friday 18th of february 2016

It wasn't the first time J.D had gone out late at night. She had waited for Mason and Herb to fall asleep before she climbed out the window and clambered down the fire escape without making a sound. She moved almost acrobatically as she reached the ground with no difficulty, and she looked left and right before running down the street, effortlessly dodging past drunk and sobers, some laughing, others walking down the street with no emotion whatsoever. They didn't acknowledge her presence, they didn't even know she was there.

She walked into a store and strolled down the isles, picking up a candy bar and coke as she went past. She was nearing the door to leave but she ended up walking into someone, which caused her to become visible in shock. Her eyebrows furrowed when she saw a red-clad chest in front of her, with a lame spider drawn on the front in black sharpie. She looked up and stifled a laugh at the sight of a red ski mask with what looked like swimming goggles over the top. "And who are you supposed to be? Some kind of Spider-Man?"

"Something like that." He replied, slightly nervously. He sounded slightly familiar, but his voice was muffled through his mask. "And who are you?"

"Nobody." She responded, and went to walk past him, but he held out a hand in front of her. She clenched her jaw in irritation. "Move, before I make you."

"S-Stealing's a crime, you know." He stuttered, and J.D scoffed and pushed him away from her. "I'm not letting you leave without paying for that."

"Watch me." She said icily and felt the familiar feeling of her power wash over her body. She ran out the store and down the street, turning corners so she wouldn't come across the lame attempt at a hero again.

Finally, she found a secluded spot on top of the Bay-Crest building. She popped open her can of coke and sipped it, watching the traffic moving and civilians walking below her. She liked watching things from a distance. She liked seeing how people lived, acted, it was like she had been excused for her own life for a moment to admire other everyone else's.

She nibbled at her candy bar and swung her legs carelessly over the side of the building. She was completely immersed in her own little world, and she felt at peace.

Well, she did feel at peace, until she heard a strange sound behind her. She turned around and saw the man in red from the store before. She rose an eyebrow and placed her drink next to her so she could watch him. She was currently invisible, so she knew she was safe from his eyes.

She smiled as he landed on the building, falling flat on his face. He released a groan and turned onto his back in defeat. "Damn it!"

After a moment, he pushed himself up and jumped up and down to hype himself up. J.D watched curiously as he thrust his arm out in front of him. She was intrigued to see a white string like material shoot out his wrist and hit the ground next to her. She looked down at it and saw an intricate substance, almost like a web of some kind. She looked back up at him and saw that he was playing with whatever he shot with.

She poked it and saw that it was delicate, but also somewhat firm. It was almost incredible, and interesting to her. She accidentally made a sound as she stood up, which alerted the Spider-Boy.

"Who's there?" He asked quickly, pulling his mask further down his face. J.D froze and held her breath as he jogged over to where she was. He sounded slightly familiar to her, but she couldn't put a name to a face, it was one of those things that made you think so hard, but not being able to see his features made it difficult. He looked down at the coke can and she could only guess that he was suspicious. "Is it that girl from the store? Show yourself."

J.D decided that he was harmless, and became visible in front of him.

"Who are you?" He asked, and she shrugged.

"Nobody, like I told you." She said and he crossed his arms. "You know, I still don't know who you are, either."

"Y-You said it yourself." He responded, trying to play himself off as cool. "I'm Spider-Man."

J.D felt herself smirk slightly. "Fine then. They call me Bladerunner."

"You mean like that-"

"Film from the eighties? Yeah, you'd be surprised at how unoriginal you sound." J.D interrupted him. "Well, I'd better be off. Stuff to do, things to nick. The usual. Have fun, Spider-Man."

saturday 19th of february 2016

J.D's hands fiddled with her grey hoodie straps while she waited in the passenger seat of Herb's pick up truck. They were going to Philadelphia for the weekend and Mason had suggested that they invite Peter, as he was a friend of both the twins. May and Ben immediately agreed with the idea, as they not only loved the siblings but Ben also went to high school with Herb, so they were friends as well. 

J.D sat in the truck alone outside the apartment building as her brother and Uncle had gone to pick Peter up. Spring rain lightly fell on the windshield and she placed her beanie-clad head on the headrest. She was absolutely exhausted. She had gotten in really late last night after her meeting with the Spider-Man, who ended up nearly falling off the building before he caught himself. Maybe she would try to find him when they returned from the weekend. 

The sound of the car door being opened made J.D turn around to see Mason climbing in and sliding into the seat behind hers. Peter clambered in after him and locked eyes with the short haired brunette in the passenger seat. "Purnell."

"Parker." She responded with a nod. "How're you?"

"I'm good." He replied and watched as she turned around to toy with the stereo. Peter opened his mouth to speak again, but she placed her earphones in and played her music. He glanced over at Mason, who just shrugged and brought out his portable DVD player. 

About an hour into the drive, J.D took her headphones out and pulled out a tin of Pringles, beginning to share them with Herb. The boys were in the backseat watching Mad Max: Fury Road, their eyes wide and concentrated. At the sound of the Pringles rustling, Peter glanced up to see J.D chatting about something with Herb, and he tilted his head slightly, watching as her soft-looking pink lips moved at a rapid pace, and her eyes were bright, something he barely ever saw. It was admirable, they way she spoke so flawlessly and passionately. He realised he was staring and coughed slightly before looking back down at the film. 

Throughout the rest of the ride, he couldn't seem to stop his eyes from flickering up to J.D. She looked innocent, not intimidating, which was so unlike the tough girl. His eyes traced her slightly defined jawline and how her cropped hair hung at her shoulders. It was completely different to how it was almost a year ago; it used to be long and wavy, but when she came back after the summer it was completely different. 

At one point Herb said something and she let a giggle slip, and he smiled at the sight without realising. It wasn't until Mason nudged him did he realise he was staring again. "Dude, did you see that?!"

"Shit, yeah." Peter lied, pretending to be in awe. 

J.D cast her eyes into the rearview mirror and smiled slightly, fully aware that the Parker boy had been watching her all along. 

+++

Later, in the evening, J.D looked in her duffel bag and scowled when she realised her family pack of Sour Patch Kids were gone. Just because they said family pack didn't mean she would share them. "Mason!" She yelled loudly.

"What!" He screamed back. Surely they were already annoying their neighbours in the motel already. 

"Give me back my Sour Patch Kids, you peasant!" She shouted and stormed into the room he and Peter were sharing.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Mason said casually as he reached into his own bag and pulled out a towel. "I didn't even know you brought them along."

"You're a cold liar, brother." She shook her head. "But unfortunately I'm the one of us who's good enough to fool people, you're the one who can't even convince a teacher you lost your homework."

"Shut up." He grumbled. "It was one time."

"Hey, Mason, are you-" Peter cut himself off with a gasp as when he saw J.D standing in the room. J.D didn't pay him any attention as she barged past Mason and searched inside his bag, coming up with nothing. An idea popped into her head and she stepped over to his pillow case. Shaking it, she smirked as the family pack fell onto the bed. 

"Little shit." She muttered and as she walked back past him with the sweets in hand. She was too concentrated on her victory to notice Peter's shirtless body in front of her. "Hey Pete."

"Uh, h-hey." He responded nervously, scratching the back of his head as she walked out, opening the packet of food in the process. He glanced from the door then back at Mason, who wore a smirk almost identical to his sister's. "What?"

"That's cute." Mason chuckled, swinging his towel over his shoulder. "You have my blessing."

"Your blessing?" Peter spluttered, his eyes wide. Mason walked past him and patted his shoulder. 

"It's so obvious, man." He called over his shoulder. Before he finally left, he poked his head around the door. "You have a thing for our little Jessica-Diana."

Peter's cheeks grew bright red and hot and he was practically gasping for air in shock. "W-what?! You d-don't know what you're saying!"

Mason winked at him and strolled out, happy as Larry. Peter looked at the ground before staring at the wall on his left, where he heard faint music. He scrunched his nose up in thought, and let a sigh escape through his nostrils. 

No, he didn't like J.D. He couldn't. Could he?

J.D wandered out of her room in the motel, Sour Patch Kids in hand. Herb had just left to get pizza for dinner and wouldn't be back for another twenty or so minutes. She looked around, wondering where Peter and Mason were, but then remembered that they went swimming. She for one absolutely hated swimming, it reminded her too much of her parents. Though Mason had gotten back in the water soon after their deaths, J.D never did. 

She heard splashing, which led her to the pool. She had swapped her hoodie for a thin sweater as it was hot in their room, but she instantly regretted it when she went outside. With her novel clutched tightly in hand, she walked over to the gate that led to the pool. 

It was a cute little place, bricks layered by the bright blue water and lights glaring on the area for the night swimmers. She saw that next to it was a spa pool, and she scrunched her nose up, thinking about the bacteria crawling inside of it. 

 Mason and Peter had been in there for at least an hour, and she could see that they didn't plan on getting out any time soon. She pursed her lips together and sat on the chair that was next to their towels and clothing. Sitting down, she opened her book and became immersed in the world of J.M Barrie. 

"Peter Pan?" She heard Peter ask from next to her. She glanced up at him, watching as he smiled at her. "Cute."

"It's my favourite book." She responded, her eyes trailing back to the book. Peter picked his towel up and sat down on the chair next to her. Mason went to protest, but smirked instead at the sight of his best friend talking to his sister, whom he so obviously had a crush on. 

"Really?" Peter asked, leaning over to look at it. "I've never read it."

J.D rose an eyebrow, though she didn't take her eyes off of the page. "You can read it when I'm done, if you want."

"Yeah, maybe." Peter replied, though he kept his eyes on J.D, eager for her attention, which she wasn't planning on giving him. He bit his lip, his mind searching for something else to say. "What's it about?"

She scoffed. "You don't know what Peter Pan's about?"

"No." Peter lied and J.D snorted. 

"You're lying." She said, turning the page of her book. "I can tell you're lying, Pete. You know how?"

"How?" Peter asked, his eyebrows knitted together. 

"You bounce your knee and scratch behind your head." She responded easily, and Peter's eyes grew wide. "Oh, and you look down at the ground before you tell a porky."

Peter blinked a couple of times and gulped, before turning around quickly and facing the pool, missing the small smirk that appeared on J.D's lips for a second. 

"So, did you come here because you didn't want to swim anymore or because you wanted to talk to me?" J.D queried and Peter froze.

"Oh, I just wanted a break from the pool." He said, and J.D rolled her eyes. 

"You're lying again." She replied and closed her book, finally giving him the attention he was craving. She noticed how his back was quite defined and his arms were significantly bigger than they were a few weeks ago, but she wouldn't let him know that she noticed. "You're not making it any less obvious by turning around."

"Fine, I'll go back in the pool." Peter grumbled and began to stand up. J.D chuckled and stood up as well. 

"Just as well. I'm going back where it's warm." She responded and as she walked past Peter, who was standing on the edge of the pool, she gave him a light push and he let out a shocked yell before falling in. "Bye guys."

Peter emerged from the water with a deep breath and stared at her in shock. He turned back to Mason with a dropped jaw. "Is she always like this?"

"Yep," Mason replied. "Oh, and I don't know how long you've liked her, but you're making it painfully obvious." 

"I'm sorry." Peter muttered and buried his head in his hands. "For some reason I just can't seem to talk to her like I do at school. It's like we're completely different people."

"Not really." Mason shrugged, then splashed water in Peter's face. "Now can we shut up about my sister? It's weird as hell."

hey short chapter soz

i feel like this is moving too fast?? oh well bummer we're not even up to civil war yet ugh

this is also a filler so eh

I'm going to the art gallery next week and I'm excited woo