Red-tinted glasses
Peter Parker was an 11 year old kid in the sixth grade. He was orphaned at the age of 5 when both of his parents died in a plane crash. He’s been living with his Aunt May and Uncle Ben ever since. He doesn’t mind living with his aunt and uncle, they’re nice people. I mean, sure, he’d rather still be with his parents, but at this point in his life, his May and Ben are all he’s ever known. They’re almost like his parents. Almost. They never will be though, he’ll never get his real parents back.
At school he spends most of his time alone, outside of school as well. People don’t tend to want to spend time with Peter. He doesn’t seem to give off a welcoming and friendly aura. Peter isn’t sure why that is. He’s tried for years to make friends, to introduce himself to his classmates, to speak to someone, anyone. But all his attempts are for nought. He’s never really had a friend, not truly. Sure, sometimes people would hang around with him every now and then, maybe engage with him in a passing conversation. But no friends. Arguably, what Peter has experienced is the opposite.
Bullying.
Pete doesn’t believe that people have to be nice, but they always seem to choose to be mean. Very mean, and always to him. No one ever needs a reason to start bullying someone else. But Peter sure gave everyone plenty of reasons. Physical attributes tend to be a top choice, not particularly surprising as that is what you first notice about a person. His glasses are always a fun one, it used to bother him when other kids picked on him, not anymore. It’s a stupid thing to point out when trying to insult him. Calling him four-eyes, stealing his glasses, breaking them. It was always so stupid to Peter, and it really made him mad when they broke his glasses. His family had never had much money, so having to get new glasses every couple of months always made Peter feel guilty. Eventually, Pete started to hide when his glasses broke. He learned how to get the lenses back into the frames, how to screw the arms back on. He taped and glued them until they were beyond repair. This helped reduce the amount of replacements he needed to around every 9 months or so. He still felt guilty every time he needed a new pair, but this way definitely helped relieve a lot of those feelings.
The next thing people chose to latch onto was his asthma. They always laughed when he’d keel over grasping his chest. Of course, they never let it go too far. If they did, they knew they’d get into lots of trouble. So instead, they chose to let him get to a point where he was close to passing out from an asthma attack, then throw back his inhaler. Honestly, they were all really lucky that Peter’s asthma attacks were never too serious.
Overall, he was always just seen as that weird kid. A geeky nerd who’s too into science. A smart-ass who’s making them all look stupid. The one no one wanted to talk to or hang around. He was always a lot skinnier than the other kids, never really had any muscle. Peter knew he was only 11 but even the other kids and some kind of muscle, some kind of strength. He could barely do a sit up and everyone knew that. It’s what made him an easy target. Everyone knew that if they picked on him, he wouldn’t be able to do anything to stop them. So they didn’t stop. They never do and at this point Peter thinks they never will. This may just be something he’ll have to live with for the rest of his life, like his asthma.
Although his middle school is supposed to have a strict anti-bullying policy, it never seems to help him. Some students have never bothered to hide how they treat him. Some have even been questioned by teachers for it. But every time they say “We’re just joking around” or “It’s just a joke between friends”, and every time the teachers check with Peter he has to say that yes, they’re friends and yes, they’re just joking around. He had no choice, because if he ever tried to say anything different the bullying would just get worse. They know he knows this too, which is why they don’t care about hiding the bullying, and of course the teachers don’t get paid enough to pry further after Peter says he’s okay, so nothing ever changes.
Today was going to be a school day like all the others. With Peter spending the day alone, being picked on by whoever decided it would be fun today. This doesn’t bother Peter as much as it used to. It’s become routine at this point. Sure, it still hurts, but the pain has dulled. Peter hasn’t got much to miss or long for if he’s never had a real friendship before. He learned to stop hoping a few years back, just accepting what he has and moving on with his life.
Peter gets to his classroom and sits at his desk like he does every day. Every desk has 2 seats and almost all of them have 2 people sitting at them. All of them except Peter’s, he sits alone, like usual. Nothing usual happens whilst waiting for homeroom to start. People usually crowd and talk to their friends, mostly leaving him alone. He does get the occasional ball of paper thrown at his head but he always ignores it. He just sits at his desk and reads whatever book he’s currently on. At the moment, he’s reading Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. It’s the first one in the series and Peter is really enjoying it. The main character reminds him of himself a lot. He knows he shouldn’t keep hope, but maybe one day he’ll have a friend like how Percy has Grover.
Eventually the bell rings, signalling the beginning of homeroom. Everyone begins to get themselves seated before their teacher enters. A few minutes go by and their teacher, Mr Andrews hasn’t come in yet. The class is quiet except for whispers spreading around wondering why the teacher hasn't come yet. Then, the door opens and the teacher walks in, he’s holding the door open for someone else. Peter can hear a clicking noise of something hitting the floor but he doesn’t know what it’s from until the person the teacher is holding the door open for emerges. He’s a kid who looks Peter’s age, he has a cane and is wearing these red-tinted glasses. He’s blind.
The whispers pick up again between Peter’s classmates and Mr Andrews tells them to settle down. Mr Andrews then places the kid in front of the class and introduces him. “Everyone, we have a new student joining our class. His name is Matt Murdock and if you couldn’t tell he is blind. I hope you all make him feel welcome and are respectful towards him. That means no insensitive questions.” After the last sentence he glares at the class. Peter ignores that though because he knows it’s not aimed towards him, Mr Andrews is nice and never lets anything get out of hand whenever he’s there. Instead, Peter is focusing on the new kid, Matt. After the comment Mr Andrews made, he noticed Matt chuckling lightly to himself. Matt seems cool.
After the introduction, Mr Andrews then guides Matt to a desk. Peter wonders who he’ll end up being sat next to, but when he looks around he realises that his desk is the only one with a free spot. By the time Peter realises this, Matt is standing next to his desk. He sits down next to him and Peter doesn’t know what to do. Mr Andrews just smiles once Matt is seated, “Be nice to him Peter, I think you’ll find a lot in common with each other”. Mr Andrews then goes back to the front to his desk and starts the register.
It’s been a long time since Peter sat next to someone in school. He doesn’t quite know what he’s supposed to do now. Does he talk to Matt? Introduce himself? He doesn’t want to come off as weird and off putting. This is his chance to have a friend. Mr Andrews thinks they’ll get along, but Peter isn’t sure why that is yet. Peter starts to worry about being sat next to Matt, what if he’s just another person who’ll bully him? What if he doesn't want to talk to him? What if-
“Hi, I’m Matt. But you already knew that I guess. What’s your name?” Matt says putting his hand out for Peter to shake.