Exams, Teasing, and Temptations
Morning – Peter’s Dorm
Peter groaned loudly, letting his head fall onto his desk as ERIC’s voice chimed in.
“Sir, your exams start today. You will be unable to visit the Baxter Building until they are over.”
Peter mumbled into the desk, “I hate this.”
“You have been aware of this schedule for weeks.”
“I still hate it.”
His workload at ESU was already annoying enough, and now he had to put everything at the Baxter Building on hold just to spend an entire week suffering through exams.
It wasn’t that the exams were hard. No, they were stupidly easy for him. But the process of sitting in a room for hours, answering questions he already knew the answers to, while his professors gave him judgmental looks? That was unbearable.
Peter sighed, sitting up and rubbing his face. “Alright, ERIC. Let’s just get this over with.”
Just as Peter was grabbing his things, his phone buzzed.
Susan Storm.
His stomach did a weird flip, but he ignored it and picked up. “Hey, Doctor Storm.”
Her light chuckle came through the line. “Oh, we’re back to ‘Doctor Storm’ now? And here I thought we were friends.”
Peter rolled his eyes but smiled despite himself. “Hey, Susan.”
“That’s better,” she teased. “Nathaniel told me you won’t be around for a few days?”
Peter sighed. “Yeah, ESU’s got me locked in for finals.”
Susan hummed. “And I take it you’re not thrilled about that?”
“That obvious?”
She laughed, and Peter swore his heart skipped a beat.
“You do have that whole ‘I’d rather be anywhere else’ energy.”
He chuckled. “Guilty.”
Susan’s voice was playful. “Well, try not to miss me too much.”
Peter froze, blinking. What.
She was teasing him.
A slow, loopy grin crept onto his face, and he leaned against the wall, suddenly feeling way too giddy.
Susan giggled. “Oh, you’re totally smiling right now, aren’t you?”
Peter immediately forced his expression neutral, clearing his throat. “No.”
“Liar.”
He groaned. “Susan.”
She laughed again. “Relax, Parker. I’ll see you after your exams. Good luck.”
The call ended, and Peter just stood there for a second, staring at his phone like an idiot.
Then he sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Damn it.”
Peter flopped onto his bed.
“Sir,” ERIC’s voice came through, “your dopamine levels spiked significantly during your call with Doctor Storm.”
Peter covered his face with a pillow. “Shut up.”
“I believe you should consider pursuing her.”
Peter groaned. “ERIC. No.”
“She is clearly fond of you, sir.”
“ERIC.”
“Statistically speaking, relationships built on mutual respect and attraction have a high probability of—”
Peter threw the pillow across the room.
“No. Nope. Not happening. I can’t.”
“Why not?”
Peter sighed, rubbing his temples. “Because.”
Because every time he let someone in, they got hurt. Because he wasn’t supposed to have things like this. Because he was Spider-Man.
ERIC was silent for a moment before responding. “Sir, I do not believe you are as undeserving of happiness as you think.”
Peter’s throat tightened, but he shook his head. “Drop it, ERIC.”
“Very well, sir.”
He exhaled. “Good. Now let’s focus on something else—like surviving these damn exams.”
Walking into ESU’s exam hall, Peter immediately felt the stares.
His professors, his fellow students—all of them threw him side-eyes as he entered.
Peter smirked internally. Let them stare.
His professors had zero patience for him at this point. He never attended classes, barely interacted with anyone, and now he had the perfect excuse—his internship at the Baxter Building.
And they hated it.
One of his professors, Dr. Allen, eyed him over the rim of his glasses as he handed Peter the exam paper.
“Nice of you to finally show up, Mr. Parker.”
Peter flashed a lazy smile. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Dr. Allen huffed. “We’ll see if your time at the Baxter Building actually taught you anything.”
Peter just grinned, taking his seat. Oh, they were gonna love this.
First up: Chemical Engineering.
The questions were insultingly simple.
He barely had to think—his hand moved on autopilot, answering equations, balancing reactions, and writing explanations faster than anyone else in the room.
By the time the other students were still on page three, Peter was already flipping to the last page.
He caught Dr. Allen staring at him.
Peter just smirked and kept writing.
Next: Mechanical Engineering.
If the ChemE exam was easy, this was just a joke.
The blueprints section? Done.
The thermodynamics calculations? Done.
The structural analysis? Done.
When Peter finished and stood up way earlier than everyone else, his professor, Dr. Rodriguez, narrowed his eyes.
“You’re done?” he asked skeptically.
Peter stretched. “Yep.”
Dr. Rodriguez scoffed. “If you think speed makes up for accuracy—”
Peter just handed him the paper. “Oh, I’m plenty accurate.”
As Peter walked out, he caught a few students whispering.
“Dude, how is Parker so fast?”
“Probably cheating.”
“He doesn’t even come to class! What the hell?”
Peter just smirked to himself.
By the end of the week, Peter had blown through every exam without breaking a sweat.
He could already see the frustration on his professors’ faces.
They couldn’t deny it—he was a damn genius.
And as much as they wanted to call him lazy or inattentive, he was still at the top of every single class.
Peter sat back in his chair, arms crossed, as he finished his final paper.
He looked up, catching Dr. Allen’s narrowed gaze.
Peter just grinned and slid his paper forward.
“Pleasure doing business with you, Professor.”
Dr. Allen just grumbled, snatching the paper away.
Walking out of the exam hall, Peter let out a huge sigh of relief.
Finally.
He pulled out his phone and texted Susan.
[Parker: Exams over. I survived.]
A few seconds later, she replied.
[Susan: Congratulations. I assume you didn’t struggle?]
[Parker: Not even a little.]
[Susan: Show-off.]
Peter grinned, shaking his head.
[Parker: See you soon, Doctor Storm.]
A moment later, her response came through.
[Susan: Can’t wait. ❤️]
Peter froze.
His brain short-circuited.
And then, very slowly, a stupid, goofy grin spread across his face.
ERIC’s voice cut in.
“Sir, you are grinning again.”
Peter sighed, rubbing his face. “Goddammit.”