Look What You Made Me Do - SpiderCat

Chapter 1

Peter Parker woke up in his cramped apartment, not wanting to get out of bed. Today was his first day at Empire State University, though he wished that he could be at MIT instead. His original plan was to go to MIT with MJ and Ned after he saved one of the officials, but now that his existence had been wiped away, only MJ and Ned were going. He was lucky to even get into a school, so he should feel grateful, but he just didn't.

Peter took out his phone and went on social media. His account still followed MJ's, guessing that she just didn't notice that a creepy stranger at the donut shop followed her, so he went onto her account. She was posting a lot more often now that she was at MIT. Peter looked through what she had posted since she started term, seeing many pictures with Ned and a few new friends, including a new Decathlon team. Tears poured into his eyes, happy to see that MJ was happy, but deflated knowing he couldn't be there with her.

After looking through more posts, Peter finally decided to get out of bed. Normally May would be here to help him get ready for the first day at school, preparing his whole school bag for him and making him a large breakfast, albeit burned. Instead, he packed his backpack himself and ate a granola bar. He then got dressed, putting on a shirt that belonged to MJ. Wearing it made Peter feel that she was still there, that she still knew who he was.

Peter would normally swing over to where he needed to be, but he wasn't exactly in the mood. Instead, he just took the subway there. He had become used to people circling around him, their phones out to take pictures of him. But after Doctor Strange's spell, he just became another face in New York. While he was happy that no Mysterio supporters would break his windows anymore, it still felt weird.

Finally, he arrived at ESU, taking a deep breath as he took in the campus. To reassure himself, Peter heard Ned and MJ's voices in his head, Ned with some bad jokes while MJ said her famous catchphrase.

Expect disappointment and you'll never be disappointed.

Peter then went inside the school, keeping his head down. As long as he didn't get close with anyone here at ESU, he could get through the year. No one could be his friend, not after what happened. Spider-Man would always be a part of him, which meant that anyone associated with Peter Parker could be in danger. MJ and Ned almost died when he faced villains from other universes and May was killed by one of them. He just couldn't risk it.

When he arrived at his first class, Peter did see a familiar face. Flash Thompson, though he thought he was going to MIT. While he would've been happy to see a familiar face, Peter was not glad at all that it was Flash of all people. And unfortunately, they ended up making eye contact. Flash may not remember him, but he could tell that history was about to repeat itself.

Peter quietly took a seat, no one bothering to take notice of him, which made him feel relieved. No friends. No partners. Of course he may have to deal with Flash, but at least they wouldn't be friends. He didn't want to deal with him wanting to be his friend like he did before.

When everyone began settling down, Peter felt someone's eyes on him. He looked around to see, but didn't want to look frantic about it. His eyes finally landed on a girl sitting in the back of the class. She had platinum blonde hair that went down to her shoulders and piercing green eyes. They made eye contact, but Peter couldn't find himself looking away. The girl smiled at him, though it looked more like a smirk. He didn't know why, but he smiled back.

"Alright class, settle down!" The teacher then called, getting everyone's attention. Peter turned back around and focused on what was happening. "Welcome to your first college class. I'm Mr. Johnson and today..."

Peter paid attention to the class, not wanting to focus on anything else. He could still feel the girl's eyes on him, but he just ignored it. If she was interested in him, even as just being friends, he would just have to turn her down. No one else would get hurt because of him as long as he continued to be Spider-Man.