› CHAPTER EIGHT ‹
Raleigh knew Peter passed the ATM center on his way to and from school, so he decided that he was gonna meet and confront him there about what happened. He was still angry that Peter had never replied to his texts and deliberately ignored his call requests, but as soon as he neared the accident, all anger faded, and he was left stunned. The news didn't make it look as bad as it was.
The entire ATM building was destroyed. Glass was shattered all over the sidewalk and road, and Mr. Delmar's Deli-Grocery was in the same condition, but light smoke still puffed out of the broken windows and walls. Raleigh didn't know if he was angry or afraid, because just from what he was seeing, he knew Peter could have lost his life. If it wasn't for his calls being canceled seconds after he called him, then he would still be thinking Peter was in a ditch somewhere dead.
However, as he noticed the boy through the crowd of people, the annoyance returned. He pushed through the crowd and marched up to him.
"Parker!" When he got closer, he noticed Ned beside Peter and tried to hold back his burst of fire. He eyed the boy and returned to Peter, who had grown tense and silent. "Can I speak to you?"
Raleigh expected a lot, but he didn't expect Peter's next words.
"Ned knows, Raleigh." Peter sighed. "He saw me come home in my suit."
"You're Aureate!" Ned awed.
"What?" Raleigh furrowed his brows at the boy, thoroughly confused by the name, but then turned to Peter once more. "So you told him about me, too?"
"I told him you knew about me being Spider-Man and then it just..." Peter's voice faded in shame. "...it just slipped."
"It just...slipped?" Raleigh repeated. He goes quiet. "Look that's not what I came here for—" He shoved his finger in Peter's face. "I'm mad at you!"
Peter waved his free hand and gently lowered his friend's finger from his face. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I know you told me to call you, but they were there, and it was already happening. They would have been gone by the time you arrived."
Ned, open mouth, watched the two heroes argue back and forth.
"You could have answered my texts then and at least tell me you were okay!"
"You're right! You're right!" Peter agreed loudly but then hushed again when people looked over. "You're right. I'm sorry."
Raleigh let out a long breath. "Whatever, it's fine."
Peter and Raleigh quieted down, the fire dissipating from Raleigh. The only sound between them was the civilian's conversations about the mess and the police officer's shoes crunching the shattered glass. Ned turned to Peter with a light in his eyes. "Do you lay eggs?"
"No." Peter laughed.
"Can you fly?" Ned turned to Raleigh.
"No, Ned," Raleigh shook his head with a small smile, "I can't fly."
› › › ›
Since Ned was in the now with Peter and Raleigh's secondary identities, he had gone on to bombard both of them with question after question during their shared classes. Raleigh, fortunately, only shared lunch and two classes with Ned, that being physics and gym—which he also had with Peter. During physics, Ned purposely took the seat beside him and would occasionally lean over to ask Raleigh a question about his power. Where did it come from? Can he survive a high fall? Can he explode things—this one, Raleigh was able to answer. He had learned that if he put a large enough volume of power into something, then it wouldn't be able to withstand the pressure leading it to eventually explode.
When physical education came around, Raleigh wanted nothing to do with it. He was already exhausted from having to answer several questions from Ned. He wasn't mad at Ned's curiosity because Raleigh had the same questions when he started experimenting with his powers. He just wished he would give him some space to breathe and to gather his thoughts. And those thoughts didn't get any better as he moved into the gym and found mats scattered around with a television facing the stands. A picture of Captain America was paused on it.
Today was fitness challenge day, which also meant it was time for Raleigh to wish he was sick in bed—something that very-very rarely happens. He moved to the stands and sat on the left side of Peter. Ned was on his right, and Michelle was directly behind Raleigh, but she didn't seem to notice his presence since her nose was in a new book. Coach Wilson counted for the students before starting the video.
"Hi. I'm Captain America." Raleigh put his head into his hands, keeping his elbows on his knees. These videos with Captain America were always uncomfortable for him since he knew Steve personally. "Whether you're in the classroom or on the battlefield..."
"Do you know him too?" Ned asked quietly, but Raleigh still heard.
"Yeah, we met," Peter said. "I stole his shield. Raleigh fought at his side."
"Don't just tell people that so casually." Raleigh hissed. He stabbed his elbow into the boy's rib.
They turned back to the TV. "Today, my good friend, your gym teacher..." Steve motioned to the right, and Coach Wilson waved from the left. "...will be conducting the Captain America Fitness Challenge."
The screen transitioned, and the first exercise popped up: Station I: Sit-Ups.
"Thank you, Captain," Wilson said. "I'm pretty sure this guy's a war criminal now, but whatever. I have to show these videos. It's required by the state. Let's do it."
Raleigh rolled his eyes and moved down the stands. He knew it was usually required to have a partner—Coach Wilson was sometimes lenient on his own rules, though—so Raleigh turned to Michelle as she too moved down the stands with her book at her side.
"Hey, Michelle, want to—"
"No." Michelle deadpanned and continued walking. He noticed the smile on her face as she laid down on the mat. She continued reading.
He noticed Ned and Peter partner up at the sit-up station and decided to take the mat next to them.
"Do you have a partner, Ridley?" Wilson asked as the boy laid his back against the mat.
"No," Raleigh said, and Wilson shrugged. He moved on to make sure everyone else was focused, and Raleigh grinned to himself, proud that he didn't have to search for a partner. He gradually did sit-ups, annoyed when Peter quickly outdid himself, obviously unfocused as Ned continued grilling him for unusual answers.
"What does the Hulk smell like?"
"Shh!" Peter tried.
"I bet he smells nice." Ned continued to say and Peter again tried to hush him. "Is Captain America cool, or is he like a mean, old grandpa?"
"Ned, just, shh, okay?"
Raleigh grinned and stopped mid-sit-up. "Captain Rogers is cool, so don't listen to what other people say. Now can you please stop asking questions before someone overhears you..."
Ned nodded, but then another question blurted out of him. "Hey, can I be your guy in the chair?"
Raleigh quit his sit-ups and laid his back against the cooling mat material. He already felt like his core was burning. Apparently, a few weeks of not running around Queens as his alter ego was enough to weaken him.
Wilson circled back around and praised Peter on his work but scolded Raleigh for just laying still. Peter huffed out to make himself look like he was struggling while Raleigh let out a loud breath to try and get himself moving again.
He didn't realize both Peter and Ned had stopped talking until Ned suddenly yelled.
"Peter knows Spider-Man!"
The entire gym went silent, and Raleigh slipped out of the sit-up and fell onto his back. With his mouth agape, he turned to Peter and Ned, finding Ned looking where Liz and her friends were sitting. Peter turned bright red, resembling a deer in headlights.
"No, I don't." Peter tried to fix the situation, but with over a dozen people looking at him, he struggled. "No. I—I mean—"
He got up and waved his hands at Liz, before rubbing them.
"They're friends!" Ned said once more.
Raleigh sat up and glared at him. "Ned!"
"Yeah, like Coach Wilson and Captain America are friends," Flash said, jumping down from the rope climbing station. He moved over to them.
Peter shrugged nervously, his eyes never leaving Liz's. "I've met him, yeah. A couple of times." He swallowed a large lump in his throat. "But it's... through the Stark internship." He hummed. "Yeah, well, I'm not really supposed to talk about it." He turned to Ned with a sharp look at those last words.
"Well, that's awesome." Flash continued walking over, his voice loud, essentially to continue to humiliate Peter for his own amusement. "Hey, you know what? Maybe you should invite him to Liz's party. Right?"
"Yeah, um, I'm having people over tonight," Liz said softly, "you're more than welcome to come."
"You should totally invite your personal friend Spider-Man." Flash grinned.
"It's okay," Liz said and leaned her head into her hand, "I know Peter's way too busy for parties anyway, so..."
But Flash didn't stop. "Come on. He'll be there. Right, Parker?"
Raleigh grit his teeth, and without thinking, he got up from his spot and stood beside Peter. "Peter can always try, but I doubt someone like Spider-Man could find time to come to a party. I mean, he's a busy person," he awkwardly waved a fist around, "you know, helping people, stopping crime... doing things?"
Making things even more uncomfortable, he put his arm around Peters shoulders and smiled anxiously at Flash, who was more than amused. Luckily, the bell rang, saving them all from another minute of embarrassment as people were quick to leave the gymnasium to change their clothes.
Raleigh closed his eyes, trying to calm down his anxious heart, but when he felt Peter throw his arm off from around him, he opened his eyes to find the boy holding his face and pulling at his hair. He turned to Ned with a seething glare.
"What are you doing?!"
"Helping you out," Ned whispered back quietly. "Did you not hear her? Liz has a crush on you!" Peter tried to find words but couldn't, and even Raleigh wasn't sure what to say. "Dude, you're an Avenger. If anyone of us has a chance with a senior girl, it's you."
"What about me?!" Raleigh called as Ned walked off. "Wouldn't I have a chance?" He chased after Ned. "Come on, Ned, what about me?!"