Peter Parker: Broke Genius Highschool Criminal

It All Started in Detention

"Thank you!" Peter sprang up and walked from the classroom as quickly as he could. As soon as he was out he went around the corner and took the super dissolving glue out of the pocket of his hoodie and stared at it, heart racing.

"You got this, Peter... just a little rebellion, it's cool... it's healthy, even. You got this, you got this." He whispered a pep talk to himself. Then, he got moving.

He went to Flash's locker. With a makeup brush he'd stolen from his Aunt May, he slathered the solution all around the edges and then stood back to admire his work. Then, as a final touch, he poured just a little on the floor in front of the locker. Maybe, just maybe, Flash would stand there and get stuck to the ground. Peter chuckled to himself- that would be amazing.

He was just about to go back to class when he heard someone clearing their throat behind him.

"Peter Parker. What do you think you're doing?"

Peter slowly turned around, eyes wide. Standing there, arms crossed, was a teacher, Mr. James.

"Nothing, sir! I was just- uh-"

"What's this?" The teacher asked, gesturing to the sticky solution and the makeup brush. "Some kind of practical joke?"

"Uhh-"

"Who's locker is this?"

"It's mine!"

"It's your locker?" Mr. James raised one eyebrow and crossed his arms. "Open it, then."

Peter turned to the locker and stared it down, but after just a few seconds he turned back around again. "It's not my locker..." He admitted. "It's Flash Thompson's. I was trying to play a prank on him."

"I see."

They stood in silence for a moment as Mr. James stared down at him though his thin, wire frame glasses.

"That'll be detention for you, Peter."

"Yeah... I kind of figured."

-

Detention was him, Ned (who also got caught), a couple kids in black hoodies and ripped jeans, and MJ, a girl who really didn't say much but managed to pop up just about everywhere. Ned thought she was cool, but he would never say that, because he also thought she was scary. And honestly, Peter thought so too. But then, almost everyone did.

She wore the same worn out leather jacket every day, combat books, dark makeup, and fishnet tights under her ripped to shreds jeans. It seemed like she had a new piece of metal in her ears every week, and she had an eyebrow bar. It looked cool, but it also looked like she would murder anyone who glanced at her wrong.

"You know, we might've gotten caught, but at least we still got the glue down." Peter whispered to Ned. The teacher was up at the front of the class going over paperwork with earplugs in, so he probably wouldn't hear them.

"Yeah, but man, I wanted to see him freak out." Ned whined.

"I know, dude, but we can picture it at least."

Ned looked over at MJ. She had a sketchbook and was making short pencil strokes on it, every once in a while looking up to glance around the room. After a moment, she noticed the two of them staring and narrowed her eyes.

"What are you looking at?" She asked.

Ned paled and stuttered. "I- I don't know- I was- was I looking at something? I was looking at Peter. Right Peter? I was looking at you, right?"

"Yeah, yes, that is completely correct. We were looking at each other." He nodded once to puntuate the statement and smiled.

"Right..." MJ slowly looked back down at her sketchbook and both boys sighed in relief.

Ned stared wide eyed and Peter. "We almost just died." He whispered.

Peter got out his own notebook and started doodling. He drew a little cactus, and then a butterfly, and then he started drawing the avengers. He drew a little doodle of Iron Man punching Captain America, and then he drew the Hulk. And he put an apron on him and had him holding a batch of cupcakes.

"Hey Parker." MJ said from across the classroom.

He froze right in the middle of adding cherries on top of the cupcakes.

"Uh... yeah?"

"Whatcha sketching?"

Peter's face flushed.

"Uhh... just some little doodles. You know..." She stood up, walked over, and sat in the chair right beside him, and held out her hand for the notebook.

Peter held the notebook close to his chest.

"Let me see." She said.

"What? No. No!"

MJ rolled her eyes. "I'll show you mine."

Ned sat up straighter in his chair where he had been slouched over trying to look inconspicuous and unassuming. "Show her, Peter. Don't you wanna be able to say that MJ showed us her sketchbook? Cool points for sure, dude."

Peter hesitated, but finally, he slapped his notebook down on the desk in front of him, and MJ picked it up. He expected her to laugh at it and make fun, but instead she just stared. The corner of her mouth lifted in what could have been a smile, but Peter couldn't tell. Then she handed him her sketchbook.

It was a sketch of him and Ned in conversation, and it was actually pretty good.

"Whoa, this is cool." Peter said.

"Yeah, whoa, it actually is."

"Surprised?"

"What? No. Of course not."

"So what are you nerds doing here anyway?" MJ asked.

"Played a prank on Flash Thompson." Ned said smugly.

"Yeah? What kind of prank?"

Ned told her about it, and made it sound way cooler than it actually was. He used gestures, and told it as cinematically as he possibly could. Peter rolled his eyes as he listened. MJ nodded along, probably regretting having asked.

"You know..." She said, when Ned was finally done. "This sticky dissolving super glue stuff that Peter made... it could be really useful for a lot of things."

"What kind of things?" Peter asked.

"Well, I mean, I don't know. You tell me."

"You're the one who brought it up."

"No, I didn't." She lifted her chin.

"Okay..."

-

Before Peter and Ned left that day, Peter turned to MJ. "We're going to a movie tomorrow." He said. "The cinema on Twelfth Street, at 7:30, if you wanna come."

"Nah, you two are losers."

"Okay...."

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WHOA okay, so this is unedited and honestly not too good, but it's something and hopefully it'll get better as I get into the flow of things! Thanks for reading, leave a little star thingy if you wanna.