Spider-man: Alone in New York

~ Chapter 18 ~

In the elevator, Mr. Stark offered me the food which I reluctantly accepted. More so that my stomach wouldn't growl in front of him since I hadn't sorted out the lunch problem than because of my own needs.

With music in the background, we continued our project from yesterday, while I pretended I wasn't sweating under my long-sleeved shirt. After an hour, he told me I could start my homework. So here we were, I was scribbling down the answers to my math homework as Mr. Stark was humming along to the song as he worked on the weapon. Even I couldn't help but bob my head and tap my foot on the floor to the rhythm of the song.

"Good song, right?" He asked me, briefly glancing up at me before focusing back to the task in front of him.

My cheeks reddened, thinking that maybe he had seen me tap to the rhythm. "Uh, yeah."

"How was school today?"

"As always, fine." I shrugged and boxed my answer in my notebook.

"No interesting fist-fights or major rumors spreading around?"

Of course he would be interested in that stuff. I hid my smile. "No. School's not that exciting. Just the usual lectures and tests."

"You must be pretty big around there since you've got an internship here, I'm assuming?" He ruffled through his toolbox before pulling out a screwdriver. He frowned when it wasn't the right one and looked again.

"Oh, no. No one knows, except my friend."

His eyebrows sprang up. "Keeping it a secret?"

"I, I uh, don't want the attention. I'd rather remain in the background." I fiddled with my pencil in my hands.

"Your parents know, though, right?"

"My parents passed away many years ago." I kept it short, praying that he didn't say he was sorry for my loss. I hated it when people told me that. Perhaps it was because I heard it too many times. First my parents, then Uncle Ben. I was sick of those words.

"Oh, I'm sorry for being inconsiderate. I should've known."

My brow furrowed. What? "How could you have known?"

"Well, you said you ate dinner with your Aunt. I should've connected the dots."

"Oh, it's okay. No worries." I felt hot and stuffy again, but I didn't dare lift the sleeves to my elbows. There was still a fat-purple bruise on my wrist.

Before he could respond, I heard a clang and a zap of electricity. "Ow!" I stood up and saw him holding his fingers on his right hand. The piece of technology crackled on the table. "Oh, that's not good. I really hope it's not going to-" A fire erupted from the piece and engulfed it completely, the orange flames flickering brightly.

"Turn on fire?" I suggested as the sprinkler system turned on. We dove under the table and waited as it took care of it.

Mr. Stark huffed, "I can't believe it happened again. It looks like I broke my record."

I rose an eyebrow. "Of what?"

"Lighting things on fire in one week." His eyes widened. "And the week hasn't even ended yet."

Once Friday got rid of the fire, we clambered out of our shelter.

"I just can't figure it out. I'm doing something wrong, but what?" He turned around the piece of metal with a heavy sigh. The outside was still okay, but the insides were probably all destroyed. Good thing this was just a prototype. "Maybe I need a different diameter for the socket. Which would mean I would have to change to the drill as well... Peter, can you grab my other toolbox over there?"