A Perfect Starter Drink
That same day, Peter met his roommate. His name was Scott Lang. He seemed to be as dorky as Peter was, which Peter liked, but there was another air of confidence in Scott that Peter found familiar. They clicked instantly over their love of comic books and superheroes. They both had little collectible figures of their favorite characters. The best part was that Scott had brought a tv with him so they could watch their favorite tv shows together.
That first week they binge watched The Boys because it was such an anti-superhero superhero show. Then, Peter had the crazy idea to start binge watching the CW-verse of tv shows starting with Arrow since he had never seen them. Scott was surprised by this, but agreed to it and they started binging. Of course, school started that week so they didn’t have too much time to watch tv.
It was an adjustment for Peter. Classes ran longer than he’d been used to, but he was glad each only met two or three days a week. Homework was killer, but he was determined to get good grades. He’d toured the campus of Marvel City University before he even applied and immediately fell in love with it. He was so happy when he was accepted, that he had no other choice. He immediately decided to go there. Although he hadn’t gone out much that first week he spent bonding with Scott, he did take a chance to explore campus once again when classes started.
He found that he really enjoyed the library. Not only because it was a quiet place, but because it was big and the architecture was beautiful. He spent a lot of time there doing his homework because he knew he’d be distracted back at his dorm.
Another place he really liked was an art gallery that the school had. It was mostly student art but it had a big range. Some were painted art, some were sculptures, some were photographs. Every time he went in there to look at the art, he thought of Michelle and wondered how she was doing back home. He called her then and there but she didn’t answer. Later that evening she called back and updated him. She hated everyone, but had made some friends.
Peter started to get into a routine where he would go to class, go to the library to study, go to the art gallery to wind down, and then go back to his dorm where Scott would usually be ready to watch some Arrow. They would watch one or two episodes before Peter started to fall asleep. College was tiring, but he knew it would be worth it. He wanted to make his Aunt May proud by getting a degree.
On the weekends he usually still had homework, so he would do that, but if he didn’t, he would go to the nearest convenience store and buy snacks for more tv binging with Scott. It wasn’t all tv though. They would talk about their goals and aspirations. Scott was going for an electrical engineering degree and his life goals were to get rich, get married and have a kid. Peter had a similar goal, but most importantly just wanted to find someone to love.
The more he got to know Scott, the more he saw that he was kind of mischievous. While Peter had a sort of set schedule, Scott’s was more random and he seemed to like it that way. Sometimes when Peter would start falling asleep, Scott would turn off the tv and get dressed to go out. Peter was curious as to where he would go, but was too tired to ask. And it wasn’t any of his business. One weekend while they were talking, Peter decided to ask him about it.
“Oh, it depends,” Scott answered. “Sometimes I just go out for a walk, but other times I go looking for a party. There’s always someone throwing a party. I figure, I’m in college and these are the years I’m supposed to spend experiencing life and having fun, you know? It can’t all just be about studying. That’s how I see it anyway. Do you wanna come with me sometime?”
Peter thought about it and realized how right Scott was. He was never going to find someone to fall in love with if he didn’t go out and socialize. He hadn’t done much socializing since starting school other than spending time with Scott. “Yeah, that’d be fun.”
“Would you be willing to get ready now? I know someone who’s having a party tonight.”
Peter got up and started getting dressed, though he didn’t know what to wear to a party. In high school, he’d only ever hung out with Ned and Michelle. He was sure they both had gone to parties, but Peter wasn’t the type to be invited, nor want to go. Especially after his uncle’s car accident, he wasn’t willing to risk going somewhere where drunk kids had to drive home at the end of the night. He supposed there wasn’t much difference now except the students were older, but he hoped the party was at least close enough that no one had to drive.
Not that he was able to drive anyway. He’d gotten his permit and practiced driving with both May and Ben, but after the car accident, Peter just didn’t want to learn how to drive. He even had a period where he would only get in the back seat of Aunt May’s truck until his fear dissipated.
So there he was, a virgin who couldn’t drive. He didn’t count blowjobs as sex so his two encounters with Flash weren’t much more than fooling around for Peter. But maybe at the party he would meet someone and get lucky. He knew college parties were all about drinking and sex. Although, Peter didn’t know if he would be into drinking. Ben had let him try a sip of his beer once and he hated it. May would let him take sips of her wine during Christmas, but he didn’t really like it either. Michelle and Ned had dared him to try a shot of vodka straight one time and he instantly regretted it as it burned down his throat. So maybe he would just try to socialize rather than drink.
Scott helped Peter pick what to wear, which were a pair of jeans and a long sleeve shirt with a light jacket on top. The weather wasn’t too cold yet, but it was chilly. They left to go to the party and Peter was glad that it was within walking distance. He didn’t know if Scott even drove or owned a car, but he was relieved nonetheless.
The party was on the second floor of an off campus apartment building. When the door opened, Scott greeted the host and introduced Peter to her. Her name was Carol.
Peter immediately thought she was beautiful and as Scott and her talked to each other, he was drawn to her tough but friendly personality. She reminded him of Michelle in that way, except Carol was friendlier. He wanted to hang back and get to know her, but Scott led him to where the drinks were.
“What’s your poison?” he asked.
“Uhh...not sure…” Peter wanted to say he was not sure he wanted to drink, but he was a little distracted by Carol and he also wanted some slight approval from Scott.
“She’s cute, right?”
“Huh?”
“Carol. She’s cute.”
“Oh. Yeah.” So he was a bit obvious about it, but now Scott had Peter’s full attention.
“She’s in my history class,” Scott said. “She’s pretty cool, but she’s not a very open person. Friendly, but there’s a limit to it. Apparently she likes me enough to invite me to her parties though, so that’s good.” He started to pour vodka in a couple of party cups.
“Oh, no, I don’t know about vodka…” Peter started.
“Don’t worry,” Scott interrupted, as he went for a bottle of cranberry juice. “It’s a perfect starter drink for someone like you.”
“Someone like me?” Peter felt a little offended.
Scott poured a splash of the juice in one cup and then poured a few seconds worth in the other cup. He gave Peter a cheeky smile and then poured a little more of the juice in the second cup. “Oh come on, Peter. I see that you don’t really go out to parties. Unless you’re going to day parties which I doubt you are because I’d be at those too. Here, try this. It’s a starter drink.” He handed the second cup to Peter.
Peter took it and sniffed it before taking a sip. He couldn’t taste the vodka at all. “This is...good.”
“Told you. Now let’s go talk to Carol and see if we can get her to open up.”
They walked over to her and Peter learned that she really was just as Scott said. Friendly but closed off. It was like she had been trained by a PR representative. She was very much like Michelle, but if Michelle had opened up to him eventually, he was determined to be there when Carol opened up. Also, she was really pretty and he really wanted to kiss her.
However, Carol liked to move around from person to person to make sure everyone was having a fun time. Scott would do a similar thing and Peter would just follow him like a lost puppy. It wasn’t as if he knew anyone else and most of the conversations people were having didn’t have anything to do with anything Peter was familiar with. So he would just stand there smiling, giving an occasional laugh, and sipping his cocktail, which Scott refilled as soon as he finished.
It wasn’t long before Peter got tipsy and started bobbing his head up and down to the music. Scott noticed this and pulled him over to where people were dancing. Peter just lost his inhibitions and danced along to the music with Scott at his side, smiling at him. Carol joined them soon after and they all had a good time. Peter was having fun. He felt like he was at home. He didn’t have Ned and Michelle by his side, but he had new friends that were similar. He was sure if Michelle and Ned ever visited him, the five of them would get along great.