It's been a week since I arrived in the U.S. and I have not one decent friend on my list as expected from someone as shy and introvered as myself. No matter, today's a new day to try, harder at that, to find company that will hopefully last at least until my last year in college.
Today, since I woke a little earlier than I normally do, I decided to walk to school. And because I was well aware that I was going to kill my feet by walking at least five miles, I opted to wear jeans and a pair of sneakers, my favorite blue ones.
Click! The knob locked, a sign that I was good to go. I jumped down from the highest step of the stairs down to the pavement, landing with my knees slightly bent to lessen the impact on my legs. With the keys in my front pocket, my backpack secured on my back, and my shoes tied neatly and tightly, I started walking to school. I took in the exteriors of the houses that I passed by as I walked. I never had the chance to look at them one by one since I would got school in a cab everyday. The scene was peaceful, more peaceful than the busy streets back in the Philippines with jeeps honking loudly to call in passengers, clogging the streets each time they stopped.
I stopped in front of the house that Peter Parker pointed to me on the night I first saw him. And also the last. It's odd that I haven't bumped into him considering we live only three houses away from each other. Brushing the thought away, I quicken my pace a little so that I can make it to school in time for my first class.
Reaching the busier side of the city, I tried to minimize the number of rushing people I bumped into and I tried my best not to get myself killed by the cars rushing to their respective destinations. The stoplight turned red, signalling the pedestrians that it was safe to cross. Or so I thought. Right when I was in the middle of the street, a minivan came in view from the sky, meaning to crush every inch of the body of the little kid standing in front of me. Instinctively, as if my body was composed of elements much stronger than the child's body in front of me, I threw myself forward, pushing him out of the way of the falling minivan. I landed on my knees with my eyes closed. I called out to all the saints in heaven to pray for my soul as I waited for the minivan to crush me, but it never hit me.
I opened my eyes to see the minivan hovering above me, suspended in midair by what seemed like spiderwebs. "Are you alright?" A familiar voice came from behind me. I looked up to see a masked man covered in red his hands stretched out for me to reach. "On a side note, mini should never be associated with things that can crush people's bones." He joked."I already had it covered back there, but thanks for the help anyway." I chuckled as I placed my hand in his.
"Just doing my job. Gotta fly! Stay in school!" and with that, he raised his arm, and out from the bottom of his palms squirted what I assumed was made of the same material that held the not-so-mini van in midair. He pulled on the web, flying from building to buidling until he was out of sight. Still stunned with my near-death-by-minivan experiece, I continued my walk to school.
The bell rang just seconds after I've reached the classroom. Who was that masked man? I've heard of a hero that kept the city safe in the news several times back when I was in the Philippines. Why did his voice sound so much like-
My trail of thoughts was cut by a light tap on my right shoulder. I turned my head to see a boy with blonde hair and blue eyes looking at me. "Hi. Do you have an extra pen?"
It took me seconds before resurfacing from the bottomless pools that were his eyes to answer his question. "Yes. Here you go." "Thanks."
Time flew by ever so slowly in the classroom. As soon as the bell rang, I collected my things and rushed out to go to my next class. But before I could go through the door, I hear someone call out. "Hey! Your pen." The guy who borrowed my pen walked to me with my pen in hand. "Oh yeah, thank you." I smiled. "No. Thank name's Luke by the way." He offered his hand for me to shake. What girl in the right mind would let this opportunity pass to introduce herself to a god-like man who has presented himself in front of her voluntarily? "I'm Jan." With a smile, I introduced myself as I reached to shake his hand.
"Where are you heading?"
"To my history class." I looked at my watch to check the time and was surprized that I had only two minutes left to get to that class in time.E
"Oh my, I'm running late! I have to go. It was nice meeting you, Luke!" I ran down the hallway, completely forgetting about my pen.
There was a seat near the backdoor which I occupied when I got to the room. Shortly after I've settled, the door opened to reveal Luke standing right outside the classroom. He made his way to the seat next to me and made himself comfortable before turning to talk to me.
"You forgot this." He placed the pen on my table. "You just dahsed off." He chuckled as he brushed away strands of hair that were in front of his eyes.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know you were in this class too." I said a bit timidly.
"It's alright."
Throughout the period, we stayed quiet, well for most of it. There were instances wherein he would try to start a small conversation but I would just brush it off. Okay, so this guy isn't as attractive as I thought he would be when I first saw him. In fact he was borderline annoying.
I quickly dismissed myself from his presence once class ended. The day passed by without him in sight which was the way I wanted it. I'd rather be a lone wolf than have him around me, constantly tormenting me with his senselessness. I walked out the vicinity of of the university and on to the pavements that would ultimately lead me home.
Once I reached the door, I sat on the steps to take in the view of the night sky. It was breathtaking. One of the few things that make my stay here bearable. I saw a figure move from my peripheral view and so I turned my gaze away from the sky back to reality. It was Peter.
"Hey." He greeted with a smile.
"Hey."
"So, how's your stay here so far. I hope you're not hating it that much."
"I nearly got crushed by a not-so-mini van this morning. It was weird how webs were able to hold it back from hitting me. And you know what's weirder? Right after that moment I thought I was going to die, A man in red spandex appeared. I think he was the one who saved me 'coz-"
"Oh you mean spider man?"
"Spider what?" I asked a bit weirded out with what I heard.
"Yeah, spider man. Doesn't sound as attractive, when you think about it but he does his job, and that's pretty much all that matters to him I guess."
"it doesn't sound that bad. That's so cool. So those are spider webs that I saw earlier. I wonder how he does that."
"We all do." He chuckled "Anyway, why are you out here on your own?"
"Just taking in the view of the nightsky. But it's getting kind of chilly out here." I grabbed my keys from my pocket and headed to the door. Once it was open, I offered him a warm couch and coffee though his house is less than a minute a way from mine.
He climbed up the steps and into my living room.
"It gets lonely here since I live alone." I blurted while preparing two mugs of coffee.
"Have you made many friends?" He asked absorbing the interior of the living room.
"Not a decent one."- "Are you saying that I don't make decemt company?" He joked.
"I didn't mean that. You're my only friend here in this new, big, and, scary world." I bowed my head at the thought of being away from everything I've come to know back in the Philippines.
"Let me be a good friend to you then. Tomorrow's a Sunday. I can tour you around this scary new world, and you'll see it isn't half as scary as you think it is right now." He said with a big smile on his face before taking a sip from the mug I handed to him.
"I'd love that, thank you.."
I guess I just wasn't look in the right place for the company I've been longing for. Turns out, he's been nearby after all. Just three houses away from me.