Us Against The World ｡ Peter Parker [2]

24 - The Birth of A Villain

The echoing bell that signalled the end of class sounded, everybody gathering their belongings in a mad rush. Mr. Harrington's voice was fading quickly, knowing students weren't remotely paying attention to his list of homework and hint at a pop quiz for next week. My own chair squeaked against the flooring, a little excited lunch was up next.

"Miss Parsons, could I see you for a second?" Mr. Harrington called out randomly. I was half way towards the doorway, Gwen bumping into my shoulder as I paused suddenly. My gaze swung back around, giving my teacher a brief nod as a familiar nervous feeling erupted in my stomach.

Peter was sending me a little look over his shoulder before following our friends out the door and blending into the crowded hallways. I combed some hair behind my ear, stepping up to Mr. Harrington's desk where he waited for me. "How are you, Florence?"

It was an odd question. "Um, I'm okay, sure."

Mr. Harrington flattened his hands against the stack of papers he had to grade, his dark eyes watching me closely through his glasses. "I've noticed your grades have slipped recently and it's not overly unusual with most students making the transition into sophomore year, but you're usually top of the class, Florence. Well, along with Peter...so I've just been wondering how you're holding up?"

"Oh, right, my grades." I mumbled out quietly, tightening my grip on my textbooks. With recent events, my grades had suffered drastically and it was something that ticked me off, hating how the powers I had never wanted had affected something once so important to me. It wasn't like I could tell Mr. Harrington that a few months ago I had accidentally injected myself with my parents' experimental serum and had been having visions, which upset the balance of my life. That wouldn't go over too smoothly. "I've been having some...trouble lately, but everything's much better now. I'm going to make up my grades, sir."

He smiled kindly, "Well, I'm glad you're wanting to get back on track." he paused for a moment, reaching for a pamphlet from his desk drawer and handing me that colourful printout. "We've got our National Academic Decathlon next month down in Washington, D.C. Our team really could use some extra sharp minded thinkers, like yourself."

"Oh, I don't have time for extracurricular groups, Mr. Harrington." I lamely started, staring down at the pamphlet in my hands, knowing it wasn't possible to join a club so late. "I'm finishing up with my internship with Tony Stark next week and I'm pretty busy--"

My teacher leaned forward in his chair, "It's not about joining the team, Florence. We've already got a few stand-ins, but I do need another responsible student to join us in Washington, more of a student assistant position. It would only be the weekend and I would be happy to make it extra credit for your grade in my class." That caught my attention, knowing I needed all the help right now to bump my grades back up to my regular standard. Mr. Harrington could see my mind turning, already knowing I would be stupid to knock back the offer. "Well, just think about it. It would look very nice on your academic transcript."

"Alright, thanks, Mr. Harrington."

***

The cafeteria was overcrowded and it took a little longer to weave through the mass of social circles to find my friends, who were seated right up the back naturally. I bypassed Liz Allan, who was busily hanging up the Homecoming banner with Mary Jane, who along with her school musical commitments was on the Homecoming committee. Managing a quick smile in their direction, I dropped into the free seat beside Harry, who was hunched over, staring blankly at his tray of untouched food.

"...it's got like, three thousand eight hundred and three pieces, pretty legendary." Ned Leeds was saying around a chunk of his tuna sandwich. I was already biting back at smile with the mention of his LEGO collection, something he geeked over a lot of the time about. Somehow, he had fit nicely into our little group of friends recently, even Harry didn't mind. Although lately, Harry was pretty distant and didn't care all that much about school or socialising.

Peter was sliding over his tray of fries, knowing I hadn't had time to purchase lunch with my little meeting with Mr. Harrington. "That's so cool," Peter was agreeing excitedly with Ned.

Gwen and Flash were huddled together, not paying much attention to the current topic of conversation and while Ned and Peter discussed his collection and a few mentions of their new partner work, my thoughts were clear for once. Everyone was pretty busy chatting away with each other, that nobody really noticed when Harry inched closer to me, his voice low. "Flo, do you remember at my New Year's party when we spoke about my dad's accident at the labs and how he was cooped up in his room talking to himself?"

I nearly choked on my fries, "Um, sure?"

Harry Osborn finally glanced up from his untouched food, his eyes a strange dull colour, his skin looking a little pale like he wasn't feeling well. I could see the darkness smudged under his eyes from where he wasn't sleeping at night. My thoughts were flashing back to that afternoon in the cemetery where he had declared he would stop at nothing to avenge his father's death and was deadset on believing Spider-Man had something to do with it. "Well, I was going through his room last night, just trying to make sense of a few things. I didn't expect to find anything, but I stumbled across something strange."

"What did you find?"

His eyes clouded, almost like somebody was inside his mind and telling him to stop talking, to stop blurting out secrets. My friend's shoulders snapped backwards, something sparking in his brain and he was retreating back into his dark shell. "You know what, it doesn't matter." Harry mumbled out, his head lowering again.

That tiny confession, a meaningless mention of finding something that belonged to his deceased father would mean nothing to anybody else. Anybody else but the girl who had witnessed Norman Osborn fall into insanity and had matching scars on her wrists with how twisted that man had become. It would mean nothing at all to a friend who hadn't watched Norman Osborn die, his life ending with a promise that two kids had kept for months already.

With my heart racing in my chest, new doubts leaking into my mind, my eyes landed on Peter Parker, who was caught in a moment of pure laughter with something Ned had mentioned. As if in slow motion, his own gaze rested on me, knowing something was wrong. I didn't have to even open my mouth, he knew in that very moment, something had shifted on the giant chessboard that was our lives. Little did we both realise, that moment was the birth of a villain.

- author's ramblings - 

welp, was that super flat? I kinda hate it but it was really a plot heavy chapter, slowly putting a few key elements to come into play. I didn't want Florence joining the decathlon team but I needed a way for her to be in Washington and that's how that plays out. It was simple but oh well. Also, New Goblin. Which I've hinted at for like two books now, so it's not shocking with Harry's growth into the dark side.

Also, we've clearly hit Homecoming, which means the movie's scene are coming into play. Sadly, I've been planning heavily lately and I'm not going to cover the movie in super detailed depth. So, here's your warning that Florence won't be incorporated into every scene. Below, is a little manip br0kenheart created and it's so cute! thank you!

- tinkertaydust