Summary: Where a spontaneous change of seats in American Literature lands the reader next to her crush, Peter Parker

High school was rough, especially when it came to being social. You disliked making small talk because you weren't any good at it, and everyone seemed to treat you like you had the plague. Nobody acted like you were a normal human being. It was one of the downsides of being both the new girl and brainiac level smart. For a couple weeks you navigated the scary new environment by yourself, fading into the background like a wallflower. A perpetually lonely wallflower.

That was until you met MJ.

The two of you automatically clicked, bonding over your favorite books, witty sarcastic humor, and a love of all things nerdy. She was completely real and being fellow outcasts made the two of you get along perfectly. You told each other everything, went to lunch together, sat next to each other in classes, and hung out after school at your houses. It didn't take long until both of you were officially best friends.

But, for as long as you had known MJ, you had also been totally in love with Peter Parker.

The school genius.

You should have seen it coming, you really should have. He was absolutely perfect, and everything about him made your heart flutter. You honestly didn't think you had a type, until you saw him. Peter was kind, crazy intelligent, and a complete nerd. You found yourself staring at him one too many times in class, when he'd raise his hand to answer questions. Of course, only when you weren't raising your hand first. But it was nice to daydream about him. He was the best dream you knew you'd never have.

Peter Parker was so out of your league.

"So, we still on for studying at your place?" You smiled, shutting your locker and turning to roll your eyes at MJ playfully. You'd just finished Chemistry, your hardest class, when the curly haired girl came to find you.

"Yes, even though neither of us are going to get much done. We always end up doing more talking than studying." You replied, slinging your bag over your shoulder. MJ shrugged and let out a small laugh.

"Eh, I think our grades will survive either way. Also, when were you going to tell me about your massive crush?" she asked, wiggling her eyebrows. Your face turned cherry ready ed, not believing what had just come out of her mouth.

"What-what are you talking about? There's no crush!" You stuttered, as MJ swung an arm over your shoulder.

"You know exactly who I'm talking about. I can't believe I didn't notice until now. And you kept saying the reason you were getting distracted in class was because you weren't getting enough sleep." She laughed, nudging you slightly. Your mouth opened, but nothing came out. Anyone coming down the hall would have thought you were having an aneurysm.

"I'm not! That's the truth! I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."

"Y/N, come on. Did you really think that I wouldn't know by now? You stare at him all the time. It's. Peter. Parker."

The mention of his name made you cover your face in embarrassment. You knew you weren't exactly discreet, but you really thought you hadn't been that obvious. You weren't sure if you should confirm MJ's statement, but you realized to refute it would be pretty useless. When she was convinced of something, you couldn't sway her.

Guess it was time to confess.

"Okay, you can't tell anyone this. Ever. I have a huge crush on Peter, yes. But nobody can ever find out. I'd be laughed out of the school and Peter would think I'm the creepiest person alive." You whisper screamed, pulling her to the side to avoid prying ears.

"Uh, I think the creepy boat has sailed, Y/N. But who knows, right? He definitely likes you too." You elbowed MJ in the side as you two wandered down the hall to class.

"I'm just the freaky genius girl, MJ. Nothing more."

————————————————————————

When you walked through the door of your American Literature class, you spotted Peter sitting in the back with Ned. He must have felt your eyes, because he looked back at you, a slow smile gracing his face as he gave you a shy wave. You almost choked, managing to wave back before MJ dragged you to a seat.

"So, you gonna make a move or what?" MJ smirked studying your bewildered expression. Rolling your eyes, you let your head fall into your hands in mock-frustration.

"Oh stop, you wouldn't have been able to keep it a secret from me for long. Besides, I think he likes you back." She chuckled, making you shoot her a tight-lipped smile.

"He does not! And I could have kept it a secret from anyone but you. You know me too well!" MJ nodded in agreement.

"Of course I do, you're my best friend. I have to. Yeah, he does. He definitely does. He's been staring at you since we came in. Actually he does that every class, just thought I'd mention that." Your eyes widened and your jaw dropped, first looking at her grinning face and then slowly behind you, catching Peter looking right at you.

Crap.

As soon as he saw that you had noticed, Peter went absolutely red and he gave you a weak smile-slash-grimace before turning away shaking his head. You went crimson yourself, suddenly feeling the temperature rising. Adjusting your shirt collar, you looked away immediately. MJ couldn't stop giggling at the two of you.

"Honestly, you two are so fucking ridiculous. Both of you are clearly IN LOVE with each other and won't say a word. Guess I'll have to do it or something, huh?" MJ took out her notebook as your teacher walked in, greeting everyone. She looked at you, as she always did, and smiled warmly, you returning the expression.

"Don't. You. Dare. And if you knew he was staring at me the whole time, why the heck didn't you tell me? You acted like you knew nothing in the hallway." You said, gritting your teeth through the smile, watching MJ out of the corner of your right eye. She was doodling on the side of her notes, two figures holding hands. Was it......

IT WAS YOU AND PETER.

"MJ!" you hissed, "What are you doing?"

"Huh? What? Oh. It's just you and Peter. Relax, it's so small nobody can see it from here. And to your other questions, I won't if you tell him by the end of this class. Also, I didn't say anything because I like seeing you in crisis mode, you're a good subject. And Ned told me two weeks ago." She shrugged, sketching a small heart in between you and Peter that made you freak out.

"Okay, enough 'crisis sketching' for this class thank you. And by the end of this class? Are you crazy, how am I supposed to do that? He and Ned are on the other side of the classroom!" You shut MJ's notebook, causing her to roll her eyes dramatically while you took her pen hostage too.

"I have no idea, but please. The suspense is killing me. I'm young. I have too much to do in my life before I die. All the protesting and shit? That stuff is time-consuming!" She reached over and yanked her things back from you, sticking out her tongue playfully. You were about to protest when your teacher's voice broke through the tepid silence. Well, silence not counting your little whisperings with MJ.

"Okay class, before we start today on our project, I'd like to change things up a little bit." You frowned slightly, unsure of what she was going to say next. Ms. Henderson never changed things in her class. It was one of the many things you liked about her, being a control freak at times.

"What do you think she means by that?" MJ asked, back to sketching in her black notebook. You shrugged, trying not to look back at Peter, whose eyes were definitely on you again.

How did I never notice, all this time? He must think I'm weird or something. That's it, I'm weird, and that's why he stares at me. As usual. He most certainly does NOT have a crush on me.

"Maybe she means the partners will be changed? Actually, forget I said that. I hope she doesn't change them. You're the only one I know here, except for Ned."

"And Peter. Don't forget him."

"He doesn't count. I've only spoken to him a couple times, and even then it was all unintelligible muttering." The teacher cleared her throat.

"I have drawn up new seating charts! Yes, I see you boys in the back who probably won't be too pleased with me. But at least I'll be able to get some quiet from you all. So I'll be calling out the names to reconfigure." You and MJ exchanged looks, groaning in disappointment.

"Damn, almost wish she had changed our partners. It's not like we'll be working on the project for a whole semester." MJ grumbled, you nodding your head in agreement.

"Ugh, whyyyy? I like this seat, it's near enough to the front and I get to sit next to you."

"Well, I don't really care about sitting next to you, but I agree with being near the front." MJ cracked, chuckling to herself.

"Gee, thanks. Love you too." You turned back to your teacher, who had produced a small sheet from her bag. The seating chart, you assumed. Adjusting her glasses on the end of her nose, she peered at the rest of the class.

"Alright, let's not make this a big ordeal. Warner, you'll take Spencer's seat." You sat up straighter, waiting for your name and MJ's to be called.

"MJ? I want you in Arianna's seat. Y/N, you'll take Ned's next to Peter."

You and MJ froze. It was like time had come to a complete standstill.

"Wow, I guess that means your confession might come a lot easier than I thought." MJ said, helping you gather your stuff since you were still struck motionless in disbelief.

"She did just say that? I'm not going crazy?"

"Yep, you're still as crazy as you were this morning. Which is to say, pretty crazy, but the unit hasn't increased."

"Oh my god. What am I gonna do?" You stuttered, gratefully accepting your stuff from MJ, who was clutching her notebook to her chest protectively. The small gesture made you smile slightly, comforted by the familiarity of her actions even in the present catastrophe.

"Well, you might wanna make your way over there. You know, so Peter doesn't think you're afraid of him." MJ responded. You wanted to say "It wouldn't be a complete lie" when MJ gave you a slight shove in his direction.

MJ I'm gonna murder you, you thought, as you finally reached the seat next to Peter, books in hand. He had been watching you come over, and now with you next to him, he smiled at you nervously.

"Uh, hey, Peter. Heh, is this seat taken?" you tried, immediately cringing when you noticed that he looked confused at your joke. Then his face changed to one of amusement.

"Sorry! I'm a little dazed I guess. I, uh, wasn't expecting to be sitting next to you. That was really funny actually." He chuckled, leaving you able to sit down, relieved.

"Oh, good. I thought I'd just made an utter fool of myself in the first two seconds of meeting my new seatmate." You looked over to see MJ sitting next to Ned, smiling at you suggestively. You shot her back a grin as your mind finally turned over the contents of what Peter had just said. "Wait, you think I'm funny?"

Peter's eyes widened and his ears went red. "Yeah, um, yes." His answer was rushed, and he turned away from you, seeming to avoid your eyes. You took the hint that he didn't want to say much.

"Thanks, Peter." you whispered, trying to distract yourself from the fact that Peter was obviously disturbed by you. He was decidedly not in love with you, like MJ had said.

The class passed by unceremoniously, both you and Peter not saying a word to each other. Occasionally, you'd catch him looking at you, but you tried to ignore it.

He's staring at you the same way everyone else does. Like you're a specimen he can't understand.

MJ had looked over several times, making eyes that told you to Do something! But you shook your head at her, and she suddenly understood what you had come to accept.

Peter Parker was not into you. You were into him, but it was a crush not reciprocated.

Wallowing in your emotions, you tore off a small bit of your notebook paper and wrote in cursive I like you Peter Parker. I only wish you liked me back. Actually, I knew you wouldn't, but I liked the dream.

You looked at the clock, and then at Peter, who looked at you and quickly looked away. With a minute left in class, you felt the tears well in your eyes as you began to pack up your bag to leave. MJ noticed and did the same, ready to comfort you. As soon as the teacher dismissed you, you and MJ practically sprinted out of class, leaving Peter to watch in disappointment.

How could he have been so stupid? His crush, whom he was head over heels in love with, had finally sat next to him. Sure, it wasn't her choice, but he had heard her say his name. It sounded so nice coming from her, and her laugh was infectious.

But what had he done? He'd completely ignored her after she had asked him one simple question. He'd been so nervous to screw up in front of her that his mouth decided not to let him speak. There were so many times in class he had wanted to tap her shoulder and say something to make her laugh. Or smile. Or react in any way. But he stopped himself every time.

And now it was too late. She was understandably hurt by his callousness and she'd probably never look at him again. Peter was crushed as he watched her and MJ run from the class, finally able to get something to come out of his mouth.

"Wait!" he cried, but she was already gone. Feeling his heart break in two, he reached down for his backpack and was about to join Ned at the door when he noticed something small and white on the floor by his feet. He squinted his eyes and noticed it was a sliver of paper, and there was something written on it. Taking it in his hand, he read the tiny cursive letters printed on the lines.

I like you Peter Parker. I only wish you liked me back....

Peter felt his throat constrict. The air suddenly felt hot and muggy, as his jaw dropped in complete disbelief.

You had written this. About him? You liked him? You weren't repulsed by his behavior?

Suddenly, he knew what he had to do to make things right. He had to find you and tell you how he felt, before it was too late.

"Hey Pete, you dead up there?" Ned called from the door. Peter looked up and grabbed his bag. He rushed to the door to meet him.

"Ned, I'll be right back, don't start The Empire Strikes Back without me!" Ned nodded confusedly, Peter taking off down the hallway to catch your bus in time.
————————————————————————
You sat down wearily on your usual bus, feeling more tired than usual. Chalking it up to a broken heart, you shook yourself a little and tried to put it out of your mind.

You'd get over him, just like you got over every boy who never noticed you. Or noticed you but wished they hadn't.

From your pocket, you took out your phone and earbuds. Sticking them in, you scrolled through your playlist until you landed on Beyonce's Irreplaceable.

A good song to let go to, you thought, as you felt the words swirl through your ribcage and play with your heart.

So since I'm not your everything

How about I'll be nothing, nothing at all to you

Baby I won't shed a tear for you

I won't lose a wink of sleep

The words were bitter and utterly Beyonce, but you felt yourself saddened instead of empowered. You knew Peter wasn't like every other deadbeat guy you'd fallen for, but the lyrics made it seem like that. Frustrated, you scrolled through your playlist again, and decided to just stick with it when you felt a small tap to your shoulder.

"Pe-Peter?" you yanked your earbuds out, your face flushing as you looked up at the boy. He was panting slightly, a little sweat in his curls, but he still looked beautiful to you. He opened his mouth to speak, but then he closed it again. You sighed.

"It's okay, you don't have to say anything. I know you think I'm weird, I don't blame you." You closed your eyes, trying to will back the tears that were threatening to fall and give you away. You didn't want him to see you cry. But Peter noticed.

His heart was pounding in his chest, seeing how hurt he had made you. It killed him, that he had caused it, when all he wanted to cause was your smile. And now, even though he had sprinted all the way here to profess his undying love for you, he still couldn't get a word out.

But damn it, if he wasn't going to try.

"Y/N....I-uh.... you see..... I really-"

"Peter, you really don't have to pity me. It's okay, I get it, really. I'm no Betty or Liz. I'm just me."

And maybe it was this comment, that finally made Peter break his silence. Because as soon as he registered what you had said, he knew he had found his voice.

"Just you? What do you mean just you? Y/N you're not like them, yeah, but you shouldn't be. You should only be you, I mean, I would never change anything about you. I love everything about you. The way you smile when MJ tells a stupid joke, or how you and Ned can talk anything Star Wars at all times. I love the way you laugh and how you always beat me to answering the teacher's questions. I love how you wear whatever you want, even if people stare, and it always looks good on you. I love that you defend MJ from anyone and anything. I love how you're never not reading a book, and how you try to help anyone if they ask for it, even the mean kids. But most of all, I really, really, really love you. You. The real you." He finished, feeling a weight drop off his chest.

He had said everything he had been meaning to tell you from the class before. And now, he wasn't sure how you'd react.

When Peter finished, you just sat there, staring at your fingers. Peter groaned internally, thinking he had messed up everything. You didn't feel the same way anymore, and why would you when he had so royally screwed it up?

"Oh god, sorry, sorry. You don't feel the same way anymore. I'll leave now and stop bothering you, I just wanted to say that because I didn't today. And I should have." He turned away, feeling his eyes burn when you reached out and touched his hand.

"Wait, you like me too? As in like like me? This isn't a joke or anything?" You whispered, not able to look him in the eye. Peter gulped, trying not to freak out at the fact that you were actually touching his skin. And the fact that it made him feel like he wanted you to touch him all the time.

"Yeah, I have for a long time. I just couldn't ever tell you because I thought I'd sound stupid or you'd hate me or something.....Wait did you just say-" You finally smiled a little, no longer as shocked as you had been.

"Yes, I absolutely like you too." Peter just stared at you for a minute, watching you bite your lip trying not to grin at his amazement.

"You do? Really? I didn't screw this up?" You and Peter smiled at the same time.

"No, Pete! I was scared I'd screwed it up, not you!"

Peter exhaled, laughing breathily. He'd never been so relieved in his life. You liked him back. His dream was really happening. With a teasing smirk, he gestured to the empty seat next to you.

"So, is this seat taken?"

You moved your bag and smirked back at him. Peter grinned as you said the three words that made the whole day worth it.

"Yes. By you."