Chapter 14: Senior Year Begins
"Peter! Your bus will be here any minute!"
"One second May!"
I quickly finished brushing my teeth and bolted out of the bathroom. Leaping down the stairs, I ran through our apartments kitchen and grabbed an already prepared bagel before running to the door, snatching my backpack up from the floor as I ran.
May stopped me at the door and grabbed my shoulders.
"Are you sure you want to go? I totally understand if you want to do homeschooling after that mess in Europe."
"May, I'm fine. I haven't seen some of my friends in months. You know I can handle myself."
Mays eyes teared up and she nodded, pulling me into a hug.
"You're brave Peter. Ben would be proud."
We parted and I turned to open the door.
"Let me know if something happens and I'll have Happy get you ok? I love you."
"Love you too May, I'll see you in the evening."
I jumped down the stairs and ran out the door. With my bus stop being two blocks away, and me running late like usually I had to sprint to get there.
I arrived just as the bus pulled up, a very excited looking Ned waving to me as he got on the bus.
"Look who's on time for once." My bus driver chuckled as I got on.
"You know me Dave, fashionably late is my style."
"Sit down Parker." He said, laughing.
I took a seat 4 rows up from the back of the bus beside Ned.
Some of the students watched me as I sat down, some with wide others, others with glares.
"Peter! I haven't seen you in ages man!"
Ned pulled me into a bear hug as soon as I sat down.
"Too...tight...Ned..."
He let go and I took a deep breath of air.
"You and MJ were with the Avengers all summer-"
At that, some students began looking towards us.
"-how was it fighting crime with Tony Stark?!?"
I looked around cautiously.
"Well Ned, for four weeks it was fun. I can't tell you about the rest. Not here."
"Why not?" Ned frowned.
"Because this isn't the place Ned."
Ned nodded and went silent for a moment.
"So do you have your suit?"
"No Ned! Look, I just don't want to talk about the Spider-Man thing. It may be out in the open but I still don't like talking about it."
Ned nodded and looked out the window.
"I'm sorry Peter. It's just so cool that my best friend is a super hero."
Our bus stopped to pick up some more people.
MJ got on the bus and sat in the seat across from us.
"Since when are you on our bus?" Ned asked.
MJ cocked her eyebrow.
"Since forever. I usually just walk. I woke up late today so I couldn't."
"You weren't ever on the bus MJ." I said, smiling.
"Like you'd know dork. You miss it all the time."
"Touché."
The bus picked up a few more students, including Betty Brant and as per usual Flash wasn't at his stop.
We were dropped off at the unloading zone for the bus, the street beside it starting to get full with rush hour traffic.
I took MJ's hand and we walked through the gates leading to Midtown High.
"Are you sure you're ready to come back Peter? It was hard enough for me and Ned. You're the actual person. You'll get as much ridicule as praise." MJ said.
I sighed.
"I'll be fine MJ. I've dealt with negativity before and I got through the worst part. This will be a walk in the park compared to that."
We stopped at the steps and I took a deep breath.
"Ready?" MJ asked.
"Ready."
I walked up the stairs, taking my first steps into Midtown High since my identity was revealed forever ago.
I stepped into my first class, biology, with MJ who also happened to be taking the course.
I chose a desk in the middle of the room, and MJ chose the one beside me.
The class had about 25 students, and I kept seeing a group of girls at the front glance at me and whisper to each other.
Betty entered the room and sat beside MJ, sending a smile my direction and waving.
I waved back and kept watching the door.
After a few minutes, our teacher walked in.
He was medium height with short, brown hair and glasses. He wore a white lab coat and his left arm was missing from his elbow down. He carried a textbook under his right arm.
"Good morning class. My name is Mr. Connors and before you ask, I've been missing part of my arm since my birth. I studied at Rockefeller University here in New York and got my PhD. Yes I'm qualified to teach this course, yes it's below my pay grade."
He sighed and looked at the attendance sheet on his desk.
"Alright let's get this show on the road."
Mr. Connors began to call out names on the attendance sheet, each student saying some sort of confirmation that they were present.
He hesitated when he got to my name.
"Peter...Parker..."
"Present." I said as I raised my hand.
The whole class turned to look at me and Connors lowered his glasses.
"Is it true that you're an Avenger, Mr. Parker?"
I nodded slowly, wearily looking around the class.
"More of an Avenger in training I guess."
Betty scoffed.
"Please Peter. You saved our entire class on that field trip last year and beat that Mysterio guy single handedly."
My face went bright red and I looked down at my desk.
"The news makes you out to be quite the hero Mr. Parker." Mr. Conners said and sat down on his desk.
"Or a murderer." A student from the back of the class.
"Yeah. You caused that attack in London Parker!! That Mysterio was the hero. You only got off 'cus Tony Stark helped you out."
MJ turned around and faced the two students.
"If you honestly think Peter was the bad guy in that situation, you're either incredibly gullible or incredibly stupid."
The whole class began to erupt into students yelling at and arguing with each other.
I sank further into my seat and put my head down, my super hearing amplifying all the noise.
There was a loud bang from the front of the room and the class went quiet.
"Alright class that's enough!" Mr. Connors yelled. "Save your debates about superheroics and villainy for lunch time. If anyone picks on or excludes Parker, know he could very will kick your ass and i will remove you from the course, understood?"
The class murmured in acknowledgement.
"Good. Now let's begin today's lesson..."
——————
Second period, calculus and vectors, went very similarly to how biology went.
I grabbed my lunch from my locker and walked with my head down towards the cafeteria.
Seeing an empty table towards the back, I walked quickly towards it, ignoring all the sideways glances I received on my way.
Sitting down at the corner of the table, I pulled out my phone and looked up Happys number.
My thumb hovered over his contact and I was about to press it when the table shook and I quickly looked up.
A very happy looking Ned and Betty had sat down across from me.
"You two look happy, what's up?"
They looked at each other and beamed at me.
"We got back together!" They said in unison.
I smiled weakly at them.
"That's great guys. I'm really happy for you."
I glanced down at my phone, Happys contact was still pulled up.
MJ sat down beside me as I was about to press "call", once again causing me to lose my train of thought.
I turned to her and she smiled softly.
"Hey loser, everything good?"
She glanced down at my phone and her brow furrowed.
"It's been rough hasn't it?"
I nodded and she stood up, gesturing for me to do the same.
"Peter and I are going to get some fresh air, we'll see you guys in a bit."
Betty and Ned nodded as MJ and I left the cafeteria.
—————
"You wanted to talk to me Tony?"
The blue glow of holograms illuminated the communications room in the Avengers compound.
In front of me stood the holographic figures of Carol Danvers, King T'Challa and Peter Quill.
"I wanted to talk to all of you Supergirl. I should've told you all earlier, but Thor's gone missing."
Carols eyes widened and Quill smirked.
T'Challa, was unreadable.
"Not much of a god after all..." Quill remarked.
"Look Flash Gordon, this is serious. Stephen and Wanda went looking for him in another dimension. Someone more powerful than we've ever faced took him hostage in her own pocket dimension or something."
"A pocket dimension? Travelling to other dimensions?" T'Challa asked, disbelief apparent in his voice.
"Let's hear Stark out before we question him your highness." Carol said.
"Apparently she can capture and imprison people using Asgardian stones from her dimension. A member of an Avengers counterpart was accidentally sent back with Wanda and Stephen during a battle they had. Apparently she can use those she captures as warriors."
"That's...not the weirdest thing I've ever heard." Carol said.
"If she's as big of a threat as Strange says she is, I need all hands on deck. I know you're all honorary members, but I need you here to back us up if she comes."
The room went silent.
"Shuri can run Wakanda in my absence. I shall come with Okoye and M'Baku."
"I'll see if I can make it Tony. I'm pretty far from Earth right now but I should be able to make it back within a week."
"If it means saving the galaxy again, you can count the Guardians in."
I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank you all. I wouldn't call you all here if it wasn't important."
T'Challa crossed his arms in the Wakandan salute and disappeared.
"You can expect the Milano in two days Stark."
Quill disappeared.
"Tony, you let me know if anything changes before I get there. Thor going missing...I don't like it."
"I'll make sure to let you know Carol."
She disappeared and the room went dark.
"Ok F.R.I.D.A.Y. contact Brunhilde in New Asgard. I need everyone."
—————
It was about 8 o'clock when I finally got to my apartment building.
I'd spent some time with Peter after school back at Stans café before walking him home and hitching the bus back.
Punching in the code at the door, I stepped into the lobby and made my way towards the elevator.
Hitting the button for the fourth floor, I pulled out my phone.
I'm outside, let me in when you get up. Xo
I smiled at the text from Peter.
The elevator dinged as it reached the floor and I stepped out.
Opening the door to my apartment, I noticed all the lights were off.
I could hear the faint hum of the television coming from the living room. I saw some pots spilled on the floor in the kitchen.
"Mom! I'm home!"
I got a muffled grunt in response.
I closed the door and made my way to my bedroom.
"I'll be in my room if you need me!"
Another grunt.
I turned on the light, threw my bag on my bed and closed and locked my door.
Turning to the window, I saw Peter hanging upside down from the fire escape and he waved.
I smiled and opened the window, playfully hitting Peter as he climbed in.
"Ouch!"
I rolled my eyes.
"Please, like a light slap can hurt Spider-Man."
Peter dropped down and took off his mask, a goofy smile on his face.
"How are your parents?" He asked.
"Dads still gone, mom barely leaves the living room." I said and sat down on my bed.
Peter frowned.
"Have you considered Mays offer?"
I nodded.
"I was actually going to call you here about that."
Peter tilted his head to the side.
"I think, if it's no trouble, I'd like to take her up on it. My dads not coming back, my mom wants me gone. Not like I'll be leaving much behind."
I gestured to my sparsely decorated room.
"My books come with me. We're a package deal."
Peter smiled.
"Give me a week and May can get everything sorted out."
"Tell her I appreciate it."
Peter smiled again and hugged me.
"She'll enjoy caring for two superheroes."
"Mays going to die of worry Peter."
He rubbed the back of his neck.
"Yeah...maybe..."
He sat down on the bed beside me after I beckoned him over.
I grabbed a letter from my desk and put it in his lap.
"What's this?" He asked as he opened it.
I smiled softly.
"I got an interview with the Bugle."
Peters eyes lit up and he smiled widely, pulling me into a hug.
"That's great MJ! When is it?"
"Tomorrow after school, which means I can't go see Star Wars Episode 40 with you, Ned and Betty."
Peter frowned.
"It's Episode 12 MJ, and an interview is much more important. I'll just tell you if my theories are true or not."
"Like the one where Kylo Ren is the little square droid?"
"Gonk droid is the most evil, powerful being in the universe MJ."
I rolled my eyes and smiled.
"Yeah yeah, evil box robot theory I know. I promise I won't miss the next movie ok?"
"As I said, interviews are important and the only other movie coming out that I can think of is that Avengers one."
"Right, the documentary."
Peter nodded.
"I'm fine with seeing Star Wars twice."
I smiled and leaned into him.
"You're gonna crush that interview MJ."
I closed my eyes and smiled.
"Thanks Peter."