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It's after school, and I'm darn hungry. So, like any other Friday afternoon, I rummage through the pantry for snacks. A smile lights up on my face when I find my favorite snack, barbecue seasoned pistachios. I grab a small pack of them and close the pantry door.
The sound of footsteps reaches my ears, followed by my mom strutting into the kitchen. She has a handbag on her arm, which means she is either about to go shopping, or she has just come home from shopping.
"Before you go upstairs, I want you to take Sally out for a pee," she says.
"On it," I say immediately. I already start heading towards the back door.
"Wait," my mom calls after me.
I stop in my tracks and look back at my mother, awaiting for what she has to say. As long as it's not any mean comments about Sally again, then I'll be fine.
"Tom is coming over later, so I want you to be on your best behavior if you're here when he comes," she says, giving me a firm look.
"Okay," I say. I honestly don't really care much for my mom's boyfriend. He's nice. I guess, but I find him and his impromptu visits more annoying than anything.
When my mom appears to have nothing more to say, I search around the house for Sally. I smile to myself when I find her curled up under the dining table.
I crouch down and call for her. "Sally!"
Sally's ears immediately prick to attention before she stands on her legs and comes out from under the dining table.
"Come on, girl," I encourage her on as I make my way towards the back door.
Sally does as she is told and follows after me. When we reach the door, I open it for her then follow her outside, making sure to close the door quietly behind me. I feel like getting some fresh air after having an eventful day at school. Of course, my eyes naturally drift to Peter's house next door, hoping just to get a peak of the brunette boy through one of the windows.
With no such luck, I shove my hands into my hoodie pockets and start pacing around the back yard. The school day certainly had been eventful with its ups and downs. Sure, I finally got to talk to Peter, but that's about the only good thing that happened. Finding out that Peter has feelings for Gwen had completely ruined my day.
Suddenly, I hear the sound of a door squeaking open coming from next door. Unable to suppress my curiosity, I jog towards the fence separating Peter's house from my house. I think that I heard the sound from their front door, so I climb the part of the fence closest to the front of the house. When I reach the top and look out over the fence, my eyes land on Peter walking away from his house and down a sidewalk.
An outlandish idea crosses my mind. What if I...say...followed him? The idea continues to play around in my mind. Sure, it's probably the most stupid idea...not to mention a bit stalkerish, but then again, it is a Friday afternoon, meaning that I don't have to go to bed early if I don't want too, and if I did want to spend the rest of the day out of the house, I could.
The more I think about following Peter, the more excited I get. I even come up with an idea on how to start up a conversation with him. All I would have to say is that I was "in the neighborhood" or something like that.
So, since I can't think of a better way to spend my Friday afternoon, I decide to go through with my stupidly outlandish idea. I climb down from the fence and take Sally back inside the house. Then I quickly let my mom know that I'm going out and may not make it back in time to see Tom. After getting her approval, I practically sprint out of the house. I really hope that I haven't already lost Peter. Eagerly, I look for him and after scanning a couple blocks ahead of me, I spot him still walking.
Excitement takes over me as I put my hood up and continue to follow him, making sure to keep a good amount of space between us, so that he doesn't realize I'm even following him. Also, in case he just so happens to look behind him, he won't be able to see my face very well because of the hood.
After a while, Peter hops onto a subway train. I barely make it, but somehow manage to catch a ride on the same train car as him. Although, I keep my hood up for the entire ride for fear of him noticing and recognizing me. As I'm sitting in my seat, I begin to feel guilty for following him, but those thoughts are quickly put to the side when I begin to think about where Peter could be going. I really have no idea where he is going, other then the fact that it's somewhere in the main city of Queens, since that's where this train is heading.
I also can't help but notice that Peter is wearing his glasses. I've always found him extra cute in them.
Before I even know it, the subway stops at a station in Queens. Peter gets off, and I do the same. He walks onto a sidewalk above the subway and stares up out into the distance.
Still keeping a good amount of space between us, I follow his gaze to the tall Oscorp building. I tilt my head in confusion. Why the heck does Peter want to go there?
After crossing a few blocks, I follow Peter to the Oscorp building, and without hesitation he goes inside. I feel a pit in my stomach as I follow in after him. I know what I'm doing is wrong, but my worry for what Peter is up to is clouding my thoughts. I expected to follow him to a grocery store or something, not to Oscorp! Now I'm even more intrigued than ever to find out what he is up to.
"Excuse me," a woman's voice calls. Thinking the woman was trying to get my attention. I whip around and face the front desk. To my relief, the front desk lady was trying to get Peter's attention, not mine. Phew.
"What?" Peter asks the front desk lady, confused as to why she was trying to get his attention.
"Can I help you?" the woman offers, probably thinking he was lost or something, which he obviously was.
Peter walks up to the front desk. "Oh, uh, I dunno," he stammers. "I'm here-I'm here to see Dr....Dr. Connors?"
I wrinkle my brow at what Peter just said. That...that name. Dad?
I strain my ears to hear more of their conversation, my interest spiking.
"Right ," the desk lady says. "You'll find yourself to the left," she continues, gesturing to some name tags on the left side of the desk.
I watch in confusion when Peter doesn't move or say anything.
"You are here for the internship," the desk lady states, almost as in a question.
Peter stares at the desk lady for a second before nodding quickly. "Yeah, yeah."
"Okay," she says with a hint of annoyance. "You'll find your badge to the left."
"Oh," Peter says.
Things inside my mind start to click into place. So Peter is here for an internship with a man named Dr. Connors. Makes sense, Peter is pretty smart after all. But the name "Connors" holds a special meaning to me. My biological father's last name is Connors. What if...what if my dad has been in New York this whole time, and my mom lied to me about him moving away? I just have to know now if this Dr. Connors is my Connors.
The desk lady's voice tears me from my thoughts. "Are you having trouble finding yourself?" she asks Peter.
Peter shakes his head. "No...there, I got it." He picks up a name tag and holds it up for her to see.
She looks at Peter pointedly, glancing at his name tag. "Okay, Mister...Guevara."
Guevara?! That's not Peter's last name. Okay, now I'm really confused. Peter wants to join an internship to see this Dr. Connors guy but is lying to do it. He better have a good reason for doing this, or else I've been crushing on a criminal this whole time. Then again, I'm not innocent either. I'm about to do the exact same thing, just to find out if Dr. Connors is my father or not. Hopefully, Peter has just as good of an excuse for breaking into Oscorp as I do.
When peter walks away from the front desk, I walk up to it. "Hi, I'm here for the internship with Dr. Connors," I say politely.
"You'll find yourself to the left," the desk lady directs, once again gesturing to the name tags beside her.
"Thank you." I smile at her, sidestepping to the left. My eyes scan over the name tags until they settle on a female name. I pick it up and clip it to my hoodie. The name "Maria Trevor" is written on it.
The desk lady squints to see the name on my name tag. "Have a good day, Miss...Trevor," she reads slowly.
"Thank you," I say before walking away from the front desk. I hurriedly speed walk after Peter and onto an escalator. Even if I wanted to opt out now, it's too late. I'm going on this internship tour thing whether I like it or not. I have to stay out of Peter's sight though. I can't let him know I followed him here, especially if he finds out that I broke rules to be on this tour, than he'll think I'm some crazy, obsessed girl, which, I mean, I kinda am, but that's not the person I want to be anymore. That's not the person I want Peter to see me as.
When I reach the top of the escalator, there's a group of students standing together. I spot Peter among them. I quickly join them but on the opposite side of where Peter is standing, so he can't see me. My breathing rate picks up a bit. Okay, I'm in.
I hear the clicking of heels on the floor which pulls my attention to a very familiar blond approaching us. My heart shatters into a million pieces which fall and cut a whole in my stomach. I can't...I just can't believe it. I just followed my crush only to find out that he was following his crush. Well, now everything makes sense. It's obvious that Peter came to Oscorp to see Gwen. He even broke rules to see her which means he must have an even more massive crush on her than I had originally thought. Life just through a rock at me, and it hit hard.
"Welcome to Oscorp," Gwen greets us. "My name's Gwen Stacy. I'm a senior at Midtown Science, and I'm also head intern to Dr. Connors, so I'll be with you for the duration of your visit." She smiles sweetly at us. "Where I go, you go. That's the basic rule. If you remember that, all will be fine. If you forget that, then-"
At that very second some commotion gets our attention from the lower level of the building. Two security men are dragging a guy out the exit. The guy is yelling over and over again, "Listen! Tell them Rodrigo Guevara is down here, please! Just tell them Rodrigo Guevara is down here! My name's Rodrigo!"
I cringe. I feel bad for that Rodrigo guy, not to mention the other unlucky lady whose name tag I took. Peter and I are jerks for doing this, especially for the sake of our crush's, for me, Peter, and for Peter, Gwen.
"Well, I guess, I don't need to tell you," Gwen stammers, "what happens if you forget then. Shall we?" Gwen turns on her heel and leads us up some levels and down a hall. We eventually enter what looks like a laboratory area.
"Come around this way," Gwen directs, gesturing with her arm for the group to stand off to the side.
My eyes almost pop out of their sockets when Dr. Connors walks into the room. Shoot, he is my father, in all his one arm glory. I don't believe it. I keep my head lower so that Peter, nor Dr. Connors, nor Gwen can see my face. Great, now I have to hide my identity from three people on this tour. This whole endeavor is getting crazier and crazier by the second. To be honest, I should have just stayed home.
"Good afternoon," Gwen," Dr. Connors greets.
"Dr. Connors," Gwen greets sweetly in return.
I cringe. So not only has Gwen stolen Peter from me. She also is closer to my own father than I am. Can this day get any worse?
Dr. Connors turns his attention to the group. "Welcome," he greets, "my name is Dr. Curtis Connors, and yes, I'm a southpaw," he jokes, nodding to his missing arm.
Several students laugh at his joke, but I don't. I already knew that my dad was born with only one arm. I haven't seen him since I was four years old, but it's not like I could forget such an important detail about my dad.
"I'm not a cripple. I'm a scientist," he goes on to explain, "and the world's foremost authority on herpetology. That's reptiles, for those of you who don't know. Like the Parkinson's patient...who watches on in horror as her body...slowly betrays her, or the man with macular degeneration...whose eyes grow dimmer each day, I long to fix myself. I wanna create a world without weakness." Dr. Connors takes a step toward the group. "Anyone care to venture a guess just how?"
An eager boy wearing glasses up in the front of our group raises his hand immediately.
"Yes?" Dr. Connors calls on him.
"Stem cells," the boy suggests.
"Promising," Dr. Connors praises, "but the solution I'm thinking of his more radical."
The group becomes quiet, none of us having any idea what Dr. Connors has in mind.
"No one?" he prods.
"Cross-species genetics," a familiar voice speaks up. The group shuffles around, so that Dr. Connors can have a clear view to none other than Peter Parker himself, the boy behind the voice.
I step between two taller students in the group to remain better hidden.
"Person gets Parkinson's when the brain cells that produce dopamine start to disappear," Peter continues to explain. "But the zebra fish has the ability to regenerate cells on command. If you could somehow give this ability to the woman you're talking about, that's that. She's..." Peter smiles, "she's curing herself."
"Yeah, you just have to look past the gills on her neck," another student jokes.
Dr. Connors stares at Peter in silence for a second before letting out a light-hearted chuckle. "And-and you are?" he asks.
Peter doesn't answer him. He's obviously debating in his head what he should say since he's legally not supposed to be here.
"He's one of Midtown Science's best and brightest," Gwen speaks up for him.
Oh right, I forgot she was here.
"Really?" Dr. Connors asks with interest, walking closer to Gwen.
"Mm-hmm," Gwen confirms. "He's second in his class."
"Second?" Peter quips.
"Yeah," Gwen replies.
"You sure about that?" Peter repeats.
"I'm pretty sure," Gwen says.
I roll my eyes at their playful banter. Can Gwen just shut up already?
Dr. Connors phone suddenly starts to ring. He looks down at it then looks back up at us. "I'm afraid duty calls. I'll leave you in the more-than-capable hands of Miss Stacy." He pauses. "Nice meeting you all," he says before walking away.
Out of no where, a hologram tree appears. Several images of various animals are scattered on it.
"If you'd like to gather round," Gwen directs, motioning to the hologram tree.
I move to a spot around the hologram opposite of Gwen. Even though it is a hologram, and you can still see through it, I have a better chance of not being seen by her here. I look for Peter next, and am surprised to see him trying to sneak away from the group by walking away nonchalantly. But to my even bigger surprise, Gwen speed walks after him, stopping him in his tracks.
My stomach churns at the sight of the two of them together...talking. Then the sudden urge to leave pulls on my mind. I did achieve what I came here for. I followed Peter and found out what he was up to (even though I was disappointed by my findings), and I discovered that my frickin dad has been in New York all this time. It's been a roller coaster of a day with a roller coaster of discoveries.
So, before Gwen has the chance to catch me next, I slip away from the group, wander through the room, and pull into a hallway. At some point I'll have to reach some sort of elevator or staircase, and that will be my escape from this floor. I'm about to round a corner when I hear footsteps in front of me. The second I realize it's Dr. Connors, I turn quickly and practically speed walk in the opposite direction. I can't let my father know I'm here! Much less broke into Oscorp!
Soon I reach a random door. In my haste, I swing it open and slip inside. The door is made of transparent glass, so if Dr. Connors gets close enough, he'll be able to see inside, see me inside. Thinking quickly, I spot a door further into the room. I sprint to it, check that it's unlocked, and go inside. I should be safe in here cause unlike the other door, this door is not made of glass, more like some sort of metal.
I look around the room and am surprised to see all sorts of large tubes, most of which are filled with various colors of gas. I have no idea what they could be used for though. The mad science they are doing here is beyond me.
As I'm admiring the different colors of the gases, my vision is suddenly blocked by translucent glass. It takes me a second to realize that another tube is lowering right on top of me. I scream when I realize it's too late to escape. I'm trapped in the tube. I pound my fists on the tube, but it's no use. It doesn't break, not even a little crack is made.
I hear a beeping sound before a spray dispenser is lowered above me into the tube. It begins to spray a purple gas.
"No! No!" I scream. I lose control of my body as I thrash against the sides of the tube wrecklessly, over and over again. My heart and breathing are racing. I want my freedom, but I'm denied it, hopelessly trapped. There's nothing I can do as I begin to breathe in the purple gas. It burns my throat and lungs, taking away my strength and forcing me to fall to my knees. The oxygen within the tube is diminishing, instead being replaced by the gas. I have no strength to fight it anymore as I inhale a large whiff of the gas and pass out.
Author's Note: Don't be a silent reader! Remember to vote, comment, share, and give me your theories and thoughts! Constructive criticism and any criticism for that matter is always welcome! Know any other Andrew Garfield Spider-Man fans? Let them know about this story!