Chapter 1

"You know, I don't believe everything happens for a reason. I can't think of a reason for half the stuff in my life, and it's even harder to think of reasons why people have to die for such stupid things. I don't understand how a God could… justify what he does. I don't think, if one does exist, that he could. I mean, why do people have to die from a vending machine falling on them or like some crazy guy thinks he has the right to kill someone and does. Sometimes, no, not sometimes… In general, I think the world is just… crazy. I've never really been a religious person, but I don't know if I'm an atheist either. I guess I'm what they call agnostic, leaning more to the side of atheism.

What I do believe in is science. Science has an explanation for everything. I don't need to… search for a meaning that possibly doesn't exist, with science, if I want to know something; it's more than possible to be able to find the answer. The universe itself is an answer, but also a mystery. In a lot of ways, it's a lot like us. High-school students. Like, to us, our entire existence, puberty, girls, the world, how everything works, it's all a mystery. But it always seems like older people know us better than we know ourselves-"

And that was when I felt a scrunched-up paper hit my nose. It didn't hurt, but what did hurt was the laughter that came afterward. I looked out onto the class to see most of them trying to hold in an all out laugh as they watch me hold my nose slightly and gaze out to them with sad eyes.

I turned to the person who made school suck the most, an athletic teenager with blonde hair stylized in a stupid-looking military cut, known by the name of Flash Thompson. What a dick.

Today is my first day of school as a Junior in highschool. I go to Midtown High, which is a pretty good school to go to. Nice community (for the most part) and it gets a lot of publicity from colleges and businesses alike. Most people who go here go on to have good careers in New York. So I guess… I'm following in their footsteps? Sure. We'll go with that.

And to give some background on this illustrious reading of mine, over the summer, we were told to write papers for Social Studies telling the class and our teacher our standpoint on life, religion, and what we think of ourselves. Well, I was presenting this very paper when this dickhole decided to throw his own at my nose. I think. I didn't really look. But he's enough of a dumbass to do it.

"Mr. Thompson, see me after class," Our teacher spat out before turning back to me. "Peter, could you please continue?"

I nodded slowly, but grabbed the paper and decided just to skip to the final paragraph to get this over with.

"But anyway, as most of you know, my name is Peter Parker. I like a lot of things, but I don't think that's what's important. What is important to me are the people around me. Like you guys," I sputtered out the final paragraph, placed the paper on her desk, and sat back down, burying my head in my arms to escape the sideways glances that kept being thrown at me.

The class went pretty normally, with a few other students presenting their paper. Going off of theirs, I found I might have gone a bit overboard. But that's just kind of me. I think that I learned to do that when Uncle Ben had to fix the water heater when I was younger, but instead of just doing that, he bought an entirely new one. That had a bit of an impact on me, cause I saw how happy my Aunt was after that.

Well, now that I think about it, maybe he just couldn't fix it... eh. Whatever.

But uh… you heard me mention that I go to Midtown High. That's in New York, in Manhattan. But I actually don't live there. I live in Queens. My whole life has been in New York, and I've had the same home in Queens ever since I was a baby. But, sadly, that has also meant I've gone to school with this wad, Flash. He's a jock, through and through. And I'm a nerd. I don't know if you ever saw Revenge of the Nerds, but jocks and nerds don't mix. At least until the end. And the sequels. But the sequels are horrible so we don't talk about that.

In the meantime, I was sitting in the corner with my laptop open, just looking through random things as people finished up their presentations. Some of it was some videos detailing the finishes of some recent wrestling matches that have popped up.

Before I knew it, as I watched a lucha wrestler pin a Japanese one, none of whom I recognized, the class had ended and it was lunchtime. After packing up my laptop and things, I took a look at my schedule. It was English next, so I pretty much don't do anything for another hour.

I got up, pulling my stuff up along with me, and immediately headed for the door, walking out into the expansive hallways of Midtown High. My locker was actually pretty close by. #616. The hallway of lockers where I am is mostly empty, but there was a few students around. Quiet though. I like quiet.

After opening my locker, I threw my textbook and binder onto the top shelf, organized things so that my stuff for my next class was on top, and then shut it. I let my head rest against the cool metal of the locker for a few moments.

And a short while later, we were having English Class. I didn't pay a whole lot attention to it as I was tired. I kinda laid my head down on my hand and just sat there, staring at our teacher who was rambling on about something to do with what boosk we're going to be studying this year. I mean, come on, we have the paper that lists them right here. Why can't we just read the damn thing?

"Mr. Parker?" I heard my name being called out and my head sprung up.

"Yes, Ma'am?" Clearing my throat, several classmates giggled and the teacher shook her head.

"Are you feeling tired, Mr. Parker? Perhaps you'd like to take a nap on the couch in the principal's office?" It wasn't hard to interpret what she meant and I shook my head.

"I'm okay, Ma'am. Thank you, it won't happen again."

"I'm sure it won't, Mr. Parker," She told me before going back to talking about our upcoming studies of Romeo and Juliet.

I buried my face in my hands. What a rocking way to start off this terrible school year, man. Another day in paradise with Peter Parker.

I should maybe explain.

I haven't been able to sleep much, really. I've tried medication and everything, but nothing works. I know it'll pass in time, this kind of stuff happens to me at least once or twice a year. It's the kind of thing where you lie awake at night, thinking about nothing at all. Hell, I was thinking about how kids nowadays could benefit from Hulk Hogan's son becoming the new hero to our children. A few nights ago, So yeah. Pretty much nothing of note.

But because of that, a lot of my teachers have been keeping an eye on me. Every year, there's a student or two that falls asleep in class on a regular basis, and I can already pick up that they believe that I'm that kid this year. And sometimes it's even gotten close. Please, I really don't need another thing Flash can rip me a new one with.

Man, look at me. I'm such a wimp. I'm not worried about how sleeping in class could affect my academics, no, I'm worried that a bigger guy could beat me up. I'd love school so much if Flash… was… like, hit by a car or something. And then he was crippled. And then he got sent off to some school for disabled kids.

What? I know that's mean, but it's true.

After English, I had one more period to go through. And this was my specialty. I had chemistry. See, pretty much all science was incredibly interesting to me, as I mentioned before. And in a class where I don't have to hear material that I've heard before, and even if I do, I give a damn about it, it doesn't seem to drag on so much.

I walked into the class and sat down, looking around at all the posters and the sets and every other thing in the school. I was like a little kid, gawking at what would become my favorite class. (Probably)

And then, a few minutes later, the class had started and our obviously bored teacher had begun taking attendance. Thank God. Flash was not in our class. And none of his dumb friends were either.

When I raised my hand to say I was here and to make sure she saw me, I accidentally knocked down a girl named Liz's binder. I helped pick it up and make sure everything was in shape before handing it back to her when I sat back down to hear another girl's name being called.

"Gwen Stacy?"

Hm?

"Here."

I turned to see where the voice was coming from and was kind of… shocked, almost.

I've… never seen this girl before. I pretty much knew every one of the students here, so I guess she's one of the new kids. She had platinum blonde hair that was held together in a ponytail and black headband with very pale skin. But the most striking thing about her was her large blue eyes. Jesus. I could see them even with my terrible eyesight.

She was sitting at her desk, wearing a black skirt, boots, and a blue sweater. I tried to look at Gwen for a little while longer, but she must have sensed it or saw me or something, because she looked over to me afterward. But literally the very second she even tried to make eye contact with me, I turned away and went back to my own business, trying to make it look like I'm really interested in how my pencil bag zipper works.

Yeah, Chemistry might be a little bit harder to focus in than I first thought. But I tried my best while our teacher introduced himself, Mr. Michaels, and told us he would be assigning lab partners and that we would move over the seats we assigned and would stay there until the end of the year. I sighed inwardly, knowing I would get stuck with some lazy asshole who expected me to do all the work, but would always try and politely apologize to me while addressing me as 'Bro' or 'Dude'. (Freshmen year sucked)

"All right… Mark and Fleischer, Mark sit next to Fleischer in the front row… Liz and Derrick… Derrick, why don't you move over to the seat next to Liz where Peter is," I grabbed my things and stood up, making room for Derrick at one of the many two person tables in the room, standing awkwardly. Mr. Michaels saw me and immediately went to my name to prevent this situation from getting annoying for me. He flipped to the next page.

"Oh no. It seems that I don't have you on my seating chart, Mr. Parker," Oh great. "Hm…"

Mr. Michaels looked out onto the class and spotted an empty seat. "Ah! Mr. Parker, why don't you sit in the empty seat over on the right? Next to Ms. Stacy?"

A-ah… oh. Huh?

I looked over to her and watched her head spring up from her notebook as she heard her last name being called out. She looked over to me and we locked eyes for a moment. We probably would've stayed like that if not for Mr. Michaels ushering me over to sit down.

I moved over to our table slowly, hearing blurry names being called out behind me as I tried not to make eye contact, even though I knew she was casting a sideward glance toward me as I was able to put my stuff into the slot under the desk. I tapped the edge of the table a few times and breathed out, trying to decide what to do. So I just laid my arms out on the desk, laying my chin in the rest I created for myself as I tried to act as if I was interested in the seating chart, much like the zipper on my pencil bag.

Believe it or not, I'm not very good with women. I don't have much experience with them, and really… they kind of scare me. Every experience I've had with a woman has usually ended in either them trying their hardest to get away from me in some way, shape, or form, or Flash getting mad at me cause I was talking to a girl he wanted to get with.

But, she had decided for me after a while, when the teacher was explaining a pretty standard procedure, piping up with her own awkward sound.

"So…"

My eyes followed her voice to her face, seeing her fiddle with the top of her notebook.

"You're my new lab partner."

And her voice… was like a melody. Soft and feminine, but also seemed strong in a lot of ways.

"Oh…"

"Is that bad?"

I needed a second to answer, but I was able to reply to her after a short while. "Yeah, sorry. I just uh… Yeah. I'm fine. I mean it's fine. Er… damn. Sorry."

"That's good," She smiled. "Well uh…" She put out her hand for a shake. "Gwen Stacy. Nice to meet you. You're Peter right?"

I was too busy staring at her to shake her hand, and she awkwardly put it back on her notebook. I put my hand behind my head, resting it on my neck.

"Oh. Yeah. Nice to meet you too. I'm Peter. Peter Parker,"

We stayed quiet for a while until the teacher told us to get to know each other while he sent the attendance report down to the main office. Class was nearly over anyhow, so he might as well just take up the rest of the time. And it seems like he will, as I swear I heard the sound of a video coming from his computer before he put in his headphones.

"So Peter?"

I looked to her and she was closing her notebook. "How was your summer?"

I shrugged. "Lazy, to be honest. Yours?"

"I spent most of my summer moving to Manhattan," She said.

"Oh? Where'd you come from? Er… I mean, like… where'd you live before here?" I fumbled over my words and she giggled.

No, that laugh was a melody. Her voice was just like… a drum roll for it or whatever. I think there's something there. I'll flesh that out a bit more before coming back to it.

"New Jersey. My Dad is working as Chief of Police for New York now, so, we moved to Manhattan and here I am. It's a pretty short story, really," She shrugged. "How about you?"

I sat up straight. "Well, I've always lived here. I've grown up in Queens, all my life. I live with my Aunt and Uncle there."

"Where are your parents?"

I looked away. "Uh… I don't know."

She looked terrified for a moment. "I… I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"Tch. It's fine,"

And the bell rang. We grabbed our stuff and stood up.

"Well I'll uh… I'll talk to you later, okay?" She told me and walked past me, then out the door.

"I… yeah. You too."

Sometime later in the day, I'm sitting on a desk, waiting for the day to end in a few minutes, when our homeroom teacher, Ms. Grant, stands up and gets our attention.

"As all of you know, The Community Fair is in two days, a lot earlier this year. Remember to bring money and at 12:00, we're going into the gym for the Oscorp Scholarship Presentation," She announced and then received a collective groan. "Oh suck it up. We're taking attendance, so remember to show up."

The bell rang and I was one of the first ones out the door. I headed to my locker, hoping to spot that girl I saw earlier today, but I wasn't able to. So I just grabbed my backpack, shut the locker, and walked to the front door of the school.

"Hey Parker!"

Aw come on.

I turned to see Flash behind me, smiling. Hate that damn smile.

"Parker, someone told me that you've been talking up Liz," Flash saunters over to me, still smiling. Something tells me no one told him anything about his girlfriend. "What's up with that, man?"

I groan, trying to move away as I slightly turn my head to address him. "Flash, I haven't even said like… three words to Liz this entire year."

"Parker…"

Flash grabs my shoulder, and then clumsily shoves me into a row of lockers nearby. He then grips my sweatshirt in either hand, now clenching his teeth in what seems to be a mixture of anger and excitement. I knew that look. That's the 'I want to kick your ass' look. And guess what usually happens after he gives me that look? Yep. You guessed it. He kicks my ass.

"D-dude, just lay off of me, all right?" I was now glancing quickly from him to the crowd that was gathering around us. Hopefully a teacher got here soon, cause I can already feel his arm moving back. It's most likely he's going to punch me.

Flash laughs slightly, instead of punching me, he shoves my shoulder harder into the locker. "Lay off you? Lay off my girl, Parker!"

And then came the punch. Straight across the cheek, down into the jaw. A messy strike. I've become used to them over the years. They're just another part of life at this point. Isn't that really depressing? And you know what? I'm really, really tired of it. I'm tired of being scared.

So I did something stupid. I shoved him off of me. It was really all I could have done at this point; I could not have been able to punch him, my whole body was against the locker. Well, I could have, but it would have been so soft that he wouldn't even notice.

But my shove did enough of the trick. He was shocked. He wasn't used to me fighting back. I looked out onto the crowd, who seemed to be furiously whispering to each other. And I swore, really, that I saw that platinum blonde hair that caught my eye earlier toda-

OOF!

Of course, a split second of embarrassment didn't scare him off, so he rushed forward, shoulder-checking me back into the row of lockers, cutting off all thoughts as my head bounced off against the metal, causing a slight dent. Immediately, I fell to my knees, then slumped over onto my right hand.

"Mr. Thompson!" I heard a high-pitched, older voice yell. I knew it was some teacher at this point. Took her long enough to get here.

After a lot of yelling, groaning, and what seemed to be nervous shuffling, before I knew it, the crowd had dissipated. And I was alone, sitting on my ass as I felt a ringing in my ears and the bulbs of light disappeared from my eyes. I don't think I've been hit like that for a while. That's something I was used to. While teachers really don't like Flash, they don't like me all too much either for some reason. Never understood why, but that's how it is. So they really didn't bother to say 'Hey champ, nurse is down the hall'. No one really does care enough to, anyway.

"Peter?"

But I did hear someone talking. So I turned to where I thought the voice was coming from to see the big blue eyes I had seen earlier. Pale skin. Blonde hair. Black headband. Yeah. This… It's Gwen.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

And there was her voice again.

"I uh… um…"

She frowned slightly, crouching down onto her haunches, and putting a hand on my knee. "Let's go to the nurse."

It took me a second to register what she was saying, but I shook my head and stood up. "I'm okay, really. Just a little… I'unno, shocked or whatever."

"You sure?"

I nodded. I looked down to her eyes. I found she was actually a bit shorter than I was, standing at only a bit taller than my shoulder. "Peter, right? We're lab partners."

She almost seemed like she was confirming it for me. She already knew my name and that we were partners. Er… at least I think she does. I hope she does.

"Uh, yeah. Peter Williams, that's my name," I replied, putting my hands in my pockets. She giggled.

"Well, obviously we need to make introductions once again, Mr. Williams. My name's Gwen Stacy," She put out her hand for a shake, like she did earlier. "Nice to meet you."

"Why's your hand out there?"

She rolled her eyes at me taking the joke probably a bit too far. Then she hefted her bag up again, looking at me.

"Go to the nurse, okay? I'll be checking up on you tomorrow," She began to walk away. "Okay?"

"Huh? Oh. Uh. Yeah. Yeah I will," I began to wave, but decided better of it, as she had already walked out the front door.

Wow.