Peter had to miss out on many things ever since he got his powers. He missed birthday parties, dates, deadlines, the list goes on. However, not once did he regret saving someone just so he could be on time. Even though his chest would deflate every time he was late, he prefered it to having his heart shuttered by knowing he's the reason why someone didn't make it.
Still, he wasn't happy about it. He blamed the Parker Luck, as his aunt calls it, because he missed things even when he had planned ahead. It didn't matter how much work he put down; the result would be failure.
And here he is now, staring at his failing grade through the cracked screen of his phone. Or rather, the absence of a grade. He's sure he was there the previous Monday, taking the test with Harry. Yet, his report card reads No Show where his grade should have been.
He rubs the sleep from his eyes and sits up, letting the light blanket fall from his shoulders. "Harry," he yells, "what did you get on Digital Logic?"
Harry saunters to Peter's door and leans on the frame. "Eighty percent. I'm not too happy about it but it's not that bad. Want any breakfast? Harley's making pancakes."
Peter nods and follows him to the kitchen. "It's just that-" he hesitates. What if I actually wasn't there? "You remember me there, right?" he asks as he leans against the counter.
Harry eyes him suspiciously. "Yeah, and you turned your exam in like an hour before the finish time. You did great, right?"
Harley speaks before Peter has the chance. "Are you asking Mr. I-doubt-about-everything if he did well?" he asks as he flips a pancake. "No offense, man, but you're paranoid sometimes."
Peter waves it off. "I know, it's fine. It's just that I got NS and I know I was there."
Harry makes a pained face. "Seriously?"
"Call him," Harley says before turning off the stove. "Sort this out."
Peter smiles. "Right, I can do that!" he says, the excitement laced in his voice.
And so he looks for his professor's number on ESU's website and calls him from Harry's phone because he still hasn't paid for calls to all networks. Not even a ring later, the professor picks up and Peter is at loss for words.
I should have thought of what to say before calling, he thinks as he's desperately searching for things to say. "Hello, I'm Peter Parker and there's an issue with my grade-"
"I have sent out an email," says the person on the other end of the line in a bored tone.
"That's great, but I wanted to say that-"
Beeeeep
Peter blinks a few times. "He hang up on me."
Harry frowns. "That clown. Do you want me to call and remind him who my father is?"
"Woah, slow down there, Malfoy," Harley says through a mouthful of pancake.
Peter stiffles down a laugh and Harry sends them both a glare, but then lets out a chuckle as well.
"But seriously, that's..." Harry gets up from his chair and checks something on his laptop. "Peter called him during office hours. He can't do that!"
Harley scratches his honey blond hair and scrunches his nose. "Yeah, that's taking it too far. Peter, call him again."
Peter sighs, but does as told. Again, the professor picks up right away and again, he wishes he had thought it out a little more.
"Hello again," Peter says, "I wanted to tell you that there's an NS instead of a grade on my report card and I was there for the test." There, that's it. Now he will find my test, grade it and all will be fine. But there's no reply. "So... I should be seeing a number, right?"
"What's your name?" the professor asks.
"Peter Parker?"
"And in which room did you take the test?"
Peter thinks about it for a moment. "The auditorium in the engineering building, that's where I take all my exams."
There's a dry laugh on the other line. "Tell me, Mr. Parker, did you even check your email before taking the test?"
Peter closes his eyes shut. "I believe so."
"Then you would have known that students whose names start with P to Z don't take the test there," the professor says. "I had sent out the instructions over a month ago."
Peter looks over at Harry, who also seems to be hearing this for the first time. "So what, was the exam different in the other class?"
"No, but that has nothing to do with-"
"Oh cool, so I took the same exam as everyone else but I don't get a grade?"
Harley gives Peter a thumps-up while Harry motions for him to stop it.
"You were supposed to follow the rules, Mr. Parker. If you want to be an engineer one day, that's what you have to do. If you can't take the time to read one email, then how are you going to get a job?" the professor says in an annoying, calm voice.
Peter holds back a groan. "Alright, my apologies. I made a mistake." And sorry for saving your ass from Electro. "Couldn't we look past this? I studied so much for the test."
"And yet you didn't check your email. Interesting."
Peter trully has no words. He wants to go at this man's office and grab his thick head and bang it against the corner of his desk until he stops being an entitled idiot, but that could take forever.
Before Peter can think of an appropriate reply, Harry takes the phone.
"That's an honest mistake from my part, Dr. Antonovich," he says. "Would it be possible to make one tiny exception? Since Pe- I took the test?"
"You know what? Check your email in a few minutes," the professor replies and ends the call.
Harry sets his phone on the table and puts his hands up. "He's unhinged."
Harley snorts. "Why are all our professors weirdos? Should they even be around students?" He chuckles. "Hey, Pete, maybe he will change your mind if you go there on your knees and say you will do anything to get that grade."
Peter's eyes take the size of saucers. "Harley! That's disgusting."
Harry laughs. "He might be on to something. These people need to get laid. Who knows? Maybe they would be less insufferable. But seriously, go to his office. He can't tell you to leave. It's office hours."
Peter thinks about it. He really would rather not go. It's the beginning of a slow day and he wants to savor it as much as possible by staying in his pyjamas and scrolling mindlessly on his phone.
"Let's wait for the email first," he says after a while. As if on cue, his phone chimes. "Here we go."
From: [email protected]
Subject: Digital Logic
Text:
Anyone who took the exam in the wrong room will NOT get graded.
Peter's jaw frops. Harley asks him what it says, so he simply passes his phone to his friends.
"That's some top notch clown shit," Harley says. "Who even does that?"
"Him, apparently," Peter says in a defeated voice. "I'm just going to retake the exam."
"Oh no, you're not," Harry replies. "Go get changed and we'll go down there. He can't do this."
With a groan, Peter goes to his room. He simply looks for a shirt that's not in desperate need for ironing and an okay pair of jeans. When he's ready, he grabs a dry pancake to eat on his way.
Harry alternates between asking Peter not to worry about it and giving him tips about how to speak to their professor. Harley makes his own suggestions on the matter, which include much more colourful words.
"Harley, will you ever understand that sometimes you can't just tell people that they're cow shit?" Harry says with annoyance. "How's that going to help Peter?"
"It's going to help him let off some steam," Harley replies right away. "Besides, he can retake it if the asshole doesn't change his mind."
Both boys turn to look at Peter, as if they're expecting him to pick a side, but he notices the the sign on the door a few feet away and sprints.
He knocks a few times, and then hears a bored voice inviting him in. Peter stands straighter and walks inside, making sure not to look annoyed.
"Good morning, Dr. Antonovich. We spoke on the phone a while ago and I thought I could come by and see my exam," Peter says. "If that's not much trouble."
"I really don't know what you're trying to accomplish, but okay," the man says as he gets up from his leather chair.
Peter looks around in the meantime. The place is rather small, with grey walls and stacks of folders and papers on every corner. The blinds are half-shut already, as if the daylight might make the professor crumble to dust, and a dying, leafy plant stands lonely on top of the library that takes an entire wall.
"Here you are," Antonovich says, holding the exam out.
Peter takes the exam in his hands and flips through the pages. There's only one question that's dotted with red and Peter knew it wouldn't be correct, since he had missed class and didn't have time to study that material. But the rest is fine, which means he has a passing grade.
Or would have.
"Mr. Antonovich-"
"Doctor," the man says, his eyes widened as if someone insulted him.
"Dr. Antonovich, I got most of it right. Isn't it unfair to not get a grade over a simple missunderstanding?"
The man lets out a dry laugh. "I'm not going to bargain on that."
"But I studied and I showed up on time!" Peter argues. "It was an honest mistake."
"You're not taking this class seriously."
"I am! But I don't have to swear my devotion to it just to get a grade."
Dr. Antonovich puts a hand over his heart- or at least where it would be had he one. "Mr. Parker, don't shout in my office."
Peter's jaw drops. "I... I wasn't..."
Dr. Antonovich leans forward and grabs the exam from Peter's hands. "I have a meeting in a few minutes, so, unless" -he scoffs- " you want to swear your devotion to my class, I'd suggest you leave."
Peter bites his tongue. "Yeah, I'll reschedule that for the next semester," he says. "Have a nice day."
When he gets out of the office, he finds Harry filming Harley, who seems to be doing something like a Tik Tok dance, if him shaking his butt is any indication.
"You're way too flat for that," Peter says in a joking manner.
Harry gasps and his grey eyes widen hilariously. "Are you seriously body-shaming him?"
Peter frowns. "What? No!"
"It's true that victims can also be bullies," Harley says, shaking his head. "Look at Peter, the definition of a short king-"
"I'm five ten!" Peter protests. "You're just too tall."
"-is making fun of a guy because he doesn't have a big ass," Harley continues. "That's not cool."
The trio bursts into laughs.
"So, what did the dick say?" Harley asks.
Harry cringes. "He might hear you!"
"Dicks don't have ears," Harley says with a sattisfied smile.
Peter lets out a sigh. "I'll retake the exam, by the looks of it. But I don't want to talk about it anymore, okay?"
"Excuse me, do you know where Dr. Antonovich's office is?"
Peter turns to look at the girl asking, and he flinches when he sees Teresa, as Gwen called her. "Yeah, it's the one right there," he says, his hand pointing to the door at the other side of the hallway.
Teresa gestures a mind explosion. "This is why I must wear contacts at all times."
"Did he fail you, too?" Harley asks. Harry nudges him at his ribs.
"Yeah, apparently I was at the wrong room because my surname starts with P," Teresa says, rolling her eyes. "That's a first."
Peter smiles with sympathy. "Yeah, well... good luck."
When Teresa is inside the office, Harry narrows his eyes at Peter. "Pete, she does look like you!"
Peter groans. "You, too?"
"You have the same jawline," Harry says in all seriousness.
Peter starts walking out of the building, and his friends follow him, expressing all the reasons why they think that girl is his long lost sister or at least a cousin he didn't know about. And while Peter knows it's not the case, he can't help but smile at the idea of having an actual sibling.