I had been jotting down everything that my mind pictured involving the visions, nothing but a world of mysteries that I was trying to solve without much luck because these visions were just about as misleading as Game of Thrones theories. I actually starting taking my leather back journal everywhere I went, just in case something flashed into my mind and I needed to write it down before it faded into nothing. Keeping a journal was hard enough, let alone a journal full of notes about visions that plagued my mind every second of the day. I had never been very creative with writing, maybe because my mind was simply not wired like that but I was trying hard to stay on top of these visions while my parents found a way to stop them completely.
"What are you always writing down in that journal?" Harry Osborn hovered over my shoulder, the school bell sounding in the hallway. The rain was gone and blinding sunshine took its place, promising a warm spring time. Students hurried by us, making their way to class but I was still huddled by my locker, rereading over my scribbles. There was at least ten lines of things I had seen in flashes but nothing made any sense yet.
I snatched away my journal, the heavy thing snapping shut as Harry began to frown. "It's nothing." I blurted out, my voice suddenly high pitched. "You know, just notes for class and things." he was still staring across at me, trying to read the lie in my eyes. I had known him for years, the boy wronged by his father, his mother gone before he could walk. He had always been cocky, smooth as butter and ready with a wicked grin. But lately, his mood was changing and I knew exactly why.
"Alrighty, keep your secrets." he muttered, shoving his hands deep into his pockets and rocking back on his heels.
Despite hearing the first bell of the day, he had no intention of heading to class just yet. I watched him for a moment longer, wondering what was playing through his head and I feared the worst. Harry Osborn was not the same kid from last year, maybe we all weren't the same kids though.
Down the hallway, I spotted Mary Jane, her red hair a beacon to follow my eyes with. There was a bright smile painted on her lips and it pained me slightly to see the shine in her eyes, something that hadn't filled my own eyes in what seemed like weeks. But today, she was not alone. Another person followed behind her, a backpack swung over his shoulder effortlessly, his tanned skin looking strange against her snow white complexion. Harry irked up as they headed our way and I was shoving away my journal completely, swinging my locker door shut.
"--we've got a wonderful theatre program too, if you're into that sort of thing." Mary Jane was saying, it becoming very clear she was showing this new boy around the school. Recently, she had been getting into the school spirit and today, she was the welcoming committee. "Or maybe the academic decathlon team, they're quite a fun bunch."
Harry was swinging his gaze towards me, questions dancing in his eyes. Mary Jane stopped right in front of us, pretty and full of cheer. "Florence and Harry, meet Clayton Cole. He's just been enrolled to Midtown." Mary Jane grinned back at the new boy, who didn't look overly impressed by her chipper mood. "Clayton, meet a few of my friends."
"Uh, hi." his voice was deep, almost like he was much older than he appeared, which I doubted since he had been paired with Mary Jane for the grand tour. I noticed the bored expression in his eyes, almost like he was not happy to be here at all.
I was giving a smile anyway, "Hey, welcome to Midtown. We're the very best in well, everything."
"Who moves at the very end of the school year?" Harry snipped out, eyeing the boy up and down. Mary Jane was already sending him a glare and with a subtle nudge to his ribcage from me, he calmed down his face and his apparent jealously for a moment.
Clayton Cole didn't take the bait, his eyes remaining dead. "I was homeschooled." he shrugged, his toned shoulders moving up and down, my eyes catching the movement with his faded shirt, which was snug on his frame. I could already hear Gwen fawning over this boy's appearance, not that I would blame her completely, he did have that careless and mysterious demeanour about him. "My parents thought it would be a nice change in pace. Apparently, I'm too cold towards others."
"Apparently, they're not wrong." Harry added in for good measure, trying to take another jab at the new boy for no reason a part from trying to declare his male dominance. I was shooting him another look, trying to snap him out of his rotten mood.
Mary Jane was trying to cover the weird tension between the two boys but she wasn't having much luck as she babbled on about this season's upcoming play. When her words faded off, watching the boys just eye each other, I jumped in. "It was nice meeting you, Clayton." I offered quickly, standing in front of Harry. "Maybe we'll see you around, yeah?"
The new boy nodded, his eyes a fierce bluish green colour, eyes that I could stare into for long hours on end. A tiny smirk lifted his lips up, chilling my bones. "Yeah, maybe."
With a final nod of my head, I was slipping my hand towards Harry's arm, forcing him to move his feet and we backed away from the two of them, heading down the hallway in a strange silence. Harry didn't say a word about his strange behaviour, in typical Osborn manner. I glanced over my shoulder before we took the bend in the hallway, spotting Mary Jane still talking to Clayton. He wasn't paying her any attention though, his eyes on me and that left a chill down my spine.
***
I found myself in the quiet library at lunch, my journal spread open on the table and my half eaten sandwich pushed to the side. My English homework was piled into my bag, something I had been able to finish off on the train down to school today. I knew my circle of friends would be sitting out in the warm sunlight but today I just wanted to be alone with my thoughts. But much to my displeasure, Peter Parker had other ideas.
"Hey," he greeted me, dropping to the free seat beside me and slipping a familiar white box across the table. It was a cupcake from Magnolia Bakery and apparently, my favourite flavour. That's all it took for my mind to be filled with lightness again with a tiny smile pressed to my lips.
With a greedy appetite, I pulled the box towards me and flicked open the lid, glancing at the fluffy icing upon a vanilla cream cake. "Pete, you honestly didn't have to do this."
Peter Parker shrugged his shoulders, giving me his usual cute smile. I knew he had felt bad about our plans being ruined the other day but honestly, I had pretty much forgotten about my fleeting anger about that as soon as Betty Brant dropped me off home that day and I raced inside to stare at my page of vision notes. "I know, I know. I wanted to though." Peter started softly, grabbing at his chair and shifting his closer to mine. "With everything that's been going on lately, you needed a cupcake."
I scooped some icing into my mouth with my pointer finger, grinning like a total fool as the sweet taste exploded on my tongue. "I also just needed my boyfriend to buy me a cupcake." I told him with a wink. "Honestly though, thank you, Peter."
"It was all my pleasure," he replied quietly, his eyes slipping to my journal. As I took a bite of my cupcake, he pulled my notes towards him, scanning the words quickly. "Are you getting anywhere with these?"
With my mouth full, I shook my head.
He frowned, a finger tracing the smudged ink on the side of the paper where a few stray tears had slipped from my eyes last night. I didn't want him knowing I cried myself to sleep some nights, the worry too thick in my head and the fear heavy in my heart.
"Girls falling. Screaming. A green hand. A blood stained face. Black hair floating in water. A strange looking wing that's dripping in blood. Two hands reaching out for each other, distance between them. A ship sinking." he paused, reciting the words I had written. "None of these make any sense, Flo."
A few visions were relatively new to the list but they hadn't helped in solving the riddle in my head. I was actually hoping that while I was having these visions, they may become clearer but nothing had changed yet and I only saw random snippets. I wasn't even completely sure what any of these visions meant. Maybe they meant nothing at all. "You're telling me," I finally scoffed out, a little fed up that my life had become a massive riddle to solve. "They're just all random images, you know? Nothing stays put in my mind long enough to form a connection of some sort. I was hoping something might look familiar, that a face I know might appear but nothing."
"I'm sorry, I know all this is really hard but you're stronger than anybody I know." Peter shifted his arm closer across the desk, letting his arm rest right next to mine. With his familiar closeness, my eyes drifted closed for a moment.
But like normal, when my eyes shut flashes started. His words faded away, a new vision forming on the back of my eyelids. The scenes unfolded in the same order they always appeared in which I didn't think had much meaning. Then something new erupted and my stomach twisted. When I finally snatched my eyes open, I was grabbing for my journal and a pen. Quickly, I scribbled down a new vision and shoved the journal towards Peter.
He read the words a few times, his head snapping back up to me with another frown growing. "A girl wrapped in white silk?"
It wasn't much of a clue, but I had something to work with. "Maybe it's a costume." I suggested quickly, my mind already in overdrive. "Wait, isn't Flash having his birthday party in a few weeks?"
Peter rested back in his chair, a little confused. "Yeah, so?"
"It's a costume party." I reminded him quickly, jogging his memory completely. Flash Thompson threw some of the biggest parties at Midtown, usually my friends weren't invited but this year, Gwen was dating him, meaning we were invited, including Peter. "What if this is linked to his party or something?"
He was reluctant to agree with my wild theory, "Or maybe we're just jumping to conclusions."
Ever since having these unpredictable visions, I had been trying to wrap my head around what they meant. Everyone knew visions usually showed a future but nothing had come to pass from my visions just yet and I was very eager to work out if these visions were nothing at all or were showing me snippets of my future. Which meant, I needed hard proof and the only thing that made some sort of sense was this girl wrapped in silk, clearly a costume. If I found her at Flash's party, then maybe I would know once and for all if these visions were from the future or not.
Now, all I had to do was wait.
- author's ramblings -
I promised more familiar faces, did I not? I am a big fan of Clayton Cole, some may know him from the comics, some may not but he's a pretty awesome character and I've casted Finn Cole (that's him in the gif obviously) who is my love as him which is going to be very fun soon. He's not a major character, but he'll be sticking around and forming a nice friendship with Flo soon enough when the #fleter dynamic changes and clearly, I'm changing his character up a bit. I've got some big things planned coming and I hope everyone sticks around to follow that storyline before starting Homecoming and then finishing off the book with another AU section. Flo's powers are coming more into play soon which is exciting and a little daunting, but all in good time.
Anyway, I've babbled on long enough, please leave your thoughts. I'm seeing Homecoming again tonight and I'm beyond excited!
- tinkertaydust