~Iron Family~

Notes

Peter jolted awake, gasping for breath and holding back a scream. He was drenched in sweat, heart pounding. He felt as if he'd just run a marathon. He'd had another dream about Aunt May and the car accident, but there had been a random leaf blower in the background.

He realized the 'leaf blower' was actually Arnwaldo's snores. They were so loud, they sounded fake.

The time on his phone read 4:04. He slowly rolled over, stretching his stiff muscles. He wanted to go out as Spider-Man and get some fresh air, but since it was his first night here, he didn't want to risk it. He didn't know how things went--they could have a strict wake-up time of five AM.

That's unlikely.

Rain was still falling, although it was quieter now and the lightning was gone.

He rolled up his sleeping back and placed it in a corner by a laundry hamper, knowing he wouldn't fall back asleep. He balled up the blanket and placed it at the foot of Kayla's bed. She was sprawled all over the place, mouth open and hair spread over her pillow. One of her barrettes had fallen out.

Billy looked more peaceful, his little hand resting overtop of an old orange stuffed monkey. He had taken out his hearing aids and placed them on the bedside table fitted between the bunks.

Very slowly, Peter turned the doorknob and slipped out into the hallway. It was chillier in the hall, and he wished he had grabbed his second pair of socks from Ben's suitcase while he had been in the room.

Snoring that was even louder than Arnwaldo's came from behind the door at the end of the hall on the opposite side. Probably Bernard, but it could've been Miranda. Peter was willing to believe anything in this house by now.

He took one step downstairs when he remembered they were loud. A huge creak echoed through the hallway, causing the loud snores to pause. Peter held his breath, but after a moment they resumed.

He breathed a sigh of relief and carefully used the banister to hoist himself up and touch the ceiling. As soon as his hand made contact, he pulled himself into the air and clung to the white surface, blinking at the upside-down world.

Peter carefully crawled down the sloped surface over the stairs, biting his lip in concentration. One false move and he'd get ceiling dust all over the floor and in his hair. How would he explain that?

When he reached the foyer, he slowly dropped down from the ceiling and tiptoed into the dining room. Coming at it from a different angle, Peter noticed two tall and narrow bookshelves against the side wall. They were crammed with all sorts of junk and toys, the only books appearing to be magazines with MIRANDA scribbled across the covers.

He quietly sat down at the table and pulled out his phone.

Sure enough, like he had been worried about, he was spammed with messages.

He had 99+ notifications, with texts from Mr. and Mrs. Leeds, MJ, Mr. Delmar, and, of course, Ned. He also had messages from a surprising number of his classmates and teachers, which made him think school had started yesterday and Ned had told everyone. How embarrassing.

Ned had texted too much for his distracted mind to focus on, so he read the last few.

Im just so so happy you're back i didnt mean to spam you. That was the worst 6 months of my life! Are u coming to school? Please tell me ur coming to school :D

Peter sighed. Ned wouldn't like this.

Sorry, Ned, he typed, but I have to be enrolled in the public school bc my foster family won't wanna pay tuition to msst. We can still hang out tho!