Wrong Number, Kid

𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟚

***Peter POV***

I sighed as the teacher walked past my desk, glancing briefly at me and my worksheet, which was finished and laying on my desk, long forgotten due to my interaction with Mr. Business Dude.

"Nice work, Peter." The teacher said, continuing her walk around the room.

A heard someone snicker behind me and glanced back to see Flash and his friends silently laughing at me. Flash scrawled something on a piece of paper and balled it up, chucked it at my head, and went back to laughing.

I quietly unfolded it and smoothed it out so the hastily written words were legible.

See you after class, Penis.

I sighed and shoved the paper in my backpack. I guessed Flash and his gang were gonna jump me again. I went ahead and packed up my stuff, anxiously waiting for the bell to ring.

When it did, I hurriedly stuffed my books in my locker and grabbed the ones I would need for my homework, then walked outside and around the back of the school.

Flash was waiting, as I expected.

When they saw me, their faces lit up with evil delight. I sat my backpack down against the wall and braced myself for the beating I was about to get.

Flash approached me and smirked before punching me in the gut. It was a fairly weak punch, but it still hurt.

When he got little to no reaction, his face twisted in anger. He punched me several times in the stomach, then in the face.

I fake collapsed, which the other boys took as their cue. They all advanced on me and started kicking me repeatedly in the chest and stomach.

By the time they decided I was beaten down enough, I was gasping for breath and curled in the fetal position.

Flash spat on me and walked away laughing. By now, I was gonna miss the next subway, so I picked myself up off the ground, wiped my face, dusted my clothes off, and grabbed my bag.

The walk home wasn't long, but it wasn't pleasant. I decided to stop by Delmar's and get myself a sandwich, since I hadn't eaten lunch and probably wouldn't get dinner.

This was a common occurrence, so I would save my lunch money and get something on the way home to last me until I ate a meager breakfast at school the next day.

I walked in and the bell above the door tinkled lightly.

Mr. Delmar turned to face me and smiled. "Hola, Peter," he said happily. "The usual?"

"Hola, Mr. Delmar. Yes, sir. And squish it down real flat."

As he made the sandwich, I pulled out my phone. I opened the camera app and switched it to the front camera, only to find a rapidly forming bruise on the side of my face.

When Mr. Delmar turned around with my sandwich, I turned my head to the side so he wouldn't see. "Here you go, Peter."

"Thanks, Mr. Delmar," I sat the money on the counter. "See you later!"

When I got home, I quietly shut the door. Aunt May must be in her room passed out. Ever since Uncle Ben died, she's been drinking. She gets mad and take it out on me. She's only hit me a couple times, she usually just yells at me.

I got to my room and climbed out on to the fire escape and started eating my sandwich. I checked on my bruise again and now it covered a large portion of the left side of my face. I cursed quietly under my breath and thought for a second.

Then I opened my message app and went to my chat with Mr. Business Dude.

Peter
hey mr. business dude
i have a weird question

mr. business dude
i'm not... mr. business dude
i'm his friend Nat
i took his phone
but ask away

Peter
okay
so uh
how do i cover up a large bruise on my face?

mr. business dude
omg what happened

Peter
i fell
and hit my face on the sidewalk

mr. business dude
aww sorry
okay do you live with a female

Peter
uhh... yeah???
but idk what that has to do with this

mr. business dude
okay does she wear makeup

Peter
she used to yeah???

mr. business dude
okay so go find her makeup and look for a bottle of something called concealer and then a small little sponge thing shaped like an acorn
then you're gonna put some concealer on the acorn and blot it all over the bruise and blend it in to your normal skin
it'll hurt a little but it works

Peter
okay girls are so weird

mr. business dude
trust me on this
it works i promise

Peter
omg it worked
it's mostly covered now
thanks Nat

mr. business dude
no problem kid :)