I take off down the stairs of the subway station, sprinting over to the train I'm about to miss. The doors are just about to close as I bolt over, but luckily I make it just as the doors begin to close. I breathe heavily, looking around the once again, very crowded train car. I had woken up late once again, with barely anytime to get Atlas outside. My hair was pulled into a high ponytail, and I wore sweatpants and a grey sweatshirt. I literally look like I'm wearing pajamas.
"Hey."
I look over my shoulder, my eyes falling onto the one and only, Peter Parker. I smile and turn as much as the people crammed in next to me will allow, watching as Peter squeezes through an old lady and a tall man with a beard.
"Hey. I didn't know you take this train," I say with a grin.
"Only when I'm late," He chuckles. "I slept in."
"Me too. If you couldn't tell." I say, chuckling softly. He laughs slightly in response, adjusting the strap on his backpack.
"Hey, um..." I start, looking down at my feet. "I didn't ask you this right off the bat, but...the other night, when we were running from that...thing..." I trail off slightly, looking up at him, our eyes meeting. He bites his lip and looks around the train nervously.
"Peter, what happened?" I finish, my eyes not leaving his face as he shifts his gaze nervously.
"W-what do you mean?"
"The other night, after the movies..." I reply, trailing off. "The monster showed up, and..." I look up at Peter, who avoids eye contact.
"You disappeared," I say softly. "we were terrified." As I say this, he shuts his eyes for a brief second, then stares at his feet.
"I-I..." He stammers. "I called for you guys and I turned a sharp corner that l-led down a different street. You guys didn't follow, but I thought you did, so I kept running...and once I realized you weren't with me, I just-"
"Peter." I start. "You didn't call for us. You were right next to me. I would've heard you." The train lurches to a stop, and everyone bumps into each other slightly. The doors slide open, but Peter and I stay. He opens his mouth, but no words come out. Soon, the train car is empty, and we're the only ones left.
"I've got to go." I mutter, turning to leave.
"Juniper, wait." I hear him say as I step out of the train car. I shake my head to myself and make my way through the station, jogging up the stairs. Peter follows, and once I get out of the station, I feel his hand on my shoulder. I turn around, raising my eyebrows questioningly.
"I..." He starts, but doesn't finish.
"What are you hiding?" I ask, looking up into his brown eyes.
"W-what?"
"Peter," I start. "You've been acting so weird. You disappear when you're out with your friends. I call you and I can hear people screaming and crashing in the background of the call..."
"Juniper," He starts.
"What?" I ask. His hand still rests on my shoulder. "What, Peter?" Once again, he opens his mouth, but words don't come out.
"Exactly." I mutter, turning to leave.
"You'd never understand," He says, returning to my side. I turn the corner and start towards Midtown, already wishing this day was over.
"But what if I did?" I ask.
"You wouldn't."
"You sure?" I ask, turning around, walking backwards. My back hits the door softly, and I push it open slowly. "Because I think I already know what's going on."
"What?" He asks softly. I shake my head to myself and turn back around, heading through the crowded halls of Midtown.
~~~
"Okay." Ned states after about ten minutes of awkward silence. Harper and Ally stare at me questioningly, and Ned gives Peter a weird look. "What happened?"
"Nothing...?" I reply, looking around at the three, who stare at Peter and I, expecting some sort of answer.
"Oh, please." Ally says. "What happened?"
"Nothing," Peter answers. "We're..." He starts.
"Fine." I finish. "We're fine."
"You sure?" Harper chuckles. "You two are giving some hardcore silent treatment right now." I roll my eyes at her and sit up straight.
"Nothing happened." Peter mutters.
"We're fine," I say firmly, kicking Harper's leg under the table.
"Ow!" She whines.
Our table grows silent, and nobody says anything for awhile. After a bit of awkward silence, Ally gets up to use the restroom, and Harper leaves to go get something from her locker, leaving Ned, Peter and I alone at the table.
"So..." Ned says awkwardly. "How's your guys' day so far?" I snort slightly and watch as Peter stifles a laugh.
"What?" Ned asks.
"Mines going pretty good, Ned." I say, laughing slightly but trying not to.
"Oh, Peter, remember that thing we were gonna do the other night?" Ned asks. I glance over at Peter, who looks up at Ned slowly.
"Huh?"
"You know...the thing."
"What thing?" Peter asks. It's silent, and Ned gives him a weird look. A switch goes off in Peter's head and his face brightens up. "Oooohhhh," He says, nodding. "That thing. Right. Yeah. Did you...finish the thing?"
"Yes. Yes I did."
"I'm not even gonna ask." I chuckle.
"Right. Yeah. Hey, I'll be right back." Ned says, then winks very obviously at Peter. Peter raises his eyebrows questioningly and Ned winks again, before getting up and leaving.
What just happened?
It's silent again. Peter and I sit at the table in awkward silence before I finally decide to say something.
"I'm sorry." I blurt.
"Huh?" Peter asks, looking up at me. "For what?"
"For this morning," I groan, laying my forehead facedown on the table.
"Don't be sorry," Peter replies. "I deserve it." He mutters quietly.
"No you don't." I sigh, sitting back up and resting my cheek against my hand. "Can we just forget anything ever happened?"
"Sure." He replies. I raise my eyebrows at him and hold up my pinkie, and he laughs, holding out his own. Our fingers wrap around each other and we shake gently.
"Promise?" I ask with a stupid smile on my face.
"Promise." He laughs. "I'm sorry, too."
"Peter."
"Right. Sorry. Forgetting. Okay." He says shortly. I laugh and he does, too, and from them on, we forgot about the whole thing.
~~~
"Just tell me!" Ally exclaims, throwing her hands into the air dramatically.
"No. What's done is done and we forgot about it." I mutter, flipping through my math notebook. Atlas is curled up next to me on my comfy couch, and Ally is pacing back and forth in the tiny living room. Harper sits in the armchair, scrolling through her phone.
"Just give it up, Ally. She's never gonna tell us." Harper says.
"I'm going to make her." She mutters.
"You know that never works," Harper replies.
Ally sighs and stops pacing. "I know. But can you please just tell us?"
I look up at her, and she frowns, knowing I wouldn't say anything. Harper sighs and sets her phone down, staring me dead in the eyes. "You asked him about being the Spider-Man, I'm guessing." She says.
"No," I chuckle. "no, I most certainly did not, because I'm not that dumb."
"I disagree," Harper laughs sarcastically.
"I didn't mention anything about the Spider-Man." I mutter. "Like I said, it doesn't matter, so just drop it."
"Fine." Ally sighs, collapsing next to Atlas on the couch. He yawns and stretches his front legs out, shifting so he's leaning on Ally.
"But, guys..." I say softly. "I've been really scared ever since that night after the movies."
"I think we all are." Harper mutters.
"What if it comes back for us again?" I ask quietly.
"We should just...not talk about it." Ally says.
"No, we really should." Harper says.
"Have any of you told your parents?" I ask. Harper nods, and so does Ally.
"What, have you not told your dad?" Ally asks.
"No..."
"What?" Ally exclaims, sitting up. "Why?"
"I don't know...I figured he's already stressed enough with his job that-"
"Juniper," Harper says. "you need to tell him."
"But-"
"June." Ally states. "This is really, really serious, and you need to tell your dad-"
"Fine! Fine." I say, getting up from the couch and wandering into the kitchen. "I'll tell him." I mutter. I stand at the counter and sigh, glancing out the window at the dark sky.
"It's getting late," Ally says, standing up from her spot on the couch. She brushes Atlas's fur off of her light blue jeans and turns to me, her shiny red hair swaying across her chest.
"Yeah," Harper sighs, standing up as well. Atlas leaps off of the couch and heads for the door, nudging his leash, which is hanging up on the coat rack. "I really don't want to go to school tomorrow."
"Me neither, I reply, slipping my fuzzy boots on and grabbing my coat off of the counter, joining my friends by the door. I grab Atlas's leash and hook it onto his collar, then begin to walk my friends out of the apartment building.
"See you guys tomorrow," I call as I part ways with them, heading towards the park.
"Bye!" They call back, walking down the street together. I stand there for a moment, watching them dwindle into the distance and feeling Atlas tug on the end of my leash. I finally turn around and continue on my way towards the park, in the cold New York air.
~~~
I sit on the comfy couch in my warm living room, with my laptop on my lap and Atlas right next to me. It's still dark out, and I rapidly type away, desperate to get my paper done. Atlas stretches his front legs out and yawns as I start on my sixth paragraph, my eyelids growing slightly heavy.
I finally finish my last sentence, and I let out a sigh as I quickly fix my spelling and grammar mistakes before saving it onto my flash drive. With another sigh I close the laptop and get up, flinching as I hear an extremely loud crash. I hear glass shatter and my head flies towards the direction it came from, and I can feel my heart pick up its pace once I see that the crash came from the window in our living room.
A giant, black figure looms several feet ahead of me, and Atlas leaps off of the couch after it. I lunge after him and manage to grab onto his collar and yank him back, and my heart pounds in my chest once the figure turns around. I realize that it's the monster, the same monster from the night after the movies. I freeze, in shock and horror, as the monster looks at me and smiles that hideous smile. I drag Atlas with me and head for the apartment door, trying to get away.
I hear another crash and I flinch, scooping Atlas into my arms and holding him tight. I watch as the Monster tumbles over to the front door, the door I was headed for, and stares straight at me. His forked tongue slithers out of his mouth, and I shiver.
My heart pounds, and I have no idea what to do, and I start to panic. I turn and head for the window he just crashed through, and I end up tripping over one of our end tables, which had been knocked down by the monster. Atlas flies out of my arms, and I scramble to my feet and take off after him, but I feel something cold clench around my ankle.
I'm thrown to the ground and dragged across the floor, and I start to scream and try to kick my way out of the monster's grip. It doesn't work, and instead, I'm rolled harshly onto my back, and the giant, terrifying monster hovers over me. His black, suit like skin appears like black leather, and his fat, pink forked tongue slides back out of his mouth, and he looks down at me, looking like an animal that's just caught its prey.
I shudder and let out another scream, trying to fight my way out, but it's no use. The monster has me trapped, and lets out an ear piercing screech, and I wince and squeeze my eyes shut. I feel tears start to fall, and I already know what going to happen next.
The monster lifts up some, and I continue to struggle to get away. He reaches up his giant, muscular arm, and lets out another screech. He smashes his hand down, and everything goes black.
Until I open my eyes.
I fly up in my bed, with my heart pounding and fat tears rolling down my cheeks. My back is drenched in sweat, along with my forehead. It takes me a minute to realize that I'm trembling all over, and I pull my knees to my chest and begin to rock slowly. Tears come and they don't stop, and I practically gasp for air as I weep in my dark room.
A sliver of light from the city stretches into my room through my curtain, allowing me to see Atlas look up at me from his spot on the floor. My cheeks feel hot and my eyes feel puffy, and my nose is runny and I can't stop shaking. Atlas gets up and walks over to my bed, resting his head on it. I reach over and pet him slowly, sniffing and taking a deep breath.
It's okay. It's okay. It's okay.
I slowly slide off of my bed, and my legs feel wobbly as I wander over to my dresser and pull out a fresh tee shirt. I slide my own off and wipe at my forehead, slipping the clean one on and sitting back on the edge of my bed. I sigh shakily and slowly lay back down, pulling the covers up over me.
It was so real. It's like he was actually here.
My cheeks feel sticky from the tears, even though they haven't stopped, and I sit up to wipe them and take another deep breath. I crawl back out of bed and open my curtain, looking down onto the once busy street of Queens.
And with that, I crawl back in bed and roll over with my eyes squeezed shut, ready to go back to sleep. But as soon as I close my eyes, I see the monster, hovering over me like he was in my dream. I shiver slightly and sit up, my eyes wide open.
I didn't get any sleep that night.
Author's Note
This chapter sucks, oh my gosh I'm so sorry. I haven't had much time to write and post, and I feel terrible. I'm so sorry!! I hope you enjoyed the chapter anyways, and I hope you have a wonderful day! Thank you for reading!!