Us Against The World ｡ Peter Parker [2]

8 - Storm Clouds

Rain was pouring down, washing away any last reminders of our cold months in the city. Ironically enough, the weather matched my mood perfectly. My days had grown glum, my parents not having much luck with the serum and my new found abilities. I had taken my aunt's advice though, writing down every possible detail I could about the visions in a journal, hoping with putting words to paper something might become clearer, but no such luck just yet. With school work piling heavy on my shoulders, it was becoming much harder to keep my thoughts from drifting and hiding the truth from my friends. 

"How'd you go on that Spanish exam?" Gwen Stacy asked, batting her eyelashes as she sucked on her fruit smoothie. We were huddled inside today, the rain keeping all students stuck indoors. Loud chatter filled my ears, making my headache scream a little louder. I knew very well what exam she was speaking about but didn't find comfort in sharing my low score. Lately, my studies had been taking a hit and I was slowly falling behind, something that was not in my nature. 

Peter sat beside me, wearing the blue school sweat shirt, having gym class up next, along with most of us. He was in a good mood, something about Spider-Man stopping some car chase. I usually enjoyed hearing about his wins, but not today. "Not my best, but I managed with a ninety-two percent." Peter admitted, noticing my untouched lunch.

I was already hanging my shoulders with Peter's reply, pushing away my plate of food completely. My eyes landed across to Flash Thompson, flipping through a thick textbook, something I had never seen him do before. Apparently, with our finals approaching quickly, everyone was buckling down to get good grades. Everyone but me. But then, most students were not hiding a massive secret from their friends and getting weird visions about things they couldn't even explain. "What about you, Flo?"

"Eighty-three percent." I admitted quietly, dropping my gaze to my lap. It honestly wasn't a terrible grade on any exam, below my usual standards but it wasn't something to cry over. I could always make the final grade up. I just hated how suddenly, my one consistent goal in life was to succeed, to beat out Peter Parker for top of our class but now, with everything going on, it was making that goal seem further away, almost out of my grasp completely. 

Gwen paused, her eyes growing wide. Even Flash looked up from reading through his textbook, shock written all over his face. "Woah, really?" Gwen quickly recovered, an elbow clipping her boyfriend in the ribs and he doubled over, trying to mask his emotions. 

"It's not a bad grade," Flash mumbled out. "Not far behind, Penis Parker." We all ignored his little nickname for Pete, knowing he was just trying to look tough while a textbook sat by his side. 

Today, of all days, I did not need sympathy from Flash Thompson, who suddenly, was taking more pride in his school work, his athletic career taking a back burner. Although, I was growing very used to seeing him hanging around and honestly, didn't hate the guy, I just didn't need a pity party today from my friends, not when I was in the middle of throwing myself one. "I know it's not. I'll make it up." I snipped out. 

A silence followed, even Peter keeping his mouth shut. I had been trying my best to keep him in the loop with the visions, but his side hobby of being Tony Stark's lapdog of a sidekick was becoming more regular these days. He had even started calling his side hobby of keeping the city safe with Iron Man as a mentor, an internship with Tony Stark. Something that bugged me a little because hey, I was also doing an internship, one that was actually real and didn't involve another lie and a mask. 

"Of course you will, we have complete faith in you." Gwen encouraged me with a sweet smile. "But for once, I can safely say I topped our exams. I got ninety-five percent. My parents are thrilled about it."

I was honestly happy for Gwen, she deserved the good grades with her studying becoming a more consistent thing in her life, along with Flash Thompson. I actually wondered if those two things went hand-in-hand now. "That's really great, Gwen." It wasn't a lie but it left an empty feeling in my chest because I was competitive with my grades and having Gwen move above me was a little deflating. 

Suddenly, the bell was chiming, a sign that our lunch break was over. Flash was packing up his textbooks, saying something quietly to Gwen while eyeing Peter. The two boys hadn't really gotten over their unspoken feud yet, despite their best efforts. Some people just didn't really get along and with Flash's competitiveness and sharp tongue sometimes, I didn't blame Peter for not warming up to him right away. Gwen was giving Flash a tight smile though, throwing her gym bag over her shoulder as we all piled away from our table, the cafeteria loud once again. 

Peter pulled me aside once we made it safely into the hallway. "About your exam--"

"I don't want to talk about it, Pete." My voice was laced with self pity, along with anger that I hadn't been able to break away from my thoughts and get a great grade. He was so used to being top of our classes, he had the natural ability, unlike me, who worked hard to maintain good grades. He couldn't possibly understand how a grade could upset me, not today and not after everything that had happened in the last few weeks. "Look, I can't study today either. I have to be at the Avengers Tower until late, it's the first day of my internship."

Peter shoved his hands into his pocket, giving me a weak nod of his head. I could see him trying so hard to help me but I had grown used to putting up walls and today, I was pushing everyone away. "I'll be at the Daily Bugle after school. Maybe I can walk you to the subway? We could get cupcakes from that busy store you like. Uh, what's it called--"

"Magnolia Bakery." I replied, a smile lingering on my lips. Maybe he couldn't try and understand my bad mood but he was doing a pretty good job at making me forget about it for a little while. He was tilting his head to the side, waiting for my reply with a grin. "Fine, okay. Meet me at five o'clock outside the Avengers Tower, yeah?"

He nodded, "I'll be there." 

Gwen was waiting a few meters away for me as we shared gym classes, along with Mary Jane who was busy speaking with her guidance counsellor. I gave Peter a little look, trying to tell him I was sorry about being snippy as I stepped away from him. "Pete, please don't let me down today." I added in before I was too far away. I didn't need him bailing on plans, despite knowing very well he couldn't be in two places at once. I just hoped today, he could be just Peter Parker and not pull that mask down over his face. 

"I won't, I promise." he called out before turning away, heading towards the boys' locker room. With that promise lingering in my head, I fell into Gwen's step as we weaved through the busy hallway and passed by some windows that over looked the courtyard. 

As Gwen chatted about her exam grade again and how her mother was making her favourite dish for dinner, I caught one look at the sky. Dark storm clouds painted the sky, threatening a rainy afternoon. I couldn't help but wonder what threats waited upon the horizon and would soon fall upon our shoulders. 

- author's ramblings - 

With this update, you guessed it, I'm back! Alright, alright I've seen the movie and gotten the chance to fall in love with Peter Parker all over again. Clearly, some things differ from the movie already (a few characters, a few storylines, bits of the timeline) but I'm currently planning out the whole storyline and doing my best to fill in minor plot holes and fitting in my own characters. Clearly, I'm working very very slowly towards Homecoming's big storyline, flushing out a few things that will fit within my seperate storyline for this book. Please, for everything good in the marvel universe, don't bash my story if it doesn't line up perfectly with the new movie, I've been working so long on this series and I really hate negativity, so leave it at the door kiddies. Alas, have faith that updates will be back on a regular updating schedule and we can all buckle down for more #fleter. Please leave your thoughts below, I really appreciate hearing from you all. I'd also like to point out my timeline is waaay off but that tends to happen when you write a whole first book so, oh well, I won't be changing that.

Thank you to fltzslmmons (who won my editing contest) for the amazing gif above, it's stunning.

- tinkertaydust