Veins and Wires // Peter Parker

Kooks and Bitterness

MJ and I sat on the stairs of our hotel, her at the bottom and me a few steps above, with the rest of our class discussing today's events and searching for any new information about the new hero.

I leaned back on the step behind me as I looked at my classmates from below, talking and exchanging theories about the new hero. I rolled my eyes at them, still bitter about the fight. It wasn't like I didn't want to share the spotlight but being completely ignored and shoved aside was excruciatingly aggravating.

"It's aliens. It has to be," Ned proposed, looking at his computer.

"BuzzFeed says there's a sailor named Morris Bench who was exposed to an experimental underwater generator and got hydro powers," Flash recited from the article on his phone.

"Yeah, you should definitely believe everything you read on the Internet," MJ snarked raising an eyebrow.

"Especially Buzzfeed: the most reliable news source out there," I spoke up, equally as sarcastic.

"Spider-Man could take him," Flash added randomly. I didn't know Flash was a fan.

"What do you think it is?" I heard Mr. Harrison ask Mr. Dell as they were busy watching the news cover the fight.

"Being a man of science, witches."

"I know. Love you. Bye," I looked down from the stair rails at Peter who got off the phone with May before crossing his arms and leaned on the doorframe of the hall he was in.

"Who is that guy?"

"He's like Iron Man and Thor rolled into one," Brad chimed in with his eyes glued to the TV screen. I had no idea how that boy got that combination.

"He's all right. He's no Spider-Man," Flash bragged again confidently.

"What is it with you and Spider-Man?" MJ demanded with a raised eyebrow.

"What? He's just awesome, okay? He protects the neighborhood with a super hot Avenger. He's inspiring. He inspires me to be a better man," he shot back rather passionately, surprising me. Until he spotted Peter in the doorframe and nodded to him. "What's up, dickwad? Thought you drowned."

"Wow Flash, I didn't know you had a crush on Spider-Man and Circuit! I always just thought you were obsessed with yourself but you really surprised me today," I retorted making him glare at me and turn back to the TV. Peter and I shared a satisfied look before turning back to the screen.

"Sounds like his name's Mysterio," Brad noted, looking up at the tv.

"L'uomo del Misterio" is Italian for "man of mystery. It's not a nickname, they just don't know who he is," I corrected making Brad smile like I just had said the most interesting thing in the world.

"Mysterio," Ned mused softly.

"Cool name," Ned and Beth expressed in unison

"Babe!" They both smiled in unison as I stared at them, secretly hoping Peter and I weren't like that when we started dating.

"So how much of that did you see?" I asked MJ curiously, looking down at her.

"Not much. I was running," she answered, giving me a weird look as she turned to me.

"Right. Me too. I was also running away. Very terrifying," I lied, nodding my head in hopes to be less awkward.

"So Paris tomorrow," Peter spoke up making me peer down at him through the rail. "Go to the Eiffel Tower. Should be great," he said nervously, glancing up at me.

"Yeah, I read it was secretly built as a mind-control antenna to create an army of the insane," MJ claimed and I gave her a look.

"I thought you said don't believe everything you read?" I poked, raising an eyebrow.