Peter Parker and Ned Leeds decided to go to the school fair together. It took place at an amusement park. When they arrived, they decided to just walk around for a bit. In the midst of walking, they had separated because of the crowded areas they walked into. Peter roamed around, trying to find Ned but he ran into Michelle instead.

“Oh hey, MJ. Have you seen Ned?”

“No.” She said flatly. Peter’s phone suddenly vibrated.

“Hey man, where are you?” asked Ned.

“I don’t even know. Too many people here.”

“Where should we meet up?”

“The pizza stand?”

“Which one?”

“The Domino’s one? I don’t know!”

“Right. Okay. On my way.” He hangs up. Peter looks back at MJ and she was already sitting on a bench, reading her book. She seemed so lonely and quiet in Peter’s eyes.

“Hey,” He walks over to her. “Wanna come with me and Ned?”

“Nah, I’m good.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I don’t wanna bother your guys’ plans.”

“No, it’s okay. We really don’t have anything planned so, maybe you could help us out with that.” He gave her a soft smile. She refrained from smiling back. “Alright.”

They go to the stand where Ned is and meets him there.

“Hey. I ran into MJ earlier and invited her to come along with us.” He says to Ned.

“Oh, cool. The more, the merrier! Where should we go first?” Peter looks over to the Pirate Ship ride and points at it.

“That looks cool.” They run over to that while MJ followed suit on a much slower, average pace. She chuckles at the two’s weird running.

Ned enters the ride first and sits on the far side of the ride, Peter sits beside him and MJ sits beside Peter.

When the boat swung for the second time, Ned suddenly felt queasy.

“Oh my god, Ned, to the edge! Not in here!” He turns to the edge of the boat and threw up. Peter rubbed his back.

“There, there. That’s better, isn’t it?” MJ chuckles at the two of them.

“Y’all look like a couple, I swear.”

“Michelle, no.” said Peter.

“Nah, Pete has a crush on this girl…” Ned teased.

“Dude, I do not!” He nudged his elbow at him as his face turned red. Ned laughed.

“Who is it, Peter?” She asked, genuinely curious.

“I have no idea what he’s talking about. – Ned, stop making up stories!” Peter said in a tiny cute voice that made his voice crack. Michelle giggled at this. Ned continued laughing.

“God, you are so indenial.” He told Peter.

When they got off the ride, Michelle felt a bit more comfortable with the two now.

“Ooh, can we go to the carousel?” She suggested.

“Yeah, let’s go!” Peter enthusiastically replied.

When they got onto the ride, Ned chose a horse in front of two identical ones while Peter and MJ took those two other horses.

“Wow, this takes me back.” She thought out loud.

“When was the last time you rode a carousel?” He asked. She had realized he overheard her conversation with herself but didn’t mind. She liked it when someone listened to what she has to say.

“Probably when I was 7. Yeah. It was the day before my dad had to leave for abroad. That’s when… nevermind.” She abruptly stopped. Peter was suddenly intrigued.

“That’s when… what?” MJ suddenly felt like she can share anything with Peter. She rarely ever made herself vulnerable around others but yet here was Peter Parker, the last person she thought would even try to listen to her and befriend her.

“That’s when my dad passed away.. in a plane crash..”

“Oh. I’m so sorry, MJ.”

“No, I’m okay with it now. I just don’t want that as my last memory of him, you know? Which is why I wanted to go here, to relive all the good times that I wish could’ve lasted forever.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.” Everything fell silent for a while despite everybody else on the ride cheering, shouting and laughing. Peter looks at her and she felt his gaze, making her look back at him.

“What?” She asked, grinning ignorantly.

“Nothing, it’s just.. You don’t usually open up like that, you know. Especially not to me.”

“I don’t open up to anyone.”

“I guess that says a lot about me, doesn’t it?” He joked. Michelle blushed a bit.

They get off the ride and Ned’s phone suddenly rang.

“Oh, shoot. Guys, I gotta run. My family got into a car crash. They’re at the hospital right now and I gotta go there ASAP.”

“All of our prayers go out to them, Ned. See ya, whenever, then.” said Peter.

“Thanks, guys. I’ll see y’all soon.” And with that, he ran off.

“So, what are we gonna do now?” MJ asks.

“I don’t know.” They looked around for more rides with short lines. “How about over there?” He pointed at the Ferris Wheel. Only one thought came up in both of their heads: Ferris Wheels are always where things go down. “Or not, we can just.. find another ride.” They didn’t want to lead the each other on to something much more than they anticipated.

“Well, I mean to be honest… I’ve never ridden one.” She said, leaving a surprised look on Peter’s face.

“You have never ridden a Ferris Wheel?! Really??” MJ shook her head. Peter grabbed her hand.

“We have to ride it, then.” He ran and dragged Michelle towards the almost-empty line. The Ferris Wheel’s carts were the kind of carts that are enclosed and had an air conditioning unit inside of it. When they were up, Peter let Michelle in first and he followed. As the Ferris Wheel started to spin, MJ looked down and saw herself floating above the ground.

“Damn, I’ve never seen this city from afar. Everything really does look uglier up close.” She said. Peter smiled at her.

“Not you.” He thought out loud. Michelle looked at him with an eyebrow raised. Her expression softened at his tiny smile.

“Thanks? ..I guess.” She turned back to the view. Peter scooted a bit closer to her. She laid her hand on the gap between them. He gently put his hand on hers. A rush of giddiness flowed through her whole body and she bit her lip to hide her grin. She looked at him.

“What?” He asked.

“It’s just that… nevermind.” She turned away and pulled out her phone. She took a picture of the horizon below.

“Do you want me to take a candid picture of you? You know, overlooking the city?” He suggested.

“I mean… yeah, sure.” She gave him her phone and he took the picture. “It looks amazing, Peter.” She said as she previewed it.

“Thanks.” He gave her the phone back and sat down. MJ pulled him back.

“No no, come here.”

“What?” He grinned. They put their backs against the glass and Michelle raised the phone to their head level, smiling and taking the picture. She rested her head on his shoulder and took another one.

“Thanks for today. Really, it was great. I had a fantastic time and it’s so weird but I feel somehow.. close to you, even when we don’t talk much. I just like to be around people who listen, you know? And you’re definitely one of those people.”

“Heh, thanks. Sometimes I even wonder why people don’t talk to you that much, you seem like a really cool person. Anyone would be lucky to have you as a friend.”

“I don’t put myself out there as much as others. It’s just my thing.”

“You really should get out of your comfort zone once in a while, Michelle. You’re gonna love it, I promise.”

“Well, I mean, isn’t that what I did earlier? Opening up and all?” She said, making Peter remember the thing that happened back at the carousel.

“Yeah, that’s exactly what you should do more often.”

“I mean, you’re right, I did like that feeling of talking to someone about that.”

“You’d be surprised at how many people would love to listen to you every day.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment, then.” She chuckled.

“Can I see the pictures?” He asked.

“Yeah, here.” She gave him her phone.

“You should smile more often.” He said.

“Nah, I really don’t like the idea of forcing oneself to smile even though it’s not what they really feel. Smile when you feel happy, don’t when you feel miserable. This is why people can never get along with each other. They always build up this fake façade and they’re never true to what they really are.”

“See? This.”

“Huh?”

“And you say you’re not interesting! MJ, people would love to listen to you talk deeply about your opinions. I love listening to whatever’s in your head.”

“Why are you so nice? Are you always like this or...?” She couldn’t help but grin.

“I just want you to know that you’re much more fascinating than you let on. And that.. I think… I like you..?” She shot a curious and confused look at Peter. She pointed at him and back at her and bobbed her head once. He smiled and nodded.

“But… Why? Of all people, it was me?”

“Haven’t I already said it all?” Michelle was silent for a bit. Peter decided to break the silence between them. “Listen, I’m not saying that you should like me back. I never really expected that you will like me back. But I just wanted to tell you that.” She looked at him and he forced a smile. MJ suddenly felt an impulse in her body and she lunged at him and kissed him. When they pulled away, they looked at each other for the longest time as her cheeks reddened and reddened more and more. Peter caressed her cheek, placing his hand just below her jaw and onto the side of her neck. He leaned in and kissed her.

“We’re on the bottom of the wheel already? Damn, that was fast.” She said making him laugh.