The Month Peter Parker Learned Humility
Chapter 10: Monday September 10th
"So we agree then; lunch at Gamma Burger and then a swing by your photo shoot?", Peter asks an extra-chipper MJ on their third period locker walk. "Yeah, and you better stay at the shoot unlike that time in the West Village!" "Did someone say 'West Village'? I heard all the good tattoo shops are down there", asks Randy. "Like you know anything about the West Village, Randy." "Isn't it just retired hippies, baristas and pre-wartime buildings?" "Shit, you do know about the Village!", replied Peter. "Is there any part of New York you don't know about?", asks MJ. "Staten Island, but it's Staten Island. It's just New Jersey Lite." The couple lets out a wholesome chuckle. "Speaking of New Jersey Lite, did you get Mr Bagley's homework done yet?" "Yeah, and I'm surprised. Who makes a kid write five pages for their first assignment?" "An asshole."
Suddenly, Peter's Spider-Sense blared at a concerning level, forcing him to dart his head towards the left side of the hallway. "Pete, what's wrong? You're looking like you saw a ghost", MJ asked. "…it's nothing, just thought I saw something." "Like a nice ass?" "I'm right here, ya know", MJ dryly replies to Randy.
Fourth period comes and goes, but the Spider-Sense blares again, as if someone from Peter's past is back. "Peter, what's getting you so tense today? You haven't been this tense since Harry—" "And the circus, yeah. I have this feeling that something doesn't belong, like someone's back." "What do you mean, 'someone's back'? I thought Harry was locked up for good." "Not that serious, but someone who isn't a saint either." The bell rings, forcing him and his classmates out of the hallways and into class.
Fifth period ends, as lunchtime kicks in for juniors and seniors at Midtown High. "Tiger, I don't know what's gotten you stiff as a rock lately, but I know the Gamma Green special will loosen you up! Let's have some fun already, we're seniors! But not the Social Security type yet", MJ jubilantly claims to Peter. Peter's Spider-Sense blares one last time, but he can truly see what's alerting it this time. "Like you know anything about Astoria, nerd!", cockily affirms a tall, fit, blonde, white twelfth grader; blocking a small, fragile sophomore from opening her locker.
"Tiger, I know what this looks like, but let it play out. Maybe you're just being too sensitive lately, with Bug Boy and his crew", MJ negotiates, seeing Peter's hand clench into a fist. "No. People like Flash Thompson never change, MJ. It's about time I did something about it", he replies, slowly walking up to Flash and ignoring the conversation he and the sophomore are having. "So see ya after Trig 2, Emily?", Flash asks. "Yeah, ya meathead!", she replies, bouncing off of his playful energy. "Hey, Flash", Peter dryly butts in. "Hey,… Do I know you from somewhere? I can't quite put a name on your face, bro." "The name's Peter Parker, Flash." "Wait, you're Peter? Good ol' Penis Parker in the flesh?!" "Yeah, it's PETER."
"…Holy shit, dude, you look great! You got some muscle on those bones, ya got rid of those Harry Potter glasses, you're taller than, uh, than uhh…" "Ninth grade, spring break." "WOW, it's been that long? Dude, I guess I was in military school longer than I thought! You look real good, man; what's your secret?" "Puberty hit him like a truck, and I liked it enough for him to stay this way", MJ interrupts, hoping to calm Peter down before something happens.
"You, I know that voice! But there's no way, the person I'm thinking of used to be the size of—" "A circus tent, and I used to think you were a worse clone of Zac Efron." "…Mary Jane, is that you?" "Yeah, I'm hot now." "Hopefully, you're still the smartest redhead this side of the Hudson! How's it been, after all this time?" "Quit the compliments, Flash. She's with me." "Wait, what do you mean,'she's with me'? You're with me, if anything!" "Hold up, guys. I don't wanna push any buttons or get you two 'triggered'; that's the phrase, right? Why don't we talk this out on the way to Gamma Burger, my treat?" "Sure thing, Flash! Me and Peter were just about to go there anyway", MJ bubbly replies, while giving Peter a deep, cold, condescending look.
While walking the warm yet windy Queens streets, Peter watches in silence the sudden bonding of MJ and Flash. "So yeah, the Mt Ross Academy really whipped some sense into me", Flash states. "Sorry about your dad and that whole debacle." "It's ok, as long as my little Tiger Cub is here, right, Peter?" "Y-yeah, MJ." "It's kinda weird seeing you like this; so positive and trying to be respectful. I don't wanna hurt your feelings or anything, but you were a huge asshole back in the day. You were practically a textbook bully." "I wanted to talk to you about that, Flash", Peter adds, with his fist balled up tighter than before. "Why were you bullying that tiny sophomore girl if you're trying to be Mr Nice Guy now?"
"Oh, you're talking about Emily? She's my new math tutor, and she gave me a tour of the school since today's my first school day back home." "You don't say! So she's HELPING YOU, FLASH?", MJ replies, giving Peter another mean grilling. "Yeah, though it was more of an apology for how I used to be. Peter's right, why Mr Nice Guy now of all times?" "Yeah, why now?" "Peter!" "No, Mary Jane, let me explain. I learned what a bully and what a man was. A man should learn from his past mistakes, and boy did I make some mistakes! So I'm heading out of my way, trying to apologize to everyone I've been an asshole to before I shipped out so I can be Mr Nice Guy the right way."
"…Flash, you did change; for the better", MJ replies, shaken by this former bully's reawakening. "Thank you, Mary Jane, that means a lot to me." "Call me MJ. You still gonna pay for our lunch, Mr Nice Guy?" "Only if you don't eat like we're still in fourth grade, MJ! I don't wanna start asking YOU for lunch money", Flash replies, in a playful, almost flirtatious manner. "Sure you don't", mutters a newly embittered Peter, watching his current girlfriend laugh along with his former childhood bully.
"And I couldn't shake that weird feeling off for the life of me, May; even in the photoshoot", Peter reminisces to May at the dinner table, sounding jealous to an extent. "Well, sounds to me like the Tiger cub has met a lion for the first time!" "Wait, what?!" "Peter, you didn't have this type of thing with Gwen. She was liked, but no one liked liked her, and no one certainly tried to be that nice around her." "Are you saying that I'm jealous?" "I'm not saying you're the only pretty boy in Midtown High, Petey. Pass the parmesan, please." "Sure, but I thought that she always loved me for me! Why would she want Flash, of all people?" "Maybe he's trying to be a better person like he said, Peter. Not everyone goes out and about in red and blue tights, beating up other people in multicolor tights. Everyone has their own way of fixing their lives, and this is his way."
"I'm not buying it, unlike that last slice of Italian bread. He was such a giant ass, how can someone that mean and jerky switch that off like a light?" "Peter, let him try to change. Give him a chance to be Mr Sweet Guy." "Nice Guy! He's trying to be Mr Nice Guy." "Whatever, you know who we're talking about. But still, if Flash really is gonna change for the better, then he would know that sweeping a taken young woman like Mary Jane off of her feet is a huge dick move. He's not a threat, so relax." "But May,—" "Mary Jane isn't gonna date him, Peter. End of discussion."
Long after the dinner discussion, Peter sleeps uneasy in his bed. "I really gotta shake this feeling off, Flash isn't gonna take MJ from me", he thought to himself. "But I'll be damned if he thinks he can talk to her like that. But maybe I'm bugging out. Maybe Aunt May is right, he's just trying to be a better person. I gotta give him a chance. I will give him a chance! Once he stops talking so sweet to MJ, of course."
END OF CHAPTER 10
