Light & Dark // Spider-Man: No Way Home [Book 5]

chapter eleven {Arya's POV}

Peter sighed and dropped his letter onto the table. "And?" he asked softly. 

I shook my head, lowering the letter as well. "You?" 

"No," he replied defeatedly. "But it's just a backup school. MIT can't turn us down. They can't." 

"But what if-" 

"No, don't do that. They'll accept us. You're Tony Stark's daughter. He's their best-known alumni so they can't turn you down. They can't," he told me and I heard a hint of sincere anger in his voice. He plopped down in the other kitchen chair.

"Okay," I decided to say, not really wanting to tick him off even more by arguing. An uncomfortable silence fell for a few minutes as we sat at the kitchen table. After a glance at the clock, I realised we were going to be late for school if we didn't hurry. "We should get ready. We're gonna be late," I spoke up another couple of minutes later. 

We got ready for school and headed out the door. I drove the two of us to Midtown High but after parking the car, I didn't get out just yet. "Peter, they're gonna accept you too. They'd be stupid not to," I said. 

He exhaled through his nose. "Let's get to class." He got out of the car and closed the door a little too roughly. He waited for me outside and took my hand in his own as we headed to the school building. 

I only had a few classes today. Skye and I spent our lunch break in the library, hiding in the far back to catch up. Skye had also been rejected by all of her backup schools but that didn't seem to bother her. She didn't really want to go to those schools anyway. Harvard had been her dream school since she was young and living in Florida before her parents' divorce. 

"And because Luke's studying there?" I guessed. 

"That's a fun bonus, of course, but I would still go to Harvard if he was studying on the other side of the planet," she said. "I love him but I'm not giving up on my dream for him, you know?"  

I smiled, nodding. "As you should."

***

After school, Peter and I went home together, but seconds after we had sat down at the kitchen table to do our homework, May stormed in, out of breath, holding up two envelopes. I immediately recognised the logo on the front. 

"MIT?" Peter called out and DUM-E, who had been building the LEGO Deathstar, knocked it off the table, sending LEGO bricks flying everywhere. 

Peter and I exchanged one look before we grabbed the envelopes and quite literally jumped out of the window. Peter caught me in midair and swung the two of us to a pastry shop not far from Happy's apartment building, where we found MJ behind the counter. Her eyes widened when we entered. She held up an unopened envelope. Seconds after we'd entered, Ned and Skye came into the shop with envelopes of their own.

"This is it," I said, sitting down at the counter. I blew out a breath. "Ready?" 

"Jones," a man's voice said and MJ looked up. "I told you to take down the Halloween decorations." 

"Actually, that was Sasha, so-" 

"Enough attitude. Just do it," the man grumbled before disappearing into the back of the shop again.

"On it," MJ said with clear annoyance before turning back to us. 

"I feel like I'm gonna puke," Ned said. 

"Well, don't, 'cause he'll just make me clean it," MJ said. 

"This is our only shot. It's here or nowhere," Ned said in defeat.

"Hey, come on," Peter tried. 

"Okay, are you guys ready?" MJ asked. "On three. One, two, three." 

We all ripped into our envelopes and after reading the first line, I was terrified to look at the others, so I kept my eyes trained on the words in front of me. I couldn't believe what I was reading. 

From the corner of my eye, I saw Peter sit up, lowering his letter onto the counter. 

"No..." MJ said softly. 

"No," Peter said too. He looked at Ned. "You?" 

"In light of recent controversy, we're unable to consider your application at this time," Ned read out the exact words that I was seeing in front of me. 

I lowered my letter with a sigh. "Skye?" I asked, my voice unsteady. 

"Same here," she huffed. 

"This is so not fair," Peter said. "I mean, this is so unfair! I didn't do anything wrong. And you guys definitely didn't do anything wrong." 

"Expect disappointment and you will never get disappointed," MJ said. 

The bell by the door chimed and in barged Flash, singing some peppy song. His maroon MIT hoodie was a painful realisation that he had got accepted and we didn't. When he saw our defeated expressions, his cheery attitude disappeared. "You guys didn't get in?" 

"Yeah, 'cause we're actually friends with Spider-Man," Ned shot back.

Flash stared at us for a few seconds before throwing a glance at the watch around his wrist. "Uh, yeah, I better get going. There's this mixer for new admissions," he muttered, turning toward the door. "Sorry, guys." 

He left the shop and the bell jingled again. 

"Jones, what are you doing? Get back to work!" MJ's boss called. 

"Yeah, I'm coming," she replied. "You know what?" She ripped her letter in half. "I wouldn't change a thing I did." She walked off to continue the rest of her shift.

"Me neither," Ned said, following MJ's example and tearing up his letter. He stared at the shreds for a second before collecting them. "Although, I do need to show this to my parents." He got up and swung his backpack over his shoulder. He gave Peter a pat on the back.

Skye stuffed her letter into the pocket of her coat as she stood up. 

"Skye..." I tried but she just shook her head as she walked away. I didn't miss the tears in her eyes. The bell chimed again as they left, leaving the shop in complete silence. 

My mind was going a hundred miles an hour and I couldn't focus on a single thought. I didn't allow myself to think about what this meant, so I tried to think about anything else. When I looked up, I found Peter staring straight ahead. 

I followed his eyes and saw he was looking at the Halloween decorations hanging against the wall. One of them in particular caught my attention. 

"What are you thinking?" I asked softly. 

"He could-" he started before clearing his throat. "We could ask him if there's anything he can do. I mean, he's the best sorcerer in the world, right? There must be something he can do." 

"Like what?" I questioned. 

"Turn back time or something. Make Mysterio disappear from everyone's memories including the things he's said about us," he rambled. His eyes were slightly widened with anxiety.

I took out my phone and typed for a few seconds. "It's just a ten-minute walk from here." 

"Do you really think he can help?" Peter asked.

"Like you said, there has to be something he can do," I replied. I held out my hand and he took it in his own. After saying goodbye to MJ, we left the pastry shop and headed to Bleecker Street to pay Doctor Stephen Strange a visit.

New chapter! Let me know what you think!