ILLYRIS | ii. "PETER BEING PETER." ACADEMIC DECOMMITMENT
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THEA DIDN'T REALIZE she had a photographic memory until she joined Midtown High's academic decathlon team her freshman year. Images and words perfectly put together were emblazoned in her mind. Even Flash Thompson, as arrogant and prideful as he was, gave her an—inaudible— word of gratitude for the competition they won sectionals at Dewitt Clinton.
She could remember everything and anything— except for what happened that day in Dragonfort. Now that was a pesky feeling. Although her sharpened mind did serve its purpose when she first started attending an advanced STEM school like Midtown High.
Even then, school wasn't her comfort zone. Thea often felt suffocated, like a bottle of soda shaken up and ready to pop. And by pop, that really meant setting something on fire when her fingers grazed something or causing a school-wide short circuit from frustration over a bad grade. Serafina had driven it hard in her head for her entire life— school was no safer than home. And so, Thea would always watch her back... even when it came to the upcoming decathlon Nationals.
The foyer was bustling with movement. It was brilliantly alive, filled with faculty carrying their lesson plans and Thermos bottles filled with coffee and students testing their robotics projects in the air. Thea dodged a hovering drone that came zipping at her head, hearing Principal Morita rebuking the owner behind her. Masses of teenagers clutching their backpacks were all headed to their first-period classes.
One of the flat-screen televisions suspended in the hallway was switched on, flashing a brazen yellow-and-blue logo of Midtown News. Soon enough, the co-hosts of the newscast and student council members, Betty Brant and Jason Ionello, appeared on the screen, seated at their table.
The girls entered the main hallway, breaking off from their conversation to hear, "Students, don't forget about your Homecoming tickets! Do you have a date... for Homecoming?"
Betty's lips were pressed in a thin smile and she forced out a chuckle, her china blue eyes staring directly into the camera. "Thanks, Jason, but I already have a date."
Jason exhaled. "Okay."
"Yeah."
Thea and Bex glanced at each other before laughing at the newscast that got ten times worse when the camera panned over to Jason's uncomfortable facial expression. It was a nice burst of humor they needed when mornings were particularly rough.
"You think Ned would know who Spider-Man is? Last year he wouldn't stop talking about him," Bex mumbled as she examined the Filipino boy on the other end of the hall. He held a tiny, plastic figurine, shaking it in front of Peter proudly. The two were like Bex and Thea: inseparable. Thea couldn't imagine a life without her.
"Huh, that sounds familiar," she gasped, smirking when Bex kicked at her leg.
She caught a glimpse of Ned Leeds and Peter Parker at the farthest end of the lockers. They looked like the most ordinary geekish boys you'd find in the corner of a comic book store. But Thea knew Peter Parker was more than that. She could feel it, though she wasn't quite sure why. He had a boyish cuteness to him at a close look, with dark brown hair slightly gelled back. It didn't tame the little curls he had. His scrawny frame was misleading as Bex remarked the number of push-ups he could perform in gym class. He was always buried under layered sweaters and jackets and that suited his quiet, unsuspecting demeanor that blended him in with the crowd.
