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The pissed-off teen lunged forward and tried to grab Jasper by the collar—but Jasper caught his wrist instead. With just a bit of force, the kid's face twisted in pain and he couldn't help letting out a cry.
Jasper shoved him away and muttered, "Idiot."
Hearing the contempt in Jasper's voice made the kid even angrier. He got up, threw out some tough-guy threats, then walked off with his tail between his legs.
PE class ended pretty quickly after that. Jasper slung his backpack over his shoulder, ready to head home—but Annie called out to stop him.
He turned around and asked, "What's up?"
Annie stepped in closer and lowered her voice, "We're supposed to be dating, right? So we should probably go on a date, or people might get suspicious."
Right—he and Annie were still pretending to be a couple. It would look weird if they weren't spending time together. Jasper thought for a second and replied, "Alright, let's go."
Dating Annie wasn't actually that bad. Most of the time, she just dragged him around to wander aimlessly.
Hearing his agreement, Annie let out a quiet sigh of relief. She'd been a little worried he'd say no.
She leaned into him and hugged his arm sweetly. "Let's go to the amusement park, yeah?"
Jasper nodded. He didn't really care where they went. Also, her chest was... a bit much. It was squishing right against his arm—but since Annie didn't seem to mind, he figured he shouldn't say anything either.
Just as they were about to leave, Michelle Jones, Mary Jane, Gwen Stacy, Ned, and Peter Parker all showed up.
Michelle smiled and said, "You're heading to the amusement park? Let's all go together! Group tickets are cheaper."
Jasper shrugged. "Sure, why not?"
Seeing him agree, Annie nodded too, even though she'd been hoping for some alone time with Jasper. Guess that wasn't happening today.
Gwen glanced at the two of them and couldn't help saying, "You guys seem really close."
Jasper just smiled and stayed quiet. Michelle covered her mouth and tried not to laugh—after all, she knew the whole "couple" thing was fake.
Ned added, "Man, I'm jealous."
Next second, Annie happily planted a kiss on Jasper's cheek and said, "Of course! I love Jasper the most!"
Jasper: "..."
He didn't hate being kissed by a girl or anything, but… why did this feel so weird? Didn't Annie think she was giving too much away?
Michelle wasn't laughing anymore. She hadn't expected Annie to be that bold.
Then Gwen tilted her head and asked out of nowhere, "Have you two kissed yet?"
"Huh? Uh… not yet," Annie replied. She hadn't kissed Jasper—because she figured that if they did, Jasper would probably start distancing himself. She didn't want to mess up their current relationship, so she was holding off for now.
Jasper looked at Gwen, and saw her smile as she said, "I see~!"
So that means I got Jasper's first kiss! Gwen suddenly felt a lot better—her earlier gloom vanished in an instant.
The group chatted and walked, eventually arriving at the amusement park.
Annie immediately said she wanted to ride the roller coaster.
No one objected. When the ride started, Jasper and Peter stayed silent the whole time. Swinging through the city every day had numbed them to anything a roller coaster could throw at them.
The others were a different story—screaming and yelling nonstop. It was super loud.
Jasper decided he'd never get on another roller coaster. It was boring and annoying.
A few minutes later, they all sat on a bench to rest—well, mostly to let Annie recover. Her legs were jelly after the ride, and she could barely sit down without Jasper helping her.
She looked up at him and said, "Sorry…"
Jasper glanced at her and said casually, "We're a couple, right? Taking care of you is what I'm supposed to do."
Right after he said that, Annie leaned against his thigh and closed her eyes to rest.
About five minutes later, Annie perked up again and stood up. "Let's keep going, yeah?"
Jasper nodded, and they all got back on their feet.
Later that afternoon…
After Jasper and Peter dropped the girls off at their homes, they exchanged a look.
"Today was fun, huh?" Peter said.
Jasper thought about it. Not boring, but not super exciting either. "Yeah, it was alright."
Peter bent down, picked up a soda can off the ground, and tossed it into a distant trash can.
Jasper glanced at a can near his own foot—then flicked it straight into the bin with a kick.
"If I were a soccer player, I'd totally be a star," Jasper said. Might've even won the World Cup.
Peter laughed. "Thinking about joining a team?"
"No way," Jasper said immediately. "What a pain." Then he added, "Wanna walk you home?"
Peter shook his head. "Aunt May made a ton of food. She told me to bring you along to eat."
Jasper stroked his chin. "For real? Even so, you still gotta do your own homework."
Peter laughed awkwardly. He only needed ten minutes to finish his assignments, so homework wasn't really an issue. Still, Jasper clearly had a deep hatred for the stuff.
Since they were heading to Peter's house, Jasper decided not to use Shadow Step.
They walked side by side, backpacks on, chatting along the way.
"Annie's getting prettier," Peter said.
Jasper didn't have feelings for Annie, but he couldn't deny she was attractive. "Yeah, she's definitely pretty."
"Feel anything for her?" Peter asked.
Jasper thought for a second—and an image of Raiden Shogun flashed through his mind.
…Huh? He shook his head and the image faded. Looking at Peter, he said, "Nah, she's not my type."
"What is your type?" Peter asked.
Jasper thought again, then said, "Stronger than me, a little introverted… and she can't cook."
"Huh? What kind of weird combo is that? Stronger than you? Like in school stuff? And introverted—you mean, like, doesn't go out much? And what's with the 'can't cook' thing?" Peter couldn't help but roast him a bit.
Jasperlooked at Peter and said, "You're still young. You'll get it someday."
Peter snorted. "Says the guy who's my age. We're literally the same age, dude."
"....."