Walking the Wire | PETER PARKER [1]

| 9 |

Wednesday morning when Eloise goes to school, everyone is watching a video. It's from YouTube and it's going around, and after watching it on her phone with Lucy, Alev, Elena, and Cliff, Eloise can't help but feel worried. It's from last night when there was a subway train that had somehow gotten its breaks broken. It almost collided with another train, but the one and only Spider-Man dressed in his red and blue spandex-like suit swooped in and saved the day. None of the civilians were hurt, but when Spider-Man stopped the train, it looked like he got injured. In the video, you can see Spider-Man shooting his webs to get the subway train to come to a stop. It didn't work like he had hoped, so he jumped out in front of the fast vehicle and tried to stop it with his bare hands. The part where it looked like he got hurt was when he was shooting his webs and one got stuck on his foot and he was twisted and face-planted straight into the brick wall. His movements were less nimble after that and after stopping the train, he limped before swinging away.

But no one is talking about how their friendly neighborhood hero could possibly be injured. All they're talking about are the lives he saved, which isn't a bad thing because he really did rescue over fifty civilians from being killed last night. But no one seems to care that the hero himself is hurt.

Eloise brings this up to Lucy. She just shrugs it off.

"He's like super-human, he'll be fine."

But her words don't ease Eloise's worry. She and Spider-Man have encountered one another a few times, and during those times she learned that he is awkward yet caring, he is just a kid like herself, and he is still very human.

She can't stop watching the video on repeat throughout the day. During world geography, Luis has to throw a paper wad at the back of her head to gain her attention without getting the teacher's.

Eloise pauses the video and turns to look at Luis. He whispers loudly, "You coming to my soccer game tomorrow night?"

She forgot that it's soccer season; she hasn't even been to a single game yet this year, and she usually attends all of them to support her friends. Cliff and Luis, along with the rest of the boys' team, work their asses off every season and during the off-season. They're usually the underdogs, but lately with all of the team's hard work and impeccable teamwork, they've been winning all of the games.

"Is it home?" Eloise whispers back.

Luis nods.

She gives him a thumbs-up and a smile. "I'll come."

🕸

Eloise waits outside Midtown on the sidewalk for Peter, and possibly Ned. The sun's shining and there's only a slight breeze, so it's warm enough even in just her short sleeves and jeans.

A few Midtown students pass by her and give her looks after they read the Park East shirt she's wearing. Eloise just smiles at them, because she's been told to kill people with kindness.

Not that she wants to actually kill anyone, of course.

After what feels like hours but in reality is only minutes, Ned and Peter emerge from their gigantic high school. Peter's hood is up and shadowing his face, which strikes Eloise as odd since the day is so nice. Ned is his normal self as he chats endlessly to his friend walking beside him.

Once they reach Eloise at the sidewalk, they begin to walk side-by-side towards Peter and Eloise's apartments. She greets the boys, but something is off with Peter.

She pulls her hair up into a ponytail and lets the sun shine its warmth on her neck. She glances at Peter. "What's up with the hood? It looks like you're about to mug someone," She jokes.