"Peter, right?"
"..."
During physics class.
Hawk glanced at the words on the note pushed in front of him, raised an eyebrow, then looked at Gwen beside him.
Gwen gestured toward the note in front of Hawk.
Hawk smiled and noncommittally handed the note back to Gwen.
He did not express any opinion.
It was one thing for Gwen to figure it out herself; it was another for him to nod and confirm it.
Same as always.
Spider-Man had not betrayed him, so naturally, he would not betray Peter.
Soon enough.
After class.
Gwen hugged her books as she walked with Hawk toward the hallway of lockers, all the while wondering whether Spider-Man was Peter.
She felt that it had to be Peter.
After all, Hawk's social circle was too simple. And when she thought about how Peter had once been one of the weaker students at school, only to suddenly rise up out of nowhere.
Most students thought it was because Peter had practiced boxing with Hawk.
That was also where the rumor that Peter might be Hawk's only friend had come from.
Others might not know, but Gwen did.
Yet precisely because Gwen knew Peter had not become stronger by practicing boxing with Hawk, she had been unable to reach a conclusion.
Because it seemed too simple.
It was like a poor student and a top student solving the same problem.
Given the same question, the poor student would look at it and think, Holy crap, I know this one. A. Then he would fill in the answer without another thought.
But a top student might look at the answer that was practically written in plain sight and fall into deep thought.
Could there be some kind of trap in this question...?
That was exactly how Gwen felt.