tuesday 14th of june 2016

J.D watched Peter carefully in gym class. It was the last day of the school year, thank goodness. Though it was slightly late in the year to be finishing, the school usually started late as well. 

The class had free choice as to what they could play, and she had decided to help a couple of other kids set up a couple of badminton nets. Michelle and herself got two rackets and a shuttlecock.  

J.D's eyes flickered to the side every now and then to see Mason and Peter in the weights room connected to the side of the gymnasium. She noticed how Peter's eyes often trailed in her direction, and she couldn't help but scoff. Cute. 

He began doing pull-ups, with Mason sitting on the sit-up bench, scrolling through his phone. 

J.D served to Michelle, and the pair began an impressive game. They both dove for the shuttlecock when it fell to their sides, and managed to keep it pretty even for the first twenty minutes. 

"Oh my god!" Michelle groaned, placing her head in her hands. J.D laughed and twirled her racket in her hands expertly. "It's like you're superhuman or something!"

Whoops.

"What can I say?" J.D shrugged, a triumphant grin on her lips. "I'm a renowned champ."

"You aren't." Michelle narrowed her eyes, and J.D beamed.

"No, I'm not." She admitted. "But I'm better than you."

"Ouch." Michelle scoffed playfully, and J.D winked. Her eyes travelled back to Peter, who was pretending to listen to Mason, but seemed fully invested in their game. 

It was interesting, to J.D. Now everything made sense. Why he had gone from a soft marshmallow to rock candy (bad example, but oh well), why he was suddenly good at dodgeball, why his reflexes were much better. It was a lot clearer in her head now. 

She just didn't understand why she didn't see it before. 

+++

J.D hand was clasped around Michelle's wrist as she dragged the puzzled girl up to the roof of her apartment building. Michelle didn't know what to think, she was completed confused. "J.D, what's going on?"

Once their feet hit the gravelled roof, J.D walked a few feet away and chewed the inside of her lip. "You know how I said that I'd explain everything to you?"

"Yeah, you promised." Michelle nodded, folding her arms as an attempt to contain the heat in her body. The tanned girl furrowed her eyebrows. "So, why are we on the roof? There's hot cocoa in your apartment that's calling my name."

J.D ran a hand through her hair. "We're on the roof because I don't want anyone else to see what I can do."

"What you can do?" Michelle queried, shaking her head in confusion. "You've lost me."

J.D sighed and wrung her hands. "Um, you know that new hero? The Bladerunner?"

"Yeah, she's badass." Michelle gushed and J.D smiled slightly. "You're not...like...secretly friends with her..right?"

"Um, well," J.D began and breathed out loudly. She squeezed her eyes shut and pursed her lips. It's now or never, right?

She felt the familiar tingle in her body and opened her eyes, looking down at her invisible hands, then back up at Michelle. The girl's jaw was dropped and her eyes were wide in shock. "Holy shit."

J.D became visible again and nervously smiled. "Yeah."

"Y-You're her." Michelle stated and J.D nodded. Michelle ran a stunned hand through her hair and took a step forward. "Wow. I'm..."

"Surprised?" J.D queried, and Michelle smiled. 

"Absolutely." She breathed out. "I don't know why I didn't see it earlier! I mean, no wonder you went to Europe just when the Avengers happened to be there! Apparently it was Iron Man versus Captain America! Who were you fighting with?"

"Cap." J.D responded, and Michelle squeaked, running forward and looping their arms together. "They're all so much better looking up close."

"I'm not surprised." Michelle chuckled, and pulled J.D back towards the door. "How long have you had them? The powers, I mean."

"Almost a year." J.D responded as they entered the apartment building, walking down the stairs. She patted Michelle's arm. "But that's another story for another time, my friend."

+++

friday 17th of june 2016

J.D cuddled the couch pillow closer to her body, her eyes trained on the television screen. Michelle munched on popcorn next to her, adjusting her glasses every so often. The rain had picked up outside and they were utterly cosy in the comfort of J.D's apartment. 

The door burst open and revealed Mason and Peter. The two teenagers sulked as they walked into the home. Mason threw himself onto the armchair, his body soaking the fabric instantly. "It's supposed to be summer!"

"Shh!" J.D kicked his body and the boy groaned, curling up. 

"What're you watching?" Peter queried, tugging off his dark raincoat and plopping in between her and Michelle. 

"Sydney White." Michelle muttered in response, and Peter furrowed his eyebrows, clearly more interested than Mason, who seemed like he was about to pass out. When those two were hanging out for more than two days, there'd only be a few hours of sleep shared between them. 

"What's that?" Peter asked, and J.D adjusted herself slightly, her eyes still on the screen. 

"A movie." She replied bluntly, and blindly swatted her hand around, before accidentally hitting him in the face. "Silence, Parker."

Peter scoffed and grabbed her hand, tugging at her arm and pulling her into his side. She instantly froze, thoughts of Germany in the back of her mind. Chewing on the inside of her cheek and noticing the sly smirks both Michelle and Mason had on their lips. 

Pushing the thought away and glancing up at his innocent face, she sighed and nudged his ribs slightly. "Smooth."

"I know." Peter whispered, a grin on his face.

J.D didn't respond, she only huffed and pulled the pillow she was holding closer, tuning her ears into the film again. 

Throughout the movie, she heard the soft snores from her twin brother, and when she glanced over, she almost snorted at the sight of him. He was bent in an awkward position, his face smushed against the right wing of the chair, his left leg draped over the side of the left arm and his right hanging freely. His arms were curled out of sight, and though he seemed uncomfortable, he was soundly asleep. 

It had been a tiring week for her as well, but then again, when wasn't it? She had been avoiding a run-in with Spider-Man, though she had seen him every now and again in the streets, she always made sure he couldn't see her. She was conflicted when it came to him, she didn't know whether to confront him or not. Now that she knew his true identity, she felt almost uncomfortable around both him and Peter. 

She stiffened slightly beside said boy, thoughts flooding through her head. This was the most she had seen of him since she returned from Germany. She remembered all of the secrets she had entrusted Spider-Man with, all of the stories she had shared. She thought she was just blabbering to some random she would never come across maskless, but the entire time she had been nattering onto one of her closest friends. 

Peter noticed her discomfort and looked down at her. "You okay?"

J.D forced a convincing smile and glanced up. "Yeah, just trying not to fall asleep, is all."

Peter chuckled, oblivious to what was going on inside her head. 

When he looked away, J.D sighed softly and bit her lip. What was she to do?

Was she supposed to confront him about it? Ignore the problem until it goes away -- like she usually would? Or was she to just accept it and hide her identity for a little longer? 

She squeezed her eyes shut, the film now just white noise in her ears. 

She couldn't believe she didn't see it before -- that was the one sentence being repeated over and over. The boy she had a crush on was the boy who had a crush on her, but it wasn't the same. Spider-Man was confident, open and heroic. Peter was....Peter. He was adorably awkward and polite, as well as intelligent and terrible at any sort of physical activity. But yet there were so many similarities between them. They were both funny, caring and defensive when they needed to be. They were both strong, Spider-Man in how he saved others and Peter in how he held himself together in tough times. 

If there was one thing J.D hated about summer, besides the endless heat and longer days was the fact that she had more time to think. 

She still hadn't had any word from Wanda or the others, and she was seriously contemplating paying a visit to the Avengers compound Upstate, where she could have a lil word with Tony Stark. Hopefully she wouldn't be imprisoned or anything, that would suck. 

J.D's face scrunched up as the plan etched itself into her head. 

Damn it. 

Now she had to do it.

HI SHORT CHAPTER SOZ 

ANYWAY 

COOL MICHELLE KNOWS ABOUT BLADERUNNER

COOL J.D IS ANGSTY AND DOESN'T KNOW WHATS GOING ON

COOL ITS TWO IN THE MORNING

COOLCOOLCOOL

(bea pls don't snitch on me)