Back to school
School wasn’t for another few days so Percy spent that time getting ready and learning about Peter. May had work so he started with the lists Michelle and Ned had left him.
Ned’s List
- He was the most selfless guy you could meet
- A hardcore pacifist
- Genius with chemistry, physics, and mechanics
- Stay away from Flash (Eugene) Thompson, to risky
- No need to pay attention in class, he napped through most of them
- Watch the star wars movies (seriously)
- Always wore science pun t-shirts (probably should do the same every now and then)
- He had major social anxiety but would never admit it
- Don’t eat peppermint, he hated it
- Tony Stark was his idol
- Loved Legos
- Chronically late
- He always turned the other cheek
And so on and so forth
Michelle’s List
- Fuck no, figure it out
- Don’t be an ass
Well… That was a little less promising. Ned’s list was good though and he used it to choose what to focus on next. Apparently number one was watching all of star wars, not too bad. At least that was what he thought until a quick google search brought him to some site named “Redditt” where icons were arguing over the proper order in which to watch them. What the hell was a prequel? He sighed, Annabeth would’ve known…
Star Wars was making him too sad already so he moved onto Tony Stark. With even more google he learned that for one, ALIENS EXISTED??? And a mortal man had made a flying medieval knight suite packed with laser beams. No wonder the mist was failing. Six-foot-tall pitbulls were much easier to accept than a curvy coca-cola can shooting up UFOs. Apparently this Tony Stark guy was some billionaire genius who had used his money to become a superhero and then brought together a bunch of other extraordinary people to become a superhero team called the Avengers. That team had now split up though and half of them were on the run from guess who? Shield. Percy vowed right then and there to never use another shield, he'd rather be maimed.
Percy pushed the rest of that to the side, he didn’t care about some superpowered grown-ups throwing a hissy fit, he already had enough problems with the gods. The door opened while he was creating Peter outfits, photos from a year before his death showed him in t-shirts and jeans but as time moved on he had started to wear more sweat-shirts. He wonders if it was because the kid seemed to become ripped overnight? In the photo he was holding now the oversized sweatshirt did well to cover the other boy but Percy was a demigod and he could see the carefully concealed muscles outlining his body shape. Honestly that would probably work in his favor. He was getting the vibe that Peter didn’t like to stand out and Percy (also being ripped for obvious reasons) was inclined to agree with that idea. He pulled a pile of sweatshirts out of the closet and added a couple more onto his shopping list.
“Hey Peter? You here?” May called and the sound of stuff being set down followed. Calling Percy Peter had been something they agreed on that morning. After Percy’s dream they were on guard for recording devices. Just because the serious man didn’t seem to suspect the Parkers yet, didn’t mean that wouldn’t change on a dime.
“In my room!” he answered. In a few seconds May was in the doorway. She looked around the bare room sadly, her eyes lingering over the pile of clothes Percy had been working through. Percy quickly stood up, blocking her view. “How’s your day been?” He asked.
Her eyes slowly moved from the pile behind his back to look at him directly. “It was fine, no codes and no breakdowns. About as good as you can get” Percy nodded in agreement. The air became tense with awkward silence. Percy nodded again. “I’m going to start dinner, should be ready in an hour” May stated and left.
“Hey May?” He called after her.
She looked back.
“What order do the Star Wars movies go in?”
May’s lips started to curl up in a semblance of a smile. “Oh don’t you worry young padawan, a certain someone made sure to burn this into my memory. Get your jammies on, I’ll make you some popcorn”. She left the room and Percy smiled too, maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.
Deep breath, hold for four seconds, and out. It was a breathing technique that Will taught to Nico and Nico to Percy. It was supposed to help you stay calm but Percy’s heart was still racing. He stood outside Midtown Science School, a place that would normally never accept him in a thousand years.
My name is Peter Parker, I’m fifteen years old. I have been gone for nine months due to my mental health. No, do I look dead? Who spread that rumor? I apologize if I forgot your name, I have a little bit of brain damage.
He sighed. Brain damage… That was the only excuse they could come up with for forgetting people’s names and pretty much losing all of his genius abilities. He was about to head into the most prestigious school in Queens with the least believable story on the planet. But that wouldn’t matter as long as he could keep his head down for two months. Deep breath, hold for four, and out. He had faced gods and titans, he had walked through hell and taken on hundreds of curses. This was simple, this was easy. He just had to pretend to be normal. And not get attacked by any monsters.
Simple.
He walked inside.
Tony was in a real pickle. The Accords had fallen to shit, half of his team was hiding away up north (yes he knew where they were, FRIDAY was practically omniscient), shield was on his ass to track them down, and even he wasn’t so narcissistic to think he could capture them all. He needed help.
And that’s what led him to Spider-Man.
It seems that while the Accords were falling to shit some little vigilante do-gooder started making a name for himself just a few blocks from his own house. He was perfect for goodness sake. Based on youtube videos the man had super-strength, inhumane flexibility, adhesion, and a sixth sense. He was clearly a little green around the edges but with some motivation words from your truly and a major tech upgrade the guy could be huge.
There was only one problem. The spandex-clad vigilante hadn’t been spotted in eight months. This wasn’t too bad in itself, FRIDAY could probably still track him down, no, the problem was Spiderman didn’t gradually stop showing up. A little over eight months ago he went from daily five to eight hour patrols to nothing. The news didn’t cover any major fight or injuries that the man partook in, he just stopped showing up. The crime that had been on a gradual decline ever since he showed up was back to its past levels within a month and no one else had appeared to fill the spider-themed heroes shoes.
It didn’t look promising.
Still, Tony wasn’t the type of person to just give in to popular opinion (that Spiderman had met his end to some baddy months ago) and decided to trust in his own blind faith. “FRIDAY” he called to his ceiling, “Start searching for anything you can find on Spiderman in the past eight months. Tony Stark didn’t know how to give up, he was going to find this Spiderman and he was going to bring him to Germany.
Eyes were on Percy as soon as he walked through the door. Whispers followed him down the hallway, Percy ignored them all. He wasn’t a stranger to attention, he was Perseus Jackson after all, Saviour of Olympus, the boy who turned down Godhood for a girl that later died. The classic heroic tragedy. Pity also wasn’t new, but it was never any less uncomfortable. Percy kept his head down and kept walking. Near his locker he spotted Ned and MJ out of the corner of his eye. He looked up, maybe to wave, maybe to give them a small smile, he didn’t really know. They turned away as soon as he made eye contact and walked down the hall.
Ok… ouch…
Silently, he prayed that the mist was still working and sent a silent thanks to Hecate when he heard Peter’s name being thrown around. She had manipulated the mist in exchange for a favor he had gathered after the war ended. Percy already shared many features with Peter so it was easy to convince mortal’s minds that Percy (as Peter) had always looked the way he did. This didn’t affect anyone who knew the truth though so Percy had to make sure it stayed a secret. He also didn’t know what Hecate did in the case of Michele and Ned who knew definitively about Peter’s death but he didn’t question what they saw too hard. Maybe he could ask Annabeth…
oh…
He quickened his pace. Now was not the time to focus on the past, he had to do this, for her. As he turned down the hallway labeled “200” his quick pace turned back into a leisurely stroll as he scanned to the left and right. Peter’s locker was around here somewhere and he couldn’t very well walk past it. He was Peter Parker, he knew where his locker was. With all his attention focussed on reading the tiny silver letter on the blue metal doors Percy was paying no attention to where he was going. Not until he bumped into the hard back of some blonde boy wearing a retro football jacket.
“Sorry, scuse me” he muttered, before turning back to the lockers.
192…194…19-
“Peter? Peter Parker?” He looked up. It was the blonde kid from just a second ago. Now he stood facing Percy with a very familiar look in his eyes. It was the same look Nancy Bobafit used to get before chucking pieces of her lunch at Grover’s back and the same look Clarisse had the first week at camp before he shot her mouth full of toilet water.
So this was Flash then…
“Yes?” he asked carefully.
The bully smirked “Back from the dead Penis? Not that any of us were shocked by the news. It was only a matter of time before the Parker curse caught up to you, no wonder you tried to beat it there”. Percy frowned, was this kid really bringing up his “suicide attempt” right off the bat? That seemed a little rude, maybe this was that Flash kid Ned had noted in his list.
Percy had a strong urge to connect his fist to the kid's face, but instead he put on his best mask of confusion and asked “Who are you again?”
Flash sputtered, obviously expecting a different reaction out of him. “Wha- Hey-” It didn’t last long though as he came to his senses and struck Percy with a glare. “You get brain damage or something?”
Perfect
A crowd was starting to gather and Percy smirked. “Yes, actually. Doctor says I’m more likely to remember someone if they played a larger role in my life. Sorry, but I don't remember you at all . Are we classmates?”
The hall was silent as Flash seemed to be trying to decipher what Percy had said. It became clear he had understood as his face turned red and he reared his fist back, “Why you-”. He aimed straight for Percy’s face and Percy quickly tried to remember the notes MJ and Ned had given him. What would the real Peter have done? Oh yeah, he was a pacifist. Percy tilted his head left as Flash’s fist hit the locker with a resounding THUD . “GHAAAAAAA!” Flash cradled his hurt hand to his chest and looked down on Percy with a mix of fascination and anger. From down the hall the voice of a teacher could be heard trying to form a path between the mob of students that had gathered in preparation for a fight. Flash looked in the direction of the voice and back at Percy. “You better watch your back, Penis!” he declared and with that he turned the other direction and melded into the crowd. Percy stood there dumbfounded for a second as whispers started to break out and curious glances were shot his way.
He had messed up… hadn’t he…
Internally he groaned, and the worst part was he didn’t even know what he had done wrong. This was just great, at this rate he would be back at camp within the week.
The voice of the teacher was getting louder, “Excuse me, ex cuse me young lady I know you can hear me, yes you move out of the way, now young man…”. Not wanting to get sent to the principal's office on his very first day Percy followed Flash’s lead and disappeared down the hall. Hopefully the school didn’t have security cameras…
His first class was in a different building, something called AP Chemistry II. He didn’t know what the AP stood for but the II did not look promising. That meant he would need to get to class early to secure a seat in the back. The time was… 8:23, and his class started in…. 2 minutes… he was screwed.
Even with running the whole way there (which earned him more odd looks) Percy was a minute late. As he went to open the door he sent a silent prayer to his father to at least not be seated in the very front. As he opened the door, it became clear that his prayer must have been heard because every available seat in the front three rows was taken leaving part of the fourth and back two rows free.
Oh right… this was a nerd school.
“Mr. Parker so nice of you to join us, although a little late it is good to see your face again.” The teacher was on the older side, white with a receding hairline of white and gray. His smile was warm and made crinkles right under his eyes like he regularly took on that expression. Percy felt his insides twist but he ignored it for now.
“Yeah, sorry, forgot how big the campus is” he scratched the back of his head in mock embarrassment and went to sit down near the back of the group. As Mr. Logan started up his lecture once again Percy tuned him out and made doodles on his paper. Mr. Logan was the first person who seemed happy about Peter’s return. But Percy wasn’t really Peter. Peter was dead… and if things went well, Mr. Logan would never know the truth.
Lunch was a madhouse. It seemed like nerds or not these teenagers were just like every other Gen Z teenager around. Looking around the cafeteria it was clear where the borders were drawn. The jocks and sporty-types were mingled in with the kids wearing sparkly watches, designer shoes, and perfect faces of makeup. A little outside that group were the kids who looked like they were trying to fit in, they had nervous smiles on their faces and spoke just a little too loud. On the left side of the room seemed to be what Percy would classify as the “typical” teenager. They weren’t dressed up super fancy but their hair was washed and they laughed together in a mirage of various groups. The right side of the cafeteria, closest to the teachers table were the stereotypical “outcasts”, the place Percy used to (and probably still would) sit. Most of their shoulders were a little hunched, a lot of them sat by themselves and the groups that congregated seemed to be looking at paper cards and square devices. Percy spotted Ned and MJ near the front eating in silence. As if sensing his eyes MJ looked up and glared at him as if daring him to walk her way. He hadn’t been planning to to start with but he definitely wasn’t even considering it now.
In the end he plopped himself down closer to the back where it seemed the individuals congregated and ate in silence.
Only a few more weeks, just a few more weeks and he could try to live normally. Just like Annabeth wanted for them…
As he picked up his cup he stared inside at the water that subtly bobbed back and forth. He knew if he looked for it he would find that familiar feeling in his gut and he could make this ordinary cup of water extraordinary. If he wanted to, he could simply make it form a vortex for his own amusement, no one would see.
But he didn’t. Instead Percy pushed away the dark memories and drank the water as fast as he could.
After his fourth day at school Percy was intercepted by Peter’s friends as he was walking back to the Apartment.
“Here to ambush me?” He asked as they finally stepped out of his shadow.
“You knew we were following you” Ned spoke up as Percy turned to face them. They stood side-by side, Ned on the left and MJ (who was looking at the ground) on the right.
Percy smirked, “It would’ve been hard not to notice”.
Ned looked like he wanted to respond but MJ cut him off, “Whatever, we need to talk”. She marched on forward in the direction Percy had been heading with Ned following at her heels. He sent Percy an apologetic look as he passed but didn’t wait up to see if he was following. Percy sighed, in his experience, needing to “talk” was never a good sign. He just hoped they weren’t here to back out of the plan. Not that he would stop them.
As they reached the apartment Percy made as if to grab his keys but MJ beat him to it, reaching into the flowerpot to the left of the door she grabbed what he thought was a moon-shaped rock and stuck her finger on the inside of the curve. With a click the rock split open to reveal a shiny metal key, identical to Percy’s own. “Wha-” he started to say, that was some high-tech stuff, nothing he would expect outside a normal mortal's house.
“Peter made it” Ned explained, “He added all of our fingerprints to the detection pad in case May ever had an emergency while he was out”. Percy nodded, impressed.
“He made that?”
“Peter was good with electronics” MJ bluntly stated, clearly meaning for it to be an end to that conversation. They stepped inside and sat down on the living room couch, mimicking the same positions they sat in that fateful day they had met. Ned pulled out some sort of metal box and moved it around the room, Percy didn’t so much as raise an eyebrow though, MJ’s stare was kinda scary…
When Ned put the box away Percy decided it was time to start whatever this was, “Sooooooo, not that I don’t enjoy your company but why are you here?” The two exchanged glances and seemed to have an argument with just their eyes. In the end Ned won and MJ groaned.
“You’re screwing this up.” she stated.
“Huh?”
“Yesterday I heard you caught four separate paper balls that were thrown at your back”
“That wa-”
She held up her hand, “Last week Mr. Smith asked Ned if you were sick, said he hadn’t seen you all week.” Percy winced. It was the only English class they had and that week had been focused on mythology surrounding ancient civilizations. Really, it was a valid reason.
“Yeah” Ned added, “And Cindy asked me if you joined a fight club, why were you shirtless by the dumpsters?” His face was definitely red now. He had hoped no one had seen that. After tartarus spiders and Peter didn’t exactly get along. While skipping Mr. Smith’s class he had snuck out a side door to enjoy the nice weather next to some lovely waste containers. At some point Percy started feeling on edge and a few seconds later a spider was crawling on his shoulder. He had let out a (manly) scream and promptly threw his shirt to the ground to stomp the thing to death. When he was completely satisfied that no creepy-crawlies could have survived his barrage he had picked the filthy shirt up and made eye contact with a blonde girl standing in the open doorway and holding a trash bag. Gods that had been embarrassing.
Instead of responding Percy just groaned and put his head in his hands.
MJ sighed, “We’ve also gotten a lot of questions about why Peter, you, no longer hang out with us.”
“Honestly, people seem more focussed on that than anything else.” Well that wasn’t good, the other things were things he could fix. MJ and Ned had already made it clear they had no interest in his little attempt at life.
“So you two came here to tell me to get my act together?”
“Yes” MJ answered at the same time Ned replied with “No”.
MJ rolled her eyes, “Yes we came here to tell you to get your act together but we also came here….” she trailed off, her lips thinning in what looked like distaste.
“We came here to offer our help” Ned finished for her, “We can help you act more like Peter”
Percy blanched, they were still on board? On top of that they were going to help him?
“Just to be clear, we don’t want to” Ned gave her a look, “Fine, I don’t want to, but… Peter would have helped you.”
Oh
“He sounds like he was an amazing person,” Percy stated.
“The best” Ned agreed sadly, sniffling.
“Hey” MJ interrupted, “Quit that, we didn’t come here to be sad, we came here to tutor you on how not to fuck this up”. Percy sat up straighter.
‘Uh… what should I do?”
She gave him a wicked smile, “How do you feel about studying Parker?”
She had brought flashcards
Flashcards
With everyone's names and hand sketched pictures on the back. It would have almost been insulting if Percy wasn’t so impressed by the accuracy of the photos. Why did all of them look upset though?
She didn’t just have names on the cards, no, that wouldn’t account for the foot tall stack of paper that now sat precariously on the living room table. Some cards had facts instead pertaining to things like personal relationships, hobbies, shared interests, when Peter met them, mutual acquaintances, and just general information on each person. While MJ quizzed Percy, Ned was off to the side typing away on his computer. Apparently there would be a freaking test.
These nerds were insane.
Not only that, they thought of everything. That little thing Ned had whipped out earlier, apparently it was to scan the apartment for “ears”. Percy hadn’t even considered how damaging the conversation they just had would have been if anyone overheard. Then, Ned casually whipped out what looked like a dead bug. It stored footsteps, or the vibrations that peoples footsteps made? Percy had no idea what exactly it did but evidently it would tell Ned if anyone unwanted broke into the apartment. The title “mad scientists” would suit the duo very well if either of them were actually interested in a life of crime.
“This is…?” MJ asked, holding up a picture of that stuck-up blonde kid from the first day.
“Eugene Thompson, or Flash”
“Good, and what will he call you”
“...Penis” It took all of his mental power to answer.
“Yes, and what would your response be to this statement, ‘Hey Penis, what are you wearing? I swear I saw that in the school dumpster yesterday, what’s wrong? Too poor to afford the simple cloth or to lazy?’” Her tone was flat as she read off the card, like she was a prisoner forced to recite lines. It caught him off guard at first but he was used to it now.
Fix him with a glare that his ancestors will feel Percy thought but he didn’t answer that, he’d learned early on that MJ did not appreciate his sarcastic retorts. He rubbed his upper arm, where the heck had she learned to punch like that?
MJ continued talking, “Would it be A, look him up and down and tell him money obviously doesn’t equate to style. B, Ignore him. C, say ‘your mothers closet, she said it used to be yours’. Or D, ‘go away Flash’?”
“D” Percy responded followed by an “ow!” as MJ smacked him with a wooden spoon she had fetched from the kitchen.
“Correct”
Percy sputtered, “Then why did you hit me!”
She looked up from the flashcards and met his gaze straight on, “Do I need a reason”. He just gaped at her. From the left Ned let out a cough that sounded suspiciously like a laugh.
Evil, the both of them.
“Next question” MJ stated, although she paused for a second before stuttering out “W-what is your favorite subject.” Percy frowned slightly but answered confidently.
“Chemistry”
“No, home ec…” MJ had yet to look up from the paper and Percy no longer heard the tell-tale signs of Ned typing away at his computer. This was clearly a sore spot.
He cleared his throat, “We should stop here for today, it’s getting late.” MJ nodded subtly but it was clear her mind was elsewhere. Ned grabbed the stack of papers and shoved them into his book bag with more force than was necessary. Neither of them were looking at Percy, both transfixed with the patterns of May Parker’s living room carpet. There were stains here and there, red, orange, brown. Each stain probably held a story, he wondered how many of the stains they had witnessed or maybe even caused.
He made his way to the doorway and MJ left through it with a quiet see you tomorrow, Ned held back for a second.
“It was the only class we all shared together,” he admitted, “Peter was almost as bad as May when it came to cooking. I don’t know how many times MJ and I had to step in to save his grade… He kept trying though, wanted to be able to make May a lasagna so she wouldn’t have to worry so much about cooking anymore. He was always so kind like that, constantly trying to help his aunt out, even when she told him to stop.” Ned chuckled, a sad smile gracing his lips, it didn’t last there long. “He had plans with MJ eight days after he died to make that lasagna, I think he meant for it to be a date.”
Oh
Ned left without waiting for a reply from Percy which was good because Percy didn’t know what he could say.
Sorry your best friend is dead? Sorry you can’t properly grieve because I took his identity? Sorry I’m so bad at being normal that you have to step in.
Percy didn’t come out of his room that night for dinner and May didn’t push too hard on why. It made sense though, Percy and May were practically strangers and Percy was just invading her home.
Instead of studying the flashcard like Ned and MJ would have wanted, Percy laid in bed and cried himself to sleep.
It was just another reason it should’ve been Peter that lived and he who died.