Take My Hand | Peter Parker

Chapter 3

Before I knew it, school was going to start. Tomorrow. I had gone through school supplies that I needed several times, but Nora told me that I shouldn't stress so much over it.

However, something I was even more nervous about was meeting her friends. I had to make a good impression, because I wasn't sure if I could ever have to courage to talk to new people there. This was good reassurance for me.

"Did you get your time table for school yet?" Nora charged in the room, beaming at me.

I held up a paper in my hand. "Yes, here, you can look at it."

Meanwhile, I had more important things to get to. I had to decide what clothes I was going to wear for the week. Nora was studying and examining the time table very carefully. She took a long time to look over it.

"Hmm.... it seems that you have two classes with me, one with MJ, one with Ned, and... four with Peter. Wow. I guess that means he could probably help you more than I could at school."

"Yeah, maybe. I just hope he doesn't hate me." I sigh, and continue looking through the closet.

That was my worst fear by going to Midtown. Afraid of being rejected. I didn't really have too many friends in Canada, but I still made sure to stay in touch with them.

On the topic of being in touch with them... I forgot to call my parents! I promised to call right before they drove home, but said it was okay since I forgot, because I would be busy with all of these school preparations and new stresses. Eventually I did call them, and they forgave me. The bad part about moving away from your family, is that they would probably call you.

All, the, time. I know I would call them too, but in years time, we might be calling each other once a month. It all depends on how much they miss me or not.

Today. It's school. Finally, I've been waiting so long.

Nora and I walk to Midtown everyday, but it is quite a far walk. Classes begin at 8:10, and our walk was at least 20 minutes, not including crazy weather.

"Make sure that you use the main entrance, because it's closest to your locker."

Nora already provided me with details I should know about going to school, where to go, and what to do. Our lockers were close, and she had a class with me right before lunch started, so I could walk with her every day to cafeteria.

I already knew I was going to get lost. We came to the school ten minutes earlier, and she showed me where all of my classes were. I felt more relieved by the time first period started.

"Welcome, class, to a new school year. I'm Mr. Porter, and this course is you're taking is math. We will be learning..."

My first teacher introduced themselves, and introduced me, the new student. When he was calling out attendance, I noticed that he called Peter Parker.

I guess he was in my math class to start. Maybe at lunch, I'll get to talk him more. For math, we started right away, and the teacher said we would pick our official spots tomorrow, just in case we wanted to sit beside someone else. Second period was science, and the rest of them carried on. Lunch rolled around pretty quickly.

Well, my anxiousness came back for more. I was so nervous to meet them. Nora showed me the table they sat at, and they always sat there. No one came for the first few minutes.

"Relax, Ashley. It's not like you have to impress them or something,"

I avoided her gaze. "Well, first impressions are a lot to someone."

"Hey, loser," I hear someone say from behind me.

A girl walks around the table and sits in front of Nora. She takes one good look at me and eyes me up and down.

"It's okay, she said that to me. That's MJ." Nora whispers.

"Sorry, didn't mean to offend you or anything. I'm MJ. Nora's been telling me about you,"

She narrows her eyes, as if examining me, then laughs. I don't know what to say at this point. Maybe a hi, or, how was your day so far?

"No need for a first impression to go well. I certainly feel impressed by you that a first impression matters so much," she puts a hand on her chest dramatically.

I smile at that, feeling more reassured. She already knew a lot about me, according to Nora. They text each other every day, nonstop.

"...Okay, and I'll see what I can do. But other than that..."

Some voices are talking really close behind me, but I can hear them stop talking. I hadn't even noticed two guys sit at our table, and one of them was Peter.

"Hey! Are you Ashley?" The bigger looking guy, who I assume is Ned, asks me.

"Yeah, are you Ned?" I flash back.

"The one and only," he scoffs, making himself look all fancy dramatically.

Peter sat directly in front of me. "I'm Peter. You were in my math and science classes today so far,"

Nora was right. Such a cute dork. "Yeah, I know. I've never been here before," I start.

He looks really confused, so I decide to go into further detail. Nora, MJ and Ned were already arguing about which Star Wars movie was the best.

"I moved here from Canada. Well, just me. I wanted to go to a school that specialized in sciences, which is something I want to pursue a career in when I grow up. It's so different here, the classes, the schedule, the people... it's all freaking me out so much."

He nods in agreement. "It is a big place here. You have nothing to worry about."

"I was wondering if you wanted to sit beside me in math," Awkward question.

"Yeah, of course," he gives a reassuring smile. "If it makes you feel more comfortable here, why not. I was planning on asking you the same thing."