Take My Hand | Peter Parker

Chapter 20

A/N

Hi everyone, I hope you are all staying safe during this time. I'm very sorry that I haven't updated in three months. 

Online school just started yesterday for me, and I'm trying to get used to the flow of schoolwork to balance with my personal life.

Updates will NOT be consistent, as an example, me updating every Tuesday or something like that. Again I'm sorry for not being a good writer and updating at least once a month. :)

The bell rang, dismissing me from my current class. Freedom never tasted better. Or smelled, I think. Every little sound or touch felt enhanced, as if my senses were overloaded.

Everything I'm saying and doing sounds cliche. Spider-Man can swing from building to building. Spider-Man had some spider sense, according to Nora. Why am I experiencing these awfully similar turn of events? Oh, maybe, I don't know. Because I'm just becoming Spider-Man's carbon copy, female version. But majorly adjusted.

These similarities continued to bother me, although I was pretty sure he couldn't change the colour of his hands. That power seemed a little more... intimidating. 

I didn't want to know what I could do with my powers. Last night just showed me how powerful my actions were, so I wasn't quite intent on finding out what they could become. There was more to myself now, more capabilities. Keeping them a secret is going to be a challenge.

My head perked up at the slightest mention of Spider-Man. "Did you hear he stopped another dangerous armed robbery last night? How cool is that!"

I flinched at the slightest prod of Ned's textbook on my shoulder. He noticed and frowned.

"Uh, are you okay, Ashley?" His voice returned me to reality.

Of course, reality was still my imagination. "What? Yeah, I'm fine..." 

He established a hurt expression, making me realize how much I emphasized that "fine". I hesitated to apologize, but understood how it would make my situation worse if I chose not to.

Apparently Nora was talking about Spider-Man, again, not to my surprise. She gushed over knowing how dangerous it was and how brave he is... well, not that it matters. I didn't like hearing her talk about it anymore. It was clear she had a crush on him.

I decided to focus my affection on where it mattered. Towards Peter.

There was no way Nora would give up her obsession about him, and I had to come to terms with that. As long as he would swing around at night, fighting crime, my best friend would continue to swoon over Spider-Man.

I shut my locker firmly and said farewell to Ned. Nora had the next class with me, and we would always walk together. Lunch was the period after, where I could brood silently. 

After all, I had to follow through with my decision. I would pay little attention to Spider-Man now. I could focus more on becoming better friends with Peter. Besides, I actually knew who he was, unlike a crimefighter who had to conceal his identity.

The period dragged on through the morning, and I desperately wished to hear the glorious sound of freedom, dismissing us from this boredom - the bell. 

Our teacher finally finished the note and started handing out some papers.

"Alright, class, you will be assigned a project that is worth five percent of your overall grade. I would like you to pick a partner that you work well with."

I glanced in Nora's direction. She gave me a thumbs up, and I returned it with a smile.

"You will be writing an essay together to reflect on this course. It can include your overall positive and negative thoughts about what we worked on, and you can add suggestions on how to improve it."

Our teacher never gave us assignments like this. Didn't we write reflections at the end of the year?

"I can understand what you're thinking about this. I will be transferring to another school next week. In preparation, your new teacher has asked me to assign this."

The whole class was now talking in whispers about the new teacher.

I turned to Nora to see a look of shock on her face. I was not happy about this arrangement, especially since I actually liked the teacher we had. 

"I can't believe this. I don't want a new teacher halfway through the year," I said, with mild anger.

She nodded. "But, I did hear rumors a few weeks ago about a new teacher coming in. They said it was a young, male teacher. You know what that means."

I couldn't wipe off the smile on her face. I knew what that was code for. He was hot.

"Nora, he's probably some older lady in her mid-forties. Don't get your hopes up."

She couldn't resist talking more about him. Since class was almost over, our teacher allowed us to talk for the rest of class. Many students decided to ask our teacher who the new teacher was going to be. A lot of girls asked particularly about how young they were.

The bell rang at last, announcing our freedom for all students.

I caught up to Nora, and we went back to my locker first. She was blabbering on about the new teacher, but then shifted the subject to Spider-Man.

"I wonder what he's doing right now. Maybe he's in school, like us. Maybe he goes to this school. Could you imagine that? We could have passed him in the halls once in our life..."

She kept going on. I was lost in my own thoughts, keeping an eye out for Peter. We couldn't wait to tell him we were getting a new teacher.

"So, girl. Now that I'm done with my spiel, how is it with you and Peter lately?"

I mentally choked on the question itself.

"What?" I barely even said that without my voice cracking.

She rolled her eyes. "Come on. You know what I mean. Have you even talked to him about tonight?"

That's when I remembered that I completely forgot about Peter coming over. Panic mode on.