Peter was stood with Harry next to the school bus, waiting for the driver to bother showing up to take them to Empire State University. Peter was standing as far away from the main group of students, gathered in a huge social group. He wanted to talk to Gwen, but had no idea what to say.

"You can't avoid her forever, Pete" Harry explained.

Peter sighed.

"What do you think Harry? what should I say?"

Harry took a deep breath.

"I never thought you'd have a chance in hell of getting Gwen, but after her texting and visiting you yesterday, I'm willing to promote my statement from 'not a chance in hell' to 'maybe if hell freezes over'. I'd say go for it, if she likes you, you win, if she doesn't, nothing changes, you have nothing to lose"

"My dignity?" Peter suggested.

"Dude, were you there yesterday when you got slaughtered by Flash?"

Peter laughed.

"I can't argue there, okay, I'll do it, next time I see her"

The bus driver finally arrived, opening the door despite the fact no student was in a rush to get on before finishing their conversation.

"There she is!" Harry pointed.

Peter turned around to see Gwen walking her way towards the car park they were all standing in. Peter panicked and ran on the bus. Harry, taken back by Peters rush, laughed as he followed.

*

was a dull witted, sarcastic teacher. The sort of teacher everyone had, one who obviously didn't want to be there, but was forced by his paycheck to stay in place. In the lobby of the university, he gathered the students to give is forced speech on the safety of school trips.

"... It's a great privilege to be here," he dryly explained, while checking his watch, "you are all representing your school, so try making it look like a remotely nice place to be. I need you to all pair up, for those of you not gifted with the ability to count, thats groups of TWO students. one, two! Do it quietly and no arguing. You do not have to hold hands, in fact I would be so either greatful if you didn't. Now hurry!"

Peter looked around. Harry had disappeared from his sight. Peter walked around the group of students, trying to locate his friend. As more and more people paired off, Peter found himself looking stupid wondering around the room on his own. He finally spotted Harry standing next to overweight, birth control-glasses Doug..

"Hey Pete," Harry waved.

Peter frowned.

"I thought we would be partners" Peter enquired.

"Nah, sorry Pete, I thought I'd go with chubby cheeks here"

"HEY" Doug shouted.

Harry ignored Doug, and kept his eyes on Pete.

"Guess you'll have to find someone else to partner up with" Harry gave his trademark evil grin, that gave away he was up to something. It always made Peter nervous.

Harry was now looking behind Peter. Peter knew before he even looked behind him who he would see. There stood Gwen Stacy. Peters heart skipped several beats. She smiled at Peter, not saying a word.

"Oh my gosh," Harry made no effort to hide is sarcastic tone, "look at that, theres no one else to pair up with, I guess you two will have to go together then. Well, seeyoulaterPete." Harry rushed off, taking Doug with him before Peter could argue back.

The lobby was pretty much empty now, except Peter and Gwen, staring at each other. They seem to stare for ages, with the only exchange being nervous smiles. They were so distracted, they didn't see stand next to them.

"Excuse me, Miss Stacey and . I'm so very sorry to disturb, what was the most intriguing conversation never spoken by man, but is there any chance you might decide to join the rest of the class in an effort to finish this trip before the end of next week."

waited for no response before moving on to the next room after the rest of the class. Gwen and Peter, exchanging one last awkward smile, joined after him.

**
Gwen and Peter walked through a number of rooms with the rest of the class. Normally, Peter would be excited to look at all the science stuff surrounding him, but he felt the need to constrain himself with Gwen with him. They hadn't said a word to each other yet. Gwen was just as speechless as Peter was. Gwen knew she just needed to start a conversation, so she pointed to a random table full of lizards in boxes.

"What do you think they could benefit from human animal hybridity with them" Gwen asked.

Peter was surprised Gwen actually understood the reason behind the research, as most of the students her were just using the trip to avoid classes. It also occurred to Peter that if Gwen was smart enough to understand the science, she was smart enough to know the benefits of lizard DNA.

"Well, erm, you see, lizards have the ability to grow back limbs," Peter decided to play along for the sake of something to say.

Gwen nodded.

"What do you think of the claims that all this research has been dismissed by the rest of the scientific community as just a vain attempt at "comic book" science" Gwen asked.

"Er..." Peter had no response, he was yet again surprised by Gwen, she was a lot smarter then Peter had thought.

"You're a man of few words, ain't you Pete?" Gwen laughed.

They moved onto the next table, full of boxes of spiders. The boxes were sealed shut, with yellow and black striped tape warning anyone not to open. If that didn't put people off, the radiation sign on all sides sure would.

"I can't think of any benefits of spider human hybridity" Gwen screwed up her face, as if trying to decipher her own riddle.

Peter found he couldn't stop staring at her beautiful eyes. Gwen spotted him doing so, and started into his, as their bodies arched down near the spiders.

Suddenly, their eye contact broke, as Gwen spotted something on the floor, under the table.

"What's this," she said, as she crouched down to pick up an empty box.

Peter crouched down with Gwen. He kept his hand on the table to balance himself. Gwen inspected the box, she couldn't tell if the box was a spare, or forced open somehow. As Peter stared at it, a spider crawled across the table and onto his hand. It , in a swift movement, bit Peters ring finger. Peter jolted in pain, as he banged his head off the table. Peter jumped to his feet rubbing the back of his head with his left hand, and inspecting his right hand.

"You okay, Peter?" Gwen said, as she got to her feet as well.

Gwen's voice became an echo to Peter, as his head slowly drifted from one side to the other. His right hand shot up to catch his head. Gwen was shocked to see the huge spider bite on Peters hand.

"Peter, you were bitten!" Gwen gasped.

By this point, Peter couldn't hear Gwen. He felt so dizzy. His vision became blurry, and he was starting to sweat a lot. Peter felt like his body temperature had skyrocketed. He needed to get fresh air, and he needed it right away.

"I'll just be a moment" Peter slurred, as he walked away from Gwen. He crashed through the doors and found a fire exit. As he broke through it, an alarm went off. He started to run out of the alley he had come out on to.

Peter was wrong, the streets were worse. He could hear loud noise but couldn't figure out what they were. As he walked down the street, his legs seem to turn to paper, because they could no longer hold his weight. Peter had a headache that felt like a small child had taken his brain, and crushed it into their hands, till it squeezed through the gap between fingers like playdough.

He had lost all concept of time, as he walked down the streets to nowhere in particular. He could hear sirens. Peter recoiled as a huge stomach cramp made him wrap his arms around himself. Peter felt himself fall to the ground, but couldn't tell if he had.

He could take no more. Despite his struggle to keep his eyes open, he collapsed on the street, and descended into darkness.