Spiderwebs

Six.

Peter

"Ned, look at her," I said, looking at Marina's Instagram picture.

"I still can't believe you met her," Ned shook his head.
         
"She's just..." I trailed off, taking in every detail of the picture.
         
She was standing on a balcony looking out at Paris. She was wearing a black skirt that started at her waist and ended mid-thigh, thin tights, and a red long sleeve tucked into the skirt. The wind was blowing her long hair back showing off her face. She was beyond beautiful.
         
"Peter, what if she's into you?" Ned asked, taking a bite of his lunch.
         
"Ned, that's insane. A girl as smart, strong, and as beautiful as Marina could never like me. I mean, look at me." I sighed.
        
He still didn't know I was Spider-Man, but I wanted to keep it that way. He was my best friend, but I still didn't want him to know.

-x-

"Peter, it's nationals. Is there no way you could take one weekend off?" Mr. Harrington asked.

"I can't go to Washington. If Mr. Stark needs me, I have to make sure I'm here." I said.

Flash spoke up, "You've never been in the same room as Tony Stark."

"Wait, what's happening?" Cindy asked.

"Peter's not going to Washington." Mr. Harrington looked at the rest of the academic decathlon team. Everyone began to protest, concerned that we would lose.

"Really? Right before nationals?" Liz asked, sounding slightly irritated.

"He already quit marching band and robotics lab," Michelle said. Everyone turned toward her, confused as to how she knew, "I'm not obsessed with him. Just very observant."

"Fine. Flash, you're in for Peter." Liz said.

"I don't know. I gotta check my calendar first. I got two hot dates coming up. One with Marina Stark and the other with Black Widow." Flash teased. I felt anger bubble up inside of me.

"That is false," Abraham retorted getting me to laugh.

-x-

After what felt like forever the school day finally passed. I looked around to make sure there weren't any kids outside, then I jumped over the school gates. I ran to Delmars Deli to order my usual.
       
"What's up, Mr. Delmar?" I grabbed a couple of bags of gummy worms.
       
"Hey, Mr. Parker." Mr. Delmar said, "Number five, right?"
       
"Yeah, and with pickles, and can you smush it down real flat? Thanks." I smiled at the other man behind the counter.
       
"You got it, boss." the other man said.
     
"How's your aunt?" Mr. Delamr asked.
       
"Yeah, she's all right," I said, looking around the store.
       
"Su tía es una dama Italiana caliente." Mr. Delmar laughed a bit.
       
I crossed my arms and smirked, "¿Como esta tu hija, eh?"
      
"Ten dollars." Mr. Delmar said.
       
"It's five dollars." I smiled pointing at the sign.
      
"For that comment, ten dollars." Mr. Delmar said, seriously.

"Hey, c'mon. I'm joking. I'm joking. Here's five dollars." I passed him my money.
       
I walked toward the back of the store and saw his cat, "What's up, Murph? How you doing, buddy?"
       
"So how's school?" Mr. Delmar asked.
       
"It's boring. Got better things to do." I said, shrugging.
       
"Stay in school, kid. Otherwise, you're gonna end up like me."
       
"This is great. Best sandwiches in Queens." I said, looking around the store.

After a few minutes, I got my sandwich. I thanked Mr. Delmar and left. I ran into a nearby ally, started undressing, opened my backpack, pulled out my suit, and put it on.

It was the same stuff. Nothing interesting happened so I stopped on a fire escape near Mr. Delmar's shop to eat the sandwich I bought from him just a few hours earlier. I pulled out my phone and called Happy.
         
"You've reached the voice mailbox of-" the woman's voice stopped and Happy came on, "Happy Hogan.", then the beep.
         
"Hey, Happy. Here's my report for tonight. I stopped a grand theft bicycle. Couldn't find the owner, so I just left a note. I helped this lost, old Dominican lady. She was really nice and bought me a churro. I just feel like I could be doing more. You know? Just curious when the next real mission's gonna be. So, yeah, just call me back. It's Peter. Parker." I said, ending the call.

I sighed, "Why would I tell him about the churro?"

I looked at the other contacts in my phone and I saw Marina's name. I tapped her name and it started calling. It rang until I got her voicemail.
         
"Hey, this is Marina Stark. Sorry, I can't talk right now. But maybe if you leave me a message I'll get back to you. Thanks! Bye!"
         
"Hey, Marina, it's Peter just wanted to call to see how Paris was or is. Hope everything is going alright. Text me or give me a call. Bye." I ended the call.

I sighed once again and finished my sandwich, by now the sun was almost set. I looked down at the ground towards a bank. I saw four guys walk in wearing masks. "Finally, some action" I swung down from the fire escape down to the bank. I walked in through the door.
         
"With these weapons, we could hit up like five more banks." one of them said.
         
"What's up, guys? Forgot your PIN number?" I asked. They all turned towards me, "You're the Avengers! What are you guys doing here?" I shot a web at one of the guys shotguns and pulled it hitting him and another guy in the face. "Thor, Hulk. Good to finally meet you guys." I dogged punches and jumped onto the ceiling.
         
I grabbed the guy in the Thor mask and threw him against the wall, "Huh, I thought you'd be more handsome. Iron Man. Hey, what are you doing robbing a bank? You're like a billionaire." I punched him throwing him back.

I tried to jump at another guy, but whatever weapon he was using stopped me mid-air. "Hey- Oh, this feels- so- weird." they threw me back against the wall before picking me up with the tech they had again.
         
"I'm starting-" I hit the ceiling " to think-" then the floor "you're not-" the ceiling "the Avengers." the floor again.