Spiderman Oneshots

The one from Tennessee (1)

Harley desperately needed a fresh start. In a small neighbourhood like his, nobody forgot anything. When he was a child, telling everyone that Iron Man had been in his garage had made him the coolest person around - until they got a bit older and decided it was way too far-fetched to be true. He'd been labelled as the attention seeker, the liar - and labels stick. It had been years, and Harley had next to no friends. But his mom said he had to finish school first, then he could run away to a far off university and never think about her again. He hated it when she guilt-tripped him like that.

"Harley! Where's my iPod???" That was his little sister. She hadn't believed his fanciful tale about Iron Man either, even going so far as to tell her friends that the whole thing was a cover for him breaking her favourite watch. He sometimes thought it was her fault that nobody took him seriously anymore, but nothing good lay down the path of blame. So most of the time he tried to ignore her, which was getting harder and harder now that she'd hit her teenage years. "HARLEYYYY!"

"I DIDN'T TOUCH YOUR IPOD!" Harley yelled back.

"HARLEY! DON'T YELL AT YOUR SISTER!" their mom yelled up the stairs. "HONEY, YOUR IPOD IS IN THE KITCHEN."

"THANKS MOM."

"SORRY!" Harley sighed and finished packing his overnight bag before saying goodbye and heading out for school. He just had to finish this term, then he could go to New York at study at MIT or something. But before that, he had to make it through this week.

"You excited, Keener?" Tyler jeered from the back seat of the bus, throwing bits of rubbish from the floor at the back of Harley's head.

Just one more term. Make it through the week.

"You'll have to introduce us to your best bud Tony Stark!" Amelie snickered. "Remember that, everyone?"

"Oh, shove off," Cam said as they got onto the bus and made a beeline for the seat beside Harley. "That was years ago, you'd think you'd have come up with something better to insult people with. You don't hear me mentioning every five minutes how you used to use a potty, do you?"

"Like anyone actually cares," Amelie muttered, but sat back in her seat. Cam and Harley weren't exactly friends, per say, but they were the ones that nobody else was friends with, which meant they often ended up sat together or partnered for projects. Not that Cam minded - they were more than happy to live life in a book.

What Harley wouldn't give for one real friend in here.

No sooner had the bus arrived at the school then Harley and some others were herded onto a different bus. They were the 'special', 'talented' kids - Harley, Cam, Amelie and four others.

"Great," the teacher said as she finished the register and the bus started moving. "Thanks for getting organised so fast, everyone. I'm just going to run through some ground rules now, because I appreciate it's a long flight to New York and you don't want to listen to me droning on during it. First of all, this is an amazing opportunity and I want to congratulate you all on getting invited. The competition only lasts three days, but we'll be staying for the week so you will have plenty of time to take in the sights of the city once it's over. Remember, there will be participants from every state, so please be respectful and make the most of the experience, don't feel pressured to win."

The teacher went on to safety rules, and had only just finished the long list of things they were absolutely not allowed to do under any circumstances when they pulled up outside the airport. One chaotic hour later, they were on a plane, taking off on their way to New York.

Cam must have noticed Harley's glum face, because they slid into the seat beside him and buckled up. "Hey, cheer up. At least after this you'll be able to actually say you met him." They pulled out a book.