Spider-Man? Who's He?

Ch. 2

Once Harley and Peter were at school, they panicked together.  That's how Ned found them: Peter pacing in front of his locker, mumbling something, while Harley thought out loud, trying to come up with suggestions.  Ned wasn't sure if he should interrupt them, but he needed to get to his locker and it looked like whatever the two brothers were panicking about was big.  He stopped Peter in his tracks and Peter looked up at him with wide eyes.  Ned asked what had happened, worried Mr. Stark has found out about Peter being Spider-Man.

"Theo wants Spider-Man to appear for his birthday,"  Peter said.  Ned didn't see the problem with this.  Peter would just wear his mask and everything would be fine.  "No, Ned!  Mom and Dad will be upset that I'm not there and if Spider-Man doesn't go, Dad won't like him any more and Theo will be crushed."

"Oh,"  Ned said.  Harley nodded.

"There's no solution to this!"  Peter exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air then slamming into his locker.  Harley rolled his eyes.  Peter was always the dramatic one.

"We'll figure something out,"  Harley promised.  Peter gave him a doubtful look, but before he could say anything, the bell rang.  Harley ran off to his first class and Ned and Peter walked together to theirs. 

Peter didn't pay attention to anything being said.  He was too busy trying to figure out how to solve his whole Spider-Man and Theo situation.  He couldn't have someone else wear the suit.  The only people who knew were Ned and Harley.  He was suspicious that Michelle might know, but none of them could wear the suit and pull off being Spider-Man.  Theo would be able to tell they weren't the real deal and then they would have a whole different problem.  No matter how much time Peter spent thinking up solutions, he had none that would actually work by lunch.

"So, any ideas?"  Harley asked, standing in line behind Peter.  He shook his head.  "Me neither.  I can't figure out any that are fool proof."

"Maybe I should just do it,"  Peter said.  He grabbed a sandwich from the serving deck and put it on his tray.  "Give Mom And Dad some lie about not being able to go to Theo's birthday party then go as Spider-Man."  Harley shrugged.

"They'll be upset,"  he reminded Peter.  Peter sighed and nodded.  "They probably won't even let you go, so you would have to sneak out anyway and then you might as well be grounded for life."

"I'll think of something,"  Peter said.  He left the line and joined Ned at their regular table.  Michelle sat a few seats down, reading her book and eating.  Harley went to his own table full of friends.

"Any grand plans?"  Ned asked.  Peter shook his head.  He glanced at Michelle as he told Ned about his issue then stopped.  "What?"

"Hey, MJ?"  Peter asked.  He had a new plan and it could actually work.  "Do you think you could tell my Dad we have Decathlon practice Thursday afternoon?"  Michelle raised an eyebrow.

"You want me to lie to your dad?"  she asked.  Peter hesitated before nodding.  "Why?  Do you have a secret date or something?"

"Can you just do it?"  Peter asked, ignoring her pointed stare.  "I have to be somewhere else but he can't know.  It's a surprise."  Michelle shrugged.

"Sure,"  she replied, picking her book back up.  "I can convince your dad there's a mandatory Decathlon practice during your little brother's birthday so you can make a surprise appearance."

"Wait, you know?"  Peter asked.  Sure, he'd had his suspicions but he didn't think he was actually right.  Usually he didn't guess right when trying to figure out a girl.

"Of course I do,"  she said.  "You keep your suit in your backpack."  Peter nodded, suddenly wondering how no one else knew.

"Thanks, MJ,"  he said.  She nodded once then went back to reading.  "Now I just have to convince my dad I can't be there."

"Good luck,"  Michelle replied.  She didn't pay them any more attention as they talked.  By the time the bell rang for their next class, Peter and Ned had come up with a fairly fool proof way to convince Peter's dad he needed to be at Decathlon for Theo's birthday.  They weren't sure if his mom would buy it, but as long as Tony was okay with it, he could defend Peter when Pepper got after him.  Peter wasn't excited about throwing himself in his mom's line of fury, but he didn't want to have Iron Man hating Spider-Man, so he decided to risk it.  Besides, how bad could it go?