The Start of Something New
Peter sighed as he walked through the crowded halls of Midtown high, gazing around at the oblivious fools around him. As Peter opened his locker and looked in the magnetic mirror he had placed in earlier, he sighed. He was a wreck. Physically and emotionally.
Peter began to evaluate a method on how to survive the day ahead, when suddenly, a harsh push sent him falling into his locker. Peter’s face hit the back wall of the locker with a loud crack. “Ha!” A familiar voice boomed through the halls. Flash. “Little Penis Parker, such a wimp” He said the end of his sentence, curling into a vicious tone.
Peter closed his eyes, as he turned his face into a sheet of calm. “Can we not do this Flash?” He said quietly as he pulled himself out of the locker. Turning to face the bully, who was standing in a wide stance, his arms crossed. “Why should I?” He spat “Someone needs to teach you how useless you are.”
Peter held back another sigh, it wasn’t like he wanted to be here, and Flash was making it worse, so much worse. He decided that he wasn’t gonna get involved, that he would drown the small fire of rage that burned inside him. He dodged the bully, walking past him and then continued down the hall, avoiding people as he increased his pace.
He turned into his homeroom, sat down in his seat, and anxiously waited for Ned or MJ to come in, so he wasn’t sitting alone. Homeroom passed, and still Ned and MJ failed to show, and as Peter made his way to first period chemistry, he allowed himself to fall deep into his thoughts. What is the purpose of coming here, when I learn nothing and am constantly bullied? His thoughts shifted from school, to spiderman, and to a million other things except the one thing he knew that his mind would return to. Aunt May.
May had died in a car crash a little over a year ago, and since then, Peter’s mental health had strained, ready to break. He was on his last thread, about to fall into the black abyss of nothingness. That's why everyone was a fool. To others, he was Peter Parker, an upbeat kid that wouldn't let a little bullying drag him down. But inside, it was much worse, the scars on his arms proved that he was not some excited little kid who was always up to the task.
Nobody knew about this side of him, and he intended to keep it that way, but with the constant thoughts of death overshadowing his life, Peter would do anything to have one person that he could just talk to. One person who would just listen. You could tell Tony. A small voice in his head called out unexpectedly. Or Steve. Or Bucky, or Natasha. Heck even Clint or Sam would care. Peter erased the thoughts from his mind, he couldn’t tell them. Telling them would result in spiderman being taken away from him, and he didn’t want Tony to think he was some kid who couldn't handle the little problems in life.
-
He sat down in his seat in chemistry. Today they were doing some stuff with chemical reactions, so Peter put his gloves and goggles on. The teacher, Mr. Cobwell, walked over to him. “Peter, today you’ll have the new student as your lab partner, you should introduce yourself to her and be kind, it's her first day here.” Peter looked up in confusion “New student?” He commented in a confused tone, but, alas, Mr. Cobwell had already walked away, and a girl was walking towards his table. Peter sighed, he did not want to talk to this ‘new student’ and now, he couldn’t work on his web fluid in class.
The girl, who was short with straight brown hair, and dull brown eyes, sat down on the desk beside him. Though as Mr. Cobwell finished his instruction and they began to work, she made no move to start a conversation. Peter sighed internally, looking like he was going to have to start a conversation.
“So,” He began awkwardly. “We don’t get many transfers mid-year, what's the big deal?” The girl looked surprised to see Peter talking to her. “Oh, well um, I just moved here with my, uh, foster family.” She said akwardly. Peter, who poured a liquid into the beaker, paused the action to look at her. “Oh, well, I’m glad that your here” He said, struggling to keep the conversation going.
“I’m Peter by the way.” He put the vial down, and held out his hand. “Emma,” She said as she shook his hand. That pretty much summed up the conversation and it was silent until Liz came over and asked if they could switch the vials of the ingredient that would be added in the end mixture. “Please…” She whined “Ours is only supposed to bubble, but yours is gonna change color. Please” She begged again. Peter, who had no intention of arguing with her, because her lab partner was Flash, turned to Emma. “Are you okay with this?” He asked. She shrugged. “Sure” They traded beakers, and in the silence, a crushing feeling of numbness clouded over him. What was wrong with him? He continued to fall deeper into his depressing thoughts, when a voice interrupted. “You… okay?” It was Emma.
“Yeah, i’m fine” Peter observed the liquid that they had created with the substances, jotting down notes in his notebook along the way. “You ready to add it in?” Emma asked, holding the vial in her hand. He nodded, and leaned towards the beaker. Emma began to pour the mixture in, but as she did, his spidey sense flared out of nowhere. “Wait!” He cried out as the mixture started bubbling. Emma only had a moment to look at Peter in shock, and then the beaker exploded.