I woke up to the familiar smell of Felicia's blankets and started to smile, before remembering what happened. The smile dropped from my face in an instant, and tears brimmed in my eyes. Drying them, I sat up and trudged out of bed, walking into the living room to turn on the TV.
"Local resident, Felicia Hardy, died as the result of a head on collision, her sister Gwendoline Hardy only living relative-" I turned off the TV, glaring at the spot where my face had been, before going back to my room to get dressed. I wore all black, as custom when in mourning, (though it wasn't much different from my normal outfit) wearing one of Felicia's plain black oversized hoodies. I put on my headphones, and let my Spotify playlist play. Everybody knows by Sigrid started playing, as I grabbed my stuff. I opened the door to see a small package there, along with the news. I picked up both items, and set them on the kitchen counter, neglecting the package for now.
"Car crash claims three, Felicia Hardy, Vanessa Fisk, and her son Richard." I read aloud. I'd don't bother to pause my music and House of Memories by Panic! At The Disco played as I walked out the door locking it behind me. I walked down the hall to the stairs, pulling my hood over my earphones and head before shoving the stairwell door open. I started down the stairs, staring ahead, trying to steel myself, everyone would either want to offer their pity, or just stare and whisper. Centuries by Fall Out Boy started paying when I was halfway down the stairs from the train station. Once I crossed the football field, went up a mid-sized flight of stairs and walked inside, I could feel everyone's eyes on me, as though I might explode into tears.
To them, I was a walking bomb, ready to blow at any moment. Everyone stared, falling silent when I passed. I made it all the way down to my locker (1182) before whispered conversations started up again.
'Stare and whisper it is...' I thought grimly, opening my locker. I put my stuff away and walked to my first period class, Physics. When the bell rang I took my usual seat as our teacher cleared her throat. I could hear some of what people were whispering, and tidbits of conversation about my father's trial reached my ears, confirming my earlier suspicions.
"Morning class, today we're going to be continuing our work on calculating linear acceleration" I let her drone on, not paying attention. I had already finished my homework and one extra credit project, which would leave me at either an A or an A+. I had taken up sketching (something MJ had recommended) and since I had nothing to do I pulled out my black sketchbook, absentmindedly doodling a picture of Ms Warren.
As the day went on my classes blended into each other, the same odd stares and whispers every single class, teachers glancing at me every so often as if waiting for me to break down.
"Alright, today we will be reviewing an experiment on Cause and Effect done by Dr Otto Octavius." after the documentary was done, a good half hour later, our teacher began talking about Cause and Effect.
"Another example of this is a car crash, if two cars are driving down a road and they hit head on, what are the differences between this collision and others such as a t-bone..." I stared ahead blankly, hearing what was being said but not registering the meaning.
"A head-on collision would have a larger chance of being fatal." someone spoke up, and few people began to whisper.
My head was starting to hurt, as my mind made the connection. I put a hand to my temples and managed them, trying to make my sudden headache go away. It was as if my brain had begun the process of scarring the memories over, and now that work was being undone in seconds, causing a resoundingly painful headache.
"Correct, Mr Adams, much like the accident that happened last night-, am I boring you? Mr Parker, Miss Hardy?" Ms Warren asked, and I stood, effectively toppling my desk, and a few people gasped. I picked up my bag which I hadn't bothered to unpack, and stood, mumbling some half-assed excuse about needing to use the restroom.
"That's the girl whose sister died in that car crash." someone explained as the door slammed shut behind me. I walked off down the hall mentally cursing myself out. I didn't know why I thought I could handle going back to school the day after my sister's death.
I stalked through the hallways passing very few people, none of whom tried to stop me. I turned a corner, passing Flash Thompson who was refilling his water bottle. He didn't seem to notice me, too distracted by the fact that his water bottle had just exploded.
I made it to the front office, and signed myself out, and I was halfway to the door when I heard a loud thud followed by a crash.
I put my headphones back on as I walked, letting music play. The sound was a little loud but I didn't bother to turn down the volume. Apparently my phone had been playing music as it had just started playing Lex Luthor's theme from Dawn of Justice (DC wasn't the best but they were the only superhero movies we had, besides the real life ones that is). I was about halfway across the football field and two of the sprinklers had malfunctioned as I passed, spraying water across the field behind me. The violin from the song was so loud in my ears I didn't hear the person coming up behind me so when someone put a hand on my shoulder, I flipped them onto the grass in front of me to glare down at them.
000
I put my hand on Gwen's shoulder to get her to turn around, only for her to flip me over her shoulder. I landed on the grass by her feet, and she glared down at me before her expression softened and she removed her headphones, pausing her music.
"Oh. You're that Parker boy. MJ's friend." she realised, staring at me, before offering her hand for me to take.
"It's fine," I groaned, standing. "Uh, are you ok?" I asked, studying her. She had the hood of her black hoodie pulled up to hide her hair, which was now silver instead of brown, making the many piercings in each of her ears stand out even more. I found silver a strange hair colour choice, I had always liked her hair when it was brown, but silver suited her just as well.
"I'm ok." she lied. Giving me a smile that didn't reach her eyes, and I stared. Her eyes looked exactly like mine had after my parent's death, and I frowned.
"Well, I better get going..." she nodded, looking uncomfortable, before she turned and started to walk away.
"Hey wait!" I yelped, brushing the grass off of my Midtown sweater. I caught up to her, and she gave me a tight lipped stare.
"Don't you have a class to get to Parker?" she asked, folding her arms across her chest and glaring at me. She seemed to stare directly into my soul, reading my deepest secrets like a novel, and I fidgeted.
"I already finished my work for today... Can I at least walk with you on the way home?" I asked, rubbing the back of my neck nervously.
Gwen looked genuinely surprised, before nodding and starting off down the dewy football field. We walked up the stairs to the train station, waiting in silence for the train to arrive. Neither of us said anything for a while and I watched Gwen carefully. Her brown eyes were filled with sadness over their normal mix of happiness and mischief.
"I'm sorry about your sister..." I tentatively began, and she huffed.
"It's fine. I don't need your pity." she interrupted, turning her gaze away from me.
"Ok." I shrugged and she turned back to me to give me a strange look. "What?" I asked.
"Why are you so nice to me?" she asked, staring at me as if searching for some sign I wasn't being genuine. She looked so broken and sad, and yet again she reminded me of how I felt when my mom and dad died. "We've never spoken before."
"Because you deserve it. You're a kind person who shouldn't have to deal with what you're going through alone." I answered, and she stopped; we had arrived.
"You're a strange kid Parker." she smiled, stopping in front of an apartment building.
"I'm the same age as you." I pointed out, before noticing where we were. "You live here too?" I inquired.
"Ah crap." she muttered. I turned to look where she was looking to see two cops stepping out of their car.
"Are you Gwendoline Hardy?" one of them asked; the female cop, removing her sunglasses.
"Yes Ma'am." she answered, her face void of emotion, as the police woman wrote something down on a pad of paper.
"Are you currently living alone?"
"Yes Ma'am."
"Are you aware that-" the woman started, and Gwen shifted nervously, obviously worried she'd lose her apartment.
"My aunt and I check in with her and make sure she's doing well every so often." I blurted out, and the first officer turned to me.
"And what's your name young man." the second officer asked, and the first officer hovered her pen over the paper.
"Peter Parker. Sir." he answered, intimidated by the officers, even though he did their job for them sometimes.
"And your aunt's name?"
"May Parker."
"Ok." the woman turned back to Gwen. "Do you have a job?" she asked, pen hovering over the pad expectantly..
"No but my father only had four payments left on the apartment lease, the last of which my sister paid for two days ago. Look, in her will it says," Gwen had to stop and take a breath before finishing in a quieter tone than before. "In her will it states that all of her possessions and my parents' possessions are to go to me on my Sixteenth Birthday." she said mechanically.
"Well, we're very sorry to bother you young lady. Let us know if you need anything." the man said, handing me and Gwen each a business card. Gwen fiddled with hers, watching as the two officers got back in the car and drove away. Gwen's face was white when I turned to glance at her, and her hands were shaking. I opened my mouth to say something, but, doubting myself, I stayed silent, looking back down at the business card.
After a few more seconds of silence, I turned to ask Gwen if she was ok, but when I looked toward the building the door was already swinging shut.