chapter two:
❛ suspicious gwen ❜

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Gwen navigated through the lunch line, her tray held tightly in her grip as her frustration simmered just below the surface. Each movement felt automatic, like she'd done it a million times, but today, everything irritated her. The dull murmur of the cafeteria, the clattering of trays, and especially the fact that she could see Peter Parker sitting at the far end of the table. Her fingers clenched around the tray as she paid for her food.

Spotting MJ at their usual table, Gwen sighed in relief, but her mood soured again when she noticed Peter and Ned sitting on the other end of the same table. She groaned internally, but without another option, she strode over and dropped down across from MJ, who was already absorbed in a book.

"Why are we still sitting near them?" Gwen's voice was sharp, her words cutting through the ambient noise of the cafeteria. Her irritation was palpable, her eyes narrowed in Peter's direction as she dropped her tray onto the table with a soft thud.

MJ barely lifted her gaze from the page she was reading, her face impassive. "Does it matter?" she replied, her voice casual, calm, and devoid of concern.

"It matters to me," Gwen snapped back, her temper flaring. MJ's detached attitude drove her crazy sometimes. Gwen was wired differently—emotional, reactive, quick to anger, and even quicker to hold a grudge. MJ, on the other hand, never seemed to care enough to get worked up about anything.

"Yes, Michelle Jones, it matters," Gwen emphasized, using MJ's full name as if that would somehow make her point clearer. But MJ just shot her a disinterested glance, her lips curling into a barely-there smirk.

"Gwen, you need to chill." MJ's voice was calm, almost unnervingly so. "What Peter said to you was messed up, but he was in sixth grade. We're sophomores now." She delivered the words without emotion, like she was reading them off a script, and then promptly returned to her book.

Gwen's jaw clenched at the reminder. Sixth grade or not, what Peter had done wasn't something she could forgive. Her eyes involuntarily flicked over to where Peter was sitting. He wasn't even paying attention to her. Instead, he was leaning on his hand, staring longingly across the room at Liz Allan, who was busy pinning up a sign for the upcoming homecoming dance.

Peter's voice broke through the noise, dreamy and far-off. "We should probably stop staring before it gets creepy," he mumbled, eyes still glued to Liz.

Gwen couldn't help herself. She scoffed, her voice louder than she intended. "Too late," she muttered under her breath, but it carried across the table.

Peter's head snapped toward her, his eyes meeting hers for the first time that lunch period. He blinked in surprise, his mouth twitching into a hesitant smile. Gwen glared at him, feeling her temper rise as she met his sad, apologetic expression.

"You guys are losers," Gwen spat, turning away from him as quickly as she could. She hated how looking at him made her feel anything at all, how even now, after all these years, she couldn't entirely let go of the hurt he'd caused.

Ned, oblivious to the tension, piped up from the other end of the table. "Then why do you sit with us?" he asked, his tone curious rather than defensive.

Gwen threw her hands up in frustration. "I didn't even want to sit here," she snapped, her voice tight as she glanced back at MJ. Why were they even near Peter and Ned in the first place? They could have chosen any other table in the cafeteria. But here they were.

MJ sighed, finally lowering her book. "It's because we don't have any other friends," she said matter-of-factly, her tone as blunt as ever.

Peter and Ned stared at her, wide-eyed, but MJ didn't care. Gwen felt her stomach twist with annoyance, not only because MJ was right but because she hated how casually she pointed it out. Gwen had been carrying around so much bitterness for so long, and to MJ, none of it seemed to matter.

Gwen, barely holding in her anger, jabbed her fork into her lunch with far more force than necessary. The plastic prongs pierced the meatball, sending sauce splattering across her plate. "I'm not hungry," she muttered through clenched teeth. The anger bubbling inside her made her stomach twist into knots.

Without waiting for a response, Gwen shoved herself up from the table. She grabbed her tray and stomped over to the trash can, dumping her uneaten lunch into it with a harsh clatter. She didn't even bother with the tray, tossing it on top of the garbage and storming out of the cafeteria without looking back.

Peter watched her go, his face clouded with regret. He exhaled softly, shoulders slumping in defeat. "Will she ever stop hating me?" he asked, his voice small and filled with the kind of sadness only years of unresolved tension could bring.

"Who?" Ned asked, distracted as he fiddled with his lunch.

Peter didn't even have to think before answering. "Gweny." The nickname slipped out, and he winced slightly, knowing how much she hated it. He glanced toward the cafeteria doors, which swung closed behind Gwen, his eyes filled with a quiet longing.

MJ looked up from her book again, raising an eyebrow. "She's still pissed at you for—"

"I know," Peter cut her off, rubbing the back of his neck. "I've apologized a thousand times. Why won't she forgive me?"

Ned shrugged, looking at Peter with a sympathetic but helpless expression. "Maybe you need to do more than just apologizing?"

MJ snorted, barely containing a chuckle at the hopelessness of it all. "Good luck with that," she muttered, flipping another page in her book. "Gwendolyn holds grudges."

Peter let out a frustrated sigh, slumping further in his seat. "Yeah, I know," he said, his voice barely above a whisper, his eyes still lingering on the door Gwen had just stormed through. No matter how many times he tried to make things right, it always felt like he was too late.

Gwendolyn had a plan, and she was determined to execute it perfectly. For weeks, her curiosity had been gnawing at her—Peter Parker had been acting strange ever since their sophomore year started. First, he quit the Robotics Club, then he began missing Academic Decathlon practice. He'd brushed it all off, claiming that he was "busy" or had "a lot on his plate," but Gwen wasn't buying it. She was convinced that something else was going on, something tied to Spider-Man, and she had a theory: the web fluid.

Today, during Academic Decathlon practice, she was going to confirm her suspicions. If she could get her hands on Peter's notebook, specifically the page labeled "Web Fluid," she could recreate it and see if her theory was correct. Her mind buzzed with the possibilities. But first, she had to get her hands on his backpack without anyone noticing.

Intentionally running late, Gwen lingered just outside the auditorium, peeking through the small window in the door. Liz Allan was at the front, asking Mr. Harrington a question about one of the practice quizzes. Peter was distracted, talking animatedly to Mr. Harrington at the side of the stage. Perfect.

Gwen cracked open the door just enough to slip inside, quietly shutting it behind her. She caught MJ's puzzled look from the far side of the room. MJ was sitting off to the side, watching everyone with her usual detached expression. Gwen raised a finger to her lips, signaling for MJ to stay quiet. MJ tilted her head, clearly suspicious, but said nothing.

Peter's backpack was slung over the back of a chair, unattended. Without wasting any more time, Gwen darted forward, grabbed the bag, and bolted back out the door. She barely heard MJ's muffled "What the hell?" as she ran down the hallway, heart racing.

Reaching the science lab, Gwen quickly shut the door behind her and set the backpack on one of the lab tables. Her fingers trembled as she unzipped it, rifling through Peter's things. At first, all she found were textbooks and some loose papers, but then—bingo—the notebook. She flipped it open, scanning through his notes until she landed on the page she was looking for: "Web Fluid: Version 3.0." Her heart skipped a beat. There it was, a detailed breakdown of the formula.

Gwen's eyes darted across the page, absorbing the ingredients and instructions. She could feel the rush of adrenaline as she began collecting the necessary supplies from the lab cabinets. Everything she needed was there—Peter had made it look so simple, but Gwen knew it was brilliant. She laid out the beakers and chemicals, following the steps written in Peter's precise handwriting.

Just as she started to mix the solution, the door to the lab burst open, and Peter came rushing in, his eyes wide with panic. "Gweny! What are you doing with my stuff?" he asked, his voice tight but not angry, just... concerned.

Gwen didn't flinch, though her heart raced even faster. "I saw what you were making," she said casually, still focused on the mixture in front of her. "I wanted to see if it was real. You've been acting weird, Peter. You quit Robotics Club because you think Tony Stark is gonna need you or something. You've been acting like... like something's changed."

Peter blinked, clearly thrown by her accusation. "Gwen, you can't just take people's stuff—or steal their backpack for that matter!" His tone was gentle, but there was an edge of nervousness. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, clearly uncomfortable.

Gwen didn't back down. "Why are you so weird about this web fluid stuff?" she asked, eyes narrowing at him. "Are you Spider-Man?"

Peter's eyes went wide. "What? Me? Spider-Man? Pfft, no!" He stammered, clearly rattled, trying to backpedal out of the conversation. "I mean, I bet Spider-Man is a handsome guy, right? But me? No way." He grabbed his notebook from the table, fumbling as he tried to stuff it back into his bag, avoiding her eyes.

Gwen just stared at him, unimpressed. His denial was too clumsy, too panicked. As Peter rambled, the concoction she had been working on began to bubble. The mixture solidified, and before her eyes, the serum began to take form—it looked exactly like the web fluid Peter had designed.

Her eyes widened. "Holy shit," she whispered to herself. She might actually be right. She watched the substance settle, web-like strands forming inside the beaker. She hadn't expected to actually recreate it, but now that she had, it only confirmed her suspicions. Peter was hiding something, and she was going to get him to admit it.

Peter, still flustered, edged toward the door, holding his backpack tightly. "Okay, Gwen, I, uh, I really have to go now. Just, um, don't touch anything else, alright?" He stumbled backward out of the room, still trying to play it cool, but his face was flushed, and his nervousness was palpable.

Gwen watched him leave, her eyes fixed on the door for a moment before turning back to the web fluid she'd just created. It was the real deal. "Now I just need to get him to admit it," she muttered to herself, dumping the fluid into the sink and rinsing out the beaker. She wasn't going to expose him to anyone else—this was between her and Peter.

She tossed the remaining supplies back into the cabinets and headed out of the science lab, her mind racing. MJ was waiting for her just outside the door, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. She raised an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed.

"What were you doing in there, and why did you take Peter's stuff?" MJ asked bluntly, her gaze sharp and piercing.

Gwen groaned inwardly. Of course MJ had told him. "Did you tell him I took his backpack?" Gwen asked, not even bothering to hide her frustration.

"Yeah," MJ replied, not looking the least bit sorry. "What were you doing?"

"Don't worry about it," Gwen said, brushing past her. But MJ's eyes narrowed suspiciously, sensing that Gwen was hiding something.

"I'm definitely worrying about it," MJ shot back, falling into step beside her. "What's going on?"

Gwen exhaled, trying to shake off the tension. "Just... leave it alone, MJ," she said, walking a little faster, determined to figure out her next move. MJ wasn't going to let this go, but Gwen needed to keep her focus on the bigger picture—getting Peter to admit he was Spider-Man.

ASH SPEAKS!

i lowkey love this fic and will probably be publishing like almost every day😭

next chapter she follows peter around🤭

i havent read any other spiderman fics so im doing all this from my head and its all original with my own ideas. so i have no idea if people have had their ocs find out that peter is superman this quick like in the first movie and stuff😭i mean ive read spiderman fics back in 2021 but i don't remember anything HAHAH

i hope you guys enjoy this book so far!! im really hoping this doesnt flop cause idk if anyone still reads spiderman fics since its been 3 years and we are still waiting on spiderman 4😭

PLEASE DONT BE A GHOST READER! COMMENT AND VOTE! IT HELPS US WRITERS STAY MOTIVATED:)