I Was Joking

BET!

Ever since the announcement, just about everyone at Midtown High knew who Peter Parker was, and paid attention to him.

And they all agreed he was literally the best person ever. 

After the teen had clearly established that he wasn't going to fall for anyone's bull, nor was he going to treat anyone any differently than he had in the past. Nothing's changed, he tried to convince the school. 

LOL, that's cute.

Ned and MJ were the only ones that actually sat with him at lunch, though it was because the little group was the 'cool kids' now. Peter overheard that conversation and it took all of his willpower to not double over in laughter.

In general, after people stopped trying to get something off him, everyone was genuinely nice to the kid. He couldn't think of the last time people weren't rolling their eyes at him this much. He was still slightly suspicious, but most people came around pretty easily. The football team had basically become his unofficial volunteer bodyguards (thankfully, they always stand down when he tells them too), the robotics club always ran their ideas by him, hell, the entire music department made him a theme song. Not joking, they practically scream it every time he walks by the hall. 

School was entertaining, though in a lighthearted sense. So it was pretty alarming to step foot in the building one dusty Monday morning and have his Spidey Sense shoot up his spine. Peter's eyes darted around the school in fear; nothing seemed off. Shaking his head, the teen greeted Ned with their secret handshake. "You alright man?", his friend asked, noticing the sudden tensing. Nonetheless, Peter nodded but kept his eyes open for any remote sign of danger.

It wasn't until he stepped inside his physics class when every fiber of his being was screeching to get out of there, go, run. But no one dangerous was inside, just the teacher and his normal classmates. Using the benefit of the doubt, Parker stiffly walked to his desk and sat down. Ned sat in the chair next to him, keeping as much of an eye out as Peter was. 

The bell rang, and with all of the present students in a desk, the teacher was about to shut the door when a hand reached out from behind the edge and stopped it. "Sorry about that, Mr. Harrington. I just got back from my lunch break.", a voice excused. Peter sat straight up in fear, causing a couple glances his way.

Peter recognized that voice.

It was one he was hoping to never hear from again. 

Harrington rolled his eyes and opened the door. "It's alright. I suppose I should introduce you.", he responded as the young blonde walked to the corner of the room and put his bag down. The man was tall and athletic, clearly able to overpower most people. If Peter didn't have the safety net of his powers, he would have been physically cowering, giving away the small hope that he who shall not be named didn't recognize him. 

"Class, this is our TA for the year, Mr. Wescott.", Harrington introduced. Please be a different person, please be a different person., Peter internally begged, having the mixed emotion of wanting to attack but hide at the same time.    

"Pleasure to meet you. Please, call me Skip." *Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, angst.*

Ned, being the good dood he is, squeezed Peter's arm lightly as a show of support. He guided Peter through his breathing exercises they learned together. Finally looking away from him, the teen calmed down and stared at the notebook in front of him. He nodded slightly, picking up his pencil and getting started. It was like busywork to Peter, but throughout the class period, the teen worked deliberately slow, trying to breathe despite his Spidey Sense tightening around his chest. 

At least, he thought it was his Spidey Sense.

The class itself felt slow, and he could feel his gaze from the back of the class. It sent a chill up his spine that he tried not to display.

Once the bell rang, Peter quickly packed up and raced out of the classroom, Ned and a couple of other boys following behind. The brunette raced for the nearest bathroom, where he threw up his lunch into the trash can. 

He could feel it. He could feel the hands. He could feel the stares. He could feel the way the young man's smooth, low voice would whisper, sending HIGHLY unpleasant feelings throughout his nerves. Peter could feel the guilt and shame he had carried in his stomach before he had told May and Ben.

He threw up again, dry heaving before taking deep breaths. Ned knew better than to touch him, rather telling him words of encouragement and waiting for his friend to finish with a full water bottle. After a minute, Peter took a drink and got up, grabbing his backpack and calmly walking to his next class. Ned walked with him, before having to change directions to his own class. One of the boys that followed him walked with the teen until he finally reached his class, constantly offering support and defense. "Are you absolutely sure?" "Yes. I am absolutely, positively, 100% sure. It happened a long time ago, nothing I can do about it now."

The rest of the day went off normally, though his senses were still active. It gave Peter a sigh in relief as he stepped away from the building and into an undisturbed alleyway, ready to fight some crime. 

Patrol was the perfect exercise he needed to get the day off his mind. It was one of those goldilocks days; busy enough to keep his mind off things, but calm enough to keep him from stretching his resources. These kind of patrols were nice, let him swing around and have some fun. 

A couple of hours after the sun had gone down, Peter was swinging on home for dinner, moving faster to focus on eyeballing where he should thwip next. He got across New York City in record time, promptly greeting May and changing back before eating. He really didn't need his father on his case about getting food on the suit. Yeah, it can be cleaned, but it's also a multimillion dollar super suit, and he felt guilty about it being damaged for legitimate reasons as is. 

After the teen finished dinner, (May really was improving) he got started on his homework and promptly got ready for bed. He felt everything again, squirming for a couple hours in his bed before deciding he was going to sleep on the ceiling.

That got an interesting reaction from May in the morning.