Rollercoaster - Peter Parker

19. An Actual Double Date

Lists were one of Flash's favorite things. The 17th of February could almost top that as his favorite thing in the world.

The date was the anniversary of his parent's agreeing to take part in something traditionally called marriage, but Flash called it a life sentence. However, the boy had a bit of freedom whenever that date came around. His parents always took a weekend trip to Ithaca where they had met at Cornell University.

Flash found it ironic that his parents had met at one of the most strenuous colleges in the country. Not to mention, the school was rated as one of the top suicide schools.

The month after he had discovered he had some type of power, Flash always expected to wake up the next morning to find them gone. So, he decided to make the most of what he had day after day. He soon compiled a list of all he believed to be his strange powers, realizing that no other super whatever-he-was had the same specific powers. He took pride in having them unique to himself, smiling wider each day as he focused on perfecting his new skills to eventually use them to his advantage.

Early on, he used his powers on Peter. Although his technique wasn't as effective as he would've hoped, he smiled when Peter got back a B on his chemistry test instead of the usual A+.

Flash held his own A in a strong grip in his hands, his fists curling into a victory fist pump. He couldn't help but smile to himself when Peter walked out of the classroom, talking to Ned and Caden about how he didn't understand how he could just forget almost everything on the unit test.

He dreamt about the endless possibilities that he could discover through his powers and how he could manipulate a multitude of things with just enough practice. He would always wake up with a start, red and blue hues blurring his vision in the later parts of his dreams until he would open his eyes.

It seemed strange that the same event would happen day after day, but he figured the only explanation that could be used was the fact that hundreds of vials of all kinds of chemicals had to leave some kind of mark. Though, he couldn't shake the bursts of red and swipes of blue from the back of his mind.

It started to bug him, knowing each morning he'd wake up to the same thing. He'd try to set an alarm for hours before so he wouldn't have to endure the annoyance, but nothing worked. It was like an annoying insect that wouldn't stop bothering him, and he had to find a way to stop it.

-

While Flash was in his usual alleyway, working hard to perfect his skills, Peter was swinging through the air with Ned's voice in his ear.

Returning to Ned's bedroom window after a long day of patrolling, Peter hurriedly gathered his clothes. He slipped out of his suit, throwing on his heavy clothing to brace the weather.

Ned strolled in with a chocolate milk in hand, sputtering a laugh as he saw Peter all discombobulated in his winter jacket.

"I told you to come back earlier and set your time later," he explained quickly, picking up the red and blue suit and placing it in Peter's arms, "otherwise, you'd be late, and May would murder you."

Peter let out a long sigh, running a hand through his slightly sweaty hair. He shook his head, a hint of a smile appearing nonetheless.

"Since I'm ready, I guess I'd better go now." Peter shrugged, walking out of Ned's room with his backpack hiked high onto his shoulders.

He smiled at Ned and Nessa as the two waved goodbye, and he started to head towards the subway to his own apartment building.

Although however much he would've rather spent a few extra minutes flying around the city, Peter sent Ned a quick text of thanks after he sat in one of the last available seats. Ned was right, May would've killed him if he was late for their big night out.