Heroes and Responsibilities|| Spider-Man and Firefly (1)(O.H)

Matched

"YOU HAVE A PARTNER PROJECT." The words echoed around the room. There were excited murmurs, people looking forward to working with their friends. I looked over at Peter, who nodded, knowing what I was thinking.

Mr. Wheaton cleared his throat and continued. "I need to show you that history is more than names and dates. Everything, everyone has a history. A story that makes you who you are. You will find out each other's history over the course of three months. And don't get too excited , I will be choosing pairs."

Everyone let out a loud groan. I did too, I knew the chances of being paired with Peter or Ned was slim. I hoped I wasn't paired with some random jackass who wouldn't do the work. I was top of the class in History, the only class I'd ever be ahead of Peter in. Thought it was pretty interesting, seeing the highs and lows of humanity. I couldn't afford to get a bad grade, not ever.

Mr. Wheaton began to read from a list. I held my breath, in anticipation. I tuned out all the other names, only listening for mine, Peter's or Ned's. I took to my usual habit of tapping my pen against my desk absent-mindedly as I waited.

"Peter Parker and Cindy Moon. Greg Holmes and Ned Leeds."

Well, my dreams were crushed, but I held on to the hope that I'd get a decent, tolerable partner. But at this point I was prepared for anything, even Flash, even though I'd end up punching his lights out the first day. And then probably get sued for everything I owned by his parents. Which admittedly, wasn't much. What I wasn't prepared for however, is what happened next.

"Michelle Jones and Sally Avril, Alex Watterson- " Here it was, the moment of truth.

"And Haley Brooks." I cursed like a pissed off sailor in my head. Her of all people, her. I ignored the obnoxious snicker from Ned, the pitied look Haley's friends gave her from across the room  and the sudden silence in the room and put my head down. This had to be a joke, a cruel, twisted joke played by the jerks in the sky, they were probably laughing at me now. Suddenly, the prospect of working with Flash didn't sound so bad.

Mr. Wheaton spoke again as the bell rang. "If you have not turned in your permission slips for the field trip, today is the last day, the trip's tommorow."

I had almost forgotten about the trip to the New York Hall of Science. There were going to be several exclusive scientific demonstrations by top corporations. It was all Peter had been talking about for the last month but he'd slowed down recently because of the Decathlon tryouts. Apparently Horizon Labs, Oscorp and even Stark Industries would be headlining the event

"Hey, Alex!", I heard someone say. I looked up to see Haley's pretty face smiling at me. Couldn't tell if it was a real one or not. Wait had I just called her pretty? I simply and dumbly nodded in acknowledgement.

She gave a wider smile and took out two slips of paper. She handed me both and a pen. "That has my number on it. Could you yours on this one? We should keep in contact for the project."

I did so and handed it to her. She took it and put it in her pocket. "Call me when you can okay? I'll see you later Alex, can't be late for Biology."

I gave a little chuckle and a wave. "Bye." As she ran off, I cursed at myself. Bye, that was all I could muster to say to a pretty girl. I really needed to stop referring to her as pretty so much. I hurried off to English before Ms. Kadneeer ripped me a new one. Maybe this project wouldn't be so bad after all.

-------------

I knew what to expect at lunch. Teasing, teasing bordering on harassment  and then some. So I was prepared when I sat down at lunch and Peter busted out laughing.