Millie Maverick sits at the island in the kitchen, dark circles under her eyes. Her eyes are puffy as if she had been crying. Kayden walks in and sees her daughter lamely eating a bowl of bananas in milk. "Millie? What's a matter sweetie?" Millie starts crying again and doesn't answer.

      Maddie walks into the kitchen and laughs seeing her sister crying. "What happened?" Kayden asks her daughter as she grabs an apple. Maddie snorts. "She was watching 'Les Misérables' last night at 2 am." Millie chokes out a sob. "I heard her crying from my room." Kayden raises an eyebrow at Millie and the girl wipes at her eyes.

      "It's so sad!" Millie blubbers out. Kayden chuckles at her daughter. Millie cries watching almost every movie. She's very emotional and gets very attached to fictional characters. Everyone in the household has forbidden her from watching sad dog movies. Millie once cried for two weeks after watching 'A Dog's Purpose'.

"Mill, it's just a movie." Kayden reasons. Millie glares at her mother and mutters something incoherently. Kayden chuckles and shakes her head and adjusts Margot on her hip as she grabs her cup of coffee. "Has Molly called you?" She asks.

      Millie solemnly shakes her head. "No." It had been almost a month since Millie visited the tower. In all honesty, Molly had contacted Millie. She took blood samples and other samples so she could run some tests. Both Maverick girls knew their parents wouldn't approve so they kept it secret. The job offer still stood, but Millie wanted some time to think about it.

      Every time she thought about Peter Parker her face began to burn. Millie swore to Molly that it had to be some sort of thing with her mutation, but the eldest Maverick simply said it was a crush.

      Millie heavily denied that.

☁

      Millie smiles softly as she walks through Midtown Manhattan. She had just gotten lunch at Burgerville and was full. In her ears The Score's 'Only One' blasts loudly. The band is severely underappreciated. She wishes she were in her room so she could belt out the incredible chorus, but being in a public place would only be asking for embarrassment.

      Millie can sing, hell, she's damn good at it, but she hates doing it in front of people.

      "I still can't believe that Flash blew up the science lab. I mean-" The voice is suddenly cut off as Millie rams into someone. She hits the ground with a grunt. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and-"

      "Millie?"

      Millie's mouth snaps shut. She looks up at who she ran into and her jaw drops, her face turning bright red. Peter Parker. "Oh god." Millie mutters under her breath, but somehow Peter manages to hear it. His face flares with a red color. "Um," He offers Millie his hand and she takes it, turning an even darker shade of red.

      Millie glances at Peter's friend and he looks between the two of them. A smirk grows on his face. "What are you doing here?" Peter says in a high pitch voice. He clears his throat. "Um, I wasn't expecting to run into you." Millie hums in agreement, but comes out sounding more like a squeal. "Me neither."

      There is an awkward silence then Peter bounces on the balls of his feet. "Sorry for knocking you over." Millie chuckles nervously. "It's no big deal." Another beat of silence. "So," Peter's friend starts. "Who are you?" Millie gapes and turns to him. "I'm sorry! I'm Millie Maverick." The boy's mouth falls agape. "So you the girl Peter's been talking about-"

      Peter stops on his friend's food, cutting him off, but the message was well received by Millie. Peter Parker spoke of her.

      Millie may just faint.

      "Millie, this is Ned Leeds!" Peter shouts. "We go to school together." Ned offers Millie his hand with a cheeky smile. Millie smiles at him and shakes his hand. "Really? What school?" Ned adjusts the hat on his head. "Midtown. What about you?" Millie gapes for a moment, then glances at Peter. She looks away with wide eyes as her cheeks flush even more.

      "Oh, um, I'm homeschooled." Peter gapes at her. "Really? That's so cool!" Millie scrunches up her face. "Nah. It kinda sucks. I'm alone all the time at home." Ned nods at her. "Yeah. That must get pretty boring." Millie purses her lips. Boring, no. Lonely, yes.

      During classes Millie will pause her lessons and go around the house blasting music and dancing without a care in the world. There have been a couple occasions where Mason came down and saw her. He got a video of her and threatened to post it. Millie attacked him and hid in the bathroom while she deleted the video from his camera roll and then his deleted files.

      "Yeah," Millie agrees. "But I always get off at one so I get the rest of the day to myself." Ned gapes for a moment, then turns to Peter, his finger in the air. "Why doesn't she come with us to our decathlon meeting?" Peter flushes and stutters. "Wh- I mean, if you want to." Millie tilts her head. "Decathlon?"

      Peter nods. "Yeah, it's like a debate team kind. We usually have science related topics and go to competitions, but this year we are focusing on mutant history." Now that gains Millie's attention. She quirks a brow. "Mutants, huh?" Ned nods vigorously. "Yeah! Mutants are so cool." Millie chews the inside of her cheek.

      "Where is it?" She asks quietly. Maybe she can figure out Peter's standpoint on mutants. Not that she's worried about what he thinks of them. Nooooo. She totally doesn't want to know if she's actually like her.

      God that sounds so weird in her head.

      "We usually have it in the gym but a guy in our class blew up the science lab which shares a room with it so we are heading over to a pizza place." Millie smiles. "Pizza? I'm in." Ned smiles. "Great!" They both start walking along, not noticing the flustered Peter Parker behind them.

☁

      "Look who decided to show up!" Abe shouts as he waves Peter and Ned over to the table. "Sorry we're late. We ran into a friend on the way." MJ raises an eyebrow at them. "A friend? You two don't have friends." Peter stares duly at MJ. "Jee thanks MJ." She shrugs at them and Peter glances behind to where Millie is in line to buy a soda.

      "She's over there." He says waving at her. Millie sees him and waves back. "Who is she?" Flash asks with a smirk. Peter glares at him. No. Millie is for him.

      Peter blinks at his own thoughts. Did he just refer Millie to being 'his'????

      "Hi." Millie greets shyly as she walks over to the table and sits next to Peter. "I'm Millie." Flash hums and leans onto the table, resting his head on his chin. "Millie. A perfect name for a perfect girl." Millie cringes at him. "Yeah, no thanks. You aren't my type." Ned sees the opening and takes it. "What is your type Millie?"

      Millie clears her throat as a deep blush appears on her face. "None of your business." MJ glances between her and Peter, then a smirk grows on his lips. She shares a look with Ned and he nods at her.

      "So, Millie, what brings you here?" Betty Brant asks as she nibbles on her salad. Millie's blush fades a bit. "Oh, Peter," At saying his name Millie's blush returns. "Told me you are talking about mutants for your Decathlon team."

      Sally raises an eyebrow at Millie. "You like mutants?" Millie's eyebrows quirk. "Hmm? Yeah, something like that." She says with a nervous smile. Millie glances at her hands and nods when she sees the absence of clouds.

      "Can we start before the pizza gets cold?" MJ asks in an annoyed tone. Everyone nods and she nods. "All right, first question: Where is the mutant dubbed 'Magnito' currently?" Abe presses a bell, which, for some reason he had brought.

      Everyone on the team knew it was to piss Flash off.

      "Isn't he at that hideout?" MJ doesn't even have to look at her cards to know he is wrong. "No." She tells him without any emotion. Flash starts laughing at Abe, but he starts rapidly ringing his bell, cutting him off. Millie chuckles at them. Ned raises his hand. "In prison?" MJ checks her cards. "Close enough."

      Ned does a little happy dance in his seat and Millie giggles at him. Peter stiddens hearing her laugh. He can't help but think how cute she is.

      "Next question: What are mutants really called?" No one at the table makes a sound. Millie glances around then shyly raises her hand. MJ nods at her. "Homo superior." Millie pauses for a moment, then continues. "But the scientific name doesn't claim we-" Millie panics. "They- are the better species." Millie looks around to make sure her little slip up wasn't caught.

      "Mutants and humans should be treated equally and neither species should try to rise above the other." Millie sits back in her seat and everyone stares at her. She raises an eyebrow at them. "What?" She asks as she grabs her soda.

      As the discussion continues, Millie listens, not wanting to speak up again. "How do you know so much about mutants?" Peter asks her quietly. Millie stiffens for a moment then shrugs. "The X-Men are heroes. I've always respected anyone who uses their abilities for good." Peter stares at her for a moment then smiles to himself and looks at the table.

      Millie has no idea, but she just said she respects Peter.

      And that made him feel good.