Life for Torin Porter was never anything special or extraordinary. She's has had her fair share of ups and downs like any regular person should. As she starts her freshmen year at Midtown Tech with her best friend Peter Parker and their close friend...
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"So far what do we know about this thing?" wonders Torin, sitting on the floor in the corner of Midtown Tech's library. She has her legs propped up vertically with the wall. Her head rests on her blue backpack, and her red curls are spread across it. Snow falls outside, building up as the day goes on. Peter saw something on the news as he was getting ready for school about the potential for a blizzard later in the day. For November in New York City, this is big news. It hardly ever snows in November.
"A spider from a science exhibit about radiation bit us, and it's dead..." Peter twirls a pen in his hand at lightning speed. Torin watches it as if it were being twirled at a slower speed. "We should've taken it..."
Torin snorts, scribbling in her notebook with a blue pen. "You do understand how that sounds, right? Keeping a dead spider so we can study it?"
Peter narrows his eyes. "Well, how else are we gonna get answers?"
"Oscorp sponsored that exhibit. Ask Harry to take us to Oscorp," she offers. "We can ask if we can talk to his dad or something."
Peter leans forward to get a good look at his friend. He stares at her dubiously, challenging her. "You don't think that sounds at all suspicious? Besides, Harry's dad is always busy. What makes you think he's gonna wanna talk to us?"
Torin doesn't glance in Peter's direction, continuing to drag her pen across the lined pages. "If it doesn't work out then we'll do our own research. Or ask someone else at the company. I do think we need to start there."
"What are you drawing?" he wonders, no longer focused on the spider bite. As far as he was concerned this incident hadn't killed him, and he was better now. Stronger, faster, less nerdy-looking. He could climb walls, and he had heighten-senses. He felt great and as far as he could see, this felt like a gift.
Torin turns her notebook to Peter, showing him the drawing of a cartoon dog eating a slice of toast. "It's Toast the Dog."
Peter takes the notebook from his friend, who carefully sits up and watches him. Peter scribbles some words on the corner of the page and then hands it back over to her.
I'll get you this dog one day - Peter
Torin smiles softly, flipping to another page of her notebook. Peter notices that the page is splashed with colors of red and blue. She flips the notes again, trying to find a blank page.
"Wait. What was that?" Peter gestures for Torin to go back to the page with all the color.
"Oh, it...it's nothing, Petey."
Frowning, the boy shakes his head. He and Torin share almost everything with each other. Peter's always seen her drawings. What could be so embarrassing about this drawing? "What? Tor, don't be embarrassed about it. I'm sure it's great."
