golden | peter parker

thirty nine

Penny spent the weekend locked inside her room. The only times she left were to go to the bathroom, and to eat. Noah didn't understand why his older sister had shut down, but he knew better than to get in her way. He minded his own business and continued to do what 10 year old boys do best- play Fortnite with his friends.

Penny however had ignored all her friends, too confused to even attempt to talk to them. In fact, she had turned her phone all the way off. She was still processing the fact that Peter, the boy she had a crush on, was Spiderman- the other boy she had a crush on. It was too weird.

Monday finally arrived, and Penny would have to leave her fortress of blankets and bowls of goldfish. She sighed as she rolled out of bed and put on her final outfit as a sophomore. When she left her room, Noah was already eating his waffles, a bowl of cereal pre-made and waiting for Penny.

"I know something big went down during the dance, but I'm not asking to know what. I just hope that for the first time in four days we can actually eat together?" Noah asked, ushering her to the seat next to him.

Penny's glare softened, "Oh my god No, that's so sweet. Sorry I've been so checked out, it's just..." She didn't know how to finish her sentence. The entire situation was crazy.

"It's all good. Now eat, your cereal's getting soggy," He said pointing to her bowl.

"Jeez, mom," Penny joked while sitting down. They didn't say anything after that, simply enjoying being around each other.

She glanced at the microwave clock and nearly choked on her food, "Holy shit. Sorry, Noah. Gotta run. I'm so unbelievably late for the train!" She jumped up, and grabbed her mini backpack which only held her school issued computer and a pencil. Penny had also been sure to scrub any and all traces of blood from it.

She sprinted out of the building, rushing past the different businessmen and women. There was no time to lose. As she entered the tunnel the train had pulled up, leaving Penny to run even faster trying to get inside the car. Somehow she managed to slip through the doors before they closed.

The train rumbled to life and pulled away, taking her in the direction of Midtown High. When she arrived at her stop, she briskly walked off. As Penny strolled down the streets, weaving around tourists, she heard her name be called out.

"Penny! Hey, wait up!"

Penny turned her head slightly, and saw that Peter was trying to catch up to her. She pretended to not hear him and sped up. She couldn't talk to him, not so soon after finding out that he was Spiderman.

Peter continued to call out after her, eventually giving up after the fifth time. It was obvious she was ignoring him. He just had no idea why. Nothing that happened since Friday night could have possibly made her hate him again, right? Sure, Penny got mugged, but Mr. Stark had taken him home and bandaged him up. Or at least, that's what Peter thought had happened.

Penny entered the school and made a beeline for her first period. She wouldn't bump into Michelle until fourth period, so she had plenty of time to figure out her alibi for going off the radar for two and a half days. 

Nothing interesting happened in her first two periods. It was just classic reflecting on the year, and talking to friends waiting for Summer to start. However when Penny got to photography, a photo gallery was set up around the classroom. Her class was small to begin with, with a whopping 12 students, but with some already on Summer vacation only 5 people were in the classroom- and that included Mr. Wayne.

Regardless, Penny's breath was caught in her throat. The display was beautiful. It had every single photo taken from the entire semester hanging around the classroom. It must've taken hours to set up. Each student had a shrine of sorts designated for their best photos that they took.