Her heart was beating a mile a minute, so fast and hard that it could have triggered spidey senses. She couldn't run because he was probably faster than her. That was the logical side of her crossing the option off the list. But, really? She couldn't run because she owed Peter so very, very much. Peter was everything to her in high school. He was the only boy that was thoughtful, kind and he liked science in the most earnest way she had ever seen. This was Peter. The boy she tried to protect, the friend who she needed more than anything and the crush she couldn't save. The Stacy household believed in putting those kinds of people first.
So she waved one hand at him like she was going to tell him while the other put her hood down. Then she reached for her mask and pulled it off. Under the mask was that blonde he knew so well, just older. A little rougher around the edges. With the mask she was bright and giggly and the girl she wanted to be. Without it, she felt stuff start to kind of unravel.
"Petey." She whispered, clutching her mask like it was an albatross. "Please, you can't tell MJ. You can't."