Us Against The World ｡ Peter Parker [2]

45 - Backed Into A Corner

While the sunlight was dying outside, my insides were squirming terribly with anxiety. My shoes were making a weak squeaking sound as I continued to pace back and forth outside detention, waiting for the boy who had found himself late for a Spanish quiz today because there was a robbery downtown. Now, he had spent nearly a full hour biding his time with other kids who had the pleasure of being detained for an afternoon. 

"Are we really sure about this idea?" Gwen Stacy piped up randomly. She had planted herself on the floor nearly half an hour ago and had pulled out a fat textbook and a highlighter. At least somebody was completing homework during the long wait for the hero today.

Ned had joined her, snacking on some chips. "Are we sure hunting down Mr. Daddy Issues and telling him that Spider-Man in fact did not kill his father is a good idea?" he asked, sharing his bag of chips with her. "It can only end in two ways; he believes us and we can go back to begin boring high school kids or he decides to find some crafty way to kill us today."

Gwen frowned deeply. "Well, when you put it that way...maybe we need a new plan."

My pacing ended brutally, my eyes snapping towards the door with the sound of somebody coughing from inside. Rising to my tippy toes, my gaze narrowed on a particular boy through the crack in the doorway. He was seated up the back, head down and his hands clenching and unclenching. I checked my phone for the time again. "Do you think coach knows he can't keep them pass five o'clock?" I questioned. 

"Are you avoiding our current conversation?" Gwen mumbled. "We wanna' know if this plan to approach Harry is a good idea? Maybe we could just think of something else. Maybe we should just place in an anonymous tip to the police or something."

Ned scoffed loudly. "You want to contact the police? And say what? Oh, excuse me officer, we believe our friend is actually New Goblin and we think he's planning on some evil vengeance scheme to kill Spider-Man and attack the city. Why yes, he's only sixteen but he's injecting himself with strange green serum that makes him really crazy. Please believe a bunch of kids and take this seriously."

"It was just an idea." Gwen pouted. 

"Yeah, a stupid idea." 

My attention cut back towards them. "Cut it out guys. We don't need bickering right now, okay?"

Gwen pulled her knees to her chest, her homework being forgotten about. "Sorry. I'm just really worried about this." she confessed, her voice so tiny. My pacing started up again, her own nerves getting under my skin. "We can't let Harry go dark side. He's our friend. We also can't let Mary Jane die. I don't care about your visions, I'm not letting her fall. That's not happening." 

"I know, Gwen. I know. We're going to find a way though." I started, an ache clenching at my heart with my own words. Sometimes it felt so hard trying to hope for the best. "I haven't been able to stop my visions yet, but there has to be a way. We'll find it."

Ned scurried to his feet when the detention door slammed open. "Looks like we're going through with the plan today, huh? Great." he said in a whisper, which was nearly lost in the mild chaos of kids attempting to get far away from school. 

When the boy we were waiting for finally emerged, his features looked dampened and his eyes were hiding a deeper fear. He scanned our faces, knowing exactly why we had been cooped up in the hallway just waiting for him. Today was the day we backed Harry Osborn into a corner and hopefully, put a stop to all this madness. 

"Where's Mary Jane?" he questioned softly, noticing somebody from our little group was missing. 

Gwen scooped some hair back from her face with her headband, rocking back on her heels. "Um, she mentioned something about drama club." she lied with a straight face and nobody questioned it. We both knew Mary Jane Watson had bailed on today for a completely different reason. Maybe deep down we all knew that reason anyway. "Come on, let's go before it gets dark outside."