Chapter 1
Peter is so tired he almost misses his name being called. Ned nudges him lightly, excitement growing on his face. “Dude, did you hear that?! You won!”
Won what? Did he enter something? He vaguely remembers something about a project he handed in last week to win an internship at Stark Tower, but he hadn’t given it much thought. Between dumpster diving, sleeping for 2 hours each night, and patrolling, he couldn’t be bothered to remember every school project he handed in. But now Ned was telling him he won something? He needed to pay attention.
“Now, I’ll repeat what I said since our man of the hour seems to have dozed off,” Mr. Harrington said sternly, glaring at Peter with a heated look. Peter’s ears turned red from embarrassment and he straightened himself in his chair, really paying attention this time. “As I said, this year’s winner of the internship to Stark Tower is our very own Peter Parker. Everyone, please give him a round of applause.”
There was weak applause given, everyone seemingly too jealous to muster any fake energy to direct at Peter. Peeter ducked his head down as he felt his face heat up. He hated being the center of attention. But he couldn’t deny his excitement at the news. He was really going to intern at Stark Tower! Little old Peter Parker, interning with the biggest company in the world. He turned to Ned who was still looking at him like a kid in a candy store and gave him a sheepish thumbs up. The bell rang and everyone, after throwing a dirty look Peter’s way, shuffled out of the room into the crowded halls.
Ned could barely contain himself, turning to talk to Peter until Mr. Harrington interrupted him. “Peter, please stay behind for a few moments so I can give you some paperwork pertaining to your internship.” Ned looked disappointed but promised to text Peter later to talk about this newfound luck in Peter’s life. Peter walked to the front of the room, nervous for some reason, and waited until Mr. Harrington spoke first.
After a long and frankly boring 10 minutes of Harrington droning on about missing school tomorrow for his first day, assigning homework, and giving him a hefty pamphlet containing all of the information he was going to need, he mentioned a permission skip that needed to be signed by Peter’s foster parents. That was going to be difficult. “Other than that, Mr. Parker. You're free to go. Don’t let this go to your head.”
Peter had run away from the Drews 6 months ago. They were, in a word, terrible. Peter would never admit aloud to what they did to him. Memories of fresh bruises and fractured bones briefly flashed through Peter’s mind before he quickly shook them away. There was no use thinking about that now. What he really needed to worry about was what he was going to wear for his first day of the internship. He had about 5 shirts, 2 pairs of jeans, socks, and some underwear. Nothing that would impress the people at Stark Towers. He sighed, walking around the city until he could find a quiet place to stay for the night. He had showered at Ned’s place 2 days ago, so he was fine on that end. His backpack felt impossibly heavy as he walked the city, searching for a place he could call home for the night. Tomorrow was going to be interesting.