Noon.
Blaine didn't go to the cafeteria.
Anyone who has eaten at school cafeteria knows how bad it is. Aside from a few barely edible dishes…
The chicken tasted synthetic, the vegetables were mushy and overcooked, and the mashed potatoes were as disgusting as poop.
Ever since he forced himself to eat there once out of desperation, Blaine swore he'd rather starve than eat there again.
However, something strange happened during lunch break this time.
Peter had fully recovered.
In fact, he had bounced back even more dramatically.
He looked refreshed, his face glowing with excitement, a constant smile on his lips—as if something amazing had happened.
A promotion? A windfall?
Did Tony Stark reach out to him?
Blaine was puzzled.
No, the Civil War timeline hasn't started yet. Would Tony show up this early?
Then what was it?
Could it be…
Blaine thought of a certain girl, raised an eyebrow, walked to Peter's desk, and patted him on the shoulder. "Peter, what happened? Why are you so happy?"
"Blaine!"
Peter had clearly been dying to tell someone. The moment he saw Blaine, his eyes lit up. "It's MJ! MJ! She… she…"
So it really was MJ!
Blaine smiled with interest. "Slow down. What did MJ do?"
Damn, this could be juicy gossip. Was Peter and MJ's relationship speeding up thanks to him?
"MJ…! MJ…! MJ showed concern for me!"
Turns out Peter wasn't in a great mood earlier, and the sharp-minded MJ picked up on it. As a friend, she showed a bit of care.
"…Seriously?!" Blaine gave Peter a look and turned to leave. "Peter, you really have no self-respect."
He thought Peter's excitement was because they kissed or became a couple—or at the very least, held hands.
But nope. Just one sentence of concern from MJ and the guy was this ecstatic.
Love really does drop your IQ to zero.
Sheesh.
Good thing MJ isn't some manipulative girl, or Spider-Man—future hero of the Avengers and enemy of countless crime syndicates—would just become a top-tier simp. Still a simp, though.
"Blaine, what's up with Peter?"
At that moment, Ned came in from the back door, having just finished lunch. He leaned over beside Blaine, curious.
The first thing he saw when he entered was Peter sitting there with a love-struck expression.
"...Go find out yourself. Just try not to hit him." Blaine didn't know how to explain it.
"Alright." Ned shrugged and went over to ask Peter what was going on.
Peter was more than happy to tell him everything.
"Peter, you're so lame!"
"If I could beat you up, believe me, I would!"
After hearing the whole story, Ned rolled his eyes so hard they nearly fell out, barely holding back his urge to punch Peter. He went back to his seat and started fiddling with his Lego blocks again.
Ned: 'If love makes people like that, then I'd rather spend my life immersed in Lego and never fall in love!'
Of course, if things followed the canon timeline, it wouldn't be long before Ned himself would catch the "true love" bug—though they'd break up shortly after.
Only Peter was left sitting there, confused.
"Blaine! Ned! What's wrong with you guys? I really think this is uplifting! Next time I'll record it and show you how caring MJ was!"
Blaine let out a helpless sigh.
Sure, for Peter, it was definitely uplifting. But to outsiders… he looked just a tiny bit—just a tiny, tiny bit—dumb.
Still, it wasn't a bad thing.
At least Peter had fully emerged from the emotional and physical slump after getting beat up.
MJ really was his best medicine.
So for the rest of the day, Peter was absolutely energized. He probably wouldn't calm down for a day or two.
As for Blaine, once the school day was over, he disappeared again.
One day of school was enough. If he kept doing this, he wasn't sure he could restrain himself. What if he accidentally destroyed this evil breeding ground of a school?
This was Blaine's second day of "vacation," with no missions to take.
He had said yesterday that he'd buy a villa and enjoy life, and he meant it.
With millions in his pocket, if this weren't the Marvel universe, Blaine would've happily lived a lazy, decadent life forever.
Still, he didn't go off to some remote place.
After thinking it over, he bought a fully equipped villa near Manhattan. It was just a 20–30 minute walk from the city or a short drive. Nearby, there were golf courses, horse ranches, and other entertainment options.
Swimming pool, bar, karaoke, internet café, hot springs, bowling room…
Today, Blaine finally got a taste of how the rich really live.
Leaning back on a soft leather sofa, he sniffed the air with a smirk.
Yep. Smelled like the rot of capitalism.
But hey, having money is for enjoying life. Otherwise, if you spend your whole life just making money or chasing money, what's the point?
So over the next few days, Blaine stayed at or around his villa.
Because there was so much to do, he played for several days and even tried out the nearby golf course and ranch—without getting bored.
Of course, the golf course was a bit boring to him.
With his perfect accuracy, every shot was a hole-in-one. No chance to miss. Ironically, this earned him a bit of a reputation at the golf club.
"Is spending money freely a way to relieve stress?"
Blaine sat in his home theater, sipping red wine as he watched an action movie on the giant screen.
He didn't know how to appreciate wine.
But he could definitely taste the money.
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