🔹Peter's POV🔹

To say I was surprised when Hailey broke Flash's jaw would be a major understatement. She brings a whole new meaning to tiny and mighty.

I can't help but stare as she bounces off on her toes when we leave. This girl is something totally different than most girls I know.

She stops at the doors to wrap her scarf around her neck and looks over at her shoulder. Her eyes meet mine and she quickly averts her gaze. "Hurry up, Parker. I want churros."

I roll my eyes and look at Ned next to me. The look on his face says he would gladly buy Hailey all the churros in the world if she asked him to. His new LEGO set is long forgotten as he looks at me excitedly. "Can I come over?"

I shrug. "Sure."

"Yes!" He pumps his fist in the air and speed walks ahead of me to walk beside Hailey. We leave the building and the biting cold wind stings my face. The sky is gray with big fluffy clouds heavy laden with snow.

Ned is talking animatedly about his newest LEGO set to Hailey and is so into it he doesn't even notice when she slows her pace. She drops back to walk beside me. "Is he always like this?"

"He has his moments. But Ned's a great guy. He's my best friend."

"I can see why. Nerds gotta stick together," she jokes, bumping me with her elbow.

It takes a good three minutes before Ned realizes Hailey isn't beside him anymore, and the poor guy deflates. His face brightens when we get on the subway and he gets a seat next to Hailey. I stand in front of them, watching the two of them talk about old PS games.

"Ratchet & Clank games are hands down the best games I ever played," Hailey says, a dreamy look on her face. "Steven and I used to play Ratchet & Clank Deadlocked multiplayer together all the time. We beat Up Your Arsenal at least a dozen times and got all the bonuses. We never liked Size Matters. Clank is a pain to play. He doesn't have a good double jump or cool skills. He does have a cow gun though..."

"Steven?" Ned asks.

Hailey pales, the smile disappearing from her face. "Um, he's one of my friends from Chicago. My gaming buddy and all that stuff."

"Oh. So not a boyfriend?"

"It was...complicated between us. Anyways, Sly Cooper games are amazing too. I beat one through three, I still haven't had a chance to play the newer ones since they don't work on my PS3," Hailey continues with a smile, but her smile doesn't reach her eyes. Her gaze flickers up to mine. She's starting to look uncomfortable with Ned inching closer and asking more questions. The subway lurches and she takes the opportunity to scoot towards the doors, putting more space between her and Ned.

Ned doesn't notice. Instead, he starts talking about the one level of Crash Bandicoot that he never could beat without my help.

At the mention of me, Hailey looks up at me. "You play on a PlayStation?"

I shrug. "A little."

"We should play Deadlocked multi sometime. I can't clear some of the hell levels by myself. I brought my PS3 system with me from Chicago with all the games. It's ancient, but it works beautifully."

I give her a genuine smile. "Sounds fun."

"Can I play too?" Ned butts in, scooting closer to Hailey yet again. "I've never played Ratchet & Clank before."

"Um, sure? But not today. I haven't got it all set up yet." Hailey sends a wary glance towards Ned and fidgets in her seat.

"We have stuff to talk about anyways, Ned," I add.

Before Ned can say anything, the subway arrives at our stop and we pile out. Hailey looks relieved to be outside with her own personal space bubble again. Her relief doesn't last long though. Ned goes back to her side like a lovesick puppy, and for all I know, he is one.

Hailey listens to him halfheartedly, nodding her head as her eyes roam over the buildings. She's clearly not interested in hearing about Ned's latest minesweeper record, but he doesn't notice. Or maybe he doesn't care.

I feel the need to step in and calm Ned down and give Hailey some space, but I don't know what to do. I mentally slap myself for thinking that. If she wants him to shut up and get off her back, she would let him know. She clearly doesn't need my help to take care of herself.

"Peter!" Hailey shouts, jolting me from my thoughts. A second later she slams into me, knocking me back on the sidewalk. A car flies past, leaving a flurry of snow where I had been standing in the crosswalk.

Hailey is leaning over me, her hands planted on both sides of my head. She jerks back and sits next to me. "Are you okay? You need to pay more attention, Parker."

I grunt and sit up. My head hurts from hitting it on the sidewalk, but other than that, I'm fine. "I'm okay. Sorry, I was thinking. You good?"

"Yeah." Hailey looks around nervously and stands, offering her hand to me. I take it and hop up beside her.

Ned crosses back to our side, fawning over me. "Peter, you should've seen it coming! What were you thinking?"

"I'm okay, Ned. Thanks for asking."

"Is it broke?" Ned whispers. "Your, tingly sense?"

"Parker's water broke?" Hailey jokes. "Who's the father? Come on, let's get some ice or something. You hit your head pretty hard."

"I'm fine, Hailey. But," I fidget uncomfortably. "Thanks."

Hailey grins from ear to ear. "Any time."

Ned looks between the two of us and decides to intervene. "Churros! Let's go get churros!" He shouts, turning on his heel and walking towards the churro street vendor.

"I'll buy yours," I tell Hailey.

Her eyes widen in surprise. "Y-You don't have to-"

"You just saved me from turning into a Parker pancake. The least I can do is buy you a churro."

She snickers at that. "Parker Pancake. You should open a breakfast shop. Or sell the name to IHOP."

"Don't make me change my mind," I mumble. "I won't buy you a churro."

"Yeah right, Parker Pancake. You're gonna buy me the best churro they have, because I saved you from a Kia. A Kia. What a way to die." She shoots me a grin and heads over to the vendor.

I sigh and follow her. I order a churro with chocolate sauce and sprinkles for Hailey and she looks ecstatic. Her eyes are the size of dinner plates when the vendor gives it to her, and I swear I see a little drool dribble down her chin.

I buy a plain one for myself and watch Hailey and Ned savor their churros. Hailey looks like she ascended straight to heaven. I want to laugh, but what Ned said earlier is nagging me. Why didn't I sense that car and get out of the way? I'd never missed something like that before, and I had been thinking of Hailey when it happened. All the more reason to stay away from her. Aunt May might think she's a godsend, but she nearly cost me my identity. That car wouldn't have killed me, but it would've been very difficult to explain why I walked away just fine while the car got totaled.

"Yoo-hoo! Earth to Parker!" Hailey waves her hands in my face. "Your churro is getting cold!"

I blink at her and look down at my churro. "Oh, yeah. Sorry."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

I wave her off. "I've hit my head much harder before. I'm fine. Let's go. Aunt May is probably worried sick."

"The last thing I want to do is go home. My mom is gonna be all over me because of the fight." Hailey sighs, her cheery attitude gone. "My first day of my new life and I make a mess of things. She's gonna be ticked."

I don't know what to say so I give her a remorseful smile. Ned hovers behind her, worry etched in his face. "Will she make you switch schools?"

"Oh, gosh no. She'll just yell at me until my eardrums bust and then she'll be over it. Hopefully." Hailey shrugs. "That's what she normally does."

"Normally?" I arch my brow at her.

She grins sheepishly. "I have a bit of a knack for getting caught up in fights. But I have yet to lose."

"That's what they all say."

"Is that a challenge, Parker?" She steps closer, her toes bumping mine.

"Maybe."

"Then I accept. My place, Saturday. You, me, and my PlayStation." She grins wildly. "I can't wait to completely destroy you in Ty multiplayer."

I laugh and step back. "We'll see about that, Hailey."

"Um, guys. Let's go. It's starting to snow again." Ned nudges me with in the gut, a little harder than he needed to. Sure enough, big fluffy snowflakes are floating down from the gray clouds overhead. It looks like we might get a lot of snow.

Hailey sticks her tongue out and catches a snowflake on the tip. She frowns when it melts. "It doesn't taste like Chicago."

"I didn't know snowflakes taste different," Ned says.

"Well, lake effect snow isn't like snow from the ocean. It tastes like home," she says wistfully.

"Come on, let's go. The temperature is gonna start dropping fast, and I'd rather not freeze."

"Scared you're gonna turn into a Parker Popsicle?" Hailey jokes, causing Ned to burst out laughing. I glare at them both and start heading back to the apartments. Hailey jogs to catch up with me. "You really should start a food company. You'd be the Tony Stark of the food world. Parker Popsicles. Parker Pancakes."

"Parker Pretzels?" Ned offers.

"Exactly. Great minds think alike," she says, shooting a grin at Ned. "Ah, but then again, fools never differ."

"I'm not opening a food company," I grumble, picking up my pace.

"Then what are you gonna do? They don't pay people to be nerds."

"I don't know. But I'm not opening a food company."

"Tch, you're no fun." Hailey frowns and adds, "but you do know where to get a good churro, so I guess that's good enough."

We walk the rest of the way in silence, Ned somehow managing to not rant to Hailey. We head upstairs and say our goodbyes. In my room, Ned interrogates me about Hailey.

"Where's she from? Does she have any siblings? Does she like LEGOs? Does she-"

"Ned, calm down. Why do you want to know so much about her."

"S-She's hot." His face flushes slightly.

"Okay? But I don't think she's interested in any re-"

"So? She hasn't had a chance to get to know me yet!"

"Ned, I'm being serious."

"You just want her for yourself!" Ned shouts angrily.

"I don't want her! You can have her! I'm just saying-"

"If you don't want her, then what do you care? Let me go for her! I supported you with Liz!"

"She's not Liz! She's," I hesitate. "She's different."

Ned drops it and fumes silently for a few minutes before speaking up again. "So, I heard you got a new partner. Wildfire, or whatever."

"Yeah, Fire Chick. You ever heard of her before?"

"Nope. Did she come to you?"

I shrug. "Kind of. Karen picked her up in an alley and I confronted her. She seems like a good person. She's a pyro."

"Cool." The conversation dies again. I can tell Ned is still upset about Hailey by the way he keeps clenching and unclenching his fists. "I-I should go. I don't want to get snowed in here."

"Ned-"

"I'll see you tomorrow, Peter." Ned leaves the room, says bye to Aunt May, and walks out the door. I watch him walk away from the apartment from my window.

"Problems?" Aunt May leans in my doorway, a cup of tea in her hand.

"I guess." I sigh and rub my neck. "He's making Hailey look uncomfortable and I called him out."

"I see." Aunt May smiles. "Are you getting jealous? Over protective?"

"No! It's not like that, I'm just worried about Ned. She doesn't seem interested in him."

Aunt May sighs and moved on to a different topic, one I would rather avoid."The principal called. He said you and Hailey got in a fight with Flash and his crew. What happened?"

"You know that picture she showed us of her friend from Chicago?" Aunt May nods. "Flash ripped it up and was roughing her up at her locker, so she punched him and broke his jaw."

"She broke his jaw? I knew I liked this girl." Aunt May grins.

"Yeah, then she kneed two of his friends where it hurts and got slammed into the lockers by two more. Ned went and got the principal while I dragged one off her."

"So you still play hero, even without the mask."

"Well, I couldn't just leave her to fight them herself. It was half the football team. They would've eaten her alive."

"Did she get hurt?"

"No, but I can't say the same about the guys that attacked her. After Flash got back up, she punched him again and broke his nose. She's crazy, Aunt May."

"I like her. Who would've thought, a tiny thing like her taking on the football team-"

"Half the team."

"-and kicking their butts by herself."

"I was there, too."

"Yeah, but you've got a bruise on your cheek. She doesn't." Aunt May smiles. "I'll get you some ice for that. Get started on your homework, no more fighting bad guys for today."

"Thanks, Aunt May." I pull out my homework as she leaves. Time to work on algebra. Fun.