A/N: You guys — YOU GUYS — we're at
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"¿Cómo está tu hija, eh?"
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"Rise and shine, Midtown Science and Technology," Betty Brant said on the school's tv.

"Students, don't forget about your homecoming tickets," Jason smiled and then turned to Betty, "Do you have a date for homecoming?"

"Thanks, Jason, but I already have a date," she answered uncomfortably.

"Okay," Jason frowned. Betty smiled at the camera awkwardly.

"Yeah..."

With a sigh, Peter opened up his locker to grab his books. The internship incident was still fresh on his mind and the last place he wanted to be right now was school.

"Join me, and together...we'll build my new Lego Death Star."

Peter turned around to find Ned standing there, holding a Palpatine Lego figure in his hand. He glanced around.

"What!" he said, wide eyed.

"So lame," he heard a cheerleader say as she was passing by. Ned grinned, oblivious.

"No way!" Peter grinned, ignoring her, "That's awesome. How many pieces?"

"Three thousand eight hundred and three," Ned said proudly.

"That's insane," Peter breathed, taking his math notebook out.

"I know!" Ned said, giddy, "You wanna build it tonight?"

"No, I can't tonight. I've got the Stark-"

"Mhmm. Stark internship," Ned sighed. Ever since summer, Peter had almost totally forgotten about him. It was the Stark internship all day, every day. With Adelaide not replying to his texts and Peter busy with his internship, summer had been an absolute dud. Family game night with his parents was starting to get old and he missed hanging out with his friends like they used to. Peter closed his locker, glancing at his best friend guiltily.

"Yeah," Peter said quietly, starting to walk down the hall, "exactly."

"Always got that internship," Ned said.

"Yeah, well, hopefully, soon it'll lead to a real job with them," Peter shrugged, hoping he'd understand.

"That would be so sweet," Ned agreed.

"Right?" Peter sighed. If only.

"He'd be all, 'Good job on those spreadsheets, Peter. Here's a gold coin'," Ned said. Peter gave him a look. Ned grinned sheepishly.

"I don't know how jobs work," he admitted.

"That's exactly how they work," Peter chuckled.

"Oh," Ned laughed, "I'll knock out the basic bones of the Death Star at my place. And, and then I'll come by afterwards..."

The rest of his words faded away as they came to the end of the hall and Peter's eyes locked onto a certain girl walking ahead of him.

Liz Allen.

It was like everything was happening in slow motion. She brushed her fingers through her hair as she talked with her friends. For one, fleeting moment, their eyes meant and Peter thought his little heart was going to explode. He was mesmerized.

"...because for the most part, the difficult thing is the base of it. The top half we can knock out in two hours, tops," Ned finished saying, but Peter had barely heard him.

"That'd be great," Peter mumbled just as the bell rang and Liz disappeared out of sight.

—————

Adelaide had a problem with her schedule and the lady behind the desk didn't know how to fix it.

"I don't know how this could have happened, doll," the lady said with a frown, "How's this sound? You stick with the schedule you got today and we'll fix you up by tomorrow."

"Fine," Adelaide snapped, taking the paper from her hands.

"Have a blessed day!" she called out after the teenager. Adelaide closed the door to her office shut with a sigh. Not even thirty minutes back and she was already growing a headache.

She glanced around the halls. They were empty. Which meant she was already late to her first class. Great. She read through her schedule, searching for her first class.

Chemistry.

Clearly there had been a problem with the schedule because she had already taken that class last year. There was only one thing she could hope would go her way and that was not running into Ned or Peter. Especially Peter. Maybe her schedule was in her favor. For today, at least.

Grumbling some colorful words under her breath, she headed upstairs to her class. A couple minutes later, she was staring at the wooden door, contemplating just not going in. Mr. Delmar wouldn't find out. Nobody had to know.

But don't you want things to go back to the way they used to be?

With a sigh, she pushed open the door. As she had expected, the teacher — Mr. Walter — stopped in the middle of his sentence and everyone in the room turned to look at her.

"You must be Adelaide," he greeted warmly, "Please, have a seat."

Keeping her head down, she maneuvered through the grid of desks to find an empty one closest to the back. Mr. Walter resumed his lesson and everyone's attention returned to him. Adelaide found a desk in the last row, plopped down into the seat and threw her backpack beside her onto the floor.

It wasn't until a minute later that she even dared to look up.

Of course, there was Ned, sitting in the desk beside hers. He gave her a small smile, looking hopeful. Adelaide forced herself to smile back before she looked away, feeling her heart hammering in her chest. The guilt began to bloom in her stomach and she swallowed, avoiding his eye contact.

At least Peter wasn't in this class.

"Hey," Ned said and Adelaide looked at him again.

"Hi," she said quietly.

"Uh...so how are you?" he asked awkwardly. Not once had their friendship felt awkward in the years that she'd known Ned and today she wanted to crawl into one of the cabinets behind her and never leave. She missed everything the way it was before. So badly.

"I'm...good," she said as if she had just learned to speak, "You?"

"I've been better," he said, glancing at her from the side. She swallowed, tucking her hair behind her ear. It was her fault that this was so awkward.

For the rest of class, he didn't try to talk to her and every passing minute felt agonizing to the point where she considered just getting up and leaving. Finally, the class ended and Mr. Walter dismissed them. Before she could even stand up, Ned was out the door.

Against better judgement, she ran after him.

"Ned! Wait!" she shouted and he stopped, turning around. She picked at the backpack strap on her shoulder as she tried to gather enough courage to look at him. The crowd of students was getting bigger as more of them left their classes and the nervous energy in the pit of her stomach was growing.

She should just tell him the truth. He would understand. It was Ned, for crying out loud.

He watched her expectantly.

"What?" he said, giving her a chance. Adelaide looked up at him. Something swirled in her stomach. She shook her head, feeling a familiar panic settling in, making home.

"I — sorry," she said and ran past him, pushing through the throng of students until she was sure he couldn't see her.

She couldn't do it.

She was too big of a coward.

—————

"Did Liz get a new top?" Peter mumbled.

They were sitting at their usual lunch table, watching Liz hang the banner for the homecoming dance. He was holding his head up with his hand, his lunch pushed aside.

"No," Ned sighed without looking away, "We've seen that before, but never with that skirt."

A girl passed by, saying hi to Liz who replied with equal enthusiasm. Peter let out a sigh.

"We should probably stop staring before it gets creepy, though," Peter said, still staring.

"Too late," someone said and both boys turned their heads to look at the curly haired girl sitting beside them at the end of the table.

"You guys are losers," she said.

"But then why do you sit with us?" Ned asked. Michelle shrugged.

"Because I don't have any friends," she mumbled, returning her attention to her book. Ned and Peter shared a look before turning their attention back to Liz. Ned had thought of telling Peter about his run-in with Adelaide this morning, but he thought better of it and kept it to himself. Peter, in truth, hadn't thought about Adelaide at all the whole day. He'd been so obsessed with the internship that she hadn't even crossed his mind.

Besides, there wasn't a whole lot of thinking going on when he was watching Liz.

—————

Adelaide couldn't believe her luck.

She'd gone the entire day without running into Peter or even Ned again for that matter. The school had transformed into a minefield. Yet, for once in her life, things were actually going good. A little voice in the back of her mind told her that nothing good ever lasted in her life, but she decided that she'd worry about that tomorrow when she got her real schedule.

For now, there was a mandatory meeting for the decathlon team that Adelaide had for some unknown reason decided to go.

She didn't have to be at Delmar's for at least another half hour and it wasn't too far from the school that she couldn't walk so instead of wasting money on a taxi to go back to her miserable apartment, she decided to go to the meeting. Besides, she had said she would join the team last year. She remembered it especially vividly because what Liz had said to her before.

Well, since you two are so close, I just thought that maybe you were together.

She pushed the doors to the theater open, walking inside.

Inside, Liz was talking to Mr. Harrington in a hushed voice while Flash was reading a book, clearly hiding his phone underneath it. He winked at her as soon as she walked in and she rolled her eyes. Ned and Michelle were sitting up on the stage being quizzed by Abe. Ned hadn't seen her walk in just yet and she hoped he wouldn't, trying her best to forget the events of this morning.

"...I can't believe Peter isn't coming to the decathlon," Liz sighed, looking worried, "We're just going to have to manage without him."

He isn't going?

What could possibly be more important than the decathlon for him? And not to mention Liz Allen. Why would he throw it all — Spider-Man.

If she knew Peter, he put Spider-Man first. Even before her many times. The decathlon never stood a chance. Although, Adelaide did feel slightly better that he didn't change his priorities even for Liz Allen, the girl he had been obsessed with for years now.

"Adelaide! I'm so glad you're here!" Liz greeted. Adelaide sighed to herself. She didn't have the energy to be as nice as Liz was all the time. She settled for a not-frown, considering it an expression as Liz approached her, a bustle of nervous energy.

"The field trip is in five days and Peter just said he can't —"

"Wait — five days?" Adelaide asked. Liz paused, glancing at her.

"Yeah," she said, "That's not a problem for you, is it?"

Oh, it just interrupts all the sulking I have scheduled for the week.

"No..." Adelaide said unsurely. She had to have something going on. She always had something.

That was back when you still lived at the Tower.

Right. Of course. Now...she didn't have an agenda. She literally didn't have anything better to do. What had her life come to?

"Great!" Liz smiled, "I'll catch you up with all the details for tomorrow, just let me get the forms. I really like what you did with your hair, by the way! It suits you!"

Adelaide barely got in a nod as the girl hurried away to get her the forms. She didn't even know where the were going for the field trip. How long were they going for? She hadn't even studied for the competition.

But the truth was, she just wanted to get out of New York altogether. Some change in scenery could be good for her. Plus, Peter wouldn't be there and she just couldn't deal with him right now.

Wherever they were going, she hoped it wasn't in New York.

—————

As soon as the meeting had ended, Adelaide was out the door. If she didn't run, she was going to be late for her shift.

Luckily, she stumbled through the door just in time.

Mr. Delmar looked up, seeing her walking into the restaurant. He grinned and Julio handed him a five dollar bill with a frown.

"Couldn't be a couple minutes late?" Julio asked her as she walked behind the counter. He had to change his shift slightly because of her school schedule and now he was working an hour extra than he did before which meant he was going to be there everyday after school. Adelaide grinned at the dark-skinned man.

"Well we can't all be like you," she said, hanging her backpack on the hook.

"Very funny," he retorted, going back to making his sandwich.

"How was school?" Mr. Delmar greeted her. Adelaide grabbed a white apron off the hook, putting it on.

"Good afternoon to you too, Mr. Delmar," she said. He narrowed his eyes at her.

"Don't tell me you didn't go today," he said. She rolled her eyes, walking past him and pulling on a pair of plastic gloves. Murphy meowed at her as she passed him.

"I did go," she said, "And it was hell."

"So I guess not much has changed since I was in school, eh?" he grinned, leaning on the countertop. Adelaide faced him, cocking her head.

"Did they screw up your schedule back then, too?" she asked. Mr. Delmar laughed.

"Oh yeah," he grinned, "It's how I met my wife."

Adelaide frowned. That was not at all what she had been looking to get out of this schedule mishap. She shook her head.

"I'm doing all this because of you, you know," she said, looking at him. Mr. Delmar raised a skeptic eyebrow.

"You realize there's no way I could have known if you went to school today or not, right?" he said. Adelaide looked away.

"Didn't occur to me," she lied. Mr. Delmar laughed, patting her shoulder.

"Sure it didn't, kiddo," he said, walking past her into the kitchen. She let out a breath, leaning against the countertop. Julio smirked at her and she narrowed her eyes.

"What?" she said.

"You're a terrible liar," he smirked. She rolled her eyes.

"Shut up, Julio," she muttered, walking inside the kitchen.

—————

Peter opened the door to his favorite deli which he hadn't been to in a while.

He was craving one of Mr. Delmar's sandwiches and the smell of the best deli in Queens welcomed him as soon as he walked through the door. The bell rang overhead, signaling his arrival.

"What's up, Mr. Delmar?" Peter greeted. Mr. Delmar looked at him from above the stack of boxes in his hand.

"Hey! Mr. Peter Parker, haven't seen you around in a while," Mr. Delmar greeted. Peter shrugged.

"Been busy with some stuff," he said, grabbing some gummies off the shelf.

"I'll get someone out here," Mr. Delmar said and Peter nodded, "Adelaide! My hands are full, can you ring this one up!"

Peter froze.

Then he told himself that there were hundreds of Adelaides in New York and his couldn't possibly be working here.

"Coming!" she shouted from the kitchen. Before he realized that he had heard that voice before, she stumbled out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron.

Adelaide froze.

She realized that she hadn't seen his face in nearly three months. Memories came flooding back and she swallowed. She couldn't look away from his eyes. It was like everything around him had disappeared and it was just the two of them, looking at each other. Something fluttered in her stomach.

"Hi," she breathed.

"Hi," he said quietly, equally breathless.

For a moment, they were caught in a whirlwind of emotions, unable to look away from each other. Peter had forgotten just how blue her eyes were. He didn't know she had dyed her hair. He wanted to tell her that it looked nice but the words were stuck in his throat. Adelaide almost forgotten how his little curl of hair always fell into his face. Or just how chocolate his eyes looked.

Someone laughed in the restaurant and Adelaide blinked, snapping out of it.

She tucked her hair behind her ears, clearing her throat. She walked up to the register and began pressing random buttons to busy herself.

"What-What can I get for you?" she said, her voice unsteady. She swallowed, trying to steady her breaths. Peter shook his head, snapping out it a second later. What had gotten into him?

"Um," he swallowed, suddenly forgetting his order altogether, "I...uh..."

"Number five, right?" Mr. Delmar said as he walked by.

Peter blinked. Right. Of course. How could he forget? His stomach flipped. He couldn't believe this was the first time he was seeing Ada in three months. Why was he so out of breath? And why in the world was his heart beating so fast?

"Y-Yeah," he stuttered, coming to his senses. He looked over at the guy working on the subs, "Um and...uh, with pickles, and can you smush it down real flat? Thanks."

"Will that be all?" Adelaide said quietly, typing his order into the machine. She didn't look up at him, but she had heard the slight twinge of hope in her voice. Peter didn't miss it either.

Peter looked up at her for a moment, opening his mouth to say something. Then he thought better of it and looked away.

"Yeah," he mumbled.

"It'll be right out," she mumbled. She quickly finished typing his order and immediately turned around, escaping into the kitchen without looking back. Peter sighed. That wasn't how things were supposed to go.

"How's your aunt?" Mr. Delmar asked, oblivious to the whole scene. Peter looked up.

"Yeah, she's alright," he said.

"La tía de é les una italiana muy bellissima," Mr. Delmar said to the man working beside him. (His aunt is a very hot Italian woman.)

"¿Ah, sí?" Julio said. Peter smiled to himself.

"¿Cómo está tu hija, eh?" he asked. (How is your daughter, huh?)

Mr. Delmar gave him a look and Peter couldn't help but grin broadly.

"Ten dollars," Mr. Delmar said.

"It's five dollars," Peter argued, pointing to the menu overhead. Mr. Delmar wasn't having it.

"For that comment, ten dollars," he said and Peter laughed.

"Hey, come on, I'm joking. I'm joking," he laughed, pulling out a five from his wallet, "Here's five dollars." Mr. Delmar took it grumpily, depositing it into the register. Peter sauntered over to the fat cat sitting on the countertop.

"What's up, Murph? How you doing, buddy?" he said, petting him. The cat didn't move and continued to glare at everyone in sight.

Peter stole a quick look past the cat into the kitchen where he saw a mess of blonde hair moving around. His breath caught in his throat. He was supposed to be mad at her, wasn't he? But hadn't three months been long enough? Why hadn't she reached out to him? Why was it bothering him to begin with?

Murphy meowed quietly and Peter sighed.

"I know, Murph," he mumbled, "I know."

As if she could tell he was staring, Ada turned around and Peter quickly looked away, hoping she hadn't see him.

"So, how's school?" Mr. Delmar asked, pulling him away from the cat.

"Ah, you know, it's boring," he sighed, "Got better things to do."

He heard someone coughing in the