The Web Heads

On Monday morning, Principal Morita walked into his office with a briefcase and a packet of yogurt. He sat down at his desk, pealed back the tin foil from his yogurt packet and glanced at the papers sitting in front of him. 

The detention essays were neatly stapled together on top of a pile of paperwork. Leaning back, Principal Morita held the essay in his hands and read the first one on top, from Ned Leeds. 

Dear Mr. Morita,

We understand that you expect us to write about the mistakes we have made these past few months which have earned us our place in detention. Certainly, we are all guilty of breaking the rules and for that, we are more than willing to accept our punishment. But when you ask us to write about what we learned in detention, I’m afraid our answer isn’t satisfactory towards your expectations. Rather than learning what we did was wrong, we learned something far more valuable than the consequences of our mistakes. 

See, the thing is, we already know that when we make a mistake there are going to be consequences. Heck, whenever you make a choice there is an immediate consequence and whether that be good or bad, it sometimes depends on the choice you made, and it sometimes depends on other circumstances. We are fifteen, and sixteen years old. We have school to deal with, but that’s not all. 

We also have families we go home to, and some of us struggle to make our parents proud. So we make certain choices to make our parents happy. Like studying really hard for perfect grades and never even getting to watch our favorite TV show unless it’s the weekend. 

             ____________________

“Mom?” Ned appeared from around the kitchen wall, wearing a nervous grin. “I have some good news and some bad news.”

His mother paused at the stove, lifted the lid off the pot and stirred. 

“Ned, that’s hardly the thing to say to me when your already in a heap of trouble.” She said, slamming the lid down. 

“I know, but that’s the good news. I want to talk to you about why I got detention.”

Mrs. Leeds grabbed her masher from the sink while never taking her skeptical eyes off of Ned. “And what’s the bad news?”

“Um... you might not like what I have to say?” He tried to smile, “and I brought someone over to help me talk to you.”

“Oh Ned,” Mr. Leeds cried, “You know how I feel about other kids in this house when your sister is sleeping”

Peter stuck his head in, curly hair flopping to the side as he beamed at Ned’s mother and her mashed potatoes. 

“Good evening, Mrs. Leeds. It smells delicious.” 

Her eyes brightened instantly. “Oh Peter, it’s been too long, honey. How have you been?”

“Good. Actually I’ve doing a lot better recently.” He said politely. 

“That’s wonderful,” she exclaimed, ushering the boys into the dinning room. “Help me set the table?”

“Of course.” Peter agreed and when Mrs. Leeds turned her back, the boys did their handshake. Step one: get Ned’s mother to accept Peter at dinner, was complete. Now on to step two: get Ned’s parents to let him have a balance of fun and work. That would be a little more challenging. 

Peter grabbed the ceramic plates, while Ned gathered the silverware and distributed it at each seat. Once the table was set, Peter continued to charm Ned’s mother until his father arrived. 

At last, dinner was served. Ned shoveled their food in his mouth, nervous for the moment he knew he was going to have to say how he felt, whereas Peter took slow bites, savoring the flavor.

“That was amazing. Way better than May’s cooking. No offense to my Aunt, but you have her beat in the kitchen.”

Though Mrs. Leeds blushed and laughed with the compliment, Ned’s father was catching onto their game.

“Alright, what do you boys want?” 

“I -“ Ned took a deep breath. All three people were staring at him, brows creased in concern. “I want to have fun.” He closed his eyes the second the words left his mouth. He never could say what he wanted to say. Luckily, he had backup.

Peter was quick to smooth things over, “Yeah. Fun as in movie nights and sometimes going out to friend’s houses and stuff like that. No parties if you’re not cool with it.”

Mrs. Leeds folded her napkin and placed it on her lap. She didn’t say anything for a little while. But finally, she shook her head. “I’m sorry, but studying is the most important thing right now.”

“Yes, I know, mom. But maybe if I study all next week for one of my exams and I watch Kaleah every night, can I go to my friend’s house for the weekend? Cause all that studying causes stress, and I haven’t been doing so well because of the stress I’m under. That’s one reason why I got detention.”

His father sighed, and leaned back against his chair. “You promise you will continue to do all of your chores and help me with testing my video games?”

“Absolutely!” Ned agreed, bobbing his head. He already felt a million times better for telling the truth. 

“Okay, then you have a deal.”

“Really?!” Ned was about to leap out of his seat and hug everyone in the room he was so estatic.

“But if your grades suffer because of this, we will be having another discussion, and I guarantee you will have less friend time.” 

“I totally hear you, Dad. Don’t worry. I’m going to work really really hard.” 

“That’s what I like to hear. And hey, if you want me to drive you to your friend’s house, just tell me where.”

“You guys are the best.”

              ___________________

Some of us go home to families that shut us down, and won’t listen to a word we say, so we feel the need to act out. To do something bad to garner their attention. So we make poor choices, things that not only have the consequences of attention, but also unwanted consequences of hurting others. 

           ____________________

Flash slipped his cell phone in the charger, and left it on the wooden counter. He padded across the carpet, and over to the table where Tiny was sitting, drinking a cup of cold coffee.

“The social worker should be here any second.” Flash said softy, as he took a seat next to him.

He got a soft hum as a make-shift response when Tiny dropped his head against the kitchen table. 

“Thanks for letting me stay at your house, bro.” He whispered before pulling himself upright. “And I’m sorry about that stuff I said, you know, about you being bad for the football team.”

Flash let out a light chuckle at that, “Hey, it’s all good, man. I’ve said some really shitty things to other people as well. I deserved a taste of my own medicine.”

Another hum followed. “I’m just glad you stuck with those losers. They’re good people.”

“Yeah. They are.” Flash nodded. 

Tiny’s fingers kept playing with the hoodie strings, and he was quiet for a while, staring at his coffee mug as if it were speaking to him.

“Are you okay?” Flash asked.

“Yeah, I’m just nervous. I’ve never had a foster family before. What if it’s like all those TV shows say, and I get beat worse?”

Oh man, does Flash hate the thought of that. But then something else stuck his mind, and he grinned.

“No worries, if that happens Spider-Man will show up again, and kick your foster family’s asses.”

Tiny let go of the strings and laughed. “You’re right. Thanks man, again. I promise I’ll be better at my new school. At least I’ll have a fresh slate, you know?”

Flash nodded. “Yeah, that’s always nice.”

Just then, Flash’s father came barreling into the kitchen with keys in his hand.

“Social worker is here.” He said curtly.

Tiny stood with confidence though Flash knew he was putting on a strong front. Once Tiny left, there was a span of thick silence between father and son. Flash didn’t rush to make conversation but he didn’t want to lose the opportunity to speak with his father once more. So in a vain attempt, Flash reached out with a question.

“Hey Dad, I’m going to go out with some of my friends tonight.”

“Just stay out of trouble.” His father warned before walking away without a second glance. Flash wasn’t sure what he wanted or expected, but he was hoping his father would at least tell him to be home by a certain hour. To at least show him he cared in some way. Flash frowned, but went over to his charging phone and decided to occupy his time by chatting with his fellow Web Heads. They manage to cheer him up every time. 

           _____________________

Some of us just want our families to go back to normal. Our parents make choices too, and their consequences are sometimes taken out on us. Sometimes people remarry, or there is a new baby in the family. No matter what changed, sometimes we can’t handle new situations very well, and we find ourselves making choices to cope. 

                     ___________________

“Want me to wait in the car?” Happy asked, glancing over his shoulder at the two passengers in the backseat.

Peter was sat against the leather with his knees drawn up to his chest. His eyes were glistening with unshed tears.

May, on the other hand, was sitting next to her nephew, and rubbing his arm, trying to coax him out of the car. 

“I don’t -“ he hiccuped.

“I know, I know. But you know we need to do this.” 

He let out a muffled sob. 

“I’ll be in the waiting room the whole time, or I could even go back if you want me to.”

“ I don’t want to do any of it.” Peter yelled frustrated. “It’s not fair! I didn’t ask for this.”

“I know, Peter, and I’m so freaking sorry. But you’re still hurting, and we need to get you checked out. Now come on, tough guy.”

“Hey Peter, Tony said he was going to buy you a really expensive camera after your appointment.”

Peter snorted a watery laugh. Leave it to Mr. Stark to want to buy him something. The man had already done enough, he didn’t need to buy Peter anything. Still, Peter appreciated the gesture.

Peter took a deep breath and opened the car door. May was praising him on the way inside, and Peter tried so hard to focus on her words rather than his thumping heart.

Once inside, the pair sat down heavily on the plastic chairs decorated in complementary browns and baby blues. Peter was bouncing his knee as May filled out a checklist. No allergies, no past medical issues. Who was the parent or guardian? That would be May, herself. 

When she was done, May handed the clipboard to the secretary and sat back down. 

Peter looked like he was on the verge of crying, so May quickly distracted him with an app on her phone. She asked stupid questions, trying to get him to explain how it works. 

It’s just like when he was little and she took him to the doctors. Peter would be so anxious until Ben started playing with some of the toys laying around the room. As soon as Peter was occupied he was fine.

“Peter Parker?” A nurse in a white lab coat stood in the doorway. 

“Do you want me to go with you?”

Peter hesitated but ultimately shook his head. He didn’t need any added embarrassment. This was already going to be the most humiliating moment of his life.

“Hi there Peter. I’m Nancy.” The woman explained, as she led him back to the measuring chart where she took his height and weight. 

Next thing Peter knew he was placed in a colorful room with bright blue wallpaper and white clouds scattered everywhere as well as green grass and lady buys. Peter thought a spider would have been really appropriate, but he couldn’t blame the doctor’s office for not painting spiders all over the walls. The idea was to comfort kids not terrify them. 

“Peter have a seat, I’m going to take your blood pressure really quick.”

Peter handled the situation with ease. He’s not afraid of doctors so to speak, he was more afraid of the certain check-up they would have to do today, and what they might find. 

After his blood pressure was taken, he was handed a paper robe and told to strip into nothing except his underwear. 

Twenty minutes later and the doctor had called May back into the patient room. Peter was finished with his examination, and fully clothed once again. 

“Hello Ms. Parker. I’m doctor Ross.” The woman shook hands with May and sat down in her desk chair, while May sat on one of the uncomfortable plastic ones.

“So the good news is Peter suffered pretty mild injuries. A lot of the pain he’s experiencing is coming from an anal fissure. Usually these heal on their own within a few weeks, but it looks like this one isn’t so I’m prescribing Nitrate ointment. Some side effects may include headaches, dizziness or low blood pressure.” The doctor turned to Peter, “So just pay close attention to how you’re feeling.”

Peter swallowed thickly, and May could see the red-rimmed eyes. A tell-tale sign he didn’t make it through the check-up without shedding some tears. For the millionth time that week, May felt her blood boil towards Beck. Part of her wished Tony would have let her come along and beat the hell out of him. 

“Also, just soaking in the bathtub for ten to fifteen minutes, twice a day, can help reduce the pain immensely. You’re going to want to avoid irritants like soap though.”

Peter nodded, mortified and ready to go home. 

“As for the severe back pain, you can try ice packs and heating pads. But stretching your muscles might help as well. I suggest you lay flat on your back and pull your knees to your chest for a few minutes. If the pain persists after the self-treatment options I gave you, come back in and we’ll try cortisone shots. Any questions?”

May shook her head. “No, I think that about covers it. Thank you.”

Doctor Ross handed her the paperwork for the prescription and no doubt the bill for this hospital visit.

“Take care.”

When they reached the car, Happy jumped in right away with questions.

“How did it go? Are you okay?”

May smiled, “It went well, he’s fine.”

“How are you doing?” He asked May softly.

“Oh, I’m doing fine.” She smiled warmly.

“Is that a new dress?”

“Oh you noticed?” May giggled until she noticed the look of horror on Peter’s face.

“What just happened?” Peter asked, alarmed. “May, please. I can’t handle another one of your ‘boyfriends.’”

Maybe it was meant to be funny, but May did not find humor in what her nephew just said.

“Peter... I promise you, I will never do anything you are uncomfortable with ever again. But you have to promise me, you will tell me the second you feel scared or uncomfortable or just unhappy.”

“Okay.” Peter agreed quickly. “But... if we’re being honest, I already know I like Happy a million times better than Beck. So you know... I guess I’m comfortable with it.”

She ruffled his hair. “Alright, let’s go home and eat a feast. I heard Tony’s cooking, and buying you a camera.”

             ___________________

Sometimes we go home to parents that are constantly arguing, and we make choices like staying in detention even when we don’t have to, because we need peace. Or we choose to sleep outside in the subway station or at the local park. 

No matter what, families have put pressure on their children since the beginning of time. It’s sometimes helpful, but often it can be overwhelming and lead to poor choices. But family and school are just the tip of the iceberg. We are under so much pressure that sometimes it feels like we might explode. Pressure from our peers to be popular and cool. Pressure from our teachers to do well, and apply to colleges. Pressure from ourselves, telling us we have to do something perfect and forcing us to break down when things go wrong. With all that pressure, it’s no wonder we made some poor choices. Who can think straight with all that noise? 

But the thing is, we’re going to make mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes because we’re human and it happens. But I’m personally glad I skipped class Monday afternoon because I met a group of people in detention that I probably never would have talked to, and I saw their perspectives for the first time. 

I found friends. 

They were much needed considering how stressed I was this year. With their help, I was able to relax, and have some fun. 

Even if the fun stuff I did was wrong, and I totally don’t deserve to go to homecoming this year, it doesn’t matter. Because we gave a bunch of other kids the courage and opportunity to go to the dance. Kids that normally thought they were ‘unpopular’ or ‘nerds’ are going to be dancing in that gymnasium like beasts. I am so proud to be a part of something that made that happen. As for us, Web Heads, we will be making our own homecoming dance happen because Liz deserves it. 

              ___________________

As promised, Liz showed up at MJ’s door a little past eight o’clock that evening. She came armed with a grin on her face and a couple of boxes of pizza’s in her hand. 

“Hey, MJ, can you zip up the back of my dress.”

MJ closed the door behind her, and went to zip the little red dress, while laughing in response.

“Did you drive all the way to my house with the back unzipped?”

“Yeah... I didn’t want to ask my mother... things aren’t so good between us since I’m not allowed to go to the homecoming dance.”

Liz can’t handle her friend’s heavy gaze, and she looked away. 

“Hey I get it. My parents basically ran to Florida to get away from me. But I’m not complaining, at least I finally have some peace and quiet around here.”

Liz chuckled. “Not entirely.” She was referring to the “fake” homecoming party they were having tonight. 

“True,” MJ glanced over her shoulder at Flash who was stuff his face with Cheetos and Ned who was already blasting really loud music. 

“Oh your neighbors are going to love you tonight.” Liz said sarcastically, but MJ shrugged, unaffected. 

“Ah, my neighbors have always hated me.” She said nonchalantly, “Because my parents scream argue. This blaring music is actually probably nice for them.” 

“That’s good.” Liz laughed. 

Peter walked over and greeted MJ and Liz with a bowl of pretzels. “Want any?”

“Thanks,” MJ said taking a handful and stuffing it in the pocket of her pantsuit. 

“Alright listen up,” Flash shouted into a microphone. “I’m about to announce homecoming king and queen.”

“Who gave him a mic?” Ned whispered, earning a chuckle from Peter.

“I did,” Liz said. “I know he said he wants attention, so I figured a mic could help with that.” 

“Oh yeah.” Peter laughed. “It certainly makes him heard.” 

“Homecoming king is, psssh, we all know it’s me. But Homecoming Queen, well, this goes to the most loving, beautiful, smart, girl ever, Liz Allan.”

The web heads cheered; some whistled through their teeth as Liz walked forward to accept her homecoming queen sash and crown. 

“Thank you guys for making this possible even if it’s not the real thing. I honestly like our homecoming dance way better.”

Her friends laughed and cheered, as they raised their glasses of punch in the air. After that, they cranked up the tunes and took turns showing off their horrendous dance moves in the middle of the MJ’s living room. 

          ______________________

We learned that we were all different, but we all had something in common. Struggles. No matter who you are in the world, or where you come from, you are going to experience challenges and difficulties. You might even experience trauma. But one thing’s for certain, you are never alone. 

Sincerely yours, 

The Web Heads. 

P.S. oh yeah, I totally forgot. Our name wouldn’t be complete without our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. He’s out there doing good in the world and we’re going to do good like him. Webs out! Psst.