After lunch had ended, Peter went to his sixth period class, where he sat alone as his classmates socialized in their groups. He kept his head low, acting as if he was falling asleep. At times, he felt like he would, his mind was constantly aching from all the thinking he was doing. It would have been alright with him though, anything to keep his mind off the job search would be a great relief of stress. However, he couldn't shake the thought of his conversation with Michelle and the note she had left him. It bugged him so much, he started tracing through his memories of her, trying to remember if she had been kind to him, or if he had ever been kind to her. The only memory he could come up with was the day she became captain of the decathlon team.

Peter knew that didn't deserve the spot since he bailed on the team in Washington, so when Michelle was nominated, he applauded half-heartedly. She had been a clutch player at Nationals and was just as smart as he was. She deserved the title of captain, and he was all for the new change in leadership.

As he thought about it, that was the only time he had ever been kind to her. Had she ever been that kind to him? He remembered that just seconds after being named captain, she stopped him briefly when he was called to the bathroom by Stark's Head of Security Happy Hogan. She had questioned where he was going and if he was hiding something, but was only kidding around and let him go. What did she mean by letting him go. Was she just making fun of his constant leaving, or did she understand that he needed to be somewhere else, even if it was in a tight situation. Was that her way of showing kindness? When he realized this, he figured that this was why she came to him during lunch, because she understood that he was under the stress of all his responsibilities. She had come to help him, and he had pushed her to the side in his frustration. Peter felt really stupid, and he hoped Michelle wasn't too upset with him for being a total asshole. He thought about what he would say to her when they met again, knowing that he had to apologize.

Class ended, and he took the long walk to his last class. He searched the halls for Michelle as he walked, hoping he could apologize as quick as he could. Unfortunately, he was unable to find her in the time he traveled to class. He planned to go looking for her when the day was over, but he soon found her in the corner of his classroom, reading her book as usual. Peter lost his breath for a moment, knowing that this was the time to man up and apologize.

He saw an empty seat along the wall next to hers and slowly walked toward it. His eyes shifted back and forth between Michelle and the seat, trying not to stare at her, but he couldn't help it. He wanted her to look up and see him trying to make amends with what he had done. But mostly, Peter just observed her very nature, just at how calm and quiet she was. The students around her would have been having a dance battle, and she wouldn't have noticed because she was so caught up in her own world. To Peter, it was kind of admirable to see someone be confident with who they are, and not trying to be someone else.

He set his bag on his desk and plopped into his seat, letting out an exhaustive sigh as he landed. Michelle heard his exasperation and looked up to see him timidly looking down at the desktop. Not wanting to draw to much attention that she that looked up, she went back into her book, but then he spoke out, "I'm sorry."

"What..."

"I'm sorry I blew up on you back in lunch, you didn't deserve that," he stuttered. He wanted to be as sincere as possible, he never let anyone to be affected by the weight of his responsibilities. "I was too stupid to realize you were trying to help and I just..."

"Ok, slow down there Charlie Brown," she cut in, "it's fine, I don't need to hear your super-long apology." She didn't like it when he became so sentimental and sorry for himself, it was depressing to watch. Even if he deserved to be unhappy, she didn't want him to be completely sad, at least not with her. "Just forget the whole thing happened, alright."

Peter nodded to himself, and relaxed in his chair. The class went on as usual, no movie or anything to keep the students entertained, just themselves. Peter kept finding himself wanting to talk to Michelle, but wasn't sure if what she said in her note would be true. He thought he might as well give it a try and turned in her direction and mumbbled, "Michelle." She shifted her gaze and their eyes met. Peter felt a sudden force surge through his body when they did, and he felt the goosebumps starting to form on his skin. He summoned as much confidence as he could, and asked, "W-what did mean when you said you're not going to have a good summer."

She thought about her answer for a moment, recalling her summer plans. "Um, my dad's got me spending time with him at the community center he works at, so I won't have much time doing what I want to do."

Peter could understand the feeling, and he remembered when he wanted to be called in for another mission with the Avengers. Unfortunately, he was asked to keep his priorities on the "little people", as Tony Stark would put it. Peter felt his life was passing by him as he did what he was told, and longed to do something bigger and better. He imagined Michelle must be going through the same thing he once did, and he felt a bit sorry for her. "What is it that you would you like to do," he curiously asked.

Michelle rested her head on her hand, thinking of ideas, "Hmm, I don't know, I guess I never really thought about what I want to do. Maybe a concert or two, but I guess I'll be O.K. with sitting in a smelly center every day."

"Do you not like being at the center," Peter asked.

She explained, "It's alright I guess. I get to meet people of different ages and backgrounds, but when you have to deal with the really shitty people is when it gets exhausting." She started thinking of the boys on the center's staircase from the previous night and how they are always messing around, trying show each other up, or just giving her unwanted attention. Peter nodded his head, imagining the type of people she was describing. He might have even crossed paths with people like that as Spider-Man. They might have been part of a car-jacking, or even a bank robbery for all knew. Michelle spoke again, taking Peter out of his thought, "if you want, you could swing by sometime." Peter was taken off guard for the moment. What did she mean by swing by? Did she know about his spider life? Better yet, why would she ask him to come by the center. "The center is hosting a job fair next week, and I think it could help you with the whole job thing you're in."

'Oh um," Peter stuttered, amazed at how open she was being. It was a side she had never displayed before. "Thank you for the suggestion," he said humbly, "but I think I can find work on my own."

"Oh, that wasn't a suggestion," Michelle said quickly with a chuckle, "that was a plan."

Peter was now even more confused, "Wait what, what do you mean plan." After studying a look she gave him that said "You know what I mean," Peter started to piece together Michelle's intention's. "No, no, absolutely no," he freaked out waving his index finger in her direction. He really didn't want to be in this position, "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not, besides you owe me for what happened at lunch," she perplexed.

"I just don't think it would be a good idea, O.K. I don't think I could really earn a job if I don't go searching for it myself." Peter was trying to let her down in the gentlest way possible. He had already ruined one conversation with her today, and he wasn't going to ruin another one.

Michelle couldn't believe how stubborn he was being, again. At least this time he wasn't being a complete dick about it. However, she didn't want to control his life, and if she made him join her, then who knows what he would think of her after. "Alright Parker, she said reluctantly, "but if you change your mind and you end up coming, you still owe me."

'Ha," he playfully huffed, "it's a good thing your kind of my friend, cause' you are persistently unpleasant to others."

Michelle smiled, she knew that most people didn't take well to her dark humor. She was also felt a few butterflies in her stomach from Peter saying she was his friend. O.k., he didn't exactly say that they were good friends, but he did sort of imply it. She felt this feeling similar to when she had helped the decathlon team win the National Championship. It felt so good that she didn't want the feeling to stop, as if the universe had given her some much needed hope or something. And at the center of it all was Mr. Peter Parker. She couldn't help but chuckle at his comment, which grew into a laugh that made Peter smile. His smile invoked a sense of friendliness and positivity, which made Michelle feel good about herself. She had been able to make Peter smile, something that only Ned, or sometimes Liz, would be able to accomplish.

She felt that their sort-of-friendship had taken a step forward, and the lingering thought of having a crush on him returned to her head. Peter is such a cool guy, and he always gives such warm smiles. Wait, what am I doing. Shh, stop thinking like that, he's never even noticed you until this moment. However, this is a time I haven't seen him run off for no reason. Maybe he enjoys talking to me. I don't know, it's always going to be a complicated mystery with him.

At the same time, Peter was having his own little conversation with himself about the girl sitting next to him. Wow, she's laughing. Michelle Jones is actually laughing, and not because she was making fun of someone. And it's kind of... cute. Ahh, get a hold of yourself web-head. She's probably playing along to hide her true thoughts about you. But... her smile is so genuine, and her eyes are so pure. It's like she only sees me, and no one else. It was this thought that Peter noticed something different about Michelle. Not just that she was a good person to talk to, but that she was kind of pretty. From the way her hair curled in her ponytail and bangs, to the way she positioned herself in her chair. He was starting to like the idea of her company, and hoped that the next time they spoke would be just like it was now.

He looked up at the clock at the front of the classroom and saw that it was 2:43, just two minutes left in school till summer vacation started. He turned back to face Michelle as a thought entered his mind. Knowing that he would not get any other chance, he quickly acted on it. "Hey um, I know this is probably a crazy idea, but I'm kind of enjoying this little chat we're having," he said as he reached into his book bag, "so would you mind signing my yearbook."

Michelle smirked, this was too good of an opportunity to pass on a joke. "Wow," she exclaimed, how is it that you can go from a super-serious, determined guy to someone so cheesy in a matter of seconds."

Peter a bit bashful at this point. He had taken this leap faith, if you will, to ask if she would simply sign his book, and she decides to come back with a semi-insulting joke. "Never mind, you don't have to sign it, it was a silly idea anyway."

"Oh my God Peter, she exasperated in a positive tone, "just give me book." She held out her hand and took the book from his. Once she had his book on her desktop, she reached into her own bag for hers. "Here, as long as I'm signing yours." Peter took her copy, and a smile returned to his face.

Peter had to think for a while before he started to write anything down. He didn't want to say anything to weird or unusual. He quickly glanced over to Michelle, and saw that she was already writing something down. It was as if she knew exactly what she wanted to say, which made Peter nervous. He quickly came up with something, and began to write.

Michelle, you're a really good person to talk with and thanks for making the last day of school more bearable. Even though we don't talk much, I hope that we will get to know each other a bit more. And I will think about coming to the Center over break. Have a good summer. Your sort-of-friend, Peter Parker!!

He closed her book and waited for her to finish writing in his copy. There were only seconds left in class, and he wondered if she would ever run out of words to write. Finally, she started to sign her name, and as she closed the book, the release bell rang out. It was almost symbolic, closing a book on another year of school. Sophomore year was now complete, and he and his fellow classmates were another year closer to graduating.

They returned each other's books to one another, and Michelle stood. She wrapped her bag around her shoulders and held her yearbook close in her arms. She looked down at Peter and smiled, "See you around loser." Making her way to the door, Peter waved her off which made Michelle shake her head in annoyance. She couldn't believe how dumb and innocent he looked for doing it. "Parker, you are too much," she complained as she walked out of the room and into the sea of cheerful students.

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A/N-  Again, I'm a day late. And honestly, I don't feel to bad about it given the the amount of time I spent visualizing and conceptualizing their conversation in this chapter. I mean this probably went through 3 to 4 revisions before I came to the final draft. But I hope you guys will enjoy Chapter 7.

If you have anything you would like to share about the story, positive or negative, it would really make my day if you commented. I truly don't know if I'm making the right choices half the time. Don't forget to vote on the chapter if you liked it as well.

I will try to get a new update out on time next week, but I highly doubt it since I still need to start writing the next chapter of my Scarlet Witch and Vision story, which you should check out BTW. We'll see what happens though. Until next time, BYE!!