❛ You're a gentleman, Peter Parker ❜

It had been days since the very awkward and very useless conversation Andy had with the Avengers, and she had survived several more study sessions with Peter as her feelings remained undecided toward the boy. Though she was unsure of herself, she was sure of one thing, that being her mission. So with a heavy heart and frustrated self-conscious, she decided to move forth in her investigation and start searching for Thunderbird's true identity. She figured it would be a challenge, but it's not as if she didn't have any leads. She had an entire algorithm at her fingertips, and at the very, very, very top of that list was one individual that Melisande didn't trust from the second she saw her curly hair bouncing through the hallway for the first time: Maya Clemmons.

Andy had an entire plan sketched into her mind, starting with planting a bug on the teenager so she could track where she went and be ready to follow her as Piracy, but when an emergency Decathlon meeting arose with a simple text to the group, Andy had to rethink her entire scheme on the fly. She had already been on edge throughout the day, and Peter had questioned it during Civics class when her foot was tapping faster than the teacher's mouth was moving. She, of course, brushed it off as wanting to get to talk to Pappy before rush hour traffic soared through the streets, but she really wanted to get the afternoon over with so she could start spying on Maya.

Her worries were a tad overdramatic, however, because to her joy and contentment, Maya had so easily let herself be bugged during the DECA practice when she left herself vulnerable. Andy knew that for teenagers the one thing they always had with them was their cell-phone, which made it the perfect target for a bug. Even more since Maya had left her cell phone on the table in front of Andy while she trotted over to the bathroom. The girl had left her phone there for the entire practice and never realized it. So when Andy has discreetly swiped her phone and taken the backing off very carefully underneath her table, she has quickly bugged the device and in forty-six seconds had put the phone exactly how and where she originally took it from. Maya hadn't noticed, she was too busy slamming her hand on the red buzzer every time a question about biology or chemistry was asked. Andy had nothing to worry about, she was first chair for history so the science questions didn't pertain to her.

The teenager had leaned on her hand the entire practice and watched the practice continue on with nothing interesting happen, aside from Abraham shouting out the wrong answer not once, not twice, but three times before he could finally correct himself in shame and embarrassment. Other than that, the two hours practice sent by uneventful and Maya had still forgotten about her phone that sat silently on Andy's desk. When the day was over and students began packing their notes and binders into their backpacks, Peter sighed and glanced at his tablemate - Andy - with a slight smile. "So, uh, that was fun," he offered, his cheeks beginning to burn red when Andy looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "Sure, if you count watching high school students with social issues shouting answers about amoebas and bacteria over each other fun," she retorted, making Peter chuckle and shake his head lightly. "You're a find, Andy Dubois," he said while standing to his feet and checking his watch. "Got somewhere to be?" Melisande asked, seeing the eagerness in his eyes. His head shot up and there was a certain confusion apparent on him, "You keep checking your watch," she told him, gesturing to the device on his wrist. His jaw relaxed and he shifted on his toes, "Oh, right! Yeah, uh, May wanted me to pick up some groceries, but I, uh, just missed the train to the city." Andy nodded and heaved her backpack onto the table loudly, "Next one comes in twenty minutes, if you're willing to wait." Peter shrugged and motioned in between them, "If you want I can walk you home," he kindly suggested.

"I'm off to work, but if the offer still stands..." she lightly teased with a smile on her lips. Peter caught on quickly and grinned, his eyes meeting the girl's, "I would be more than happy to walk you to Delmar's."

Andy pursed her lips and tilted her head as she stared into Peter's eyes, "You're a gentleman, Peter Parker," she chuckled while shaking her head lightly. Peter smiled a smile that showed off his pearly white teeth and he adjusted the book resting in his arms, "And you're a sweetheart, Andy Dubois," he replied, the amount of sincerity in his voice nearly making Andy blush furiously at her words. "Are you flirting with me?" she wondered, narrowing her eyes at him in curiosity. Peter's eyes went wide and he stuttered, his cheeks already beginning to heat up and burn red, "Is that - uh - is that okay?" he blurted out. Andy beamed and nodded, "That's fine, Pete." 

Just as Peter was to respond to his nickname that Andy had never called him before the distracting ringing of Maya's phone made the girl glance down at the desktop where the phone vibrated once. She picked it up, ignoring the rambles of Peter and his interest in his new shop class while the teenage girl stared at the message on the screen in front of her face. It read: Hey Lightningbug, you left evidence behind, good luck getting it back.

Hundreds of thoughts echoed through Andy's mind and she began thinking about the nickname the blocked number had called her. Lightningbug related awfully close to Thunderbird, and for someone already a suspect, Andy was even more convinced than before that Maya Clemmons was not who she said she was. So to eliminate Maya's possibly suspicions of her, Andy swiped the message clear and looked up just as Peter finished his talking and smiled at her. She returned the gesture and slung her bag onto her shoulder while pushing in her chair, "Uh, would you mind giving this to Maya? She left it over here at the beginning of practice and I don't want her to lose it," Andy questioned, holding out the device to him. He shrugged and took it from her hand without hesitation, "Meet me by my locker? I need to stop by on the way out," he told her. Andy nodded, "Sure thing, and if you have food in there I will more than happily eat it," she said, a mischevious but playful smirk on her face. Peter started walking backward and looked at her, "You can eat whatever you find, but it's probably just crackers," he called out before whipping around and trotting over to the dark-skinned sophomore. 

Andy had already begun making her way out the gymnasium doors and down the hall to Peter's locker. But as she walked she began thinking, and not even about Maya like she should have been. She was thinking about Peter, how nice he was, adorable, smart, all his good attributes. It wasn't long before Andy realized something she never thought would happen. She had a crush on Peter Parker, and she didn't know what to do with that information.