xxviii. upstate

1.3K 81 2
                                    

CHAPTER XXVIII
upstate








CHAPTER XXVIIIupstate

Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.










NEW YORK, USA — 2017



"CONGRATULATIONS, decathlon national champions."

As Mr. Harrington spoke, he approached the team, carefully placing the decathlon competition trophy onto the table. He took a seat with his students, everybody clapping at the announcement.

After a while, everybody surrounding the table stopped clapping and cheering, the room going completely silent.

"I'm gonna have to put this back in the trophy case soon." Mr. Harrington told. "But, just for motivation right now at this practice. I'm a little ahead of the game, but we will need a new team captain next year."

The decathlon team did indeed need a new team captain next year. Liz was originally the captain, but she had moved out of the state after her father, who was the bird guy, was arrested.

"So, I am appointing Michelle."

Michelle's head shot up as everybody glanced over at her. They all began clapping and cheering once again, each of them smiling.

As the clapping and cheering had slowly begun to calm down, Michelle glanced between everybody awkwardly, her lips tugging into a slight smile.

"Uh, thank you." She stated. "But, my friends call me MJ."

"I thought you didn't have any friends." Ned commented.

"I didn't."

And with those words, Peter's cell phone began to vibrate. He pulled it out from his pockets, glancing down at the lit-up screen, seeing that he had gotten a text from somebody.

"We, uh- We gotta go."

As Peter spoke, he suddenly gripped onto Noah, who was sat right next to him. He was about to drag Noah to the side, as if he wanted to have a conversation with him or something like that.

Noah just glared over at Peter, an eyebrow cocked upwards. He was confused as to why Peter had just grabbed onto him without a single warning.

Although, before Peter could even drag Noah to the side, Michelle had decided to interrupt the duo.

"Hey, where are you guys going?" She asked.

Peter glanced around, his gaze awkwardly fallen upon Michelle only moments later. His lips parting, he continued to hold onto Noah's hand, their fingers intertwined.

Noah, on the other hand, was still completely confused. He glanced between Peter and Michelle, blinking rapidly but awkwardly.

Then, Michelle leaned forwards. She crossed her arms, placing them onto the wooden table. She tilted her head to the side, glaring between Noah and Peter.

"What are you two hiding?" She asked.

Peter and Noah just glared at her question, thinking that she had somehow figured out about their secret identities, causing them to grow panicked.

She snorted, slumping back into her chair. She couldn't bare herself but to laugh at their sudden reactions.

"I'm just kidding." She chuckled. "I don't care. Bye."

Then, Peter and Noah just glanced at each other after that conversation. They were stunned, their bodies frozen in place for a few moments.

"Alright, so we should run some drills." Michelle told the rest of the team.

"Yeah." Ned agreed.

Eventually enough, Peter stood up, pulling Noah up along the way. They both began to walk out of the classroom altogether, leaving the rest of the decathlon team all by themselves.

Once they were both officially out of the classroom, Peter began to drag Noah somewhere else, both of them walking throughout the empty hallways of the school.

Noah leaned into Peter closely. He gently placed a hand onto Peter's shoulder, his grip tight and his face etched with confusion. He had no idea what was even going on.

"What are you even doing?" He whispered.

Instead of giving Noah a fair response, Peter had dragged him into the boys bathrooms, only to make him even more puzzled and confused than beforehand.

Eventually enough, they both fully entered the boys bathrooms, both of them glancing around, only to see Happy standing right before their eyes.

Happy was facing the blurry window, wearing a suit, which he always seemed to wear for whatever reason. He quickly heard the footsteps of the two teenagers, turning around.

Peter and Noah both halted within their tracks. They both continued to hold onto each other, their fingers still intertwined together.

"Hey, Happy." Peter stammered. "What, uh- What are you doing here?"

"I really owe you one." Happy stated. "You too, Noah."

Noah was surprised that Happy even knew who he was. Maybe Tony had told Happy about him? Or maybe Happy had just seen Noah's face during that facetime call with Ned?

"I don't know what I would do without this job." Happy told. "I mean, before I met Tony-"

Then, all of a sudden, one of the toilets began to surprisingly flush, interrupting the conversation between the group of three altogether.

Only moments later, a young teenage boy stepped out from one of the stalls. He paused for a moment, glaring at the trio with concern.

He walked past though, making his way towards the sink. He turned the tap on in order to wash his hands, turning it off once he was done.

Awkwardly, Noah, Peter and Happy just glared between each other and the younger boy, unsure if they should continue on with the conversation in front of a random kid.

The boy then pulled out a paper towel from nearby, gently drying his hands with it. Then, he walked past Noah and Peter, putting the paper towel in the bin on his way out.

The three eventually looked back at each other once the younger kid had finally left the bathrooms.

"So, uh, how long you been here?" Peter nervously asked.

"Long enough to be awkward." Happy stated. "Boss wants to see you both."

Boss? As in Tony? Noah seemed relaxed on the inside, but he was honestly fangirling on the inside. Yeah. He wasn't a big fan of Tony. But, when Tony wanted to be involved with Noah, he was always honoured.

Peter, on the other hand, glanced over at Noah with excitement. He then looked back at Happy, pointing to another stall, which was locked.

"Is he here too?" He whispered.

Happy raised his eyebrows at Peter's question. He began to point his pointer finger towards the locked up stall, too.

"In the toilet?" He said. "No, he's upstate."

Noah almost snorted at that response. He definitely would've rather wanted Tony to be in that stall. It would've been much more entertaining to say the least.

"Upstate? Like, 'upstate' upstate?" Peter questioned.

"Yeah, let's go."

And with those firm words, Happy just strutted past the two teenage boys, both of them steadily following from behind only moments later.

【 discontinued 】MUTANT • peter parkerWhere stories live. Discover now