"Vai."

One could stare for hours and find nothing particularly extraordinary about Vai. A fair-toned boy, atop his head sat a raven-black mop of hair, and behind tired lids sat unremarkable toxic green eyes. Covering a small slim teenage build was a black FOB concert t-shirt and grey skinny jeans, with a occasional dark grey beanie.

"Vai, pay attention."

He need all the sleep he could get when he could get it. The second that school let out he had to run to his job, and that would keep him out after midnight. The more hours of work he could get the better, as that meant a little bit longer he could keep his crabby old apartment. Without it he wouldn't have anywhere to go.

"Vai!"

Having his hissed directly in his ear jolted the young teen almost off his stool and onto the floor had he not caught himself on the edge of the lab desk. He found himself facing an exasperated glare from his lab partner. Understandable, as he had been trying to catch a power nap in the middle of an assignment.

All Vai could do was give her an apologetic look. No excuses. Never excuses, "Sorry Sammie," He said with a hint of an indistinguishable accent.

And he was. Most guys would have been chomping at the but and wide awake in lab when they found out they would be the lab partner of Sammantha Keighley. On the other hand she must have felt like working with him was like dragging an anchor. It was a shame, she was quiet incredible.

Long ginger hair, stunning blue eyes, and a body to go with it all. Unfortunately, Vai knew where he stood in regards to that sort of thing going anything past her knowing his name; somewhere in the neighborhood of 'fat chance' and 'snowball's chance in hell'. They definitely weren't friends. Even saying they were acquaintances was a stretch.

Yes she was gorgeous, but girls like that weren't into guys like him. She had the best grades, was by far the most athletic girl at the school, was the daughter of the mayor, and she was already doing after work classes with Oscorp.

He was just the kid of some failed inventing scientist who were no longer amongst the living.

Sammantha sighed and shook her head, gesturing to the experiment before them that she already completed. "It's fine. It's actually faster without all the bumbling working together stuff," She tapped the packet on the lab table that was fully filled out, gesturing for Vai to fill in where his name was meant to go, "...You know, if you tried a little harder who knows what you could do? I've seen your grades. You don't even study."

Vai chuckled and gratefully put his name on the page, "I try plenty hard. Trust me," He didn't ha e the time to study. He was hardly able to find the time to do enough homework to keep a decent grade-point average.

Sammantha purses her lips but didn't say anything. Because of 'extracurricular' affairs she was very attentive to what went on around her. She knew full well that Vai had lost his parents, the last one over half a year ago, even if he never told anyone or even let it go beyond the people at the school who absolutely had to know that it happened. He simply missed a few days and came back without missing a beat.

But that beat began to slip, because he had to provide for himself. He had no family stateside. He stopped playing sports, not that he was any good at it, and even stopped coming to school everyday. He never asked for help or even let anyone know that he was on his own, out of pride or for whatever reason. And no one cared. This was the wrong town for that.

The bell rang and Vai stood up before she did, grabbing the packet and putting a hand on her shoulder as he went to turn it in. "Thanks, and if there's something I can do later on, I owe you one."

"Just happy to help," Sammie dais lamely as she watched him go. In the end, it wasn't any of her business.

xXx

Well after two in the morning Vai entered his apartment and locked the door behind him, dropping his backpack at the door and flopping face down on the sofa, not even taking his shoes off first and completely ignoring his twitching ears under his disheveled beanie. His home was a simple one-bedroom apartment. It wasn't exactly in a nice part of town, but it could have been worse.

He dozed off for three hours before waking up and pushing himself up weakly. Two more hours before he had to wake up for school, his long black tail uncurling from around his waist and swaying as if annoyed itself.

With a sigh Vai looked around his dark apartment, still containing this and that from before his father died six months prior. Just thinking about it angered him, but it was a dull anger. The kind you couldn't do anything about.

His mother and father were both inventor/scientist who had made their living when he'd been younger, designing and working with a few others on a hybrid species theory that a few large companies (like Oscorp and something called H.Y.D.R.A.?) turned for huge dollars. Then one day that all came to an end, and things grew tough, but they never stopped working. They worked more than paid attention to him.

Then both died, one after the other, not too long after one another. But their work had taken them away from h way before death had. He grieved, by not for long. Because there wasnt any room for it. The world didn't l care about your excuses.

They left him alone, no contingency. No contact with anyone that could take him in, or help him. No money to help him get by. No system worked it out. It was enough to make him laugh if it wasn't so pathetic.

What was he going to do, become the ward of the state? To hell with that. Adoption? Not a chance. He was sixteen, so it was too late for that to work out for him, even if he did want that sort of thing which he, most assuredly, did not.

And now the rest of his days would have to be spent eking out what he could with odd jobs? Before he was even old enough to have a fighting chance at the start? No. If he was going to go down, it was going to be because he made his own stupid mistakes to put himself into a hole. And be damned, he was going to find a way out.

Enough of the nine-to-five crap. Even if he ever got to college, then what? He wouldn't even be able to pay his way through. Not like this.

Jumping up with a grit to his teeth, Vai stomped up to the more than broken mirror in his tiny little bathroom. His hands quickly clenched into fist. 'Calm down, Vai. Don't let this happen to you again.' He quickly thought.

Vai opened his toxic green eyes and stared at them in whatever's left of the broken mirror. Maybe it was time to call it quits, to ask for help.

A small smile eged onto the young teens face in humor. Who would want him? A broken and dirtied soul. Who would love him?

With out further question, Vai took out his cell and called the only number he knows by heart.

Peter Parker.