The Girl Code
I got really bored today and my sister is rewatching One Tree Hill, so it inspired this Teen Dramaish imagine I guess
You love Peter Parker, and he was a not so subtle crush on you, the only problem is that he’s your best friend’s ex
Word Count- 1.1k
// Masterlist //
Warnings- None really, bad writing, cliche plot line
Freshman year was awkward for all persons involved. First dates, prom, diving headfirst into the stresses of high school and figuring out what you want to do with the rest of your life, not having even decided on what classes to take Sophomore year yet. Luckily, you had your best friend there with you, you stressed at first, not knowing if you were both qualified for the STEM school of your dreams, but test results came back and in a flurry of acceptance letters and freshmen orientation, you started high school at Midtown with your best friend. You two were always together, the epiphany of “Are they gay or best friends?” meme. Tris, and you luckily had every class together, along with a certain Peter.
The both of you thought he was potential “boyfriend” material, and because of your common interest, it caused strain on the relationship, a sad yet true trope of high school. Not wanting to lose one of your only friends, you backed off, favoring to let Tris take the chance of dating. Apparently, it worked out and they began dating. You were absorbed in Peter’s friend group, which was only Ned. Ned was a great friend, you took turns third-wheeling with Tris and Peter and planned some platonic dates just to get away from the disgustingly cute couple. The relationship between Tris and Peter was as strong as the bracelets they give you at concerts or amusement parks, but it had it’s rough patches like all relationships do. Especially when Peter’s Uncle Ben died in the summer before Sophomore year, to say the least, Tris was Peter’s hero, pulling him out of some dark hole and keeping him steady as he adjusted to his newly single guardian life.
That’s when things got strange, Peter started acting weird, skipping dates and ignoring texts and calls. Tris would voice her concerns to you, she missed the dork who would dumpster dive for robot parts and rant about Star Wars, and in your repressed emotional state, you did too. The strange behavior almost doubled after Peter somehow got a Stark Internship. Ned joined in on the behavior and for the first time since Freshman year, you felt like an outsider. Tris was even more stressed and worried, you loved your best friend, and you would be lying if you said that you didn’t hold some grudge against Peter for putting her through something like that. It stopped briefly when Peter lost the internship and asked his girlfriend to Homecoming, you went with Ned and Michelle to avoid awkwardness. At this point, you couldn’t help but still crush a little on Peter, no matter how cliche it sounds, but he made Tris happy and you didn’t want to ruin it.
In a turn of events, you weren’t the person to ruin the couple’s relationship, Peter was. It was seemingly the final straw when he left Tris on the dance floor, with nothing but a simple “Something came up”. You were furious, you made your way to your friend of almost 10 years to make sure she was ok. Tears brimming in your brown eyes, you wanted to beat Peter to a plump, how dare he just leave her all alone, embarrassing her in front of the whole school? You explained your reasoning to Tris, who told you it wasn’t worth it, even Ned admitting to wanting to give him a “man to man” talk before running off to the computer lab. You, Tris and Michelle left the dance after another song, deciding that after tonight, all you needed was some pizza, ice cream and a movie.
While in the middle of ‘A League of Their Own’, Peter called Tris, wanting to apologize for his actions at the dance, and much to the surprise of your entire friend group, she broke up with him. Right as Kit was being traded to another Team, after a simple ‘We’re over’ she promptly hung up and returned to the movie, like it was nothing.
After months of not talking to each other, they came to the conclusion that they were better off apart, persuaded by you and Ned, of course, not wanting to lose any friends, again. By Junior year, everything was fine and they were on a good basis. This caused your old feelings to resurface once again and after years of repressing them, they returned stronger than ever. You could barely maintain eye contact without stumbling and avoided Peter as much as having the same schedule could let you do. You let the sports that you participated in take over, going to extra practices and as many team outings as you could, just to avoid Peter and your feelings. This worked, for like two weeks. Ned voiced his concerns to you, as well as Tris. You blamed it on the stress of life, choosing the edge stylings of Jughead Jones, complaining about modern society rather than expressing your feelings.
Dating your best friends ex was against all rules of “the Girl Code”, so you pushed them down, like trying to fit just one last thing in the garbage can so you didn’t have a reason to take it out just yet. Until Peter cornered you in the hallway before school ended.
You walked briskly to your locker, throwing all of your books in your locker, hoping that you weren’t late to volleyball practice yet again. Knowing your coach, you would make you run, which you hated, especially in the last August heat. As you were closing your locker, Peter appeared behind you, successfully scaring the shit out of you.
“Why are you avoiding me?” the look in his eyes told you he was serious.
A line from Eminem’s Lose Yourself comes to mind.
“I ha-have no idea what you could be talking about” you stammered, walking towards the gym, where the girl’s locker room was located.
“Yes, you do! What’s wrong, did I do anything- Y/N!” he had to sprint to catch up with you. You continued to ignore him, adjusting your bag strap and walking faster. Peter grabbed your shoulder, stopping you from your Great Escape™️.
“Hey, just talk to me, what’s wrong?” concern filled his voice, you looked everywhere but his eyes, knowing that the hopeless romantic you are, you’d probably get lost in them or something.
One glance at the clock told you that you would already supposed to be dress out for practice, therefore making you late, for the second day in a row.
“Look, Pete, I’m late for volleyball, we can talk about this later.” with that you turned away and practically sprinted away from the boy. Leaving him in the hallway with nothing but the softening sounds of your footsteps.
