Career Day: A Short Story

Ch. 1

Written by: @shewritesall

"With that being said, I want you all to invite your parents to school Thursday afternoon for a career day," Mrs. Jenks said. Peter, who hadn't been paying attention until he heard the entire class groan, looked up from his paper. He had been writing down a new upgrade idea for his Spider-Man suit and Life Prep was a joke of a class anyway, so he wasn't too worried about not paying attention. "After lunch, you will come here and spend the last three hours of school hearing about the different jobs everyone's parents have and then you will be able to ask questions, understand?"

"Yeah," everyone mumbled. Mrs. Jenks didn't seem fazed by the lack of enthusiasm though. She smiled and clapped her hands.

"Tomorrow I will have a sheet of paper for everyone write down their parent's name and what their career is," she said. She looked like she was about to say something else, but the bell rang and everyone raced out of the room. Peter hurried to pack his stuff, but he was still the last one in the classroom.

"Bye, Mrs. Jenks," he said politely, zipping up his backpack.

"Bye, Peter," she replied. Peter walked out of the room and out of the school. Happy was already waiting for him outside, so he hurried over and climbed into the car.

"Hey, kid," Happy grunted. He started the car and drove out of the parking lot.

"Hey, Happy," Peter grinned. He immediately began telling Happy all about his day. He had just finished telling him about career day when they pulled up to the Tower. Peter hopped out and waved to Happy until he was out of sight. Once he was gone, Peter turned and walked into the Tower.

He ignored the looks from people waiting in the lobby and waved at the receptionist. She smiled and waved back, unlocking the private elevator for him. He scanned his key card and FRIDAY took him up to the penthouse. Just as he expected, his dad wasn't upstairs. He shrugged and made himself a sandwich before jogging down the stairs to search for his dad in the lab. It wasn't a surprise to find him halfway under a car and covered in grease.

"Hey, Dad!" Peter said as the lab door slid shut behind him.

"Hey, Peter," Tony said from under the car. He slid out and sat up to look at Peter. "How was school?"

"It was okay," Peter said. He told him about the pop quiz in Pre Calculus and how they had a test in English tomorrow. "Oh, and in LP, we have a mandatory career day on Thursday and our parents are supposed to come for the entire afternoon."

"Do you want me to come or do you want Pepper to go?" Tony asked. He wiped the grease off his hands with a rag, but it didn't do much. Frowning, he turned to the sink nearby and washed his hands with soap.

"I'd like it if you went, but everyone would probably freak out," Peter said, plopping down in the chair behind Tony's desk. He propped his feet up on the desk and leaned back. "Besides, do you even know how a career day works?" Peter asked.

"I'm sure I could figure it out," Tony shrugged. He dried his hands then went over to his desk and knocked Peter's feet down. "Maybe Pepper should go, though. Then people wouldn't have to find out about me being your dad and try and harass you into being their friend."

"Don't get me wrong, I love Pepper," Peter said. He sat upright in the chair as Tony sat on his desk. "It's just, I always feel left out whenever other kids bring their parents and I can't because of what other people will say." Tony sighed and nodded. He knew Peter would prefer him going, but he also knew that once people at his school found out about him being Tony's son, Peter was going to have a problem with people wanting to be his friend just to get close to the Avengers and whatnot.

"Alright," Tony sighed. "It's May of your senior year. There's not much time left. If I go, though, just be prepared for people to freak out." Peter nodded excitedly.

"Are you really gonna come?" he asked. Tony nodded. What harm could it do? Peter was so close to being done with high school and he already had two good friends that could help him deal with the fake ones.

"Yeah, but I have to clear my schedule with Pepper, first," Tony reminded him. Peter didn't seem to hear. He cheered and pumped his fist. Tony smiled as he watched Peter celebrate his small victory by spinning in a chair and yelling loudly. After only a few spins, though, Peter had to stop because he was getting sick.

"This is gonna be so awesome!" Peter said weakly, trying to keep from throwing up all around the lab.