Scarlet Season

Lost in Thought

As you enter the large corridor of the school Peter finally manages to get words out of his mouth. 

"Did you just...?" he asks pointing towards Flash who's talking to his friends down the hall, they're all giving you nasty looks and death stares. 

"Yeah, I just did that. And you're welcome, I highly doubt that he'll be messing with you anymore," you say with a smirk. 

"I don't think so, you have no idea what he's capable of," Peter says, he looks worried. 

"Don't worry, whatever that dweeb throws my way, I can take it. I've been faced with people much worse than him," 

"Yeah, but no one's ever stood up to Flash like that before, and I don't think he likes that," Peter says as he guides you down the hall towards the science section of the school, and your first period class, Chemistry. 

"Um, are you really gonna underestimate me after I just did that?" 

"No no no, I'm not underestimating you, I'm just worried about how Flash is going to react later. This one guy tried to tell him no in fifth grade and Flash beat him so badly that he ended up in the hospital," Peter shakes his head, "That poor guy, Flash destroyed him." 

When the word 'destroyed' leaves Peter's mouth it sparks a flashback to several years ago, to the day that your were told that your dad died. 

You never knew your dad, he was always gone and you were never told where he was, he never came home. It did a lot of psychological damage to you as a child, you always thought and still think that you weren't good enough for him. Your mom has always insisted that he was gone for business and that he loved you very much, but you've never believed her; you weren't even sure if your dad knew that you existed. 

You were told that your dad worked in a group that helped protect the world but, you had always wished that he was home protecting you rather than everyone else. 

The last trip that he had gone on was to Sokovia in 2016, neither you or your mom have heard word from him since; no one has. The police assumed that he was killed when Sokovia fell apart (literally). 

They told you and your mom that he was most likely crushed by a falling building during the attack, but you don't believe that. No way could he have died like that, based on all of the stories that you've been told over the years, your dad was something else. The stories that your mom had told you about him made him sound... unhuman. He was capable of things that most people weren't. You knew for a fact that he most definitely wasn't from New York like your mom said he was just by listening to the stories. You always felt like your mom knew where he really came from, but whenever you asked her, she insisted that he was from New York; but nothing added up. You'd never really seen any of his family either. Your mom had told you that they lived where they couldn't be contacted. She told you that your grandmother died before you were born and you had an evil uncle. The weirdest part about your father's 'death' is that his body was never found. After drifting off into your tragic memories you snap back into reality and see a hand waving in front of your face. 

"Hello? Earth to Scarlet?" Peter asks. 

Once you meet his eyes he drops his hand back down to his side, you look down at your feet. Before either of you have the chance to say anything to each other the bell rings. You turn on your heel and follow Peter towards what you assume is your Chemistry classroom, gosh this school is huge. Peter's the first one to break the awkward silence. 

"So, do you want to sit next to me in all of the classes that we have together? Nobody sits next to me in most of them, and at lunch. Do you want to sit with me and my best friend Ned at lunch too?" Peter asks you.

This poor kid, no wonder he gets picked on, he's got no friends. This doesn't make sense to you though because he seems like a nice guy, and he's cute too. 

"Yeah, sure," you mumble as you walk into the classroom. 

"Okay, that's cool, " Peter awkwardly replies as he leads you towards the back of the classroom and sits down at a long black table, you sit on the stool next to his. 

You've never really felt comfortable around anyone like you do with Peter, which is strange because you've only known him for thirty minutes. Maybe he'll be my first real friend, you think to yourself as the second bell rings.