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Tuesday!
The school had arranged a field trip to the museum.
Naturally, Jasper's class was going too. He wasn't really interested—he'd even thought about faking sick—but Peter Parker dragged him along, so he had no choice but to go.
Peter woke him up super early that morning.
After getting ready, Jasper walked to school with Peter.
"Hey~!" The girls were extra cheerful today. A bunch of them greeted Jasper on the way.
Of course, Jasper smiled and greeted them back.
Around 8 AM, the teacher started loading everyone onto the buses.
"Hey~!" Gwen Stacy, who was sitting next to Peter, turned around to wave at Jasper.
"Hey~!" Jasper waved back. Those two were definitely close. Wonder when they'll go public… It's gonna shock everyone.
I mean, Gwen is really pretty, after all.
"Don't you think their relationship's getting way too good?" Ned, who was sitting next to Jasper, suddenly whispered.
He had also been noticing how Peter and Gwen seemed to be heating up lately.
Jasper nodded and said, "Yeah, no kidding."
"Um… hey, Jasper?" A blonde girl bit her lip, looking a little nervous as she spoke to him.
"Huh?" Jasper hadn't expected anyone to talk to him out of nowhere. He was surprised but quickly turned to her. "Yeah, what's up?"
The blonde girl immediately brightened. "Do you wanna join our group for the trip?"
The museum visit was done in groups, and every group had to write a report afterward.
But before Jasper could reply, Peter cut in.
"We're already in the same group. So, he can't switch."
Peter knew Jasper hated writing stuff. If he ended up in some other group, he probably wouldn't do anything and people would end up mad at him.
The blonde girl shot Peter a glare, like "Who asked you?"
Peter gave her an awkward laugh.
And with that, the girl walked away.
"So, it's us as a team!" said a slightly dark-skinned girl.
Ned turned around and added, "There's six of us in one group."
Jasper tilted his head and glanced at Gwen, then turned to look at the two other girls.
Mary Jane… and Michelle Jones. Wait, aren't these the three girls who all end up with Peter Parker?
Tch~! That's just unfair! And weird too—why are there three MJs?
Oh well, doesn't matter. Not like it has anything to do with me.
Suddenly, Jasper's senses went off—he felt danger!
His body tensed up immediately. At the same time, Peter looked over at him.
Their eyes met. Then they both turned toward the window.
Jasper saw a car about to fall off a bridge.
He sent Spider-Shadow to help.
Peter's breathing quickened. He wanted to keep his identity secret, but more than that, he wanted to save people.
He shot up from his seat.
"Ahh~! It's Spider-Man!" Mary Jane pointed to the distance where someone was rescuing the car.
"Huh?" Peter turned to look—and saw a tall, curvy woman in a black Spider-suit pulling the car back up. Wait, another Spider-Man?
Peter's mind was a mess. He looked at Jasper and saw that he also had a thoughtful look on his face.
After a while, Peter sat back down—the people had been saved.
Seeing Peter sit down, Jasper turned his gaze away too. Good—this should throw off any suspicion. He looked just as confused as everyone else.
After about 30 minutes on the road, they arrived at the museum.
The teacher told them to explore in their groups.
"So there really is a girl Spider-Man! And wow, her figure is amazing," Michelle Jones said. The girl Spider-Man was seriously impressive—lots of the boys couldn't take their eyes off her.
"She was built like a Victoria's Secret model!" Ned added, still in shock from earlier.
While they were chatting, Jasper went to the bathroom—with Mary Jane tagging along.
The redhead looked like she had something on her mind the whole way.
Jasper didn't ask. She clearly had something bothering her.
He headed into the bathroom and picked a random stall.
But the second he pulled his pants down—Spider-Shadow popped out.
"…"
She tilted her head, staring at him. Technically, she was still like a kid, so she didn't really have any sense of shame.
"…Can you leave first?" Jasper said.
Spider-Shadow tilted her head again, not sure why he was asking, but she obediently left the stall.
Great. She saw everything…
Jasper had mixed feelings. Yeah, it was probably time to start teaching her some basic human social rules.
When Jasper came out of the bathroom, he saw Mary Jane waiting for him.
"You could've gone ahead," he said.
Mary Jane blinked, looking slightly flustered, but then smiled and said, "It's fine."
"MJ, let's go!" Michelle Jones called out.
Jasper: "…"
Okay, so she wasn't really waiting for me. Then why even stay? Now this is just awkward…
"You good, Jasper? You look super weird," Michelle asked.
Jasper looked away with a tragic expression and said, "I need to find a quiet place to go die."
Mary Jane couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Jasper quickly walked away.
Watching him leave, Michelle tilted her head and said, "He's kinda cute~!"
Mary Jane stared at her in surprise.
"C'mon, let's go," Michelle said.
When Jasper got back, Peter was deep in conversation with Gwen, while Ned looked like he was having an out-of-body experience.
Seeing Jasper return snapped Ned out of it. "I'm gonna hit the bathroom!" he announced.
Looks like Peter and Gwen just hit Ned with a critical blow…
"Hey~!" Michelle and Mary Jane came back just then.
The two girls quickly squeezed Peter away from Gwen's side.
Peter quietly walked over to Jasper and muttered, "I have no idea what they're talking about…"
Jasper nodded, but his mind was still stuck on Spider-Shadow. Would she find that whole situation weird?
Ugh, Spider-Shadow… I never thought she'd just waltz into the bathroom like that. And of course she had to see that.
I wanna die.
The three girls were whispering about something—and glancing over at Jasper while giggling.
Jasper eyes twitched. Don't tell me Mary Jane's telling them what happened in the bathroom…
"....."