Take My Hand | Peter Parker

Chapter 24

Even though I remembered Peter was coming over, the ring of the doorbell still gave me a heart attack. This always happened whenever I was excited for guests to come over.

I jogged to the kitchen and looked near the front door. Peter was standing there in the doorway with his backpack strapped over his shoulder. Nora had already invited him in. I waved in his direction, receiving a smile in return. I was too flustered to even realize he was too early.

We didn't even have dinner yet.

I completely forgot, although I was quite used to forgetting about things. Well, I guess dinner could wait for a bit. I walked over to Peter.

"You're early today," I joked. "Couldn't wait to study, huh?"

He nodded. "Yeah, something like that. Aunt May said she would take me out to dinner as a treat tonight, and I don't want to be late. Sorry about coming really early,"

I smiled, knowing how much he cared about her. She meant more to him than I would ever know, but I did understand that she was the only family he had.

"It's fine. Nora has to study too, and you know how she loves to procrastinate."

I elbowed Nora, who was snacking on a bag of cheddar popcorn.

"No. Motivation." She said between bites.

There was no separating her from the food now, so I left her be in the kitchen. Who knows when she would finally study, but I knew school was important to her.

"Let's study in my room. At least we can get away from this mess," I pointed to Nora.

She scoffed in return, making some invalid point about me being jealous that she found the popcorn first. Aunt Rebecca scolded her for eating so close to dinner. I didn't hear what else she said as we trudged over to my room.

"So, what topic shall we go through first?" I asked Peter, who had already organized his notes on my desk, and was now sitting in the chair.

"The first one. I think reviewing the older material would be better." He grabbed a sheet of paper from the bottom of the pile.

I didn't remember what subject we were planning on studying, but looking over the notes and remembering them seemed to help. It was a back and forth thing for about twenty minutes, I would quiz him, he would quiz me. A competition wouldn't be a bad idea, and I was getting bored.

"Alright. Time to get serious." He raised an eyebrow at my statement, getting curious as to what I was getting at. I continued on.

"We'll count how many questions we get right this time. Whoever loses has to miss the next movie night."

Peter moved closer, listening intently. "Just give up. We already know it's going to be you."

I was shocked that Peter had challenged me in this way. He was always so quiet and never into much competition. Well, this didn't do much to make me feel better. School and studying might be too easy for him, but I wasn't going down that easily.

I chuckled nervously, knowing well he wasn't lying. "Bring it on, Parker."

The first question was straightforward for him. When I was asked a question, everything I learned from the subject acted like it never existed. My brain just betrayed me.

"What's the formula for density?" He narrows his eyes, examining the paper. "You got a really easy one."

Yeah, easy when you can think straight. My brain was all over the place, which did nothing to help me concentrate. Density... density... this was practically grade school all over again!

Even though it was a simple formula, the only thing I allowed myself to pay attention to was Peter.

"Come on, you know this," He pleads. I know he wants some fair competition, or at least some challenging competition. I couldn't compete with his knowledge.

"Density equals mass over volume." That was correct. He was right, that question was way too easy.

I smiled proudly, attempting to rub it in his face. A lot of the questions I got asked were simply effortless in terms of thinking. I felt bad for Peter as I read the more difficult questions, but when he answered with ease, my own confidence dwindled. He was going to win easier than I thought he would.

We transitioned over to functions after half an hour. Apparently there was a test coming up soon, and we already reviewed all of our chemistry content.

The score was tied.

A few more questions would finally determine a winner, and this was a chance that I didn't regularly have. A chance to beat Peter - who's probably the smartest kid in our school.

"What are the coordinates for the base function? Start from the top." I sat quietly, preparing my response.

"This one is too easy, Parker. It's like you want me to win," I flick my pencil at him, which he catches perfectly. Good reflexes too?

"Negative-two, four, negative-one, one, zero, zero, one, one, two, four."

He scoffs, flipping his notebook to another page. "I wouldn't say that."

Wait. Was Peter going to actually try now? Because if he was putting up an act this entire time, he had me fooled.

"...and the restrictions?" This was the last question, and it was correct thus far.

"X cannot equal negative three over two or three."

The anticipation held me there. I was scared because the restrictions could be confusing at times.

"It was negative three instead of three. I win!" He cheers politely while gathering his papers in a hurry.

Even if I lost, seeing him happy changed my entire mood. Loosing one movie night was worth this, even if I was disappointed in myself for not doing better.

"Thanks for coming over. I'll see you at school tomorrow," I said, trying to hide my dismay at missing our next get together.

As soon as he left, I warmed up my dinner and practically shoved it down my throat. I guess I should have eaten slower, but I couldn't wait. I closed my door quietly and left a note on the bed in case Nora got curious.

I left with purpose - a mission to control my powers.