Hey guys! This chapter is a little short, sorry about that! Enjoy!
"Peter, honey, the plane landed, we need to get home it's late." I groan and put my arms over my head.
"No, I'm comfy" I mumble, curling into the chair more. I hear soft laughter from across the plane. "What are you laughing at?" I squint my eyes and see Tony still laughing.
"You are a kid cute, you know that?"
"Not cute."
"Honey, you are very cute. But get your cute butt off this plane, we want to get home." May lightly smacks my shoulder. I huff, but sit up fully, letting my eyes adjust to my surroundings.
"What time is it?" I ask quietly.
"Just after midnight, kid. Now come on let's go." Tony smiles and gives me a hand to stand up. The three of us get into the SUV that Happy was driving. Unfortunately, Pepper had to leave a few days ago for some conference thing, so she wasn't with us now.
But Malibu was amazing. We spent pretty much an entire month there. It was nice and relaxing to not worry about anything besides deciding what we should do that day. May had only been with us for the past week and Pepper did have to leave two times in the middle, and now, but it was fun. It was nice bonding for all of us. I liked being able to see Tony and May at the same time, not having to split my time between them.
Four days ago we celebrated my fifteenth birthday. It was quiet and filled with just family, Rhodey even came down for it. We had cake, I got some pretty cool presents and it was just all-round fun.
I'm glad that we left New York for a bit, because it was a break, I didn't know I needed. I feel like I can breathe again. Like the weight of the world isn't on my shoulders. That Spider-Man doesn't have to be perfect.
School starts on Monday, so in two days, and I'm feeling ready to start this new year. I'm excited to start a new season on the decathlon team and I might decide to take up another extracurricular activity, making up for the ones I dropped last year. But I haven't decided yet.
The ride home was pretty quiet, all of us tired from the flight and being active earlier in the day. When Happy pulled up to May's and I house, I see Tony's shoulders sag a little bit.
"Bye kiddo, tell me how the first day goes on Monday, and I'll see you Tuesday." He smiles and pulls me in for a hug. I hug him back tightly, then jump out of the car after May thanks Tony, one last time. We head inside the building and trek all the way to the seventh floor.
"Sweetie, I'm going to bed, I'm beat. I have work late tomorrow, so we can do your school shopping in the morning, alright?" I nod my head and give her hug. I flop onto my bed, wrap myself in my blanket and close my eyes. Except now sleep doesn't come.
I start thinking about Spider-man, and what I should do. I have taken a break for almost three months now, granted the first little bit I had an injury, but it is still a long time to not be him. I have loved saving people, even from the little things, or just simply helping them. But as soon as I put on the mask, I'm back on that ferry, trying to hold it together. And now thanks to that vivid dream I had last month that freaked Tony out, it is so much worse. Instead of a whole bunch of people I don't know, on one side it is May, and on the other, Tony and Pepper. It was like my life, how I'm trying to keep everyone together, but I fail every time. Sometimes I save May, Tony and Pepper getting thrown into the water never to be found. Other times I save Tony and Pepper, but May ends up in the water. And the times I manage to save all of them, the Vulture swoops in and kills them all, making me completely alone in this world.
I shake my head, no, this isn't going to happen because you haven't been Spider-man in months, and you have left the vulture up to someone else.
My phone beeps, alerting me to a message. I unlock the phone and see the text from Tony:
Night kid, The past few weeks have been awesome, can't wait to see you on Tuesday.
I wake up on Monday, bright and early for school. I texted Ned to confirm our meet up before the bell, to go over our schedules and to catch up on each other's summers.
"Morning Honey, you look happy." May smiles at me, sliding a plate of what looks like slightly burnt scrambled eggs.
"Yep, I'm excited about school today. Ned and I are meeting up early." I explain and take a bit, not bad, and quickly finish the rest. I hug her bye and rush out the door with my bag so I can catch the early train.
I get to school forty minutes before the first bell and see Ned by the front. We do our handshake and make our way inside. We head to the library to print off our schedules, happy when we realize we have four out of our six classes together.
"Sup losers." We look up to see MJ staring at us.
"Hey MJ, how was your summer? Take part in any good protests?" I ask, then immediately regret it. She's going to think I'm weird for remembering what she told me about her plans two months ago.
"A few. What about you?"
"Oh uh, no protests for me. Tony ended up taking me to his house in Malibu." I look down.
"Fun. Anyway, I wanted to check to see if we had classes together and what will work best with decathlon. I'm going to make sure we win this year again."
"It's day one of school MJ" Ned protested while I just handed over my schedule. Ned ends up giving his over as well.
"Cool. I'll see you both second and last block. See you later." And she walks away.
"She is so weird" Ned looked at me.
"So are we Ned."
Ending this week of school, I breathe a sigh of relief. No one will not stop talking about Homecoming, and who they are going with and how everything needs to match. School dances have never had any appeal to me, except this one. Sure, maybe not as much as everyone else, but I want to ask a particular person to the dance. I plan on asking her on Monday, three weeks from the dance, that way she has time to prepare and get anything she needs. I would have done it today, but I wanted Tony's help on how to ask MJ.
I talk to Happy on the way to the tower, having fun getting to talk about something that isn't the dance. Walking up to the penthouse, I decide to ask Tony his thoughts, that way I don't forget or chicken out. Both are very likely options.
I walk in to see Tony no where in sight, but Pepper is on her computer at the dining table. Maybe asking her would be a better idea. Or get both of their opinions.
"Hey Pepper" She looks up and smiles.
"Peter, so good to see you again. How was the first week of school?"
"Oh, it was good, a little annoying, but good."
"Annoying how?"
"Well there is a dance coming up." I start. "And no one will stop talking about it. It is in just over three weeks. I'm not usually interested in those types of events." I explain.
"Oh, and why are you interested this year?" She asked.
"What, uh, what do you mean?"
"You said you aren't usually interested, why are you now?"
"Oh, well I have a friend, MJ, and well I think I like her. More than a friend." I trail off, not knowing how to talk about something I haven't defined in my head.
"Hmmmm. Okay, well ask her to the dance."
"I plan to, on Monday. But I don't want to ruin our friendship if she is weirded out."
"I think that if she is a good friend then that wouldn't happen." I nod my head.
"But how do I ask? I've never done this before." I mumble, a little embarrassed. She places her hand on my arm.
"I think you should just ask her. That way the message doesn't get lost in a grand affair." She smiles.
"Ya, maybe I should do that. I've been worrying over nothing. Thanks Pepper, you are the best. And, uh, sorry for interrupting your work. I'll do my homework."
"Not a problem Peter. And please feel free to interrupt any time. This stuff can get pretty boring."
I thank Happy for the ride, and watch him drive off before I start towards the school. I am hoping to find MJ in the library, somewhere she always seems to be. I put my bag in my locker, grabbing what I need for my first class and head towards the library.
"Yo, Peter!" I hear Ned call out from behind me. I turn to see him running towards me, grin on his face.
"What's up dude?"
"You'll never believe what happened on the weekend." He looks at me expectantly.
"Ned, what happened on the weekend?" I ask with a smile.
"So, I was out with my mom, she wanted to get me out of the house, and she heard about the dance and wanted to know what my plans were for it. So we were out at the store and bam! There she was! My mom told me to ask her, it won't hurt, so I did! And now, I have a date for the dance!" He exclaimed in one breath.
"Awesome who is it?"
"MJ"
"What?"
"I know she is scary and weird, but we are friends, and I figured everyone else would be too scared of her to ask, so I did. We are going as just friends, this isn't some romantic thing." He added.
"You and MJ are going to the dance together?" I gap. But…
"Why do you sound so surprised?" I look over to see MJ staring at me.
"I uh, just didn't realize you were going." I mumble. I close my eyes, take a deep breathe and open them again. Just when things in my life were starting to shape into something awesome, this happens…
I walk out of the washroom; hall pass in hand and see Liz putting up another homecoming sign. The dance that is in three days. The dance that I was going to ask MJ out to. The dance that I have decided not to attend.
Liz turns and smiles at me, a little too fake I might add.
"Hey Peter! Do you like the sign? It looks good here right?" She looks at me.
"Yep. Very nice" I remark, wanting to get past Liz, She has made things weird since everyone finding out who my dad is. She asks me questions she knows the answer to, and is constantly looking at me, trying to get my attention.
"Thanks. Are you going to the dance?"
"No, I don't have a date, plus I'm not a fan of group gatherings."
"Oh, I don't have a date either. I forgot about that part after planning most of the thing myself." She laughed a little. "But maybe we can go together." She added.
"Oh, uh, I mean probably not, my parents-"
"Peter come on! It will be fun" She begs, and a little voice in my head tells me to agree.
"Sure Liz."
"Yay! My dad wants to drive me so just be at my house on Friday at seven. My dress is red." She walks off and I stare for a second. Why did I agree?