The Weight of Us ｡ Peter Parker [3]

13 - Little Shop of Horrors

Even in the midst of chaos, of change, of great adventures that fell upon the shoulders of teenagers graced with powers, life always moved forward and there was nothing anybody could do about that. With dead best friends from different worlds, with a brother missing and a new villain looming in the shadows, waiting to make his grand entrance, we still had to smile and pretend. We also had to walk the hallways of Midtown High and blend into the drama that high school always seemed to bring, even if it was the furtherest thing from our minds.

"...I think by the time that trip to Europe comes around," Clayton Cole was saying smugly, his shoulder bumping against mine as we attempted to move through freshmen after our shared lunchtime detention. Skipping a class to hang out with Gwen Stacy's doppelgänger apparently did not go over smoothly with my teacher. "Michelle will have cracked."

Listening to mundane relationship drama was not soothing my soul today, even if it was coming from the world's biggest loveable jerk and my dentition buddy forever. "Why are you so caught up on her? Weren't you really into Indie Monroe?"

"Well, yeah," Clayton mumbled, eyes snapping downwards. His once blooming romance with a quirky girl from band was a sore subject. "But it's kind of hard when she's five years older now, and you're some stupid kid in high school still. She's off dating college guys in Boston and starting rallies for climate change or whatever, and I'm here in detention. Like always."

I thought trying to still fit into the jigsaw puzzle of Mary Jane Watson and Harry Osborn's new very adult life was hard. I had never considered what it was like to lose a love like Clayton had, all because of a mad Titan. Indie Monroe and her best friend, Anya Begum, had never been dusted, which meant they had moved on, and poor Clayton was left behind.

"Jeez, I didn't even realise." Words felt heavy on my tongue. "I'm sorry."

Clayton shrugged his shoulders, but lifted his lips for me in a half smile. "The carousel keeps on turning." He recited words from our favourite television show to me like a secret joke.

It was my own turn to smile, only a little bit. I could never explain the true meaning that sentence had inside my heart because even when I wanted to, Clayton Cole could never know all the truths about my life. But he understood enough without even realising it somedays. "The carousel keeps on turning." I repeated back quietly.

Down the hallway, standing right beside my locker was Peter Parker and Ned Leeds. They were in a heated conversation and by the tension in Peter's shoulders, it could only mean they were talking Spider-Man business. Without thinking, my shoes squeaked on the flooring as my body jerked out of his direct eye-line. I ducked into an empty classroom, which opened into the hallway that led towards the cafeteria. Clayton Cole followed behind.

"Trouble in paradise?"

My grip on my textbooks tightened. "No. Why would you assume that?"

Clayton snorted unattractively. "Oh, I don't know, the way you fled from your lover boy just now might suggest so."

After our little argument a few days ago about helping Gwendolyn find her world's Colton, we had not really been comfortable in the same room. Which meant, I had scurried away from him before another disagreement could erupt and further my irritation that he was attempting to coddle me, by protecting me, which was code for him worrying too much about me. He had made a very decently strong point that I did not care enough about myself to prevent trouble and heartache, which would no doubt become from meeting my dead brother, but that was irrelevant in this very moment. Inside my own head, at least. My brain had been going around in circles for days now, and a simple solution was not overly clear. So, avoiding him was the only option. Which proved quite hard when he was everywhere.