Walking the Wire | PETER PARKER [1]

| 11 |

Cliff walks by Eloise's side after school. They have the same Nutrition and Wellness class and partnered up for a project to make a poster about the six essential nutrients. The two decided to go to Eloise's house because, well, his home is unpredictable and he says that it'll be safer to go to hers for her sake, so here they are on their way to Eloise's apartment. With Cliff by her side, she doesn't feel as threatened or anxious walking the streets of New York. She doesn't feel the need to clutch onto her pepper spray the entire time.

Cliff and Eloise approach Midtown. His eyes stay trained on the bright green fields and shiny metal bleachers, his face emotionless.

A million-dollar car with a freshman driver rolls by the two on the sidewalk. Cliff watches it pass by them.

"How do they have so much money?" He wonders out loud.

Eloise holds onto her backpack straps and shrugs. "I'm not sure." She kicks a rock and watches as it skids against the concrete. Her eyes lift when she sees shadows and she smiles at the sight of Ned and Peter walking over.

"Hey guys," Eloise says, smiling.

As Peter and Ned approach them, their eyes dart to Cliff towering over Eloise. They audibly gulp.

"Um." Peter clears his throat. "H-hi."

"Guys, this is Cliff," Eloise says, motioning to the tall boy at her right. Cliff nods at them, still void of all emotion.

Ned and Peter smile nervously at him. Well, Eloise gets it; Cliff's a big black dude and that makes people feel intimidated. But Cliff's a softie deep down, and he would never hurt a friend or a friend of his friends'. He holds friends closer than his own blood and considers friends family.

"Cliff," Eloise says, now motioning to the nerds in front of them, "This is Peter and Ned."

Ned lifts his hand and waves it awkwardly.

"Cliff will be walking with us today if that's okay." When she sees that the boys are still quite intimidated by her friend, Eloise smiles wider in assurance.

"Yeah," Peter utters. "S-sure."

The entire walk to the apartment building is tense. Well, only Peter and Ned are tense, but still. Cliff is his normal self and Eloise just tries to ease the tension by talking about random stuff about today, like how she got her hair stuck in her locker and cut it off because it was at an awkward angle and couldn't open it without breaking her arm. Or like how she fell asleep during a test and had it stick to her face when the bell rang, waking her up, and she didn't even fill out half of the questions.

Eloise nudges Cliff after a while and gives him a look. He furrows his brow, but then she points her eyes at Peter and Ned walking stiffly at her side, and he sighs.

"What a, uh, what a lovely day we're having?"

Eloise nods, encouraging Cliff to go on. He chews on the inside of his cheek, thinking.

"I mean, yeah. Good weather for soccer practice. Too bad our field is flooded." His deep voice is smooth as he somewhat-awkwardly attempts to make a conversation with the unfamiliar boys walking with him.

Ned's face reflects puzzlement. "But it hasn't rained in a week?"

"The pipes under the field bursted after someone clogged the toilet."