Z O E E

        Boing!

        Zoee leans back, looking over Peter's body as she is standing next to him, helping him put up the debate team picture on the bulletin board. A couple feet away from the pair is Eugene "Flash" Thompson, Midtown High's notorious bully. He laughs with two of his friends after he threw a basketball at Peter's head. "Sorry." Flash apologizes, trying to hide the smile of his face with his hand, failing miserably.

        "Mornin' Flash." Peter greets at him, nodding and giving him a fake smile to get rid of Flash as soon as possible. Zoee narrows her eyebrows at the bully, stepping away from the board to stop leaning to be able to look at him better.

        Flash and his posse walk over to them, Zoee crossing her arms and balling her fists. "Good morning Parker! Good morning Parker's little freak." He teases, smiling big as he is now making his way away from them. Zoee doesn't take her eyes off him, ignoring the burning at the back of her eyes and the pang of hurt she feels in her chest at the taunting name. She just narrows her eyes again, glaring at him as she tightens her hands. All of a sudden Flash lunges at Zoee after he pretended to walk again, wanting to see if she would flinch. She blinks and steps back quickly, Peter also taking action and stepping forward, moving his arm in front of her to protect her.

        Eugene and his group burst out into laughs once more, turning around again to leave. When they start walking, Zoee sticks out her foot in front of the blonde bully. He trips over her foot and stumbles, catching himself before he falls. His face is bright red as he stands straight again, embarrassed that all the students in the hallway saw him. Zoee quickly turns around to pretend it wasn't her but can't help herself, looking back at Flash. He is staring at her and when he catches her gaze, he sends her a threatening look and uses his fingers to point at his eyes then at hers, signaling her to watch her back.

        Zoee rolls her eyes before looking back at Peter who is watching her with amusement. He sticks out his hand and she hits it with hers, high fiving him. "Good job." He praises, closing the glass door to protect the bulletin board before pressing a quick kiss to her forehead. Zoee gives him a very faint smile, the right corner of her lips lifting up slightly. Peter gives her a full smile as they walk off, their bodies bumping into each other softly as they head to their locker.

        Peter and Zoee have come a long way ever since that day at Zoee's first hospital in-patient. It's been over two years, and now they're starting their senior year together. Zoee has opened up tremendously to Peter and his family, mostly to Peter though. She's able to give him faint smiles and expressions when they're together in contrast to the blank look she would always give him when they first met.

        The way Peter held her at the hospital made her realize that maybe he wasn't as bad as her thoughts made her believe. She was able to battle her mind and trust Peter, letting him in. It didn't happen overnight though, Peter had to prove himself countless times and eventually, she started to crack. She hasn't opened up to him completely or spoken yet but it's enough for both of them to be friends. Zoee finally has a calm mind and has no doubt that Peter won't leave her side anytime soon.

        As Zoee and Peter pass by a group of girls surrounding a locker, they simultaneously stop when a girl with a light pink tank top steps out and signals Peter over. "Hey!" She smiles at him. "It's Peter...right?"

        Zoee nudges Peter's side with her elbow when he stares at the girl, not replying. He then nods, humming in agreement at her question. "I really like your photos." The girl continues, Zoee not being oblivious to her flirting. She starts to narrow her eyes and furrow her eyebrows together, getting annoyed.

        "Oh, thanks. Thanks." Peter nods with a dumbstruck look on his face, not believing that a girl, besides Zoee, is actually talking to him instead of asking for homework help or for a favor.

        Zoee's eyes then widen when the girl asks, "Uh listen...are you busy Friday night?" Peter opens his mouth to answer but it closes again when nothing comes out, so he just shrugs. The girl then continues, "Cool! Uh, can you take pictures of my boyfriend's car? I just, you know, I really wanna frame a good one for his birthday." There it is...Zoee can't help but roll her eyes mentally. Everyone only wants one thing and one thing only from Peter, and that's his help. Whatever kind of help whether being with homework, projects, or photography, they seek out Peter. They never do anything for him and they act like there aren't any more tutors in the school. That fact irks Zoee to her core, annoying her even more.

        "Yeah? Well, that's really nice of you, wow, that's such a nice thought. Um.." Peter sighs out with a smile and Zoee can't really tell if it's a sigh of relief or a sad sigh. She grunts beside him, having Peter send her a look before she turns back to the pleading girl. "Yeah, I'll look at the old uh, the old schedule."

        "Okay!" The girl grins before thanking him with a manicured hand placed on his shoulder. Zoee desperately wants to step forward but before she can, the girl turns back around to keep chatting away with her friends.

        Zoee is a really cautious person when it comes to defending herself or Peter, but she knows when to step in, or at least try. She would've stepped in and try to move Peter along since it was some random girl she has seen around in the halls. If it was Flash though, she wouldn't have tried anything. She got lucky when Flash didn't beat up after the stunt she pulled, but she does have a feeling he will do something.

        The Atkins girl bumps into Peter's back as he abruptly stops while she's lost in her thoughts on the many ways she would've made the pink top girl back off her best friend. Zoee leans to the right and looks up at her trusted friend before following his lovestruck gaze. Her eyes land on where Parker's eyes are: Gwen Stacy. The Stacy girl is gracefully sitting on a school bench, flipping through a blue book. Peter lifts the camera that is already in the palm of his hand and looks through the viewfinder to focus his lens on the blonde girl. Click!

        Zoee doesn't push down the wave of jealousy that hits her. She doesn't even try to control the sour expression her face twists into as she moves over to walk past Peter. Peter notices this and tries to place a hand on her arm. She keeps walking and tries to ignore him, wanting to go to their spot and sit down to pull out her new favorite read, The Outsiders.

        Loud shouting then stops her in her tracks. She looks over at a big group of people in a circle, some of them pumping their fists.

        Eat it! Eat it! Eat it! They chant in unison, the crowd getting tighter and tighter as more people join.

        The mute teen glances back at Peter and watches as his expression goes hard; he knows exactly what's going on. Peter starts walking to the crowd and Zoee tries to stop him this time by grabbing his arm but Peter brushes past her, his steps quickening to reach the big circle of students. Zoee runs to follow him, her messenger bag bouncing off her hip.

        "Take the picture, Parker!" Zoee immediately recognizes the bully's voice as she approaches. She pushes her way into the crowd and stands next to Peter, her eyes taking in the scene in front of her. Flash is holding a poor student upside down, pushing his face into his school lunch.

        "Put him down, Flash!" Peter shouts over the noise, pointing to the ground, signaling to put the boy down. He keeps shaking his head as Flash keeps demanding him to take a picture with his camera. "Put him down! Eugene!" The crowd gasps and immediately goes silent at the mention of the bully's real name. Flash, quickly getting enraged, throws the sauce-face covered boy onto the ground and stalks his way over to Zoee's best friend.

        Peter starts to move forward to help the student on the floor up but is stopped when Flash throws a punch and hits Peter in the face. The hit teen stumbles to the floor, the crowd jumping back and Zoee gasping silently, placing a hand over her mouth and her eyes watering with tears. "C'mon, get up, Parker!" Flash instigates, wanting Peter to hit back or at least do something to defend himself.

        As Peter scrambles back up, another punch goes to his gut by the bully. He groans aloud and curls into the ground in pain on his hands and knees. "Get up, c'mon! C'mon!" The blonde keeps yelling. "Get up!" This time, Flash kicks him in the ribs. Peter rolls down to lay down on the concrete floor.

        "I'm still not taking the picture..." Peter calls out in a hoarse voice, grasping onto the places he had been hit. Throughout all of this, Zoee is indecisive on what to do. She steps back and forth, lifting her hand then lowering it back down, trying to figure out what to do to save her best friend. She really wants to step in and help him, but she also really doesn't want to get beat up again by the high school bully.

        Flash sees this and stalks over to her, continuing with his yelling. "Who wants one more? I think you do!" Zoee starts to take quick steps back, lifting her arms up to shield herself. The teens behind her push her closer to him, making her body collide with his. He grasps at the collar of her shirt and effortlessly picks her up to be face to face with her, her legs lifting off the ground and dangling a couple of inches in the air. "You're gonna pay off what you did earlier, you mute freak!" He screams into her face, her eyes screwing shut and her nose scrunching up as she tries to lean her face back.

        "Flash!" A female voice interrupts, quieting down both the bully and the crowd. "Are we still on for after school today? My house, three thirty?"

        Zoee opens her eyes to look down at the blonde girl from earlier, looking up at Flash and standing up to him. Gwen Stacy continues, "I hope you've been doing your homework, last time I was...very disappointed in you."

        Flash opens his mouth to try to brush off the fact that he is tutored by her, all while still holding the Atkins girl in the air. Surprisingly, she has been strong so far, not letting one tear escape from her eyes. She has never cried in front of Flash, even with all the name-calling, and she wasn't going to today. Flash starts to speak but gets cut off by the Stacy girl.

        "No, how about we go to class, hm? How 'bout it?" Gwen nods, narrowing her eyes at the tall blonde as the bell rings.

        "Whatever," Flash mutters as he clenches his fist full of Zoee's shirt before throwing her away from him like a rag doll. Zoee bites her lip harshly to avoid crying out in pain as the back of her head and her back collides with the floor. Her vision momentarily goes black as she lifts her head up. She winces, touching the back of her head, feeling a faint bump already starting to form between her strands of hair.

        Zoee closes her eyes again, letting the tears fall from her closed eyelids as her thoughts start to run wild. The voice comes back in her head, taunting her in two ways like if there were an angel and devil on her shoulders. Both are degrading though, one scolding her for trying to step in and embarrassing herself, the other one attacking her for not acting quick enough to help Peter. As her brain starts to go crazy, hands help her sit up. She opens her teary eyes, her blurred vision making out Peter in front of her.

        "Are you okay?" He asks in a gruff voice, still in pain from the beating he got from Flash. With a wince, he pulls up her to her feet. Zoee shakes her head to give him a response to his question, breaking down into silent gasps of air and sobs now that the bully is gone and out of sight.

        "He's gonna pay for this, don't worry Zo." At the sound of her nickname, she hugs him tight, crying into his sweater. Peter smooths down her hair with one hand and uses his thumb to wipe the tears away from her dimpled cheek, muttering all the ways he's going to get Flash back for hurting both him and her.

first chapter following the movie!!! how exciting!