I didn't build this system, nor did I fuck it up

Light laughter falls from his lips, and he nods his head a few times– OF COURSE she can tell. He wouldn’t be surprised if MJ noticed how many times Peter has stared at her before they got together, too– he definitely caught her staring at him a considerable amount of times. Her smile makes his heart beat just a little faster, and as the two of them keep on walking hand in hand, Peter is glad that things are NORMAL right now. Everything’s been so hectic lately, even just the chance to walk with MJ is something he’s really glad he has ( he’s definitely in for a rude awakening once he finds out who he’s actually with ).

“Hey, Ned!” Peter greets his best friend once he approaches, talking to the other for a little while as the three of them stand there– maybe it’s a little weird that MJ doesn’t join in for any of the conversation, but that’s not TOO out of the ordinary, for her. Besides, it doesn’t even last that long before she’s suddenly pulling him somewhere else. Brows furrow as his gaze flickers back towards her, before he shrugs. “Oh– uh, okay, see ya later, Ned!” He follows quick to catch up to her, unsure why they left so quick. And now that he’s thinking about it, something just seems….off. He just has no clue what it is. “Um– are you okay? I mean– it’s just– uh, you’re acting kinda weird…like not your normal weird which I– which I totally don’t think is weird, by the way, I like it a lot, but– um, just– not…normal…yeah-”

“I-I’m okay. It’s just--” Rue started before the same teacher that saw her peered over the corner, completely out of breath. “Michelle, what are you doing at school? You just emailed me, saying you were going to be absent for a bit due to having the cold,” the teacher explained. "So are you feeling better? Or was that just some prank, though I don't really expect you to be the type to pull pranks..."

settling herself to sit down while resting a hand onto her temple staring up towards her in silence. she listened to every word, noticing the tear that caused her to feel slight guilt. she closed her eyes tightly, rubbing at her temple. she had to bite back the words that wanted to leave her lips, she wanted to yell back at her lecture her too. but she wasn’t having it, it was too late, she was tired. “okay.” she shrugged pushing herself up.

walking past her, holding her breath heading into the kitchen. pulling the one cabinet open to pull out the box of poptarts, stepping back to peer over towards her sister. “and maybe..i do wanna know what’s going on in your life, because..i can’t lose you either, rue. can you get that through your skull?” she frowned pulling out the last pop tart. “ever think about that?” she headed down the hall to escape to her room now.

There she went, making her feel guilty again. Could she blame her for being right, though? Rue deserved it and she knew she deserved it. It needed to be said and Rue really needed to hear it. “Gia, wait!” Rue called after standing there for what seemed like forever. “Gia please let me in,” She pleaded, standing in front of her sister’s door.

[ Text Rue ➔ ⚰️🚬] No it really is the craziest shit I’ve ever heard.

[ Text Rue ➔ ⚰️🚬] ur   l i t e r a l l y    saying that ur only going to be clean for her.

[ Text Rue ➔ ⚰️🚬] If I said that I was going to do something just because of Nate u would tell me that it’s stupid and that I should do it for myself.

[ Text Rue ➔ ⚰️🚬] I’m not saying staying clean isn’t a good idea. I’m just saying that if ur going to be clean don’t do it for someone else. Like what if things don’t end good with her?

[ Text Rue ➔ ⚰️🚬] Like what if she just randomly cuts you out of her life or something. Like you shouldn’t rely on your sobriety and happiness just because she came into your life.

[text: ms. leave nate’s psychopathic ass already] ...Yeah well I’m not staying clean for my sake

[text: ms. leave nate’s psychopathic ass already] I don’t care abt myself that much

[text: ms. leave nate’s psychopathic ass already] Also she wouldn’t do that

[text: ms. leave nate’s psychopathic ass already] She’d never

Jules opens her mouth to speak, to tell her father she’s sorry, only for her to be reminded of Rue’s words and she shuts her mouth. Right, best to let Rue do the talking. The disappointed look on his face HURTS but it’s what she deserves for letting herself get this drunk, she supposes.

Tomorrow not only will she have a hangover but she’ll have her father to answer too. Which makes her groan as she hits the bed. Her head turns to look at Rue and gives her a TIRED smile. She doesn’t think she can stand without being dizzy much less change clothes. “Help me? Please?”

What a bizarre request, the very thought baffling as Mary Jane stood there with an incredulous look on her face, “You’re name is Michelle — MJ to your friends. I’m Mary Jane — or also MJ…” It was something she’d always thought was kind of neat, having a friend who also went by MJ. What were the odds? “What on Earth did you take? Are you…okay?” By the furrow in her brow, it was obvious she felt something was a little off.

“Oh...you know...just some, uh, medicine that the doctor prescribed,” Rue lied. “I might’ve taken too much, but yeah, I’m fine,” She said casually. Whatever she did take last night was definitely too much. “Yeah, uh, I remember now,” She said with a small chuckle. ‘Gee, that must be confusing. Having the same name as one of your friends,’ Rue thought.

“Yeah, but like, handing you pills you actually need is different.” She knew about Rue’s panic attacks, having witnessed them in class plenty of times. The way Rue hyperventilated in earlier years until she was on the floor, it could only be assumed that she was suffering from anxiety. Nowadays everyone had something. Clinical depression, anxiety, ADD all things that a doctor could provide a prescription for. “It’s not like you can not give someone something if you know it’s going to help and if they need it.” The pills she had probably inhaled were completely different although she could see that they also were having a relaxing effect on her.

Standing on her toes she pulled Rue’s hood over her head, covering the tangled mess that was her hair. Her mother never would let her walk out the house with her hair like that, but then again just as they were discussing, Rue’s mom didn’t have that much control over the taller girl.

Drugs probably were giving Rue the freedom to say whatever she wanted, but Maddy always said what was on her mind. “That’s just my face,” she lied. Her irritation hadn’t even been directed at Rue, or at the boy who she had just humiliated. It seemed like her anger always went back to one person. The one person she was supposed to be in love with. For now she was okay being broken up with him, and currently hating him more than anyone. She still sighed and took a longer drag of the joint, almost burning it down to her fingertips. “I’m just saying, if you don’t want to deal with the shitty drama of a relationship then don’t. Stay single.” She sighed knowing that being in a relationship definitely had its perks. “You going to be good?” She looked at Rue’s eyes that looked so far off. “You aren’t going to like OD on me, are you?”

Rue paused for a while and blinked a couple of times to keep the memory of her overdose out of her head. “I...nah. I mean, yeah, I’ll be fine,” She mumbled with a small shrug. “I won’t...I won’t OD,” She added and awkwardly leaned against the counter. “You mind telling the teacher I went to the nurse? Or, like, if he doesn’t ask, just don’t say anything,” Rue spoke lazily. 

She looked around for a few seconds, trying to decide where she’d go since she definitely was not staying in the bathroom for the rest of the day. “Wait...that thing you said before. About relationships. Why are you still in one if there’s so much drama in it?” It may have been too much to ask, but then again, she was curious...and high. If she were, sober, Rue would never have asked. It’s not like it was her business anyways.

“Um– I’m not– I mean…looking at you like what? Sorry-” He resists the urge to let out an awkward cough, letting his gaze flicker off to the side as his heart pounds in his chest. He was hoping things would be…less awkward as time went on, but he’s PETER PARKER after all. Awkwardness is a trait he can’t seem to leave behind no matter what he does, no choice but to embrace it here and hope he makes it out the other side okay.

“Oh– I didn’t notice, but– uh, yeah, gotcha. I prob’ly would’ve said we could walk back to get it,” He laughs lightly, shrugging his shoulders, before he FINALLY musters up the courage to try this again. It’s not like it’s the FIRST time he’s held MJ’s hand, they’ve done the same gesture before, just DO IT, Peter ( just don’t be weird and it’ll be fine, right? ). Reaching his hand out, slightly to test the waters ( he now knows MJ isn’t the best at being vulnerable, wants to make sure she’s okay with it ), but when she takes his hand, his lips tug upwards into a slight, but noticeable smile. Eyes are shining from holding hands with the girl he really, really likes.

“Yeah– yeah, I’m good! It’s not…it’s not too much, definitely– definitely good, did I really-?” Brown hues suddenly wide, the flush turns into one of embarrassment for a good few moments. He hadn’t counted on her noticing his reaction. “It’s REALLY that obvious?” Despite being embarrassed, he keeps a lighthearted, joking tone. “But yeah, I– um…I like the hand holding, mhm-”

She couldn’t help but smile at how innocent he was. If she was going to be honest, she had never met someone as innocent and as...baby like as him. Gia was definitely younger then him but she wasn’t even close to how innocent he was. “Heh, yeah, I can tell. You...got that bright ol’ smile on your face,” She said softly and flashed him a small smile. She hadn’t had fun even once ever since she somehow ended up in the Big Apple, but now (surprisingly), she was actually enjoying herself, and with a stranger nonetheless. Oh right. She should get his name.

[text: ms. leave nate’s psychopathic ass already] Aw thanks Maddy

[text: ms. leave nate’s psychopathic ass already] I honestly didn’t know you knew or cared