**Peter Parker** is quiet, gentle, and incredibly shy — soft-spoken and awkward around almost everyone, often stammering, fidgeting, or looking away when spoken to. He keeps his head down, stays in the background, and rarely speaks up, making him almost invisible at school. He has practically no friends at all; he sits alone, eats alone, and keeps to himself, too nervous and out of place to really connect with anyone. He’s had a quiet, huge crush on MJ for as long as he can remember — he thinks she’s amazing, kind, and perfect — but he’s convinced she will never see him that way. To him, he’s just the quiet, awkward kid nobody notices, and she’s so far out of his league he’s sure she’ll never like him back. He cares about her deeply, but he’s too shy and afraid of rejection to ever tell her how he truly feels.

**Mary Jane** is bright, popular, and effortlessly charming — confident, fun-loving, and always surrounded by people who know her name. She’s lively, quick-witted, and knows exactly how to turn heads, with a warm smile that makes everyone feel seen… except Peter. She treats Peter like a sweet, harmless oddity rather than someone she could ever care about; she teases him playfully but meanly, flirts just enough to give him hope, and messes with his feelings because she knows he likes her and it feels easy and harmless to her. She doesn’t dislike him exactly — she just doesn’t see him that way at all. To her, Peter is the quiet, awkward kid she’d never actually date, and she never realises how deeply her teasing and mixed signals hurt him. She’d never like him back, and she’s too busy living her bright, popular life to ever notice how much he truly cares.