If there were two things that Frankie Dustin was deadset certain of right now, it would be her absolute undying hatred of pineapple on pizza and the fact that her best mate of 7 years was most definitely hiding something from her. A secret which he had yet to let her in on despite their best friend code of no secrets. He was always the worst liar so it was no surprise that she was able to pick up so quickly that there was something more going on in the life of Peter Parker. What really annoyed her though, were her suspicions that Ned was somehow apart of the whole thing too. They were always whispering when they thought she didn't notice and she knew it all had to be connected somehow to the way that Peter was ditching school and coming back the next day with a shiner or some other sort of injury. It worried her. Her patience was running painfully thin in the hope that maybe he would actually come clean to her on his own and tell her the truth behind his constant disappearing acts as of late. But Parker was too stubborn for his own good so it seemed like the frustrated ginger would have to take matters into her own hands and squeeze the information out of him. Luckily for her, Frankie knew she could be pretty intimidating when she wanted to be and invasive. Incredibly invasive. One should never underestimate her five foot two gangly frame. Peter had once and he immediately paid the consequences for it.

"So spill." Were her abrupt words as Frankie plonked herself right across from her two and only amigos, Peter and Ned. Despite the edge in her commanding voice she was the complete picture of nonchalance as she rummaged through her lunchbox and picked up an apple. She chomped at it pronouncedly while eyeing off the two in expectation, catching them wholly off guard just as she intended.

"Uh...Sorry what?" Peter the dork replied dumbly, his eyes wide and brows furrowed in confusion. Frankie just rolled her eyes and took another chunk out of her apple.

"Don't think I haven't noticed. You haven't been really subtle. The both of you actually." She said pointedly gesturing towards the two in accusation. And just to prove her point, their reactions were almost immediately guilty as they both tried their best to pose themselves as the picture of innocence. They failed incredibly.

"We- We're not- "

"I have no idea what- "

Peter stuttered out his words spectacularly and Ned was doing an absolute trash job playing dumb. It was sad to see how easily she already had them in her grips.

"Please do both yourselves a favour and never follow an acting career. Seriously, what is going on with you two lately? All this secrecy that's been going on behind my back? I do notice, you know? I'm not stupid." She challenged them knowingly, folding her arms down on the table. Peter turned to Ned wide eyed with a desperate 'help me' expression but his friend only seemed to make the situation worse rather than help it as he started babbling like an idiot.

"Secrets? What secrets? We're not hiding anything. Why would you think that? This isn't like some spy movie where we live a secret double life and stuff, like that could ever happen- ow!" Ned yelped as Peter not so subtly kicked his shins underneath the table.

"Shut. Up. Ned." Peter remarked lowly under his breath. Frankie just stared at their ridiculous behaviour, her left eyebrow raised in utter disbelief.

"Okay right, this is what I'm talking about! You guys are acting so sketchy. Seriously what the hell is going on? Whatever it is I won't judge, I promise." She assured them earnestly hoping they finally might fess up. She was their best friend for god's sake! She shouldn't have to pry these things in the first place. She looked on as the two teenage boys seemed to share a private conversation right in front of her with their eyes. It was hard to decode but it looked like they were debating with each other about whether to let her in on their deep dark secret or whatever. Ned seemed to have the urge to tell her but Peter immediately cut his decision off with a quick shake of the head. He sighed in disappointment, not agreeing with his friend's decision but relenting nonetheless. They've had this argument many times before but in actual verbal conversation. Each time seemed to yield the same result and it frustrated Ned to no end. Stupid stubborn Parker.

"Guys? Come on just tell me! What am I? Chopped liver!" The ginger prompted. The two just kept looking back and forth at her silently, not sure what to say. The tension was rising awkwardly in the prolonged stillness and it was starting to get a bit much for Frankie. She thought by now she would at least get something out of them, being their best friend since elementary and all, but their sudden muteness was now beginning to weigh her down a bit with hurt. They weren't going to tell her and it sucked.

"Um. Okay I see how it is then." She murmured softly, her head bowing down to stare at the scratches and graffiti on the table. All her recent bravado just seemed to deflate in one instant and it made Peter's face and stomach fall knowing that he was the reason for Frankie's out of character look of defeat. He was hurting her and that, that was killing him. But he couldn't tell her the truth. He just couldn't- he had to keep her safe. But he couldn't just let her think that she wasn't important enough to him either.

"Hey it's not like that Frankie. Not at all. It's just...guy stuff you know? Stuff you don't want to know about. There's no need to worry. Honestly." He reassured her, trying to catch her eyes as he rested his hand on top of hers as a comforting gesture. She looked up at him, attempting to read his eyes to see if they could somehow give her some answers. All she could see was a slight heaviness in them, small dark circles underneath that would go unnoticed by most people...but not to her.

"That's just the thing Peter, I do worry. I mean, you're not acting like yourself lately and I need to make sure you're okay. That the both of you are okay." She stressed out, concern dripping out of her voice.

"I'm fine. We're okay." Peter promised quickly, turning his head to Ned to indicate his turn to reassure Frankie. He nodded slightly in affirmation and took his cue.

"Yeah it's all good. We're alright." Ned confirmed. The boys both looked at their friend to gage her reaction and see if she accepted their assurances. Frankie narrowed her eyes and just observed them quietly for a moment in return.

She didn't believe any of their bullshit.

She sighed, knowing that they were just doing their best to cheer her up. That didn't stop her feeling the slither of betrayal though. It was slowly creeping up her back, ready to attack and stab her when her guard was let down. She made sure to reinforce her shields, refusing to let it affect her and let her two friends see how much it brought her down. She didn't want to be one of them girls who were sensitive to everything and made a big fuss over the littlest things. She just wanted the truth, was that too much to ask? Apparently. She shook her head to try and rid of her worrisome thoughts. She needed to get away before she did something stupid, something that she would regret.

"Okay. Um...cool. You know I just remembered that I was supposed to return a book back to the library. I gotta go, you know how Miss Jenkins is with overdue books..." She rambled on half-heartedly, refusing to look the two in the eye. She got up and started packing up her half-eaten lunch, zipping up her bag quickly and throwing it over her shoulder. She needed to take a breather.

"Y-You don't have to go, I'm sure Miss Jenkins can wait until after lunch." Peter tried to convince her. Frankie hesitated only for a moment but then shook her head.

"No I better go, I've been really putting it off. The librarian beast can only wait for so long." She attempted to joke with a strained smile. She was already out of her seat and heading out before they could convince her otherwise.

"Um...okay. See ya after the end of Chem?" Peter called out before she could get too far away. Frankie turned back around and gave a hesitant nod before walking away completely, her hands holding onto her bag straps tightly. As soon as she was out of sight, Peter immediately dropped his head down to the table in dismay.

"Shit." He whispered loudly into his arms. This was not good. Not good at all.

"You know, I don't think she has an overdue book." Ned thought out loud. Peter turned to him incredulously.

"Really?" He retorted back sharply at the obvious observation. He winced as soon as he heard the bite in his own voice. Ned didn't mean anything by it. Peter was just frustrated because he knew this situation was all his fault. He pressed his hands to his eyes in stress and groaned.

"I screwed up. Screwed up bad."

Ned only quirked an eyebrow knowingly in his direction.

"Yeah. No shit Sherlock."

Peter only groaned again in response. He had some serious making up to do.