The Spider Job

The Phone Number

Peter rubbed a hand over his eyes, feeling exhaustion throbbing behind them. After his identity as Spiderman had been discovered by Lara yesterday he had been an anxious mess. She had told him that she wasn't going to tell anyone, but Peter wasn't sure whether he could trust her or not. If she decided to tell people about his secret there would be very little he could do to stop her. Peter had spent hours pacing back and forth in his room nerves thrumming with tension and thoughts overcome with panic. Thoughts of running to Mr. Stark and telling him about his huge screw up, of swinging over to Lara's house and begging her not to tell anyone about his secret, had gone through his brain and then immediately been discarded. There was no way he was going to tell Mr. Stark that he had messed up so badly. The older man had only just started placing more trust in him, finally letting him start to seriously train with Karen and all of the settings in his spidersuit, and Peter didn't want to mess that up. And there was no way he could swing over to Lara's house because he didn't actually know where it was.

So Peter had spent one of the longest nights of his life tossing and turning and worrying about what was going to happen to him.

Finally, at about four in the morning, Peter had given up on sleep entirely. He had gotten dressed, packed up his backpack, and had shuffled into the kitchen area of the apartment to hunt for something to eat. Aunt May was working a night shift at the hospital, so he didn't have to worry about his rummaging waking her up.

After scarfing down three bowls of cereal and a large helping of the leftover Chinese food from a few nights ago, Peter had gone back to pacing in his room, trying to decide what to do about Lara. If he got to school and found out that she had told the entire school about his secret, there was nothing he could do at that point, but if nobody was staring at him in shock, it would be safe to assume that she hadn't told anyone at that point. If that was the case, Peter decided he would find Lara and talk to her. No matter what, he would convince her not to tell anyone what she had discovered.

And so now Peter was standing in front of Midtown, body practically shaking with nerves, as he tried to gather up the courage to go inside. The image of everyone staring at him, their eyes judging, shocked, and possibly disappointed, kept flashing in his mind, and he almost couldn't do it, but gathering all of the courage he possessed, Peter clenched his fists in determination and stepped through the doors to his school.

Even though he was a bit on the earlier side, there were still quite a few other students roaming through the hallways, laughing and talking with one another, playing on their cellphones, and all distinctly uninterested in him. That was as good sign.

Feeling a small amount of relief wash through him, Peter began looking around, hoping that he would somehow be able to spot Lara, if she had even come to school yet.

"Hey Peter."

Feeling his heart almost jump out of his body, Peter whirled around. Almost as if his thoughts had summoned her, Lara was walking towards him, instrument case dangling from one hand and a friendly smile on her face. Her long brown hair was draped over one shoulder in a messy braid, swinging back and forth in an almost mesmerizing fashion.

"Hello? Peter?" Lara's voice, sounding slightly amused, snapped Peter out of his trance. He must have been more tired than he thought if Lara's swinging braid had actually managed to completely hold his attention.

"Oh." He said sheepishly. "Hey Lara."

"You know, it's funny," she said, her voice full of its typical cheer, "I was just thinking about you and then suddenly you appeared in front of me. It's almost like my thoughts summoned you."

Peter stared at her for a moment, dumbfounded, as his brain tried to catch up with what she had just said, and then he blushed slightly.

"You were thinking about me?" He asked, trying not to sound as self-conscious as he felt.