Twelve | Worry

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Everyone on the decathlon team was given the option to talk to the school therapist about what happened at any time, but no one really wanted to, so we just talked to each other about it. The next day, Jason Ionello and Betty Brant, the two kids who announced the news talked about Spider-Man, thankfully not mentioning me, though I don't know how anyone would've known about that unless someone told them. A few days after the decathlon trip the doctors told me I had healed well in regards to my arm. 

I was feeling pretty content with how school was working out, so long as I didn't depress myself over Felicia. I had friends, unlike when I attended public school, I was getting extra credit from the Decathlon team, and next year, my science class was going on a trip to Europe. The only thing I noticed was wrong was that Peter had been acting strange lately. I tried not to involve myself in the business of others but he had been ditching class recently, and I sincerely hoped he was okay.

I got home from school late that night, as I had gotten caught up talking to MJ about good books to read, so when I made it to the roof of a comic store about three blocks away, Spidey was there waiting for me.

"Hey webs!" I smiled, landing gracefully.

"Cat! Did something happen? Are you okay?" Spidey asked, leaping to his feet as soon as I landed.

"Relax webs I'm fine." I smiled, before sighing and sitting down on the edge of the roof. "My friend keeps disappearing from school, and I'm getting pretty worried. I think it might be 'cause of some internship he has but i'm still worried for him. I think he's overworking himself." I ranted, staring down at my hands. I had grown to trust Webs, and he was the only one I really opened up to besides MJ. I never had to worry about him connecting the dots about my appearance or the fact I told him about my school life for two reasons. One, he might not know any of the people I was talking about, and Two, the Bad Luck that comes with being the Black Cat dissuades anyone from thinking you could be the same person unless you told them.

"I'm sure your friend is fine, he must really mean a lot to you." Spidey said and I shrugged one shoulder.

"He was one of the first ones to befriend me, even though I know people mock me when I'm not around." I explained. "He's one of the closest friends I have. I just don't want him to get hurt."

"That's really sweet. I mean, you care about your friends that much!" Spidey said, and I frowned. I'd heard that somewhere before, but with all that'd happened I couldn't remember where.

"Thanks..." I muttered, giving Spidey a smile. "I've gotta go. See ya round webs." I said, waving over my shoulder as I swung back to my apartment building. I stepped inside, closing the window and stepping out of the suit. I folded it up and set it inside my closet, sighing. I changed into a black t-shirt, black sweatpants and a black hoodie before stepping into my flip flops. I opened the door, hanging the key to my apartment around my neck, and closing the door behind me. I took a deep breath, before walking across the hall and knocking on the door.

000

I had just returned from my patrol as Spider-Man and was in the middle of changing when I heard someone knocking on the door.

I pulled my shirt down over my head and walked out of my room into the hall, wondering who it could be.

"Just a minute!" I hollered, walking through the living room and over to the door. I pulled open the door to see Gwen standing there, hands stuffed inside the pocket of her black hoodie.

"Hey." She said, staring at me.

"Hi, do you uh, wanna come in?" I asked and she stepped inside.

"Look. Peter, I'm not gonna lie," She started, and I noticed she hadn't called me by my last name. "I'm worried about you. You've been skipping school, and acting pretty strange lately."

I blinked, surprised at Gwen's statement. "Oh... that. I've been having a really tough time with the internship recently, and I really wanna be able to balance both but I don't know if i can." I sighed, and Gwen frowned.

"Any way I can help?" She asked, surprising me for the second time this conversation.

"Not really, but thanks for offering." I smiled, and she nodded, giving me a small smile in return.

"I'm gonna go now. just, lemme know if you want help with anything, be it science homework or hiding a body." She said, before showing herself out with another small smile sent my way.

I smiled to myself, happy that I had friends looking out for me. Although, if my plan worked, I might have to skip school for a while.

000

I suited up, getting ready for my trip to the police station to borrow some documents on my fathers death. I pulled on the suit, zipping it up and snapping the belt into its place. I put on the mask, climbing out the window and jumping off the fire escape, swinging off to the police station. 

When I got to the police station I had to wait a few minutes to be able to slip in unnoticed. Finding the records room was easy. Finding the file it turned out, was not. The first thing I did was take out the security camera from their blind spots making sure I wasn't seen. I had to avoid security guards patrolling the area every fifteen minutes while still keeping track of what cabinet number I was on. I had slipped something into the main security guards coffee so he wouldn't be a problem for another half hour, giving me only one more guard shift to avoid. I checked the wall clock periodically, and once it started to get close I began to worry. I was cutting it real close and if I didn't find the right file soon, this whole place would be swarming with police. 

With only two minutes to spare I found the file, pulling it out and closing the filing cabinets drawer. I snuck back out of the station, climbing out through the grate and into the roof just as the alarums went off.

I had made sure to leave Kingpin's signature single diamond on the crime scene to throw the police off my trail, most renowned thieves had a calling card to claim the credit for stealing their prize, which usually backfired and got them caught.

It worked, as no policemen showed up and kicked down the door, demanding to know where I had been at 11:32. Hiding the file under my bed along with the suit, I pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt, burrowing under the covers and falling asleep almost instantly.

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