A/N: Woah, this took a while to update; I'm sorry!
The good news is that my finals are finally finished!
The bad news is I'll be going to a summer camp for like two weeks, so I won't be able to update until that's over.
To everyone who has been sending me private messages, I'm so sorry it's taking me a day or two to respond, and I'm trying to answer them as soon as possible! This being said, I love talking to you guys, and my DM's are always open :)
ALSO, requests are open again, so if you have a request for a chapter, make sure to either DM me or comment on any of my books!
You all are seriously amazing, and I'm so glad to have such amazing readers!
I hope you all are having a fantastic Monday!
Peter was in English class, sitting between Ned and MJ.
"And for your homework tonight, you will write three to five paragraphs summarizing the theme of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' by William Shakespeare."
he leaned over his desk, reaching into his binder to locate his planner
waving his hand around the interior, he felt his fingers brush against a firm cover and pulled it out
he opened the planner to today's date and wrote on the page, '2-5 paragraphs on A Midsummer Night's dream theme.'
He closed his planner and rammed it back into his bag, leaning back on his chair to continue listening to the teacher's lecture.
"A common pattern in this play appears to be the recurring dreams of the characters. Can anyone tell me why Shakespeare did this?"
Hands from all around the class darted up.
The teacher pointed to a blonde girl in the second row,
"Yes, Cassie?"
The girl, cassie, withdrew her hand, straightening her spine,
"Shakespeare did this to blur the lines between reality and-"
BEEP
Everyone glanced up to the ceiling, curious as to why the intercom connection bell went off.
"Peter Parker to the office, please. Peter Parker to the office." the school principal's voice boomed through the speakers.
Peter furrowed his brows.
What did I even do this time?
He looked to the teacher, and seeing her nod, he shut his notebook and picked up his pencil, packing both into his binder.
Standing up, he addressed his teacher,
"Thank you for class."
She only smiled and waved him off, and he shuffled out of the classroom and down the long, locker-filled hallway.
He paused at his locker, deciding that he'd be prepared if he were sent home.
he rotated the nob, twisting in his combination, and opened the door
Neglecting the half-eaten sandwich and week-old art projects, he clutched his black and blue backpack and pushed his binder into the back pocket.
he zipped up the bag and threw it over his shoulder before shutting the locker door and proceeding down the hallway
"Hey, Peter!"
Peter looked up to catch whoever spoke.
Seeing it was Emma Grey, a girl from his Spanish class, he smiled and waved back.
He took a deep breath while approaching the principal's office door and grasped the handle, turning it softly until it opened.
He stepped inside, pushing open the door some more, being met with the sight of Aunt May sitting on a chair in front of his principal.
Dang, they called Aunt May? What did I do?
"Hello, Mrs. Johnson," He nervously greeted, taking a seat in the chair beside his aunt
Mrs. Johnson smiled politely, clearing her throat.
She shifted her gaze to his aunt,
"I have something to discuss with you and your nephew."
May looked between her nephew and his principal confused,
"Did he do something wrong?"
Mrs. Johnson chuckled lightly,
"No, not at all. Quite the contrary, actually."
Peter let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in.
Thank goodness, I'm not in trouble.
"Mr. Parker," she started again, looking at Peter this time, "We've noticed that you've had a consistent pattern of sleeping through your classes."
Peter's breath caught in his throat. He could sense May's disappointed gaze, but he decided to not look.
I thought I wasn't in trouble.
"Sorry, Ma'am," He muttered out, fiddling with his hands in his lap.
"No need to apologize, Peter," Mrs. Johnson kept smiling, "If you were any other student, you would have been assigned detention, but your teachers have informed me that you have outstanding grades in your classes."
Now Peter was confused.
So I'm not in trouble because I have good grades? That's not usually how things work...
He opened his mouth to respond, but his teacher held up her hand, silencing him,
"You score perfectly on every test, despite not learning in class. Answer this for me; are you bored in the classes you're taking, Mr. Parker?"
He squinted at her, attempting to understand her motive,
"The teachers are amazing, they even-"
"No, Peter.", Mrs. Johnson cut him off, "Are you bored?"
He peered over to his aunt, who similarly didn't appear to be following along.
"I guess, but-"
He was once again silenced by the principal's hand.
She reached into the drawer in her desk and extracted a small stack of papers.
Recognition sparked in Peter when he regarded the writing.
Wait, that's last week's test
"remember this, Peter?"
Peter snapped his eyes back up to the school's head, allowing a confused expression to wash over his face,
"y-yeah, that's last week's test, right?"
"that's correct, Peter.", she praised, "What I'm sure you didn't notice is that this wasn't the same test your classmates took."
Peter's eyebrows rose somewhat.
What?
"This," she proceeded, "was a placement test. As the staff here at Midtown Highschool, it is our responsibility to ensure that you get the best education possible. We need to make certain you are learning on the correct level. The school board and I speculated that the classes you're in may be beneath your learning level."
Peter bit his lip as the situation started to make sense to him.
Oh, does she want to move me up a grade?
"Now, this is what I needed to speak with you about," She moved on, changing to look at his aunt again, "Peter's scores on the test exceeded our expectations. He appears to be picking up concepts at a more accelerated rate than the majority of teenagers in his grade, and his knowledge surpasses the curriculum's teachings."
May leaned forward a hair, "would you want to move him to the next grade? If so, would it disrupt his cumulative at all?"
"We could transfer Peter to twelfth grade if that's what you would prefer, but we suspect that a university-level education would be the most beneficial for him."
Wait, University? I'm only fourteen, I'm not ready to graduate.
May hesitated, turning to study her nephew.
regarding his anxious appearance, she addressed the principal,
"Which university would you advise?"
Mrs. Johnson smiled, "MIT and Emory may be the most desirable, considering his career interest. If you would like more options, I can set up a conference with you and Peter's advisor."
May paused again, seemingly thinking over the options.
Peter kept moving his gaze between his aunt and principal, practically holding his breath.
Don't mind me, I guess. I'm just sitting here watching my aunt and school principal decide my whole future for me.
May's eye's met his, and she gave him a look, clearly saying, 'well, what do you want to do?'
Peter shrugged, his mind still unable to grasp that he could be a child prodigy if he desired to.
May sighed and looked back over to the principal, "we would like more time to think on this if you wouldn't mind."
"Of course. My email can be found on the school's website under 'teachers.' If you could email me when you've made your decision, that would be excellent."
May smiled and politely nodded,
"Thank you. Is there anything else you wanted to discuss?"
Mrs. Johnson shook her head, "No, that was all. I look forward to speaking with you more on the issue. Peter may return to class for the remainder of the day. I will be awaiting your email."
May stood and turned to leave the room, but Peter lingered behind.
Once his aunt closed the door behind her, the teacher leaned forward to speak softly to her student,
"You're an excellent student, Peter, and we love having you here. I understand that such a significant change can be scary, but I don't want to watch you waste your life here when you are capable of so much more."
Peter just nodded, not able to form words.
How am I going to make this choice? My whole future depends on this one decision.
After a brief moment of silence, Mrs. Johnson leaned back in her chair,
"Alright, you may be dismissed. I hope you make the right decision, whatever it may be"
Peter nodded again and stood up,
"Thank you, ma'am."
He pivoted on his heel and opened the door, walking out of the room and back down the hallway.
He stopped at his locker again, as it turns out he wouldn't be sent home today.
He turned the combination lock and unlocked the door, then took off his backpack, unzipped the back pocket, removed the binder, and stuffed the bag back into the locker, closing the door afterward.
Holding his binder, he continued down the hallway, eventually approaching the English classroom door.
He opened the door, and the teacher looked up to see who entered.
when his eyes settled on Peter, he gave a small wave,
"Peter! Nice to have you back. There are only ten minutes of class left, but we were just going over the true meaning behind each character in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Nights Dream."
"Okay, thank you," Peter acknowledged.
He strolled back over to his spot between Ned and Mj and sat down, taking his notebook back out of his binder.
Ned moved his attention from the teacher to his best friend and whispered,
"What was that all about?"
Peter shook his head and whispered back,
"later, ned"
There was way too much to explain in one class period.
Ned stared at him for a while, giving him the strange feeling of being invisible, before shrugging and going back to taking notes on the lecture.
"...and by seeing each character's deepest desires, we get a better understanding of the intentions-"
this is going to be a long day
___ time change by "does mother know you weareth her drapes?" ___
Peter was on his bike, heading home when he felt a light vibration come from his back pocket.
He turned the handles slightly, migrating over to the side of the bike lane, and pulled the brakes, coming to a complete stop.
Ned, I thought I told you I'd talk to you later.
He reached into his pocket and took out his phone, unlocking it and going to the 'messages' app.
He scrolled through his messages until he eventually reached the latest one.
He clicked on the notification and paused to read the name.
'Mr. Stark'
His eyes widened, and he hurriedly scrolled to see the message.
I've completed the suit's updates. Tell your aunt my chauffeur will pick you up.
Peter felt a grin pulling at his cheekbones when he replied
Yes, sir, I'm omw home rn, should I wait here, or meet Happy at may's apartment?
Send your location.
Peter slid his phone back into his pocket and rode up to the nearest gas station.
He took his phone back out and forwarded the location to Mr. Stark.
Then he closed Mr. Stark's contact and instead opened Aunt May's
Hey Aunt May! I have to go to SI for my internship, but I promise I'll be back soon!
He parked his bike in front of the gas station's store and wandered in, browsing the aisles for a quick after-school snack.
finding a bag of pretzels, he grabbed them and a bottled lemonade and checked out, handing the cashier a five-dollar bill
A loud "HONK" from outside startled him, causing him to jump and whip his head around to see where the noise came from
He relaxed when he saw it was Happy's car and waved 'goodbye' to the cashier, walking out of the store.
He rounded the car and pulled on the door to the backseat, opening it to the sight of Mr. Stark in the back and Happy in the front.
Woah, Mr. Stark came? Usually, it's just Happy.
"Kid? Are you going to sit down?"
Shoot, was I staring?
"Sorry, Mr. Stark, I was just thinking."
The older man snorted, "Well, you can think in the car. Get in; I'm not staying in this revolting parking lot any longer than I have to."
Peter shot him an amused grin and slid in, closing the door behind him.
"Seriously? You couldn't have chosen a better place to wait?" Mr. Stark asked, dramatically waving his hands around to make his point.
"When you messaged me in was on the side of the road in a bike lane, I didn't exactly have a lot of options."
A short silence followed his response, so he elected to ask a question,
"Mr. Stark, can I ask you a question?"
Tony shrugged, "you just did."
"Yeah, I guess." he paused, "What was it like going to MIT?"
He didn't answer for a second, most likely pondering over his response,
"Well," he began, "MIT was an amazing school, and their professors are profound. I don't regret going."
well, that's good, I guess
"And how did it feel starting college so young?"
Tony looked over at Peter, a calculating look taking over his face,
"Why are you so interested in my schooling days?"
Peter fiddled with the strings on his sweatshirt, bouncing his leg apprehensively.
"uh," he vocalized, not quite meeting the man's eyes, "I had a talk with my principal earlier, and she says that I should consider starting university early."
"Okay? How early?"
"Anytime between now and the next school year."
Tony blinked, not expecting that answer, "And how old are you again?"
Peter finally moved his gaze up, meeting his eyes, "fourteen."
he heard the man let out a low whistle, "dang."
he let out a small laugh, "Yeah that about sums up my thoughts."
Tony shook his head, "That's.. honestly impressive, kid"
he reddened a bit at the compliment, going back to fiddling with his sweatshirt strings, "Thank you."
"Now," Mr. Stark's voice drew his attention back to the conversation, "I can't tell you what option is best for you, but if you'd like my advice, all I can say is that University challenged me more and actually pushed my knowledge. I learned more at MIT than I ever did in a high school, and if I could go back in time, I would have made the same decision."
Peter chewed on his bottom lip, considering the response.
that does sound pretty great
"and if it makes you feel any better," Mr stark resumed, "I had a tough time deciding as well. You know yourself and your limits better than anyone else. If you believe you can handle it, go for it. Make a decision that you won't regret later in life."
Peter nodded, staying silent, not sure how to respond.
ultimately, he settled on a whispered, "thank you."
Tony smiled and clapped him on the shoulder, "No problem, kid. You're clever, Peter; I'm sure you'll make the right decision."
Peter smiled in thanks, but inside he nearly felt sick.
This is the most difficult decision I will ever have to make in my life, and I'm only fourteen.
A/N: Should I continue this chapter, or should I delete it?
Thank you for reading!!