Peter
Peter doesn’t sleep at all Sunday night, and he doesn’t see any reason why he would. He’s already shit at sleeping, now add in the first day of yet another new school, except this time people are actually expecting things from him. He’s spent the last three years of his life trying to minimize expectations. How did he get back to this point?
Bill doesn’t barge into his room this morning. He just unlocks it and walks away. Peter isn’t sure if it was just a coincidence, or if that man actually has some form of empathy, deep, deep, deep down inside. Either way, he needs to get up. He tries to look his best, even though he knows it’s not much. He puts on the clothes that are the least small on him and brushes through his hair with his fingers. He even resewed his ripped backpack strap last night and patched some of the holes.
Once he’s ready, he slips out the front door and starts walking to Ned’s. It’s quite a ways away, considering he lives in Brooklyn and Ned and his new school are in Queens. He’ll probably just swing there any other day, but today he thinks the walking might help him clear his head.
He makes it to Ned’s right on time and knocks on the door. Ned’s mom answers.
“Peter, honey. It’s so good to see you! Come on in and have some breakfast with Ned. I made sinangag special just for you boys.” She steps aside and ushers Peter to the table. Him and Ned do their handshake as he sits down at the table.
“Hi Lola!” He waves to Ned’s grandma who can see sitting in the living room. She smiles at him and waves back. A plate full of steaming rice is set in front of him and it smells heavenly.
“Thank you so much, Mrs. Leeds. It looks delicious.” He says gratefully up to Ned’s mom. She runs her hand over Peter’s hair in a motherly fashion.
“You’re always welcome for breakfast, Peter. You know that. I was so happy for you both when Ned told me that you were moving to Midtown this semester.”
“Me too, ma’am.” Peter responds, gathering forkfuls of rice to eat.
“Is it true that Tony Stark got you enrolled?” She asks curiously.
“Mooom.” Ned complains from the other side of the table. “I already told you it was.”
His mom tries to look innocent. “Well I know that honey, but I’d like to hear it from the source. It’s a pretty unbelievable story.”
Peter nods his confirmation. “Yes, ma’am. I’ve been interning with Mr. Stark for a few months and he said he wanted me to go to a school that challenges me more.”
“I definitely think so.” She agrees. “If anyone deserves to go to Midtown with Ned, it’s you, Peter.”
She gets up from the table again to go wash the dishes from breakfast. Peter would love to offer to help, but him and Ned need to get going if they’re going to make it on time. Peter is supposed to arrive early since he’s new.
“Bye, Mom. Thanks for breakfast! Love you!”
“Thank you again Mrs. Leeds!”
The boys call on their way out the door.
Ned has a lot more winter gear than Peter, so as soon as they get outside, Ned shoves his beanie on Peter’s head and wraps his scarf around Peter’s neck. Peter looks at him gratefully, bundling himself deeper into the scarf. Peter doesn’t have a winter coat. He hasn’t in a while, so he’s just wearing a hoodie with the sleeves pulled down to cover his fingers.
Ned waited until they were a little ways away from the building to start interrogating him.
“So how was your weekend at the compound?” He asks excitedly.
“It was really cool.” Peter says with a smile. “We had this group training exercise that was like catching the golden snitch in Harry Potter, and I won!”
“No way, dude! You beat all the Avengers?!” Ned asks, eyes wide with shock.
Peter nods, trying not to brag but he is pretty proud of that accomplishment, especially because Mr. Stark was watching, not that he would ever in a million years say that part out loud.
“Yeah, dude, it was crazy. We were doing it without equipment though so everyone who doesn’t have powers to rely on normally was at a big disadvantage.”
“Wow.” Ned says, looking at Peter completely amazed. “My friend trains with the actual avengers.”
Peter snorts a laugh. “Ned, man, you gotta stop saying stuff like that. It’s cool, yeah, but they’re just people. Maybe Mr. Stark will let you come with us sometime.”
“Seriously??” Ned exclaims excitedly, spinning towards Peter so quickly that he almost slips on some ice and Peter has to reach out and steady him.
“Yeah, I mean, I can ask. Maybe when I’ve been over there a few more times and know everyone a little better.”
“Yeah, yeah. Totally.” Ned replies, trying to act casual, like he didn’t almost eat shit at the thought of maybe meeting the Avengers.
They make it to the school pretty quickly after that. Luckily Ned’s apartment is pretty close by. Ned leads them inside through the front doors. It’s still pretty empty since the boys are coming so early today, but already it looks nicer than most of his other schools. Everything looks clean and pretty new, and there’s not random graffiti drawn on every possible surface.
Ned turns left right when they walk in the doors and they stroll through a doorway surrounded by windows. This must be the main office. He sees a secretary typing at the front desk, so he walks up to her and clears his through.
She glances up, surprised, but quickly puts on a smile that Peter doesn’t think looks fake, but he really can’t tell.
“Good morning!” She exclaims, a little too chipper for this early. “How can I help you?”
Peter glanced back at Ned standing behind him, who gives him a thumbs up and a reassuring smile.
“Um, my name is Peter Parker. It’s my first day here.” He tells her. Her smile softens a bit.
“Of course, Peter. We’ve been expecting you. You can go on through to the office and Mr. Leeds can wait for you right here until you’re finished.”
“Okay, sure. Thank you.” He says, following her pointed finger to a door to his left. He sees Ned take a seat out of the corner of his eye.
He knocks on the door as he walks through, and he hears a strong
“Come in!”
He slips through the door and shuts it behind him, revealing a warmly decorated room with a large desk and two comfortable looking chairs in front of it. There is a well dressed Asian man sitting behind the desk labeled “Principal Morita”. Wow, day one and he’s already landed himself in the principals office. That must be a new record.
This guy doesn’t really look upset with him though. That’s also pretty new for principals.
“Good morning, Peter.” The man greets him happily, standing up to reach across the desk and shake Peter’s hand. “It is my pleasure to welcome you here to Midtown High School. Please, sit. I’d like to discuss some things with you before you get to class.”
Peter shakes his hand and sits like he’s told. He’s so determined not to mess this one up.
“So, Mr. Parker. How are you feeling about everything this morning? Excited? Nervous?” The man asks him kindly.
Peter shrugs. “A little bit of both I guess.” He responds. “Do you introduce yourself to all the new students?” He asks curiously.
The principal nods. “I try to. Of course it’s really difficult to do in the fall semester when there are so many, but you are currently our only new student for the spring semester.”
Oh, great. Even more of a reason for unwanted attention to be on him today. His face must fall a little bit at that, because the principal hurries to reassure him.
“I don’t want that fact to worry you, Peter. I actually do have an alternative reason to bring you in here before you get started.”
Yeah, Peter has heard this one before. Sometimes the schools want to preemptively let him know that they know he’s a piece of shit and that he’ll probably be kicked out soon. Well let’s get this over with, he supposes.
“So, of course I’ve seen your school records. I have to look through every transfer student’s to make sure they’re a good fit.” Principal Morita pauses, like he’s giving Peter the chance to argue or something. Peter just nods. He knows his look bad.
“And, I wanted to let you know that I’m fully aware that things aren’t always what they seem.”
Huh. Now that has Peter’s attention. He perks up and cocks his head to the side, confused.
“Really?” He asks.
“Really.” The principal replies. “I know what your records say, but I also know that you must be a really smart and hardworking student to be able to enroll at this school, and I fully believe that you can do really well here.”
“…oh.” Peter responds. “Thank you, sir.”
Morita smiles at him, a kind smile. “And I know you’ve probably heard this at other schools, but bullying really is not tolerated here. We’re very strict about it. So, if you’re having any issues with someone here, if they are saying or doing anything offensive to you or are violent towards you in any way, I would very much implore you to tell either me or one of your teachers, and I guarantee you, we can help. Okay?”
Peter nods his agreement. Usually the teachers are giving him this talk like he’s the bully. This is a refreshing change. Maybe Mr. Stark through his name all over Peter’s enrollment papers so everyone would feel threatened. That would certainly explain this weird kindness this principal is showing.
“Thank you, sir. I’ll try to remember that.” Peter tells him.
“That’s all I ask.” He responds. “Now, here is your schedule for the day. Would you like me to set you up with a faculty member to show you around the school before you start?”
He hands Peter a piece of paper with his classes printed out.
“No thank you, sir.” Peter responds. “My friend, Ned Leeds, is waiting out in the office for me. He can show me around.”
“Ah, Mr. Leeds.” The principal says, sounding pleased. “He’s a good one. I’m glad you have him with you.”
Principal morita stands up and opens his office door for Peter, shaking his hand one more time. “I hope you have a wonderful first day, Mr. Parker, and if you need anything, my door is always open.”
Peter gives him one last wave before walking out of the office, schedule in hand. That was so weird, but also kind of nice.
Ned sees him and stands up when he walks back into the main office. He starts making grabby hands towards Peter’s schedule.
“Let me see it!” He says as Peter approaches, snatching out of his outstretched hand.
“Oh, sweet! We’ve got homeroom, lunch, Chem, and physics together. Come on! I’ll show you where your locker is first.”
Ned practically drags Peter down the hallway he’s so excited to show the boy around. He shows him his locker, the cafeteria, all of Peter’s classrooms. Peter thinks that even if he ends up hating this place, that having Ned be this happy will be worth coming here anyway.
The morning bell rings shortly after Ned finishes with his tour, and the two rush off to homeroom. Peter has Lit and History in the morning, so after homeroom Ned shows him to his first classroom and they do their handshake before going their separate ways.
The main thing he’s dreading today isn’t even that big of a deal. It’s being introduced in every single classroom he goes in. It’s so annoying. He gets through this one fine. The teacher thankfully doesn’t make him talk about himself or say something stupid. He gets away with just a wave before they start talking about what books they’ll be starting off the semester with.
He’s not super into literature. He likes to read well enough, but he mainly reads scientific studies or sci/fi and fantasy books. He doesn’t really like to read what he’s told he has to in a class. There is something interesting about this class though.
There’s a girl sitting on the other side of the room as him who won’t stop looking at him. She’s not super obvious about it, but she keeps glancing his way through the entire class. He tries not to stare back, but to be honest, this girl is really, really pretty. Not in like a stereotypical pretty high school girl way. She just has something about her.
When the bell rings at the end of the first class, he thinks about introducing himself, but she’s gone and out the door before he can even get his backpack packed up again. Weird.
He manages to find his way to his history classroom and then from there to PE. Ned finds him in the locker room since it’s time for their lunch. He’s still part of the free lunch program through the state, but he uses Mr. Stark’s card to get some extra. One meal isn’t close to enough for him.
Ned leads him to the table he normally sits at. It’s completely empty when they sit down, but within a few minutes, that girl shows up again and sits on the other end. She’s has a book out and hasn’t looked up from it since she walked up. Peter thinks she was even reading while walking. She has a packed lunch that she starts unloading with one hand, book held in the other.
Peter kicks Ned’s foot under the table. The boy looks up from his food with a questioning look. Peter jerks his head towards the girl and tries to mouth “who is that?” At him.
Ned still looks confused so he does it a couple more times before a look of understanding crosses his face and he nods.
“Hey, Michelle.” Ned calls out to her with a wave.
She just jerks her head in his direction, barely looking up.
“This is my friend, Peter. He just moved here from West Brooklyn.” Ned tells her.
She finally looks up from her book towards Peter. “Yeah, I know. We’re in Mrs. Darcy’s lit class together.”
“Yeah, I , uh, remember seeing you there.” Peter says awkwardly. “It’s nice to meet you, Michelle.” He says, trying to be nice.
“My friends call me MJ.” She tells him flatly.
“Oh, okay, MJ then.”
She glares at him. “Did I say we were friends?”
Peter is totally taken aback.
He makes eye contact with Ned, but the boy looks like this happens often.
“Then why are you sitting with us?” Ned asks.
She shrugs, eyes going back down to her book. “You guys are losers, but I don’t have any friends.”
She doesn’t say it like she’s upset about it. It’s just a fact. Peter looks at Ned again and he just shrugs, returning to his food. Whatever.
Luckily he has all of his classes after lunch with Ned, so they don’t have to split up again. He gets through his afternoon classes with no issues. All of the teachers seem pretty okay, and Ned doesn’t seem like he has anything bad to say about anyone besides “this teacher grades really hard” or “this one plays way too much Crash Course.”
It’s only been one day, and things already seem really different from the other schools he’s been to. Maybe Mr. Stark was right. Maybe he will like it here.
The next couple days go by without a hitch. The only problem happens during lunch on Wednesday, and Peter isn’t sure he even considers it a problem.
When they sit down for lunch, Michelle on the other end of the table as usual, Ned starts asking him about his plans for the day.
“Do you know what you’re working on after school today?” His friend asks him.
Peter nods, swallowing his bite of sandwich quickly so he can answer. “Yeah, Mr. Stark told me I can help him with a prosthetic prototype for his biomedical engineering department. He says they’ve been struggling with some specific details.”
“Mr. Stark?” A jeering voice calls from behind Peter. Ned squints his eyes in annoyance. Peter turns around to see a short, scrawny looking kid with a very punchable face.
The kid snickers at him. “As in Tony Stark? You really want us to believe that you have an internship with the Tony Stark?” The boy has a couple other kids behind him that start laughing too.
“Go away, Flash.” Ned tells the guy, looking irritated.
“No, actually, I don’t think I will. I’d like to hear more about this internship.” The kid - flash - says in a mocking tone. Peter just rolls his eyes. This is Midtown’s big bad? This nerdy kid?
He’s about to say something, but it turns out he doesn’t have to. Michelle looks up from her book at the other end of the table.
“Why do you care so much, Eugene? Upset that Peter has been here for three days and he’s already more accomplished then you’ll probably be in your entire life?”
Peter’s eyes widen in pleasant surprise. Damn. Michelle is brutal. She’s looking at Flash with bored eyes as he tries to come up with a come back.
“It might be cool if it was real.” Flash sneers. “I’ve heard about you Parker. You’ve been kicked out of like every other school in New York. No way someone like you gets in with Tony Stark.”
“Why do you know so much about him?” Michelle asks accusingly. “Are you obsessed with him or something?” She asks.
“What? No!” Flash exclaims, getting flustered.
“Then why are you still over here talking to him?” She asks. “You know, Eugene, if you’re going to be so jealous of him then I could give you something to be jealous about and give Peter your spot on AcaDeca. You seem to think he’s so smart after all.”
This Flash/Eugene guy doesn’t say another word. He just flushes and looks flustered and huffs away.
Peter looks back over to Michelle, totally amazed. This girl is incredible.
“Wow…uh…thank you, Michelle. That was really cool.” Peter stammers out.
She just shrugs casually. “Flash is a jerk. He needs someone to put him in his place. I’m honestly surprised he even came up here with what everyone’s saying about you. People have been saying you came here from juvie.”
“Uhh…what?” Peter chuckles awkwardly. “No! I’ve never been to juvie.
“Well, yeah. I know that. That’s just what people are saying.” She says like it’s completely obvious.
“Oh, yeah…good.” Peter is groaning internally. Why does everything he says around Michelle sound so stupid.
“So,” she continues. “Internship with Tony Stark?”
Peter isn’t exactly sure what she’s asking. Is she asking if it’s real? Is she asking what the internship is?
“Uh, yeah.” He replies. “I work with him in his lab at Stark Tower after school every Wednesday. He teaches me and we, you know, build…stuff.”
“Hmm.” She hums. “Doesn’t it bother you to work for a man like that?”
“Like what?” Peter asks, not sure if he should be getting offended or not.
She shrugs. “Like, billionaire, owner of a multi million dollar company, does whatever he wants because he’s rich and he has an iron suit, kind of guy.”
Peter shakes his head. “Mr. Stark isn’t really like that. He just does that for the reporters. He’s actually really nice in person. He donates a lot of money to charity and he changed the whole vision of his company away from weapons manufacturing once he learned the harm he was doing. He runs his company completely off of clean energy now, too. And he made Pepper Potts his CEO, which put a woman in one of the most powerful positions in the business word right now.”
Michelle nods her head, appearing to be considering what he’s saying. “I don’t agree with one person having that much money, but I guess he’s probably one of the better ones. Have you met Pepper Potts?”
“Only once.” Peter says. “But she seems really awesome.”
The lunch bells rings and the three start to gather up their things.
“Thanks again for helping us with Flash, Michelle. That was pretty bad ass.” Ned tells her as the boys turn to leave to their next class. She eyes them both with a small smile.
“Call me MJ.”
Peter watches her hurry away until Ned grabs his sleeve and pulls him towards their classroom. He’s officially decided that he’s staying at this school no matter what it takes.