The Rumours
As Peter Parker entered his senior year at midtown things changed drastically. His aunt had passed away during the break, everyone gave him their condolences which Peter accepted with a bitter smile and a thank you. Whenever asked how he was doing he would respond that he was sad to lose her, but he had expected it for a while with how sick she was. Nobody knew where he lived now, if he was in Forster care or if he'd had himself emancipated, nobody dared to ask.
Peter Parker had changed completely and not at all, there was an air of grief underneath his smiles but more than that. Peter carried himself with a certain confidence that had been building slowly over the last few years but seemed to have solidified during the break. His personality hadn't changed and neither had his treatment of others. It was more that he stood straighter, rambled less and was more concise in his conversations. A year ago, there were glimpses of a man that seemed to be able to take on the whole school and win if he decided it necessary but now he looked like someone that could take on the world and walk away unscathed. It was slightly humbling to his peers, everyone had known that Parker would be the kind of man to change the world, they just hadn't expected to see that change firsthand.
He was at school less, in fact he skipped two full days a week and the other three he was there were only half days for him. He'd done enough class work for most his subjects to graduate early and was now only at school to sit through the few classes he hadn't. He was still top of the year in marks and always handed his work in early. The thing that nobody understood was what Peter did in his spare time, he always seemed tired and was constantly working on something with his top-of-the-line Stark pad. The teachers always gave him knowing looks and asked if he needed anything, always offering their help, which Parker politely declined. Whatever Peter was doing it was obvious the faculty knew about it and supported him. Was he working through MIT online, but if so why was he still attending school, did he have some secret job no one knew about? No one knew the truth except Ned and Michelle, and they were just as tight lipped as Parker, brushing of questions and deflecting easily.
Despite how busy he always seemed and the air of exhaustion that seemed to follow him around, Peter stayed the same kind-hearted person he had always been. Still smiling in the hallways and checking in on people, remembering birthdays and important events. How he had room for such things in his head was beyond anyone. Ned let it slip once that Peter had a perfect memory in all ways, both audios, visual and sensory, giving him the ability to practically relive moments of his life whenever he pleased. Knowing that explained the boy’s ability to remember everyone's name and birthday, but it was Parkers kindness that made him care enough to inquire about those things.
Soon though Parkers behaviour in school had become completely insane, and honestly it was almost inappropriate at times, but for some reason he was never scolded by teachers, in fact they often encouraged him. Despite Peter walking out of classrooms halfway through to answer his phone, or the fact that he was always on his Stark pad typing furiously. He would ignore most teachers’ lessons and walk out early more often than not, all he would ever say was a quick “email me anything important” as he walked out the door, which was always met with smiles from his teachers.
It was unbelievable, anyone else that tried such behaviour to see if they could get away with it was given detention and when they argued that Parker did it, they always got the same line, from every teacher.
“You're not Peter Parker, you don't have the same responsibilities that he does and therefore you have no excuse”
Most people wanted to hate him for the leniency he had garnered, but the tension in his shoulders and constant bags under is eyes reminded anyone tempted to hold it against him that this was Parker they were talking about. The kid that had lost both parents, and his aunt and uncle, the kid that had no family left and was still kind to a fault. The boy that was well beyond the intelligence of anyone else at school and deserved that leniency even if it chafed others. Soon the entire school was asking the same question, what the hell was parker doing in his spare time.
Little bits of information started flowing though the school, that people had seen him working on incredibly advanced blueprints on his Stark pad, or that he had once answered his phone as he walked out of class and said, “No Agent Ross, I'll handle it now sir”. Then there was the time a group of students overheard him have a twenty-minute conversation in Japanese. Hell, some people swear to god they saw Parker get into a car with none other than War Machine once.
A month into school and it became apparent that whatever Peter was involved in was some serious shit, and that he was smack dab in the middle of it. People soon started sharing things that Parker had said over the phone, and it was as intriguing as it was frustrating. Some kids formed a club that just put together and analysed what was overheard. They had a whole white board covered in small snippets of conversations.
‘Look just get the PR department onto it and I'll talk to Buck when I get home’
‘Tell Jacobs that the deadline is tomorrow, no exceptions’
‘I don't understand why you’re telling me this I'm not his handler, call Pep’
‘Look marketing is putting together a presentation now, I'll be there in an hour’
‘Pepper I swear if he skips one more shareholder meeting, I'm going to throw him off the roof of the tower’
‘Hey Tasha, I can't make training today, somethings come up…. I’m sorry I know мама паук’
‘Look I'll swing by R&D when I get there and see what I can do’
It was all just specific enough to be interesting but vague enough that no one could figure out what the hell he was ever talking about. The fact that several people had heard him converse in various languages was even more surprising, Russian, Japanese, Mandarin even Italian. No one even knew that Parker was bilingual let alone that he could converse fluently in four extra languages. Six weeks in and it was the most frustrating secret the school had ever known, and whenever someone asked Parker about it he'd just shrug and say its work stuff. As if that explain anything.
Soon enough though this became normal at Midtown High, everyone got used to the behaviour and stopped questioning it. The sound of Peters phone buzzing became normal background noise, and his constant absence was part of the daily routine. The student’s curiosity died down in the face of its consistency. Six months into Peters senior year and what should have been ridiculous was now completely average by the blissful virtue of ignorance.