Peter bid Aunt May goodbye before leaving for school, the sunrise over Queens a soft mixture of early morning orange and late night blue. He put his earbuds in and headed quickly for the bus, scarfing down a granola bar on the way.
With one of his favorite songs playing in his ears and a Spanish vocabulary list memorized in his head, Peter assumed that today was going to be a good day. He was going to hang out with Ned, a Harry Potter movie or two, and a couple of sandwiches from Delmar's after school - and after some crime fighting. Overall a normal, easy day.
As soon as he thought that, sending Ned a quick text as a reminder, he felt his spidey sense start to tingle. Buzz. Buzz. He groaned, his head falling back as he listened for a brief moment. If he was lucky, it would be something easy, like a kid lost in a crowd or an old man too afraid to cross the street alone.
He was already darting off towards an alley when he heard a woman's scream, clear as day.
...
You groaned loudly as you were thrown against a dumpster, feeling your forehead collide with the lid. Gross and also ow, you thought, falling on your back, your elbows scraping against a metal fence.
Your attacker - also, who the heck attacks someone in plain daylight? - wasted no time to grab you by your backpack straps and lift you up, carelessly slamming you against the fence.
"Stay still, cutie, and let me get what I want," a voice said. The breath smelled stale and like old cigarettes. You grimaced at the smell, hearing the main part of your backpack open. He tore through your new notebooks and folders, cursing when he came up empty handed. He moved on to the next pocket. Calmly, you fished around in the pocket of your sweats for the tiny bottle of pepper spray you kept.
Moving your fingers at a snail's pace, you knew he was tearing into the final section of your backpack, where your wallet was. If he got to it, he would take the three twenties you had inside and you could say goodbye to the three books you'd been meaning to purchase this weekend.
The man chuckled. No doubt he had his grimy fingers on your wallet now. "Well look what we've got-"
"You know, the easiest way to make some cash is to get a job," a new voice said, much younger than the cigarette smoking weirdo pinning you against the fence. "That way doesn't result in getting tossed in the slammer."
You peeked over the guy's turned head and saw a suit of red and blue. You snorted slightly. So Spider-Man was real. Your step cousin wasn't bluffing.
He stepped forward. "Now, I'm gonna have to ask you to hand over this young-"
"Keep moving, junior," you grumbled.
"Lady," he finished. Despite not seeing his face, you could sense the defeat. "But you - aren't you - a damsel in distress?"
You nearly scoffed at the term. "I'm a damsel," you continued, pulling out your pepper spray, "I'm in distress... I can handle this. Have a nice day." Then you sprayed the man in the face.
He roared in pain, eyes screwing shut and hands flying to his face, allowing you to finally breathe without his body against you. You released a breath and sucked in some clean air.
You closed your backpack. "Well, thanks for the distraction, Spider-Boy."
"S-Spider-Man," stuttered the masked hero.
"Right," you said. "Thanks. Are you gonna call the cops or am I?"
"Don't matter," he mumbled. You shrugged and put your backpack on your shoulders, walking around the two. "Hey, wait! Are you sure you're okay? You don't want me to walk you to wherever you're going?"
"I'll be alright," you said, turning around. "I'm a big, tough girl. I tie my own shoes and everything." You laughed a little. "I brought my pepper spray for a reason. It's my first full day living in Queens. We're off to a good start, huh?" You snorted. "My mom and dad sent me off to live with my uncle and his new wife and kids. Luckily they gave me pepper spray or I'd be sixty dollars short."
Spider-Man crossed his arms and leaned towards fence, trying to casually pose. He miscalculated the distance and panicked last second, his shoulder slamming against the fence. He recovered fast. "I-I, uh, would have stopped him," he said, clearing his throat. His voice cracked.
You smiled. "You're cute," you said.
You couldn't see his face to know how he responded to that. But the whites of his mask widened and shifted away just as a bus sped by. Spider-Man cursed loudly and webbed the criminal up, already climbing up the wall. Like it was his bus he missed.
"'Kay," you called out. "Nice to meet you too!" You rolled your eyes and pulled out your phone, dialing 911.
...
Peter strode into first period late, ducking his head as he interrupted the teacher giving a lecture. Luckily, all he got was a stern, "Mr. Parker, how nice of you to join us this morning" with which Flash Thompson let out a low ooh and tried to trip him as he made his way down the aisle. Luckily Peter caught himself before he made his life more embarrassing.
He hurried to the back lab table. Ned lifted his goggles from his face and leaned over. "Where were you?" he hissed.
"Sorry," he mumbled, grabbing his goggles. "I got sidetracked."
"We're still hanging out tonight, right?" whispered Ned. "Tony Stark doesn't need you for some super secret mission to space to retrieve the Death Star plans?"
"No, you nerd," Peter replied.
The door opened. In stepped someone with small footsteps. Then, a voice that he recognized at once.
"E-Excuse me," you said, your voice trailing off in a whisper, as if that would disturb the class and teacher less. "Is this Biology I? I think I walked in the wrong class already. I was down the hall."
"You must be ___ ____," the teacher said. "I was wondering when you'd show up. Now... we don't have anyone here without a partner already, but-"
For some reason, Peter's hand shot straight up, pencil raised. "U-Uh she can sit here, if she'd like," he said, and he realized that you wouldn't find it as anything but strange, considering you had no idea it was him that attempted to save you. "Ned and I won't mind."
Ned shot him a look as if he definitely would mind.
"Well, okay then. That was easy. Have a seat over there with Ned Leeds and Peter Parker. Thank you, gentlemen."
You smiled kindly, a tinge of pink in your cheeks as you walked to the back of the room. Peter pulled a stool up to the end of the table, right next to him. As you sat, you gave two quick nods.
"Peter and Ned, right?" you said under your breath. They nodded. "I'm ___," you continued, although the teacher had already said your name.
"Welcome to Midtown," Ned whispered.
"Thanks," you said.
Peter picked at the cap eraser on his pencil, thinking bashfully about how pretty you were. If he was honest, that was the first thing he noticed when he got a good look at your face in the alley. The second thing he noticed was how amazing you were to fearlessly spray the guy in the face with pepper spray. On your first day in the city, no less.
He made a mental note to tell all to Ned. Jeez, you were amazing.
After class, which was a lot of reading the textbook out loud and jotting down noted from the board, you glanced down at your schedule. Peter looked at it too, silently praying he had the next class with you.
Yes! P.E. was right there on your schedule.
"I'm sure you know where the gym is," he said, grabbing his book off the desk, "but Ned and I would he happy to walk you there."
"Really?" you asked, tilting your head in disbelief. "Wow, you guys are so nice."
"It's nothing," Peter said.
Ned glanced at him. He knew it definitely was something.
In the hallway, you walked next to Peter, who walked next to Ned. "So how brutal is gym here?" you asked. "It killed me at my old school."
"I think we're playing kickball today," Ned said. "Usually it's a bunch of sit ups and Captain America fitness films."
"Fitness films with Captain America?" you asked. "New York is weird." You scoffed. "I mean, it's my first day and I've already met one superhero and now I get to watch videos of another in class."
Ned shot Peter a look, his lips scowling up. He shook his head and rolled his eyes, knowing now that his friend was crushing on the new girl. "You met a hero, huh?" he asked. You nodded. "Must be your lucky day. Which one?"
"Spider-Boy," you said. "Or man. Anyway, he comes off with this big, strong Avenger routine, but I can see through that in a quick minute." You snapped your fingers. "He can't be any older than me or you. Or maybe he his, and his voice cracks like that just because."
Peter's face went red. "Maybe he was nervous," he said.
"Maybe," you agreed, smiling. "I don't know. He was cute though."
"Peter knows Spider-Man," Ned blurted as Peter opened the doors to the gym.
Peter glared at him. "Dude!" he snapped. "That's... that's classified stuff!"
"Classified?" you asked. "Spider-Boy is classified?"
"N-no, just... I am in this internship at Stark Tower so I sort of know Spider-Man but Ned isn't supposed to just tell anybody," he said, punching Ned in the arm at the end of his sentence, teeth clenched.
"Oh. Well, your secret is safe with me," you said, shrugging. "I don't know many people anyway. So thanks for taking me in, guys. That was cool of you. I would have felt stupid if I didn't have a lab partner at all, and now I've got two."
"Peter is always helping people," Ned said. "He's like a superhero without the suit. Just a skinny loser version."
Peter gave him a weird look while you giggled. "Thanks, man."
"You're both cute," you said. "I guess I'll see you after I talk to the coach or whatever and get my uniform." You waved. "See ya out there."
"Later," Ned said.
"See ya," Peter said, voice cracking again. He gulped, face red with embarrassment. Jeez, puberty lasted forever.
...
As you slipped your brand new Midtown tee on over your head, listening to the teenage girls gossip as they tied their hair up and lathered on deodorant, you couldn't help but think about how the sound rising out of Peter's throat and breaking his words was a little too familiar.