hand on Peter's shoulder, "Please come to the party. Maybe we could talk."

                          
Gwen didn't give Peter time to answer as she walked away. She didn't want to hear what he was going to say. She was scared he would reject her. But Gwen didn't even know for sure if Peter had even heard her admit that she had a tiny crush on him.

She hadn't known Peter long. Gwen knew that. She didn't fully understand her feelings for Peter. The girl had never had a crush before. The only thing she knew was from books she had read
                          
Everything described in the many novels she had read checks out. She would have a weird feeling in her stomach, she would think and worry about him when she shouldn't. Gwen wasn't one hundred percent sure she liked him like that. But she hoped the party would fix that.
                          
So far having a normal life was throwing Gwen into random things she didn't expect. There was a timed schedule, she didn't have her suit, she was around normal people her age, she was developing possible crushes. And to top it all off she was going to have her first high school party.
                          
Gwen had been to many parties in her life, they were normal for her. But they were all full of adults. For every party was some type of affair for her father. And Tony had always been there with her.
                          
But now this was a party that wasn't going to have any adults, and her father couldn't even be there if her wanted. Tony was on a business trip. So Gwen was on her own.

                          
And having to talk with Peter at the party about what he may or may not have heard terrified her. She just hoped that things would go right for her. Gwen hoped that their would be no surprises.