Misadventures in Paradise ↠ Peter Parker [2]

04 | Peter's Bright Idea

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MISADVENTURES IN PARADISE
iv. PETER'S BRIGHT IDEA

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   FOR A WHILE, THE thought of a fresh start sounded sensible.

   They were so used to praying and hoping for some ultra-specific happy ending over and over again, but, as Roman said, a fresh start could mean anything. A fresh start symbolized the promise that things would change. Theirs was months away, but it was coming nonetheless. It was their only light at the end of the tunnel — at least until Riley managed to clear Peter's name.

   Their situation wasn't ideal, but they were hopeful.

   But then the college rejections started coming in.

   When the first one came, Peter said, "It's okay. It's a backup school."

   When the second came, again, he said, "It's okay. That one had a low acceptance rate anyway."

   When the rejection letter from Columbia arrived, Riley might've been more upset than Peter was. Tony, on the other hand, gloated in her face.

   "Columbia is an Ivy League school!" Riley argued.

   "Everybody knows the real Ivies are the holy trinity," Tony said. "Harvard, Yale, and Princeton."

   "One, Princeton isn't even a real school. It literally sounds like it came out of a fairytale book! Two, you're just mad because we all know Morgan's going to Columbia, not MIT."

   "And which is Mr. Parker's dream school again? What's that? Oh, right. MIT."

   "Use my boyfriend against me one more time, and you're banned from seeing him!"

   To which Peter and Tony gasped, "No!"

   The argument eventually ended with Peter saying the same thing as before: It's okay. He seemed like he was holding himself together, but Riley saw the glimmer of hope in his eyes dim every time he, Ned, and MJ received another rejection letter. Every letter had the same excuse. In light of recent controversy, we are unable to consider your application at this time. It was one after another until November when the dreaded MIT letter came in the mail. The last one.

   Riley sat at the counter of the donut shop MJ worked at part-time. It was quaint, with Halloween decorations still strewn along the walls. With everything going on, the last thing Riley expected to be shaken by were some plastic decorations, but she couldn't help that they reminded her so much of Billy and Tommy. It seemed stupid, mourning people who never existed, who she only knew for about a week, but she'd subconsciously begun to associate Halloween with the Maximoffs, and that made celebrating the holiday this year more difficult than she anticipated.