[A quick reminder: Just as explained in the introduction chapter. Any Chinese you see in this series, will be written in italics, as I don't really trust google translate and I don't speak the language myself. It's to avoid offending anyone. :)]

[Word Count: 2,220]

| chapter - one |

\ nothing like two awkward teenagers /

Let's get this straight. Tonight's Aerial Silks performance was a mess and the night in general was a disaster, and there was nothing you could convince Bambi otherwise.

Her older step-brother, Finch Sahora, just had to make it worse the second she turned around in her chair and jumps with a yelp. A spider was on the wall. But, when she looks closer and realizes that it was just a sticker, she groans. Tearing it off she throws it in the trash.

"Not funny, Finch!" Bambi rolls her eyes. "You know I hate spiders!"

The boy chuckled as he came out of hiding, "You have to admit, it was kinda funny."

Bambi had a blunt face, "No..."

Finch sighs as he slumps down into the chair, "Why do you seem so tense, Bambi?"

She leaned back into her makeup chair and crossed her arms, "Because tonight was a mess."

He scoffed, "It was not, you did great!"

"Thanks," She raised a brow. "But not what I'm talking about. Or more rather, who."

"Oh?" Finch raises his brows but momentarily catches on. "Ohh... I see. Boy problems. It's that Parker dude, isn't it? What's his name again? Romeo or something?" He then coos, "Are you playing Juliet?"

She rubs her temple, "First of all, it's Peter, Romeo Parker doesn't even sound right." She gives a sigh. "Secondly, didn't they both die in the end? It's been so long since I've read the story, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't involve the twenty-first century."

Bambi then gives her step-brother a weird glance as he seems to put on crocodile tears, "What's wrong with you?"

Finch then gave a sad sigh, "I knew this day would come. My baby sister finally has the hots for a boy. They grow up so fast."

"I don't-" Bambi shoved him. "Shut up!"

Finch let out a laugh as he got up before he exited the room, he left her with, "Tell him that you're already interested in Spider-Man." He teases with a grin.

Bambi groans in annoyance and throws a pillow at him, only for him to shut the door before it could even do anything.

***

You want to know how Bambi's day got even worse?

She had locked herself inside her bedroom, practicing her fourth round of advanced Hung Ga Kung-Fu. Now... there were reasons she kept her door locked...

She wasn't about to kick her step-brother dead on in the nose for the twentieth time that week, after he suddenly opens the door, oh no, she nearly broke the bone the very recent time. And she felt awful about it.

And so, the door remains locked for safety measures.

Although, Bambi did find it mildly amusing when Finch withered out, "Ohh! My face! My beautiful face!"

It was a laugh and a half.

But, no, that wasn't how her day got worse. That was just an inconvenience, a very funny one at that.

Her day got worse when there was a knock at the front door and Finch hollering out, "Lù, can you get that for me, please?" From downstairs. "Kind of in the middle of cooking at the moment!"

Finch always called her by her first name, as they've lived around each other for years, so he learned how to properly pronounce it. Whilst most of everyone else just called her, Bambi, finding it easier.

She gave a small sigh, putting her current read away into her bookshelf, and heading downstairs to do as she was told. But of course, the second she opened that front door and saw the all-too-familiar face. She got too anxious and filled with slight panic.

"Hey-" But before more words could pour from that boy's mouth, Bambi was quick to slam the door into his face. Turn around, press her back against the wooden frame, arms sprawled, almond eyes wide in shock, cheeks flushed.

"Wh-" Finch was confused, as he looked from the stove, to her. "-What was that about?"

She only looked to him with her pupils, "Nothing."

Her step-brother raised a brow, "Nothing? Really? Because I'm pretty sure I heard someone speak before you slammed the door in their face."

"Finch..." She shook her head. "It was nobody."

By that sly smirk on his face, she knew he didn't believe a word she just said. "It's that boy, isn't it?"

"No." She insisted. "It wasn't..." She tried to think. "We didn't order pizza, so I just-"

Finch let out a laugh, "Save it, Lù, you aren't fooling me." He looked back to the stove to continue with dinner. "Let the poor boy in, he probably has a bruise now."

She sighed once more and swallowed the words she was gonna give before Finch had torn them down, she pushed herself off of the door. Slowly opening it, she leaned on it and looked out.

Peter Parker, the boy problem that Finch kept calling it, rubbing at his face and scuffing his hair trying to fix it.

"Uhh..." She didn't know what words were, it was like she forgot how to speak English, all those lessons in an earlier lifetime were for nothing. Feeling like she had to go back to her Native Tongue, Mandarin. Though, he probably wouldn't understand it if she did.

"The word you're looking for is, hello." Finch coughed out, trying to help out.

Her eyes averted to him for half a second, before returning to the boy who had her all in a funk. And an awkward smile with teeth was attempted.

"Hello..." Bambi was slow in the moment. "... there?" She had no idea why she asked it like saying a simple 'hello' was a question, but it was the best she got.

God, she shook her head mentally, that was so awkward...

She hated it entirely.

"You're not going to slam the door again, are you?" Peter asked, continuing to hold half of his face.

She shook her head. He nodded, "Okay, cool. Then. Hey."

"I'm sorry..." She apologized with a light voice. "My bad."

Peter shrugged it off, "It's okay. I'm pretty much made of steel, I can take a hit." He let his face go by this point, with a small smile.

Bambi gave a chuckle, "That's a funny joke."

"Totally." His voice hitched, as if he was hiding something, but also, not. She couldn't tell.

Bambi noticed how they just stood there in silence, and it was getting awkward again. As if it wasn't already awkward in the first place. And she hated that.

"You can come in." She stepped aside and opened the door more for him. "Sorry for being... weird." She trailed off, giving a small squint. Not knowing if that was the right term to use or not.

He stepped inside and she closed the door, making sure to turn the lock.

"Sooo..." She trailed off, not knowing how to shift the air into a different feeling than the one that there right now.

Finch continued to mind his own business, as he focused solely in the kitchen.

"The project?" Peter suddenly brought up.

Her head gave a tilt, "Huh?"

"Remember?" He rose a brow. "We had a project to work on that's due by next week?"

She gave it some thought only for it to hit her like a thousand suns. She was out of her own head because of his presence that she had totally forgot about it.

"Oh! Right!" She exasperated, energy at full speed ahead. "It must've gone over my head, my bad, again. Uh..." She gave a small pause, trying to think. "Follow me."

She headed towards the stairs as Peter followed suit, "We'll be upstairs for a bit, Finch."

She looked back, only to see her older step-brother give her a thumbs up, focusing on his cooking skills in the meantime.

***

They were halfway done with the project and decided to put it on pause, giving both of them a break for the time being. It was both boring and exhausting so they equally felt as if a break was rightfully needed.

And that's when Bambi remembered, "Oh yeah, I have something for you."

Peter perked up as he watched her cross her room, to her bedside table. Opening the dresser drawer of it and grabbing what seemed to be a small piece of paper. As she went back over to him, and sat down.

He grabbed it and took a good look, only to realize, "A ticket."

Bambi nodded, "To my Aerial Silks performance."

Peter's face lit up, "When and what time?"

She gives a sigh as her gaze shifted to her fingernails, "Saturday at six o'clock, in the afternoon." As she added the exact date of that month as well.

Peter did the math, only to realize, "That was..." His voice went down to a whisper. "... last Saturday..."

His back slumped in the chair as he gave a huff, "I'm sorry, Bambi, I just get so busy." He tried to make the best excuses, as he seemed to always do, every single performance. "Aunt May has me run errands sometimes, and I got piles of homework. And many other things. I lose track of time a lot these past months."

She didn't know what else to say, other than nodding and accepting his apologize, "It's okay, Peter."

He's always busy.

She swiftly added, "Even though you always seem to have the same excuse, over and over again. Without fail." But this time, it was in Chinese.

Peter's face contorted into one of confusion, "What was that?"

She gave him a glance, and inhaled with a slow exhale, "I just asked the spirits to guide you on your way to getting unbusy and having a break for all the stuff that you have going on in your life, that's all." She gave a fake smile. "It's tradition... sort of."

Meh. Not really.

Okay, so, that was a lie. But what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him, and if anything, it was payback, almost. He seemed to be hiding some secrets from her, so, it was only fair she kept that one a secret from him.

Right?

She jolted when her phone decided to buzz out suddenly, grabbing it from her desk, which also held her laptop, she checked it.

It was a facetime call and she recognized the name immediately. Of course, since it was her best friend to ever exist on planet Earth. She answered it.

Though, that might've been a mistake.

"YO IT'S MY GIRL, DOE!" Arlo hollered through the screen of her phone.

Bambi cringed entirely, "Heyyy, Arlo." She chuckled. "Don't ever say that again."

"Too cringe this time?"

She nodded, "Very much so."

She then wondered, "Aren't you supposed to be doing a project as well?"

Arlo groaned, "Yeah, but I was duped."

"That sucks. What's his name?" Bambi was curious. "It's for science, I need his address really quick."

"Good luck with that one," Arlo chuckled, pushing his curly hair from his face. "Flash Thompson."

Bambi gave the 'oh, never mind then' face. That was shocking to her, to say the least. Out of all people Arlo was partnered up with, it just had to be Flash Thompson.

"You were partnered up with Flash?" Peter scooted into the picture, closer to Bambi. Not believing it either.

Arlo didn't expect it, "Oh hey, Peter! I almost forgot you two were paired up." He gave Bambi a smirk, as she gave him a warning look.

Peter only waved with a smile.

But that was when a male voice rang out, "Hey, Arlo!" The boys head adjusts to listen.

"Sorry guys, I have to go. Dad is calling for me." Arlo sighs. "I'll see you two at school tomorrow."

Bambi and Peter both said their goodbyes to the boy, before ending the facetime call. Which felt long but also very short at the same time.

"That was, interesting..." Bambi hummed.

"What do you mean?" Peter gave a tilt to his head.

Bambi shrugged, putting her phone down. "I don't know, I feel like I've heard that voice before. Arlo doesn't really, ever, talk about his family life to me. Even though we've been best friends since, like, we were little kids."

She then adds, "But then again, I've never really talked about our family life to him either, so I guess it's pretty even on that aspect."

She sits up and places her elbow on the table and balances her chin in her palm, "I just feel like I've heard his father's voice many times before, I just don't know where from, or who it was. The name of him is escaping me."

Peter nods solemnly, "Yeah... I get that."

"We all just have secrets then, I guess."

She saw Peter's face contort back onto the emotion of confusion, after she once again, spoke in her first language.

"Sorry," She apologizes for the millionth time that day. "I find myself doing that often, lately. Speaking to myself in my mother tongue. Nothing important, I promise."

Peter then nodded again, understanding.

Bambi smiled, genuinely. Even though she was still upset that he always seems to ditch her Aerial Silks performances, despite inviting him, ticket after ticket.

She was still glad he understood her, at least. It was the least Peter Parker could do. For her sake.

--------

Here's chapter one!

What was your favorite part of this chapter? :)

And as always, like all of my stories, the first chapter always starts off kinda short. It's normal for me, we'll get into way more as we continue along.

xoxo <3