Marvel's Spider-Man Season 2

Christmas Vacation Part 1: You'll Web-Shoot Your Eye Out

December 18th
Scott dashed down the hallway, making a beeline straight for the doors. Unfortunately, someone walked directly into his path, and even Scott's superhuman reflexes weren't enough to stop the inevitable collision. Thankfully, he did manage to slow down, which meant he didn't hit Anya quite so hard.

"Sorry," Scott apologized quickly, pushing himself to his feet, and then offering Anya his hand, "I wasn't watching where I was going."

The hispanic girl grabbed the boy's extended hand and pulled herself up, almost effortlessly, "Don't worry about it. What were you rushing off to do, anyways?"

Scott sighed, "My family's flying in on Christmas Eve, so I have to massively clean up my apartment and fix enough food for six people's Christmas Dinners. Not to mention buying presents, decorating my apartment, end-of-semester tests, and work, which will only take up more time around the holidays. Basically, I'm swamped until Christmas is over," the boy shrugged, a small, tired smile appearing on his lips, "but, hey, I signed up for it all. No use in complaining."

Anya laughed, "It's just like you to put way too much on your plate. Figuratively and literally."

Scott rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah..." Scott's eyes suddenly went wide as saucers, "Crap! I forgot my dinner in my lab! Sorry Anya, I've gotta run!"

The Michigander dashed back the way he'd come, dodging other students who were in his way.

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From a technical standpoint, TV-Shed being this busy was a good thing. It meant the store was getting lots of income, which meant Mr. McDougall needed employees, which meant Scott still had a job. At the moment, however, Scott didn't care what the technical side of his brain was thinking. For the past four hours he'd dealt with an almost-endless stream of customers after an extremely busy day at school and a late night fighting crime. In summary, Scott was running on empty, and he still had two more hours before he was off work. Thankfully it was nearing the end of the day, so most people were at home, eating dinner, getting ready for the holidays, and going to bed. Oh, how Scott envied them.

Next to him, Liz Allen worked the cash register with unrelenting vigor, not seeming tired in the least. At long last, there was no one lined up at the register or to ask Scott for help. The Horizon student moaned and slid down the counter until he was sitting on the floor with his back against the half-wall that separated the area with customers from the mystical land known as 'behind the counter.' Liz looked down at him, concerned about his unusual lack of energy.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked, "You look exhausted and we still have two hours left until the store closes."

"Don't remind me," Scott groaned, grabbing the counter and pulling himself to his feet, "And after that I still have to clean up my apartment before I go to bed. I'll be lucky if I get four hours of sleep."

"What's the occasion?"

"My family's flying over to visit for Christmas. I'd ask my friends to help, but I know they've got a bunch of stuff to do over the holidays, too," Scott shook his head vigorously from side to side, as if trying to keep himself awake and aware, "But I made the bed, now I'm gonna hafta lie down in it, no use in complaining."

"You know, if you really need help, I'd be willing to," Liz offered, "You've fixed and even upgraded my family's stuff more times than I can count. Consider this me paying my debts."

"Oh, no. You don't ha-"

"I know I don't," Liz smiled, "I want to. Like I said, you help me all the time and get nothing in return. It's about time I did something for you."