I’m Not Becoming Spider-Man - Chapter 12: Club Activities?! (Patreon)

Actually, if Gwen and Harley went to Peter's house together, there would be no problem. After all, he wouldn't be bringing home just one girl. There would be a "boy" with them too, wouldn't there?

Of course, in that case he ought to invite Mary Jane as well. If she discovered the rest of the group had deliberately left her out, she'd probably explode at him again.

"Oh... isn't that moving a little fast? I mean..."

"Don't worry, buddy. I've got a hammock. You can take my bed instead of sleeping on the couch. Though I doubt it'll be nearly as comfortable as that huge bed you have at home."

"Oh... right..." Harley began to suspect she had been imagining things. They were friends, nothing more.

Her first real best friend, at that.

What could be more normal than visiting a friend's house?

"Then... could I come tonight?" she asked. "I really want to see..."

Harley opened the printed comic again and looked at the title on its first page.

"The New Batman? Um, why is he the new Batman? What happened to the old one?" she asked, looking up.

"Don't worry about that. Think of it as a little mystery to make readers curious. And tonight's fine, but you should tell your family first."

Even if the two of them were both technically adults, Peter still thought it was only proper to let the family know about an overnight visit.

"Oh, don't even start. I'm not calling my mother."

"Your... mother?" Peter looked confused.

"What about her?"

"Uh, nothing. Have you had an argument?" Under normal circumstances, the Osborn family should have been a single-parent household. But there were countless universes, each stranger than the last.

Maybe in this world, Norma Osborn had never lost her wife and become the Green Goblin. Maybe the family was living happily together instead. Anything was possible.

"I don't like her. She's always the same. She doesn't care about me at all."

"Well, perhaps there's a misunderstanding. Here's an opportunity to find out. Why not call her and tell her you'll be staying at a classmate's house tonight? I bet she'll say no."

"Then what's the point of making such a stupid call?" Harley asked, visibly annoyed. If she was only going to be forbidden from going, why bother asking?

"Look at it this way, Harley," Peter said hurriedly. "If she refuses, it means she cares. What mother would want her child to spend the night at the home of someone she doesn't know, especially on their very first day at a new school? Who knows what could happen?"

"Hmm... you've got a point, Peter. But I know you're safe. You helped me today, after all. All right, I'll call and ask."

Peter had touched a nerve. Harley did want to sleep over, but he was right that spending the night at a near-stranger's house could be risky.

Her mother ought to stop her. And if she did, it would mean she was worried about her daughter after all.

Harley badly needed even that small proof that her mother cared.

With some hesitation, she dialed her mother's number. Peter waited beside her for the answer.

Ring... ring...

After two rings, the call was cut off.

"..."

Harley's face fell. She'd been prepared to find a little happiness in either answer, yes or no. But her mother hadn't even bothered to pick up.

"Well, that's just great."

Peter felt awkward too. "Um... do you want to try calling again?"

"No! I'm going to your house tonight. She doesn't care about me anyway!" Harley folded her arms, cheeks puffed out in anger.

"Uh, all right. I'll do my best to return you home in one piece tomorrow." Peter scratched his head. He wanted to ask about Harley's father, Norman, but given her mood, he decided not to touch that subject.

Why did every single person around him have to be so strange?

Before long, Gwen returned to class, though it was anyone's guess whether she'd actually visited the bathroom.

Peter wrote her an apology note, folded it into a paper airplane, and sent it sailing toward her desk.

Gwen sat with her headphones on and her eyes shut, pretending to be completely lost in her music. Perhaps she was waiting to see whether Peter would get nervous when she ignored him.

Instead, he turned straight back to Harley and resumed their conversation.

That hopeless blockhead!

Annoyed, Gwen finally unfolded the paper airplane.

[In that case, let's make it an official school newspaper club activity. Everyone can come over! We can talk about where to take the superhero comic next, too!]

It was a straightforward reply that addressed what Gwen had originally suggested. So why did she still feel vaguely dissatisfied?

Maybe because there was another pretty girl in the newspaper club.

A girl with hair as red as fire. Mary Jane.

"Hmph. Aren't you going to introduce that little pet you picked up from who knows where?"

Mary Jane was already waiting at the school gates when classes ended. Since she and Peter lived next door to each other, they usually went home together.

She had been unhappy enough about Gwen suddenly appearing in his life. The semester had barely started, and already Peter seemed to be attracting girls wherever he went.

"Uh... I..." Harley shrank beneath Mary Jane's piercing stare. She hadn't done anything wrong. Why was this girl looking at her like an enemy?

The expression even reminded her a little of her awful mother.

"Now, now, dear Mary Jane, you can't say that. This is my best buddy, Harry!" Peter slung an arm around Harley's shoulders, making their closeness obvious.

Buddy?

Mary Jane's expression softened at once. With her short, messy brown hair and unremarkable figure, Harley really did have something boyish about her. She looked rather delicate for a boy, but if Peter saw her as male, she wasn't much of a romantic threat.

Mary Jane was certain Peter liked girls. Gwen remained the one to worry about. She, at least, might genuinely threaten Mary Jane's place in his life.

"All right. I didn't mean to frighten you. I'm sorry, Harley." Mary Jane could be straightforward when she wanted to be. Once she decided someone wasn't an enemy, there was no reason not to be friendly.

But Harley's expression changed for another reason.

Just a buddy? Was that all she was to him?

Well, being buddies was fine too. Of course it was.

Still, something about the word bothered her, leaving her with an uncomfortable little ache she couldn't explain.

"Mary Jane, we're having an amazing party tonight. Guess who's the only one who hasn't heard about it yet?" Peter asked.

"What are you up to this time, Peter?" Mary Jane frowned, already sensing trouble.

"It's the newspaper club's first group activity. We're thinking of publishing a comic in the school paper, so we're going to discuss the plan tonight."

"Why didn't you tell me?" she demanded.

"That's what I'm doing right now, isn't it?"

"You're too late, Peter. You're informing me, not asking what I think." She could tell from Gwen's expression that Gwen had heard about the gathering earlier, and she hated having been placed behind her.

"Uh... it isn't too late yet, is it?"

"Oh, give it a rest, Mary Jane!" Gwen fired back. "Have you ever stopped to think about Peter? What exactly are you to him? Does he have to report every tiny detail of his life to you? You're not his mother."

Peter covered his face and stared up at the sky. He had somehow managed to do something stupid yet again.