The Masks we Hide Behind || Peter Parker [1]

nineteen: it was the last straw.

"Tell her I'm eating in my room and that I feel sick." I mutter, scrolling back to find the file I was on. Lucas just sits there and stares at me, and it's silent.

"Please?" I ask.

Lucas sighs and sits on the edge of my bed, rummaging through the messy, unorganized pile of books, journals, and papers from the night at the library. "Fine. But tell me what you're doing."

"Why do you care?"

"Because, you're the Spider-Woman and you could get killed." He says. I roll my eyes at him, hearing footsteps stomping towards my room. I snap the laptop shut as my mom storms into my room.

"Are you two deaf?!" Mom snaps, her brown hair clipped back in a bun.

"I don't feel so great, can I eat in here?" I ask as Lucas gets up from my bed, brushing past Mom to go get his dinner. My mom walks over to me and sets a cool, soft hand on my forehead, then my cheek.

"You don't have a fever. What's wrong? And what's all this?" She asks, motioning to the mess on my bed.

"Homework. And I have a headache." I lie, sitting up in my bed.

"All right." She sighs. "I'll bring you a bowl and a glass of water. Do you want some ibuprofen?" She asks softly.

"Please," I reply with a smile. She exits my room, and shortly after a she brings me a bowl of pasta and a glass of water with two small, purple pills. I set the pills aside and set the warm bowl in my lap, reopening the laptop. It was going to be a long night.

After at least four hours - yes. Four freaking hours. At least. I looked for every tiny detail, okay? - I'm done, and it's midnight, almost one A.M., and I have a huge list in front of me. I have a cramp in my hand, I now have a headache, and my hair is pulled back in an extremely messy bun.

I read through the list one last time.

• Avalanche's Name is Lance Alvers.
• He's a mutant.
• He's trying to take over the world, starting with all of New York.
• He wants mutants to "have justice and feel equal and accepted", but he's really trying to kill every human in existence so there are only mutants existing on earth.
• The names he listed seem to be other mutants.
• He has a tragic life story.
• He's 28.
• Obviously, he can create freaking earthquakes and destroy entire streets. And kill people very easily.
• He hates me and the Spider-Man.
• I'm 75% sure he knows who I really am.
• He's located in an abandoned warehouse on the edge of the city, surrounded by train tracks and old construction sites. The perfect and most cliche hideout for a guy like this.
• And, also, the library has plenty of books on mutants for some reason.

And finally, I'm done, and I can go to sleep. For the first time in awhile, I lay down and almost fall straight into a deep, heavy sleep.

~~~

I shut my locker door and swing my backpack onto my back, flinching once I see Ned standing right in front of me. I chuckle slightly, taking a step to the side. "You scared me, Ned."

"Have you seen MJ?" He says, not even a hint of smile showing on his face. I've never seen Ned this serious. He follows me down the hallway, standing next to me.

"No. She's coming to school, though, we talked last night." I reply simply.

Ned looks at me like I'm crazy, his eyes are wide and his lips are parted slightly. "Did you forget?!" He snaps.

"Wha-"

"The whole Avalanche thing!" He shouts.

"Oh, you didn't know? I thought you did. The Spider-Woman saved her." I say, slightly nervous as the two of us squeeze through the crowded halls.

"What?" He murmurs, his eyes growing wider, but this time with excitement. "What? MJ got to be saved by the Spider-Woman?!"

"Aren't you glad she's safe?" I half chuckle.

"No, I'm mostly pissed that she basically got to meet the Spider-Woman before I did." He grumbles, adjusting his backpack strap. I laugh slightly and shake my head, making my way towards the art room.

"Whatever, Ned." I chuckle as the second bell rings.

~~~

Author's Note
Helloooooo, long time no see!!! So obviously I decided to continue this story (I deleted the update chapter, and if you didn't see it I was basically asking you guys if I should stop writing this story lmao) buuuut I decided to stick with it :) this chapter SUCKS but hey, it's a chapter, and I'm posting, so yay!

I'm hoping to get back into updating consistently, but thank you so much for reading, and have a great day!

Also, if you noticed any errors in my writing, please feel free to let me know! I'll gladly fix it lol. Again, thank you for reading!!