INVISIBLE | P. PARKER

THIRTEEN

THIRTEEN;
BACK TO SCHOOL

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SOMETHING WAS WRONG, and Cassie noticed that the moment she got off Tony's car. Maybe because of the way students glared at her, or how everyone stopped dead in their tracks to point at her, or how Peter was looking at her with a surprised expression on his features. Either way, her stomach flipped at the sudden attention she was receiving. She felt... visible.

"Hey." Peter looked down at her, the brunette sent him confused glare. "Mr. Stark didn't tell me he was going to drop you off."

"He didn't." Cassie shortly explained, turning to look at Happy Hogan. "He was supposed to, but he didn't."

"Oh."

"Why is everyone looking at me like I have three eyes?" The brunette frowned, letting her eyes scan the crowded halls and letting the unwelcoming feeling of anxiety take over her again.

"Maybe because everyone thought you were dead." The teen shrugged, shoving his hands inside the pockets of his jeans. Cassie smiled and placed the hoodie in her head, like she always did.

"What about you?" They both stopped in front of his rusty locker. "You thought I was dead?"

"Of course not." Peter shook his head rigorously, his chestnut eyes looking back and forth from her to the books in his locker.

Cassie smiled, "I didn't think you would." She crossed her thin arms over her chest and Peter sent her a small smile.

"How did Mr. Stark manage to place you back? You lost almost a year." The boy asked, closing his locker.

"You said it yourself. He's Tony Stark." They laughed, walking along the other students. "How are you, by the way? You look terrible, not to be rude." She quickly added, making the boy laugh shortly.

"It's alright." He nodded with a small smile. "Aunt May freaked out when she saw me, but she eventually came around."

"Parker charm?" The brunette teased as they both entered the classroom where it all began.

"More like nephew charm." Peter corrected with a small smile, taking a seat on his usual desk next to hers. "Did you bring your cards?"

"Who do you think you're talking to?" Cassie smirked. "Of course I did." She kneeled down to take a new deck of white cards from the maroon backpack. "You in?"

Peter smiled. "Always." The teen replied.

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Cassie really wanted to push the negative thoughts aside as she strode next to Peter in the hallways. She placed her hoodie over her head and shoved her cold hands deep inside the pockets of her sweatshirt, but she never stopped listening to what the teen genius had to say.

Both teenagers walked into the almost full classroom that was soon filled with their contagious laughter. Cassie placed her backpack in the floor and sat in the wooden desk next to Peter's, like they always did in every class.

The class continued calmly, the girl was forced to remove the hoodie, and she and Peter shared several notes in the middle of the boring class. It felt like old times.

Cassie smiled at her friend as she scribbled the words from the white board in front of her, until something happened.

What am I doing here?

Am I seriously going to need this in my future?

I wonder what Flash is doing right now...

I hate Spanish class

Mrs. Rivera can fuck off

How the hell Harding managed to come back?

She looks horrible

"Stop it." She hissed under her breath, her small arms held her head as she breathed heavily.

Everything was a blur. The voices in her head managed to get on every nerve of her body and forced her to place the hoodie back in her head. In anxious movements, she tapped the pen over the wooden material, but the noise made her more and more paranoid just like the voices inside her mind.

What the hell is she doing?

Screw this

She's a freak

Freak

She's insane

What the hell

Now she's bleeding

Is she possessed?

Shaking, Cassie managed to stand up from the rusty desk and run out of the tumultuous classroom, not caring about the confused glares the students were sending her. It seemed like everywhere she went, the voices followed her. She was losing her mind, and that terrified her.

Her hand instantly pushed the girl's restroom door and walked to the lavatories, where she stood face to face with herself, still, she felt like it was a complete stranger.

"They're not real." She whispered to herself, shakily throwing water to her face to try and clean the blood coming out of her nostrils. "Calm down, Cassandra." She lowered her head, letting her dark eyes follow the trace of the blood on the sink.

"Cassie?" Peter's voice startled her, forcing her to look up to meet his face through the reflection of the mirror. "What's wrong?"

"I–I don't know." Her shoulders shook, and so did her body. She felt like she wasn't in control of herself, like she would lose her mind at any moment.

I need to call Mr. Stark

"Don't." The brunette exhaled, turning around to directly meet his eyes. "Don't call him."

"How did you–" He frowned, stepping closer. "Cassie, I–I need to tell him. He needs to know about this."

"What if he thinks I'm crazy?" She questioned, anxiously pacing around the empty room. Peter exhaled and took a piece of paper in his hands. "I'm not crazy, Peter. I swear, these voices– they are real. I promise you, I'm not insane." His long fingers took her chin and forced to look directly at his chestnut eyes.

"I don't think you're insane." He whispered, cleaning the red substance on her face. "You're just broken."