Sorry Kid, Wrong Number

Tuesday

I was gonna write more, but I'll save it for next chapter. I figure if I have this much done I might as well just publish it. Sorry if it's a little short.

Peter was absolutely miserable.

His head hurt, his stomach was doing flips, and his entire side felt like it was on fire.

Walking through the hallways was like torture.

The noise around him flooded into his ears, seeming to bounce and clang around in Peter's head like an echo.

Too loud.

All the movement and color had begun to blur together into one swaying mass. His eyes burned as he struggled to keep them open.

Too bright.

He was sure he was sweating. The harsh school lights beat down on him like the desert sun. He could no longer tell if the heat was coming from his side or somewhere else.

Too hot.

Peter clung to the walls like the mast of a ship; they offered only a little protection from the churning, waving sea of students and staff members.

He had woken up that morning feeling even more tired than the day before (something Peter hadn't thought possible) despite getting lots of sleep.

Rachel had wanted to keep him home, but he convinced her that he would be fine. He couldn't risk her finding the injury, and he was already far enough behind on his school work.

Now, though, he was starting to regret that decision.

Peter had insisted all morning that he was fine, just a little tired. Still, he could feel his two friends boring holes into his back every time he turned. He knew they were waiting for him to slip up; to give them a hint as to what was wrong.

Peter didn't know whether or not Ned had mentioned the events of the previous day to MJ, but it didn't really matter. He was waving more red flags than the frickin Beijing Olympics; it was a miracle they hadn't confronted him yet.

The time crawled by slowly, and the hands on the clock seemed frozen in place. Peter couldn't focus on anything being said in class.

Everytime his sweatshirt brushed up against him wrong, it sent a jolt of pain through his side. Multiple teachers gave him questioning or pitying looks, but he managed to avoid conversation. They seemed to understand something was wrong though, becaus they didn't call on him or tell him to pay attention.

It felt like an eternity before the students were finally released for the day. Peter resisted the urge to clutch his ears as the bell rang out, followed by the outbreak of jubilant conversation from his peers.

Peter waited until all the other kids filed out of the room before heading to his locker. He wasn't surprised to see that Ned and MJ had gone outside ahead of him; they were probably discussing what to do about Peter.

He was the only one in the hallway now, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe he would just stay here a while; the lack of noise and people was really relaxing.

Peter opened his locker and shoved his books in, thinking silently to himself about whether or not he could make it through the day. He supposed he'd have to-

"Hey Parker."

Peter felt his stomach drop.

Why did this have to be happening right now? Why today? Flash hadn't done anything for a while. Peter didn't know if he had heard about what happened or not, but it had been a welcome break.

He was back now, though. Right behind him.

Peter stood still for a moment, not knowing what to do. It hurt to think; his head was pounding, and now his heart was, too. He slowly closed his locker, turning to face Flash.

Flash's sinister grin faltered for just a second as Peter faced him; it was almost as if he was caught off guard by Peter's state.

Peter didn't blame him. He was sure that he looked like a hot mess. Nonetheless, Flash continued.

"It's been a while. Where were you?"

Peter wasn't sure how to respond. He didn't want to tell the truth, that was for sure.

"I-I uh, I was at... um, home..." Peter stuttered out, unable to think of a believable excuse. Curse his inability to do any sort of critical thinking. It must come with the spider powers.

"Yeah, sure. For a whole week. Do I look stupid to you?" Flash asked angrily.

Peter kinda glanced to the side, biting back a snarky remark. Flash did get into this school afterall, and he was on the decathlon team.

Unfortunately, Flash seemed to notice Peter's expression.

"Listen up, Parker," He started, overpronouncing the P, "I already have enough problems right now. I don't need you to look down on me, too."

Peter wasn't really thinking straight, and he didn't consider the effects of his next statement. "Maybe I wouldn't look down on you if you were mature enough to deal with your problems instead of forcing your insecurities onto other people-"

Peter was cut off by Flash's hands on his shoulders. He hit the wall hard, seeing a flash of red on impact.

Peter tried to hold back, but he couldn't stop himself from crying out as the sudden burst of white-hot pain shot through him.

He was on the ground now, with his knees to his chest. He could feel a warm substance beginning to soak through his shirt. The wound must have reopened. The pain was so blindingly intense that Peter hadn't even realized he was crying.

Looking up, he saw Flash standing a little ways away. He looked... scared. Maybe it was just the shock, but Peter thought he looked almost regretful.

Flash hesitantly reached his hand forward, before deciding better of it. He stumbled backwards and turned, running quickly down the hallway.

Peter sat there and just let himself cry for a few minutes. He was too afraid to stand up. He didn't even want to move. But he couldn't risk anybody else seeing him. It was bad enough that Flash had.

Peter just hoped he hadn't noticed that he was bleeding.

After a bit, Peter heard footsteps and distant talking. He tried to stand up quickly and get away, but he barely got a few inches off the ground before sinking back down again. It didn't help that he was starting to feel dizzy.

"Peter!"

His friends' walk broke into a run when they saw him. MJ got to him first, bending down to assess the situation. Ned followed right behind her.

"What happened?" Ned asked hurriedly as MJ put her hand on Peter's forehead.

"Holy hell you're hot..." MJ exclaimed in surprise.

"...Wait, I meant like, you have a fever, just to be clear. Not... whatever can you just tell us what's happening now?" She added a moment later.

"Yeah, um, how do I put this lightly?" Peter muttered through his tears, only partially to his friends. "Well, I got? Shot?"

After his statement was met with a blank stare from Ned and a look of disbelief from MJ, he continued, "Y'know, like, with a gun-"

"YEAH WE KNOW WHAT YOU MEANT PETE" MJ cut him off.

"Well I don't know you weren't saying anything and-"

Ned talked over him,"We should probably get out of here before someone sees..."

"But you will be elaborating on this, don't think you're getting out of it." MJ finished for him.

They helped Peter up and made their way to the back exit of the school.

So I started the first chapter of a new book, but idk if I'm gonna publish it. It's a crossover, but kinda a random one and idk if anyone would want to read it. I'll keep you guys updated just in case.