Festival Day
---- Exactly One Year Ago ----
“Ned, Ned, Ned look!” Peter bounced on his heels and tugged his friend’s sleeve, pointing across the field at a display of model replicas from the metalwork department, where a small Millennium Falcon hung off to the side. “That’s so cool, I bet whoever made that would be way more competent with Legos than us, remember when I dropped the Death Star and we had to start from scratch?”
“Or maybe whatever nerd who takes metalwork isn’t as nerdy as some people and doesn’t spend their time playing with kid’s toys.” Peter’s eye twitched slightly when Flash’s shoulder nudged him out of the way and he bumped into Ned’s side slightly, smiling sheepishly as his friend visibly prickled at the insult.
“Get lost Flash, no one cares,” Peter tugged Ned’s sleeve again and shook his head minorly. ‘Not worth it,’ he mouthed, his back to the other group of teens who all brushed past them both, sneering slightly.
The next few hours passed without incident, sure Peter’s hands went slightly shaky when he noticed Flash and his buddies looking at a stall too close to where him and Ned were, but he had a good time for the most part, he got a free sample from the food tech station and Ned got a keychain when he took a survey for business club. “Pete, I could totally fit a Darth Vader Lego on this, right?”
“Yeah for sure, or if it didn’t fit, you could detach his head and just have that,” he grinned as Ned elbowed his side and made a gruesome joke about decapitation as they passed a history presentation. “Hey, they have signup sheets for an Oscorp field trip!” He looked at the blue sign at the stand across from them and Ned rolled his eyes with a smile.
“Peter, you do know that you the Oscorp trip is part of the mandatory curriculum when you take any advanced science, right?” Peter beamed as he remembered and trailed along behind Ned to read over the sheet regardless, and there was a note in italics at the bottom of the sign up that mentioned just that.
*Please note that all students who are enrolled in any advanced science class will be guaranteed a space for the Oscorp field trip as it is part of their curriculum requirements.
“That’s so cool, I’m so exited for it,” he said eagerly as Ned led him to the carpark.
“I’m getting picked up, you’re walking home right?” Peter nodded, still eyeing some of the booths at the fair behind them with interest.
“Yeah, I’ll go now too, I’m just getting my headphones from my locker – see you on Monday though!” He waved, and Ned jumped into the passenger side of his Mum’s car, grinning as Peter almost tripped over the curb as he walked backwards. “See ya!” He called as they pulled out of the parking lot, turning on his heel to make his way back into the school, off the field and to the lockers.
----
Peter shoved his headphones in his hoodie pocket, slinging his bag over his back as he closed his locker door with his elbow.
“Heads up, Penis.” Flash’s hand hit the locker beside him and Peter jolted back, his shoulder knocking into the boy behind him. “You looking to lose me that spot on the field trip?” Peter backed up, bumping into a locker as he did so. The combination locks dug into his shoulder blades and he concealed a slight wince.
“Uh – no, they guarantee you the trip if you take advanced science… you have a spot.” Flash scowled, and the boy wished he could back up more.
“Yeah, and when someone like you gets bumped up into every advanced class offered, someone has to get held back in the normie classes, and then they lose the field trip.” Peter looked at the bully blankly, not understanding. “They’re looking to move someone down a class and because you hold the highest test marks, they want me down in the normie classes like some sort of dumbass.”
“Uh… I – I’m sorry?” Flash prodded a finger into his chest and glared harder at him, a few of the boys that had tagged along shifted on their feet, as if they were waiting for something.
“You don’t deserve top spot, you’re just here on a scholarship because your family’s dirt poor and brains can’t get you everything in life, Parker.” The finger jabbed harshly into Peter’s sternum, he wheezed slightly, mentally focusing on where he last left his inhaler. “My parents pay good money for kids like me to learn, and you just freeload off the school, getting fieldtrips guaranteed, just because you probably have a stash of stupid ADD pills that get you through every test or something.”
“I don’t take… pills, I – I study.” One of Flash’s friends snorted unkindly and stepped forward.
“Can we just get this over with Eugene, this kid’s a spazz, I want to grab some more free shit before we head off.” Flash grinned and moved back, shrugging once and gesturing to Peter with a less than friendly grin on his face.
“Have at ‘em, I couldn’t care less.”
----
Half an hour later and Peter was pulling himself out of the dumpster by the back fields, he picked a spoiled piece of coleslaw from his hair and shuddered, his stomach rolling as he dry heaved from the smell. He waited another eight odd minutes until Flash and his friend’s laughter couldn’t be heard and only then did he pull himself over the lip of the bin and hit the pavement with a thud. He unzipped his soiled hoodie and pushed it back into the bin with a muffled sob, it was the first thing of Ben’s he had to throw away since the funeral.
Logically he knew there was so way he could keep it now, not when last Tuesday’s cafeteria beetroot salad had stained the entirety of the hoodie’s front. It eerily resembled blood and inadvertently sent the teen spiralling into the first panic attack he had endured in over half a year.
One the fist of panic had loosened its grip around his lungs enough for him to walk without feeling dizzy, he scrambled back to his locker, his throat stuttering as he whined and coughed, asthma attack clawing at the edges of his vision as consequence for his unplanned panic attack.
----
Peter trudged home in silence, no music to comfort him as his headphones laid, soaked in garbage juice, somewhere in the bottom of the dumpster he had crawled his way out of. Peter couldn’t even wipe his tears away, not unless he wanted to get some sort of eye infection from whatever was in the grime that coated his hands and clothes.
May was asleep when he got back to the apartment, he didn’t bother waking her, there was nothing she could have done to help. All he needed was to take an hour-long shower and climb into bed, maybe sleep away half his Saturday and spend Sunday worrying about the pictures the boys had taken of him as he was hurled over the edge of the dumpster, the lid slamming shut from the force of his fall.
---- Present ----
“Hey May,” he mumbled as he got home, rubbing his eyes and trying not to think about how much he had probably irked Tony with his childish breakdown. He was Spider-Man, how was he supposed to ever impress his mentor if all he ever did with the mask off was look at the floor and run to the bathroom when he was overwhelmed?
“Hey Pete, dinner’s in the fridge, I’m just finishing my show and then I’m off to bed. You okay? How was the internship?” May tilted her head back on the couch and smiled when Peter bent so she could kiss his head.
“It was good, I mean, the light n’ stuff got kinda… yeah, I got a little bit overwhelmed today is all. But I’m fine, don’t worry about me,” he smiled reassuringly and pulled his food from the fridge. He ate dinner at the table quietly, only looking up when May ruffled his hair on the way down to her bedroom. “Sleep well,” he called quietly as she smiled and blew him a kiss goodnight.
“You too, make sure to get some actual sleep tonight.” Peter waited until he heard her door click shut and then he got up to rinse his plate and walk back to his room.
----
The next day at school was unusually easy going for Peter, when he walked down the halls with Ned he only happened so see Flash or his friends once or twice throughout the entire day, and the way they all grinned at each other slyly made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.
“You want me to walk you to the carpark, Flash and his buddies were acting kinda… off. I don’t want them to pull anything when I’m not there.” Peter nudged Ned’s arm and smiled.
“C’mon man, I’ll be fine,” he lowered his voice slightly, “Spider-Man, remember?” Ned rolled his eyes and nudged Peter right back.
“Yeah but I’m ruling that out seeing as you’d never defend yourself even if they did try something,” Peter’s smile faded slightly and when he next spoke, he sounded more serious.
“If I couldn’t do anything before, I shouldn’t be able to do it now Ned. Besides, what if I hurt them? I don’t know how I’d make myself anymore under-the-radar if I managed to take out Flash and his goons, they’d just target me more.” Ned sighed and gave up on the argument, he silently hoped that if it really came down to it, Peter would defend himself.
“Okay, just… text me when you’re at the tower, yeah? Don’t let them push you ‘round.” Peter nodded sincerely and let Ned walk him to his locker before they split to leave the school from different entrances.
Peter was intelligent, he knew that a day where he wasn’t shoved around by anyone meant they were most likely planning something, which is why he didn’t flinch when his Spidey-senses flared up just before he felt someone grip his collar and begin to drag him back down the hall. In fact, all he did was sigh deeply and try to get his feet back underneath him as he scuffled behind whoever was pulling him. A few lone students who were late out of their last class bustled past them, but nobody paid any mind, it wasn’t an uncommon occurrence to see someone shoving around the little guy, and other kids sure as hell weren’t about to put themselves in the line of fire just to defend Peter.
He could see the back of the boy’s head, he was wearing a sports jersey and had light brown hair, Peter remembered him from last year’s festival day, he was one of the boys who had held his legs when they swung him into the dumpster.
“Can you just pound me out here and get it over with, I have to catch the subway and I don’t wanna wait half an hour for the next one if I miss it,” Peter grumbled quietly. He thanked his lucky stars that he didn’t really have to catch the subway that day, he knew Happy was probably already in the parking lot, waiting for him impatiently.
“Shut it, Parker.” The boy didn’t slow even as he yanked Peter in front of him, forcing him to walk backwards blindly as he shoved his hand into the teen’s front pocket and dug around until he found the subway card. “Hope you know how to sneak onto a train,” he said evenly, before his hand bent the card in two until it snapped unequally in half.
Peter drew a short little breath when he saw the subway card hit the ground just as he was pushed around a corner and thrown against a wall where three other boys were leaning, waiting, one of which was Flash.
“Go, gimme the keys, we gotta put them back before the janitor sees.” Peter jerked his head backwards as he felt two more sets of hands gripping his hoodie and tugging him against the wall. He felt the familiar sensation of locker padlocks pressing into his side and he took a steadying breath, telling himself there was no danger of an asthma attack now, because he was Spider-Man, and he wouldn’t let them throw him into another dumpster.
“Go, hurry up Flash, just unlock the stupid door!” Peter pushed back on the hands slightly and winced when the grips all clutched tighter, his body being slammed back down against the wall as someone fumbled with a set of keys to his right.
“I got it, put him in and we’ll take this back once it’s done.” A door swung open and Peter squinted as he was thrust into darkness, his hands colliding with something and causing it to clatter to the ground obnoxiously. The light from the hall was bright enough for a short second, so Peter could make out the supply closet he was standing in before the door slammed shut and the keys jingled in the door.
“Hey! You can’t leave me in here!” He cried desperately, his hand coming up to try the door handle, which was very unsurprisingly locked.
“Go, go! Drop the keys off and let’s go.” Multiple footsteps pounded further down the hall, and then Peter was alone.
“Shit…” he whispered to himself, dropping to his hands and knees to peek under the door only to find the corridor empty of anything. When he stood, his jean knees were soaked in something that smelled like a cleaning solution, and his headache increased despite the somewhat welcoming lack of light.
----
“Yeah but that’s not what I’m asking, I know he was going to the labs today, that’s why I’m parked outside his school, I was asking whether he was there already.” Happy rolled his eyes and resisted the urge to slam his head against the steering wheel as he heard Tony ruffling papers in the background of the phone call.
“No, no he isn’t, just call him, or text, or whatever. I don’t really care, just get him over here or it’ll be his curfew and I won’t get to talk to him about tomorrow night.” Happy mumbled an affirmative and hung up, only to text Peter somewhat grumpily.
Where are you? In parking lot, waiting. Hurry up.
Peter’s phone buzzed with the text, but he was more busy swallowing back an anxiety attack as the chemicals in the room began to feel dizzyingly overwhelming and he continued to shake the handle and tell himself he couldn’t bust open the door because security cameras and secret identity did not mix.
He slid down the door, not caring as his pants grew more soaked with cleaning supplied as he did so, only focusing on the fact that Mr. Stark was probably disappointed in his tardiness. He sighed for a third time and let the back of his head hit the door, only stirring as his phone made him jolt in surprise.
The continuous buzzing was unfamiliar, especially from Happy, who never once called him except from when he was answering one of Peter’s calls to complain about the constant texting that interrupted his day.
“Y – yeah?” Peter asked timidly after scrambling to hit the accept call button.
“Come on kid, seriously, I’m in the parking lot, get your ass out here before Tony bites my head off.” Happy’s voice sounded as if his patience had drained to bare minimum about thirty minutes ago when Peter was supposed to be out of school.
“Thing is… I uh… can I maybe have a hand please? I’m kinda stuck right now, need a little help getting out of –”
“It’s a school, just walk out the doors, it’s not rocket science, ‘specially not to someone like you.” For some reason the words stung slightly, they reminded Peter of all the cruel things Flash said about his intellect, jut because he was jealous.
“No… It’s – I’m not lost, I just… some guys…”
“What? Kid stop mumbling, I can’t hear you, where are you?” Happy’s patience for the phone call was wearing thin and Peter took a deep breath and spoke with as little timidity in his tone as possible.
“Some guys from the year above shoved me in a supply closet… it’s locked from the outside and they took the keys with them. I can’t break the door ‘cus of security camera’s, and I think I need help getting out.”
There was quiet for a moment before Happy spoke to himself under his breath, assumingly moaning about having to get out of the car.
“Fine, I’m coming in and Tony can get rid of the footage when you get to the towe –”
“No! D – don’t tell Mr. Stark, I don’t… I don’t want him to know right now, just… gimme a few minutes, I’ll get out on my own, never mind, it was stupid. Sorry.” Peter turned off his phone and huffed a breath out his nose, wondering how much strength it would take to break the door handle but not the door itself. “Okay, let’s try this,” he murmured to himself softly, beginning to twist the handle until it groaned in protest.
After a solid two minutes of hesitation, Peter finally twisted the handle enough for it to break the lock, the wood surrounding it splintered slightly but not too noticeably. He bustled out of the room and took a gulp of fresher air, swiping his subway card from the floor as he jogged to the car park.
He should have known that the lingering scent of nicotine couldn’t have meant anything good as he rounded the corner to find Flash and the three other guys passing a cigarette around. The younger of the four, Flash, looked mildly uncomfortable as he took a drag, coughing slightly and handing it to the next person in the muddled circle. When he looked up and saw Peter, his unease was swept away.
“Hey look, Penis finally found his way out of the closet.” The other three boys snickered at the double meaning, one of them flicking ash over to Peter’s direction as he shuffled to the far side of the stairs and tried to walk down without any more incidents.
“You crying Parker? Or is it just piss?” Peter looked up, following the four’s gaze down to his soaked jeans. The back and knees of them were damp from what had apparently been glass cleaner, but the teen understood exactly what the other boys were implying.
“It’s window cleaner… f – from the closet,” he said quietly, averting his eyes back down to the ground.
“Sure it is, that’s what all the babies say too,” Flash stood from where he was leant against the stair railing and ducked under the divider to get to the side of the stairs Peter was trying to get down. “I bet that’s what you tell all the teachers when you have to ditch class and cry in the bathrooms.”
Peter had sensory overload every other week, and the amount of times he had to excuse himself from class and shut himself in the bathrooms with the lights off until his migraines receded was growing to a number that Flash had caught onto. Sure, once or twice Peter would lock himself in a stall and cry softly until his head didn’t feel like it was being split open with a sledgehammer, but the one-time Flash had walked in and heard him, was the point at which he decided harassing Peter anytime he left class was a fun friend group activity.
“I get headaches… m’ not crying and I didn’t… I didn’t wet myself.” He turned his head away when Flash poked his cheek nastily and smirked as it left a red mark over Peter’s sensitive skin.
“Yeah? So, you’re telling me you saw the window cleaner on the floor and though ‘oh I’d love to sit in that?’” The boys behind Flash laughed again and Peter felt his face flushing.
“It was dark,” he whispered, keeping his face turned away from the group as his cheeks burnt in humiliation.
“You can’t lie for shit, Penis, maybe next time we shou –”
“Oi! You want me to come over there?” Peter flinched and looked up, Happy had pulled the car around in front of the stair case and was glaring the four boys down menacingly, his face held the same look he got whenever a reporter got a little too close to Tony. Almost protective.
“Put it out,” Flash hissed to the boy with brown hair who had dragged Peter to the closet in the first place. He hurriedly stomped out the cigarette as Flash picked up an innocent look. “No Sir, we were just going,” he sneered at Peter as they brushed past him, one of their elbows found its way into his ribs and he covered the gasp with a weak cough as he trailed down the steps and slid into the backseat of Happy’s car.
“Thank you,” he said softly, not meeting the man’s eyes in the mirror as usual. “And sorry… about being late, m – my fault.” Happy pulled out of the school’s parking lot and clicked his indicator on as he swung expertly across two lanes of traffic.
“They pick on you a lot, kid?” Peter meekly shook his head, still not looking up from where he was playing with his hands. Happy grunted and they drove to the tower in silence.
---- That Evening ----
“Hey Hap, what’s up?” Tony shuffled a few stacks of papers him and Peter had scribbled on earlier in the evening, before his curfew rolled around and he was dropped home. Happy walked into the lab, eyeing the pages Tony was adjusting and filing away.
“Did you talk to him about tomorrow night’s press event?” Tony nodded absently, pushing Peter’s chair in with his ankle.
“Yeah, he said sure, but he was still… weird today, like he’s upset about something.” Happy rubbed the back of his head and sat down.
“About that, I saw some stuff when I was picking him up, I wanted to let you know, in case he was still… unlike himself today.” Tony waved a hand as if to say, ‘go ahead,’ and so Happy did.
He told Tony about what he had seen on the stairs earlier in the afternoon, he told him about why it took Peter so long to get out of school, he described the other few standalone incidents that he had never thought much of. The times that a boy in a silver convertible would honk as Peter crossed the road or speed up as if he were going to run the teen down. Happy had always dismissed it, assuming the kid could handle himself when it came to a few jerks in his year. But locking someone in a supply closet, poking his face and backing him up into the stair well, those were all a step up from the mild annoyances the kid had dealt with before.
It was looking to be more of an issue than Happy had thought, and when he watched Tony pull up archive security footage of the school, they witnessed the continuous separate occasions in which Peter was shoved around, dating all the way back to a time long before Spider-Man.