Note: I'm sorry about being so long with updates, but with the site being down and me just not having the time to get on the computer and get this chapter out…I guess what I'm saying is…there aren't enough hours in the day for me! I considered this a nice little break, so I wrote a lot…sorry for the space if it's too long for you. I'm sorry again for the delay…well, here's Chap. 6. Enjoy!





Things got weird between Kristi and Peter. Ever since that talk they had at the art exhibit, he began to call her about whether he should talk with M.J. more. He felt he had a revelation. Maybe the doubt was coming from the fact that he didn't truly know the girl he said he "loved". Kristi supported him, but she wasn't aware of how far it would go. From then, Kristi could only note he was spending more time with M.J. than usual. Not a dramatic increase, but a noticeable one anyway. It appeared to her that he was trying to make up for something. Apparently, her relation to him and that painting hit home a little more than she thought it would. She wasn't looking for him to exclaim, "My God, you're right!" She was more or less trying to pry him open. Things weren't easy for him, and she knew this. Matter of fact, she probably understood where he was coming from more than anyone else did. He felt he pushed M.J. into the arms of his best friend; she began to feel that she pushed him into the arms of M.J. As much as she hated to admit it, she was being a jealous, little brat. She wouldn't stoop to do something that would go against M.J., but damn it…it was tempting. It wasn't as though Peter would take her word for it if she did decide to do something malicious and manipulative, but he would think about what she said. He always did. In other words, she had credibility and trust in her corner. With that being said, how could she do something to possibly lose it?

As for the exhibit, that just put the icing on the cake. He was thinking now. She could practically hear the wheels turning his head every time she saw him. M.J. came up as a topic a lot more often, and she could only blame herself. She opened up this can of worms by what: Analyzing that stupid picture. She could only either smile at or smack herself at her stupidity. It seemed as though he was becoming distant more and more each day. He bailed on six study sessions, hadn't called to talk to her days at a time, and they were drifting it seemed. It had been like that for a solid three weeks going on week four. The first week didn't seem so bad. Neither was the second, but the third and fourth…well, they weren't that great. When they would talk, it would be about a conversation he had with M.J, how they went for coffee one day and the park another.

Harry didn't seem to mind this though. He just thought they were bonding. Kristi couldn't help, but feel tossed aside.

Peter on the other hand thought nothing of it. In fact, he thought that's what Kristi was suggesting. With all of their talks and all of his doubts, he began to wonder if he really knew the girl next door. Did he know her at all? There were those times when he would watch her from afar and make mental notes to himself of her tendencies, but did he really know her? They had spent most of their lives as acquaintances, if even that.

Because he wondered about this so much, he decided that well…maybe he should make an effort to get to know M.J. They've talked before, but never had a true conversation. The only thing that really brought them together was Harry, her boyfriend, and Spider-Man, the masked man who appeared to be following her.

Everything was a jumble for him. He meant every word he said at the exhibit. Everything was so cloudy. Maybe the blessing Kristi was talking about was the fact that his doubts held him back. If he had doubts, he would explore them thoroughly, leading to him spending more time with M.J without leading her on. He knew he couldn't endanger her life, but that doubt of something else, that one mysterious object that had claimed him, was also holding him back. Talking with M.J. just might be the biggest clue in the puzzle. And besides, he figured Kristi wouldn't mind, after all, it was her idea. Or at least that's how he interpreted it.

With all this abundant free time that fell into her lap, Kristi concentrated more on her spiders than anything else. She needed something to take her mind off the things at hand. The warm weather of March that began to sweep through marked the count down. The time was nearing for her hatchling to emerge and frankly, she was ecstatic. She almost felt like a mother of some sort, but she needed a break. Deciding to somehow salvage what she considered a small friendship that she and Peter now still had, she decided she'd call him to see if he was doing something that night.

Kristi was lying on her bed with her phone in her hands. She felt fear for some reason. Maybe it was because she was scared he'd say no. She glanced at the clock. The blue numbers read: 6:35. With a quick sigh, she dialed his number before she could think twice about it.

It rang twice before he picked up. "Hello?"

She could smack herself right now. "Pete? Hey, it's Kris."

Peter sounded shocked. "Oh...hey Kris."

'Please…don't sound so happy.' she thought sarcastically. "What's up?"

"Nothing much. I was just talking to someone on the other line."

Ooh…a way out…"Oh my bad. I'll let you go then."

"Well wait. Did you want to talk?"

'Spit it out!' her mind screamed. "Well I was wondering if you wanted to go to the movies or something tonight. I'm trying to get away from my work for a while."

He rubbed his neck carefully. "Well I was going to just stay at home. I had a rough day at the newspaper. Jameson was himself. That's self explanatory."

"Oh…" She took a deep breath. "Okay. I know what its like to just want to stay home."

He wasn't oblivious to her disappointment. "Maybe some other time?"

She looked down at her comforter. She picked at the thread on it. "Yeah, maybe some other time. Well, I'll let you get back to your call."

Something was wrong with this…"Kris wait." He racked his brain for something to say. They weren't talking very much lately and he knew it. "How's your research?"

"It's good. I should be nearing completion soon."

"That's good. Well look, I have to go. I'll talk to you later?"

"Alright."

"Later."

"Later." Kris hung up and just stared at the phone. She placed her head down on her pillow and just shut her eyes. Oh well…another night by herself. She could still go to the movies. It's not like she'd die if she went by herself. Lord knows she's had many bouts of being alone…

Peter clicked back over to the other line. "Hey. Sorry about that."

"Oh that's okay Peter," M.J. chirped. "Who was it?"

"It was just Kris. She wanted to know if I wanted to do something tonight."

"Ooooh!! We should go out. Harry has to work at OSCORP again tonight, and he left me hanging. Want to fill in?"

"I was planning on staying home."

M.J. grinned on the other line. "Well, you aren't anymore. You're going out with me."

He smiled at this. "Really…I didn't plan on it."

"Well too bad Peter Parker. I'm going to be at your apartment in twenty-five minutes and you better be ready to go."

"M.J.-"Click. She hung up. Just like that. He thought she was just playing and would leave the conversation at that, but she was as serious as a heart attack. The more and more he talked with her, the more different she seemed. He had often pictured her to be nice, sweet, and understanding. He didn't think she would be as pushy or aggressive as she had been. He had hoped that talking with her more than he had been would mend some bridges and lift the dust. He didn't want things to stay rough between them. It was a win/win situation. He could find out the real M.J. and make things not so tense between them. Even if he didn't understand the doubt, they would still be cool. Sighing to himself, he said thoughtfully, "Well, I guess going out won't kill me…"

Kristi left her apartment at 7:10 to catch the 7:30 show. She decided on seeing We Were Soldiers. She liked war movies and it has Mel Gibson, which was just another plus. She bought her 6.50 ticket and went inside.

M.J. pulled Peter out of his door and told him that she heard that 40 days and 40 nightswas good, so they decided to see that. M.J. gripped the hem of her snug fitting crimson shirt. It felt good to go places with Peter. It was fun. She liked the fact that he was talking with her. Things were finally going her way, and she loved it. It sounded as though he were trying to get to know her. Maybe that's what her problem was…she rushed into everything. They had never talked to each other very much. Maybe he felt threatened by the pressure. And Harry…he welcomed this! She found that hard to believe. True, he wasn't oblivious to the tension between them, but come on! It was almost as though he were making it okay for his girlfriend to go out with someone else. But it was just Peter after all. He told her that he wanted her and Peter to get along. He wasn't completely sure about what happened with them to cause them to "fallout", but he figured this was a blessing.

Either way, no matter what anyone thought, the important thing was that she was with Peter now and that's what mattered. She could only smile in triumph.

Peter glanced over at M.J. while they were walking to the movie theater. She was smiling like a Cheshire cat. "What are you so happy for?"

She hadn't realized that she had been smiling. Covering herself, she just shrugged her shoulders. "Oh…nothing. I just love Josh Hartnett."

He just nodded his head slowly. "He's okay I guess."

All was quiet. M.J. glanced over at Peter and saw his facial lines deepen as though he were in deep thought. "Pete, what's wrong? You seem out of it."

He was thinking about M.J. The more he hung out with her, the different she seemed. It seemed as though she were a lot nicer to be around when he was…well…out of reach. Not that he was within grasp now, but it just felt that way. That disturbed him. Shaking his head slowly, he said, "Nothing. I'm just thinking."

She hooked her long fingers into a belt loop in her blue jeans. "About?"

He shrugged his shoulders before looking up. "Just stuff."

Her eyes stared his down. "Tell me about it."

'Kinda demanding…' he thought. Her eyes were staring his down hard…a little too hard for him. "No…that's okay. I'd rather keep it to myself."

"Pete…tell me."

"M.J., it's nothing."

She rolled her eyes as she adjusted her black purse strap. "Apparently it is if you're acting like this."

"Acting like what?"

"Like this, all in a daze." She took a deep breath. "If you didn't want to come all you had to do was say so."

He chuckled to himself. He couldn't believe this. Scratching the side of his head, he said relaxed, "I did say I'd like to stay at home, but you are about as strong willed as they come."

She pushed a strand of her red hair behind her ear. "Well fine. I just won't try to get you out of your apartment any more."

He smiled at her and shook his head. "C'mon M.J. You're not being fair about this. Besides, I don't mind going out." Was she really upset about this?

"How so? How am I not being fair about this? You come and talk to me, but you won't open up to me? That's kinda hypocritical."

"It's hypocritical because I won't tell you one thing? We've been talking for weeks, M.J."

"Mainly about me."

He was officially lost now. "M.J., what are you talking about?"

She glanced at the movie theater as they approached it. Looking up toward the lights, she said sarcastically, "I'm talking about the fact of how you 'want' to get to know me, but you won't let me do the same."

He started to laugh. "M.J…it seems as though every time I try to tell you something, you lose interest. I don't like boring people."

"You never bore me."

"Um, I was telling you about my Calculus class and about the teacher and what happened, you kept interrupting me, asking if we could move from the booth we were sitting at. Then when we did move, you complained about that spot," he said shaking his head. Adding emphasis, he added, "After I opened my mouth to start talking again."

She rolled her eyes in a scoff. "Peter, that's crazy."

"Just listen to yourself once. It seems as though I don't get interrupted when I'm saying something about you, but if it's about me, you don't want to hear it when I'm with you. It just seems, weird to me and-"

She was beginning to be embarrassed. Was she really like that? Feeling the flush creep to her cheeks, she turned away from Peter. His eyes were entirely too much for her, and she didn't like the interrogation. Looking at the ticket line, she said hastily, "Let's just go get our tickets."

He widened his eyes. "See! You did it again! You cut me off. You really just don't like hearing things…"

She moved forward in the line. "I love hearing things, especially from you, but do you know how frustrating it is for me to sit there and try to figure out what it is you're analyzing me for? I feel like a science experiment."

"I'm not analyzing you."

"Well that's the vibe I get." They were arguing over something she knew he was probably right about anyway. Trying to back her way out of a corner, she used sympathy. "Ever since that day at the graveyard, I made an attempt to talk with you and get past it, you avoided me."

He looked down at his hand somberly. "I didn't avoid you." Chuckling for a moment, he added, "You didn't make that much of an effort until me and Kristi got closer as friends." His head shot up quickly and he hit her with humor on the shoulder. "Are you jealous of her?"

M.J. dropped her jaw. Her face blushed and her speech became flustered. "I-No! I-I have nothing to be jealous of."

'This is getting interesting,' he thought. Folding his arms, he asked, "What does that mean?"

"It means that from the looks of it, there's nothing going on, but a mutual relationship. And another thing, if you wouldn't talk about her so much, then maybe I wouldn't feel uncomfortable around you."

"She's one of my best friends, and we share classes together. She's an interesting person. You've been with her. You can't say she isn't. And besides, when there really is nothing to say, it's a conversation starter. I never meant anything by it."

"Yes I know she's interesting, and you know what, maybe I am jealous of you two, but damn it Peter…my feelings are involved to. You act like what I said to you at the graveyard has no meaning at all. At least give me the respect I deserve and not rub in my face that you're hanging out with a new girl."

His eyes flew up in astonishment. "She is not just a new girl, as you put it SO nicely, she's my friend. I mean really…it's just Kristi! Come on M.J.! You're acting childish." He had to calm down, but man, where was she going with this? When it was finally their turn to buy their tickets, Peter pulled out a twenty and handed it to the cashier. Getting their tickets and his change, he looked at her with sad eyes. He had respect for her probably more than anyone else he had ever met. Taking a deep breath, he continued in a lower tone. "I believed you when said those things, and I'm not trying to disrespect you."

"Well…you have a funny way of showing it."

"I have a funny way of showing a lot things. I'm not good with the whole share and show your feelings thing. I'm sorry if I made you feel inadequate."

M.J. kept her head down. She shook her head and swallowed hard. "Look...let's forget this, okay? The movies bout to start and I want some popcorn. Really, buttery popcorn." She flashed her teeth at him. He smiled slightly and looked down. He really was quite bashful, and she enjoyed it.

After her movie got out, Kristi went to the bathroom. Kristi felt herself being quiet. Not just verbally, but mentally. Her mind shut down everything and concentrated on what was in front of her. She did everything mechanically: washed her hands, dried her hands, and threw the wet paper away adroitly. She sighed at her complexion and walked away. She opened the door quickly, only she didn't that there was someone else there. "OH! I'm sorry! Are you all…right?" Her last words came out slowly. She knew who it was.

Peter dropped his mouth. He shifted his weight some. "Kris, I…um…hey."

Kristi blinked twice and then smiled…in irony. Kristi shared a look between M.J. and Peter. It seemed as though every time they got together with Kristi, they always gave the impression that they were hiding something. Kristi was getting tired of it. She did not need babying. What she needed was for people to be upfront with her. It seemed as though that was at the top of her list of things craved.

M.J. glanced toward Kristi. A glint of humor danced in M.J.'s eyes as she looked at Kristi's face that was currently distraught and upset. She almost felt bad about the pleasure it gave her. Smiling she said, "Hey Kris, I didn't know you were here."

"Well, I can say the same." Peter's cheeks flushed. Coughing lightly, Kristi asked, "Did you just get out of the movie or were you going in?"



"We just got out."



She nodded her head slowly. So that means they went to the movies at the same time as her..."Hmm, well...was it good?"



M.J. smiled brightly. "Oh sure! We saw 40 days and 40 nights." She bumped Peter in the hip playfully. "Did you like it?"



Peter wasn't thinking about the movie at the moment. What he wanted to know was what was she doing there...It is a public place after all. Giving a guilty smile, he said, "Oh...it was...okay, I guess."



"It was hilarious Kris! Maybe you should go see it some time..."



"Yeah...maybe some other time." Kristi glimpsed at her watch quickly. "Oh look at the time! I need to get going now. Maybe I'll see you both later…" Smiling curtly, she turned and began to walk away. It figured that fate would rear its ugly little head in this.

"I'm gonna go ahead and go to the restroom…Pete?"

"Yeah. I'll be out in the front when you get back." When M.J. walked in the restroom, he walked off in Kristi's direction.

She could almost kick herself at her stupidity. When she really thought about it, did she truly have a reason to be upset? Yeah, he said he wasn't going out and bam, they bump into each other. Was there really something that wrong with her? She knew she didn't have the circumstances or luck that M.J. had: A to die for figure she showed off with pride and guys falling all over her because of it. She knew she wasn't at all a true beauty, at least she never thought she was, but she figured she had a good enough personality. Because of outward awkwardness, no one would get to know it because she was often judged before hand. Still, she at least expected her "friends" to be upfront with her. She should have been used to this sort of thing by now, but she could only figure that no one can even truly get used to rejection.

"Kristi! Kris, wait a second." Peter jogged up next to her and began to walk with her on her way out of the theater.

She began to laugh. Never breaking her stride, she said mildly, "Ya know, I was seriously hoping that you had a twin running around somewhere."

He shook his head at her. "It's not what you think."

She chuckled this time. "Oh trust me, you have no idea of how I think." Her slender fingers reached for her temples. Beginning to massage them, her dark eyes squinted inward. In a voice a little above a whisper, she suggested, "If you didn't want to come with me, all you had to do was tell me."

Déjà vu? Peter held up his hands in defense. "It's not that I didn't want to-"

She stopped walking and turned toward him. "If you had plans, I would have understood."

"That's not how it is. If you would just let me explain-"

"Peter, are you feeling guilty about something?"

He did feel guilty. He felt like he betrayed her. He knew what she was feeling, being passed up for someone else, but he never meant for it to happen. His nose wrinkled in disappointment in himself. Smiling wryly, he commented, "I wouldn't if you'd let me explain."

"Well, most people don't need to give explanations if they've done nothing wrong. And besides, I'm not your babysitter. You can go out with whoever you want. It's of no concern of mine."

"You know that I'm still dissecting this. I'm still trying to figure all of this out. You know that. What you told me at the art exhibit really opened my eyes." He ran his hand through his soft, brown hair. With a sigh, he added, "And as for coming here, she forced me to."

She shook her head at his answer and began to pace. "First of all, blowing off people was not quite what I had in mind when I talked to you. When we did talk about this, and you asked that maybe you didn't know her, I said, well that might be the problem. I didn't mean spend every waking moment with her and blowing off everyone else a.k.a me, but then again, that could be considered a biased statement considering who it is coming from. Call it jealousy, call it whatever you want, but that's not cool Pete." She stopped pacing for a moment and gave him a funny look. "And second of all, she forced you?"




He nodded his head slowly. "Yeah."

She looked away from him. "Right, okay. You got forced to go to the movies. Maybe next time I should come by and hold a gun to your head."

He started to blush at how he sounded. He got forced into going to the movies…that's not entirely accurate. Looking downward he made a meek smile. "I'm trying to be serious about this. I agreed to go because I figured it couldn't hurt me, after the second or third time she told me I was going." He blew out a quick sigh. Making direct eye contact, he admitted, "And I know I haven't talked to you that much lately, and I know I've been distant in class, but I've been thinking a lot. This thing has really got my mind thinking, you have no idea."

"I think I could fathom one…"

"I'm finally learning about her and myself in the process."

Kristi just nodded her head at him with a weird smirk on her face. "Well, I'm glad things are going so well for ya'll that she has you on a leash."

He held his hand up at that. "Whoa…that was low."

She shot her eyes up at him. "No, you want to know what's low? Feeling like a tossed aside piece of trash. That's low. Being passed over by your friend because you obviously weren't gifted enough to persuade people," she paused for a moment, smiled brightly and continued, "correction, TELL people what to do. That is low. So don't even come to me with that mess. I respect your whole 'quest' thing that's going on. Maybe I don't have enough patience, but it's frustrating to attempt to talk to someone when they…just aren't there." She shook her head at her attempt to explain. It was pointless. She felt as though there weren't the right words in the world to explain how she felt at that moment, but "tossed aside" felt like it fit nicely.

"I don't want you mad at me because I came to the movies anyway with someone else when I said I was going to stay at home."

Adding with sarcasm, she said, "Well, I guess I just wasn't the right person who asked…right?" She just shook her head.

"I know you hate being babied about something like this and I know that you aren't the kind of person to let something like this get to you, but it has. So this is my eye opener to know I'm in the wrong here."

"Peter…you just said so yourself that you knew I wouldn't care. I do care…there goes that denial thing. But listen to me, don't explain your matters and your affairs with me because I want to act like an infant. It's none of my business. Just let me get out my tantrum and don't worry about it, because this really is something quite pointless. My only beef is that you don't ignore me. That's all I want." She smoothed her dark hair's loose strands back roughly toward the messy bun. Everything wasn't said that she wanted to say, but she wasn't one for getting into confrontations with people. It shocked her that it went on this long. She knew she was telling how she felt, but at this point, she was pinning it all on him and she knew shouldn't have. Licking her lips, she glimpsed at her watch. "I've got to go. It's getting late and I've still got some work to do."

He shook his head at her. Grabbing her arm, he started, "Kristi-"

She held up her hand, but she wouldn't look at him. "Peter…you have no reason to try to explain yourself. I mean after all, I'm not your mother. All of this doesn't matter and I'm sorry that I dragged ita long and made it into drama. How I feel or what I feel about you going places does not matter and its stupid of me to think that it does when its something so menial as going to the movies. "

He turned her head so she would look at him. "How you feel about everything does matter."

She lifted her head to the heavens and let out a loud sigh. Why did he have to try to fix everything? She knew she was being ridiculous with this, even though in the back of her mind she did have a point."No, it doesn't. Words are funny things, Parker. They can be the most useful and fulfilling things or they can be the most pointless and meaningless things alive. You choose how you just used those words. If you meant them, you could find something to back that statement up with …couldn't you? Can you?"

He felt like crap now. Staring at her, he said, "Right now."

For the first time that night, she smiled genuinely. Shaking her head at his naïveté, she stated, "Nope…right now, you feel guilty, and you feel like crap. I can see it in your eyes. You just don't want to be the bad guy. And you aren't one, so stop thinking it."

His intense eyes never left hers, but tried to see through her own. The task was never an easy one. There was so much inside of her that he didn't understand, wanted to understand, and wanted to be apart of that it all puzzled him. For the life of him, he never wanted her to be upset with him. Their friendship was probably one of the most important things to him.

His glance was probably the most unnerving things he possessed. She knew he meant no harm at all, but sometimes, most things happen without cruel intentions attached. She shrugged her shoulders at him. "Yeah…I'm going to go now. Later."

He started after her, but decided against it. She was not going to let him get off and he knew it. He rubbed his hands on his face. Not only had he achieved offending two people, but two women. That was probably the biggest mistake he could make. He shook his head at himself. "This is not a good day…"

Once Kristi reached her apartment, she fell on to her sofa with a smirk. This was funny to her. It figured that she would bump into him at the movie theater, the same movie theater that he didn't feel like going to…funny, funny stuff that is. He wanted to find out what this was he was feeling, but he was being adamant about it. She didn't think that it was completely necessary for him to spend every waking moment with M.J., and she knew that M.J. was loving every moment of it. Maybe it was jealousy talking…Kristi let it go and went to sleep on her sofa.

The next day, Kristi's spider hatched. She waited a week before she began testing it.

She sat down on a shiny silver stool. After gassing the inside of the glass case that held the spider to paralyze it, Kristi lifted the glass case after the spider fell. Removing the case, she began to test the spider's blood.

Sampling some of the blood, she recorded to the changes on her computer. Her eyes widened in excitement as the computer scanned through its records of recorded species of spider…this species…was not found. Astonished, she said with a mumble, "I did it…I did it…" Amazed too much by her find, she didn't notice that the spider had awakened…

It crept slowly toward her hand, sensing heat with pedipalps…it inched closer and closer.

Her hands began to sweat with anticipation. All she could do was brainstorm on what she needed to do…how to present this…there was so much work to do. Reaching for the outlet for her computer notebook, she plugged it in with her right hand. At that same moment, she felt a sudden pinch of pain in her left hand. She flung her left hand up in shock, only to see the spider still on her hand. Not watching where her hands flew, her arm flew straight into a lamp, breaking the bulb. Her sweat and blood trickled onto the wires of the cracked bulb, causing her to electrocute herself.

Pain soared completely through her body as she convulsed from the waves of electricity. She could feel the current seeping through her body and through her veins. Her body shook so much, it forced the lamp to become unplugged, forcing her to fly across the room from shock and slam against a wall, knocking pieces of her equipment onto the floor. She slid down the wall to the floor, breathing hard and trying to focus her eyesight. She blacked out.

Fifteen minutes had gone by before she woke up. Shaking slightly, she forced herself to stand up. Taking steady steps, Kristi slowly made her way to her desk feeling somewhat light headed. It felt as though her body parts were getting rearranged. It was almost as though her organs were being molded inside of her. Electricity didn't do this. Everything soon began to get darker again.

"Oh God…what's happening to me?" She glanced at her hand. There was a two-inch gash from where she cut herself on the bulb. She reached for a needle and placed a crimson droplet on the slide. She slid it under the microscope. Zooming in on her cells on her computer, her eyes widened in dismay. "What have I done?" All of her blood cells were taking on a metamorphosis; one that she knew could only lead to trouble. Shutting her eyes for a moment, she got a rush of adrenaline soon followed by dizziness and the spasmodic movement of her insides. She staggered around the room, trying to reach for a phone. Her vision was getting blurry by the second and her breath was harsh.

She looked around with no resolution in sight. She couldn't find the phone on her own, she could barely see. Then, the phone rang. She staggered toward it with quickness that only matched her austere breathing. Finding her headset, she placed it on her head and tapped it once. "He-hello?"

"Kris, hey." Peter figured he should talk to her. It had been a week and they hadn't really spoken a word to each other. Slowly, he mustered out a, "I, I'm sorry. Can we talk?"

She took her breaths quickly. "R-right now, I'm finding that t-to be a d-difficult t-task."

"Why? Are you all right?"

"As of r-right n-now, that's a m-matter of op-pinion." She swallowed hard, attempting to sound normal.

"What's going on?"

Her chest began to tighten in pain. Her legs felt like jello and her body was beginning to shut down. The tears were swelling up in her eyes now. "I-I don't kn-know…"

"Are… you… all… right?"

Shutting her eyes, she said with tears, "I-I d-don't think s-so. I-I n-need you to c-come by…p-please."

His eyes widened on the other side of the phone with some sort of hidden dread in him. "Sure, I'm on way. Is the door locked?"

"Th-there's a k-key under the fl-floor board un-under the m-mat. P-Pete I…"

"Just hold on…I'll be right over! Okay? I'm coming Kris!" With those last few words being said, she fell to the floor, the phone landing softly next to her. She lost consciousness as body began to writhe in pain.

"Hello? Hello!" The line was dead. Darting around for his jacket, Peter grabbed it suddenly and ran for the door. As soon as he opened, he was met with a teary eyed M.J. It would be just his luck.

She looked at him with sad eyes and said, "Peter…I need someone to talk to…please?"

Why was he superman all of the sudden! Man, this was gonna sound bad…"I-I can't talk now…something's wrong with Kris and I-"

Looking down, almost ashamed, she said quietly, "Oh…I understand, I can just leave or something." Tears were coming to her eyes again. She knew Peter wouldn't turn her away now…

Looking exasperated, he said finally, "Can we talk on the way there?"

"I really need to talk to you now…please Peter."

Sighing quickly, he said, "Alright, come in. I don't want to rush you, but I have to hurry…"

…………………

Kristi woke up slowly. Looking down at where she was, she soon remembered what happened. Jumping up with a start, her eyes darted all around her. Where were the spiders? The super spider was still in its cage and so was the mating spider. Where was the other one? Looking around, she saw where she was shocked and saw the other spider…dead. Breathing hard, she looked around everything nervously. Everything seemed clearer through her eyes and her entire body felt stronger. She looked at her hand that hit the bulb. There was a gash along the top of it, but not much blood was coming out of it.

Reaching for her keyboard, she jumped back in fright as electricity shot from her fingers at the monitor. She looked at her palm wearily, trying to make sense of what had happened. Thinking quickly, she looked for another needle. Reaching out for it…it jumped to her hand. "This is getting way too freaky." Using the needle, she took a blood sample from her already open hand wound. She looked at the blood droplets. Freezing the image of her cells, she looked back in the computer archives and compared the two tests. The cells were similar but somehow different. On the new droplet, the cells had electric currents shooting between them. "How can electricity do this to someone?" She began to look at the cells frame by frame.

Her head turned slightly at the sight. She scooted closer to the monitor so she would have no excuse of thinking it was her eyes. Looking more closely at the cells, she looked at the current cells in motion. She saw something that completely astonished her. There was a particle of some kind in the blood… probably a small piece of dirt she figured. But what scared was the fact that the cells didn't just bump around like normal. One cell repelled the dirt, almost like a magnet does when pushed with another magnet just like it. The dirt jumped away from it.

Picking up the needle, she held it in her hand warily. Throwing it up, she pointed her hand out. The needle just fell to the floor. "Maybe I'm just hallucinating." She turned her back to the needle and back to the screen. Something in her wanted to try the needle again. She turned around slowly and put her hand out for the needle. As she bent down to pick it up, it jumped to her hand again. Taking a deep breath, she placed the needle between her fingers and tossed it up. Keeping her hand out, she actually concentrated. Shutting her eyes hard, her mind began to… move around. She could feel something going on but wasn't sure. "You're being ridiculous…" opening her eyes slowly, she peered through the eyelids. What she saw scared her witless. The needle stayed suspended in air, right above her hand. Moving her hand swiftly, the needle flew across the room. "How can this be? This is not one of the traits of the super spiders." She looked at the spider she used as a mate. She never did classify it…

She gassed the mating spider quickly. Within minutes, the spider fell, and she began test on it. Sampling some of its blood, she looked at the cells. They had objects flying from the cells also. But this was a regular spider. She racked her brain for an answer. How can a regular spider have these types of traits. Then she remembered where she got the spider from…the truck that was heading from a chemical spill. She thought back to that day's conversation…

"'Hey, they had an explosion of some sort at the old Forbes plant.'

'The chemical plant?'

'Yeah…The dirty thing got on when I stopped at the plant. I still had the bloody truck open for a while. Little thing musta hitched a ride…'"

"Jesus," she whispered, "A genetically altered spider and a chemically enhanced one…" Looking back at the now dead spider by the outlet, she only covered her head in her hands. Removing her hands from her face, she realized there was restriction. Looking at her hand, there was a silky material connecting her hand to her head. "Um yeah…this just isn't cool." Taking her blood sample, she scanned her computer records with it to confirm her notion. Just as it said with the other spider…this species was not found…but ranked the blood as a new species. Quickly, she deleted the information from the records…

She glanced around the room. Peter! "Oh crap…he was supposed to come by." There was no sign of someone coming to her lab. She walked toward the white door and opened it. Peeking her head around the door, she shouted, "Peter?…Peter?" She glanced around the hallway…he wasn't there. With her feet hitting the carpet stairs, she ran down abruptly. Her front door was locked…there was no note or anything. He hadn't come…

Kristi didn't go to school that day. She felt too weird and entirely…too good. Her body felt as though it had just awaken from a deep sleep. Things were clearer and her mind was straight. The day after, she tried to get dressed, but most of her clothes didn't fit her properly. They were loose. She had never really been one to like loose clothes. She couldn't figure out why she had chosen to wear these clothes like that…but now, she felt as though she should wear clothes that…fit.

Dialing up her mom, she asked quickly, "Do you think you could get off of work…I'm thinking about going on a shopping spree. I think I might need a new wardrobe…"

…………………………

The next day, Kristi went to her classes. She needed time to adjust to what happened. She felt refreshed and not nearly as modest or shy as normal. She held her head up more, looking the world head on. She was never worried about what people thought about her, she never thought that much about herself. Now, she had some respect for herself. Looking in the mirror that morning, she realized she had a figure, an athletic one at that. She was almost positive it wasn't as evident before… her skin was smoother to touch and her legs had a more defined tone to them.. Her eyes were the same, dark and mysterious, but that hidden depth that she had purposely kept hidden, was now emerging. Her face, in general, was nicer to look at, at least from her perspective. She smiled at her reflection. For once, she saw herself and was proud.

She walked through the park on her normal path to her English professor's class to see what she missed. Not really paying attention to where she was going through the park, Kristi had her head down, digging in her book bag for her English notebook. Something told her to watch were she was going, but she ignored it. Pulling out a couple of papers, she glanced over them. She was just about to put them back into her book bag, but bumped into someone, causing them to scatter all over the ground. Shaking her head at her own clumsiness, she said, "Excuse me, I'm sorry about that."

The blond girl brushed her shoulders off and threw her green eyes at Kristi. "You better be."

'Oh great…it's My-Size Barbie,' she thought with dread. "I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it, Kim."

Beginning to bend down to pick up her papers, she soon felt herself being jerked back up. "Aren't you a flip little somebody?"

'Calm down Kristi…calm…down…' she told herself. Looking Kim head-on, she said with ease, "I can be, but right now, I'm just stating facts."

Kim eyed her funnily. She wasn't oblivious to the change in Kristi, but hey, once a dork, always a dork. "You better watch it dork."

Kristi's brown eyes shot up. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me dork, why don't you watch where you're going and why don't you move out of MY way?"

Nodding her head, attempting to let it go, Kristi just answered, "Yeah, whatever." Shaking her head she mumbled in Creole, "Kofè to-ye ein femèl chen…?"

Kim jumped in her face and slapped her book bag out of her hands. Smiling sourly, she asked, "What was that?"

'Why are you such a bitch,' Kristi thought. Instead, she just shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "Oh nothing at all. I was just reveling in the fact that you managed to use your entire vocabulary in one sentence. But here's a thought: Since the walkway is approximately 8 feet wide, and I have to pick up my things, why don't you go around?"

By now, there was a crowd surrounding them, which made Kim rant even more. She craved the attention and would like it even more when she shut this little girl down. "Why should I have to move when there are people like you to push out of the way?"

Kristi took a deep breath. "Because one of these days you're gonna attempt to push the wrong person and land flat on your face."

Kim folded her arms. "Wanna see if that's true?"

Kristi eyed Kim's K-Swiss and got an idea. Shrugging, she said with a bored tone, "Do what you want, I could careless." The girl lunged at her, and Kristi just slid out of the way. Using her mind, she forced Kim to step on her loose, white shoelace. Kim went flying toward the ground, face first into the moist dirt. Shrugging her shoulders innocently, Kristi bent down to began picking up her navy blue book bag and the few papers that fell out. Kim laid on her stomach in a complete daze. Not only did this girl have the gall to challenge her in public, but also she ended up tripping over her own two feet. She sat up on her knees and attempted to wipe the dirt off of her cashmere pink sweater she had just bought.

Putting everything back in its place, Kristi stood up calmly. She looked back at Kim's stunned face. When she made eye contact, she made a grin, which sent Kim's stunned look out the window and was soon replaced with one of pure hatred. Turning her head to the side, Kristi said matter-of-factly, "Maybe next time you should listen to us dorks…just so happens we're always right." And with that, Kristi turned her back to her and began to walk away.

Hearing the laughter around her, Kim grabbed a clump of earth and threw it at the back of Kristi's head in an anger filled cry. "Just who…just who do you think you are?" she yelled while wisps of her bouncy blond hair fell out of place.

Kristi felt that the dirt was coming, and she moved calmly to the side. Shocked for a moment as to how she knew it was coming, she shook it off long enough to tend to the matters at hand. Turning around, she raised an eyebrow at the girl who was still on the ground. She walked back toward Kim while making a strange noise.

Kim was shocked again…she was laughing at her! Kim jumped on her feet and prepared herself for physical confrontation, but Kristi just looked at her like she was crazy. Kristi had a menacing look on her face…like an eagle circling its prey just before the kill. She was the eagle this time instead of the prey. "You want to know who I am?" She echoed. Kristi chuckled at her again. She'd get her alright…with words though. "I am just someone trying to walk to class without having to push people around by acting like some little princess who was put on a stool by God knows who." She inched closer to Kim. Kim, unconsciously, began to back away.

Continuing with her rant, Kristi began again. "Now I think the real question is just who do you think you are? Oh wait, since you are your normal clueless self, let me break it down for you: You are a superficial, stuck-up, Malibu Barbie doll who needs to get her head out of her ass and realize that she is not all that, but only one-billionth of that. I'm tired of getting constantly pushed around by shallow, egotistical, ostentatious, spoiled brats like yourself. Maybe if you were a lil' more on the real then maybe we wouldn't be having a problem, but since you are about as real as the nose that was just recently put on your face, I think we just might." Kim stared at her gritted teeth. Kristi could almost hear them grinding together. Continuing, she said, "Why are you looking at me like you're shocked? Did you think it was impossible for you to be knocked down to our, quote, 'level'? Well look around your majesty." Kristi looked her up and down real quick before continuing, "Judging from the dirt that you're covered in and the fact that you were just rolling on the ground, I think we can see that it's a strong possibility that all stuck up princesses, like yourself, eventually get knocked off of their high and mighty stools. And just think…you did that all by yourself."

Putting a finger to her head, Kristi made an expression to make it look like she was thinking hard. "Now that we had that nice little conversation, I would say that I summed you up nicely, don't you?" Kim glared at her with slit eyes. "Oh wait, you wouldn't know what half of those words mean, so here," Kristi dug around in her book bag and threw a pocket thesaurus at Kim's feet. "Use this. Even though I know it'll be a challenge for you," Kristi stopped for a moment, cleared her throat, and did her best imitation of Kim and a valley girl. "You can like always like go find like Ken to like look like the stuff up like for you." Swinging her hair like Kim normally did, she walked away. She could hear the laughter and the clapping behind her, but it didn't make her feel much better. Maybe she had gone to far, but she was so sick of people like Kim pushing people like her that it made her feel good to tell her off.

Kristi kept walking with a perplexed look on her face through the park. Something of extreme importance happened to her, yet she couldn't do anything about it. She had always wanted to say that to Kim…and she pushed her buttons right then. She would fight…only when provoked though. She's told people off before, but not to that extent…she just let loose on Kim. It almost felt like someone stronger and powerful had emerged from her. It felt like it was her, but on a different level that she had struggled so hard to achieve. It was a release for her, and it felt damn good.

Peter stopped walking and began to jog through the park. "Kristi…Kristi, hey wait up!" Jogging next to her, he reached for her arm. Taking a gulp of air, he asked, "Would you wait a second?"

She shut her eyes for a minute and then rolled them. Stopping abruptly, she turned around quickly to face his eyes head on. Smiling sourly, she said, "Hello Peter."

His blue eyes pleaded with her. "Please don't be mad at me. You had me worried. I'm sorry I couldn't come by, but something came up."

"Well," bowing dramatically, she said sarcastically, "as you can see, I'm fine now." That was an overstatement. "No need for you to worry."

Peter wasn't oblivious to the anger in her voice. After all, he didn't call her back; he didn't come by. "Kristi…please don't be like this, I couldn't help it."

M.J. looked around until she spotted Pete, with Kristi. That HAD to be broken up. Jogging toward him, she said with a million watt smile, "Hey Pete! Thank you so much for staying with me the other night." She touched his bare arm with affection. Trying to turn him more toward her and away from Kristi, she said sweetly, "I'm glad you were right there with me."

Peter shared an unsure smile between the two girls. Kristi just nodded her head, and said with resolution, "Well, I guess that's my cue to exit." With a very sardonic tone to her voice, she said calmly, "Bye."

"Kristi! I- M.J. hold on."

She had to keep those two separated. M.J. knew the feelings Kristi had for Peter, but she couldn't be too sure about Peter. She just had to get him back. "But Pete I need to talk to you for only two minutes. I promise."

"If it takes only two minutes then it can be done some other time. I'm sorry M.J. but this just isn't a good time. Stay here…I'll be back." And with that, he ran after Kristi. "Kristi! Kristi wait…c'mon, don't be like this."

"Don't be like what Pete? Please…elaborate."

"Look, I meant to stop by the day before and yesterday but couldn't because I had my hands full. And as for that night…"

Kristi nodded her head knowingly. "M.J. had a problem you had to help her with…right?" She was still bitter about the movie thing. She had hoped that maybe she had gotten through to him, but she was wrong.

Rubbing his hand on the back of his neck, he said solemnly, "Well…yes. It was just bad timing." He knew things were still rough between them. She was still steaming over the whole movie thing. He wasn't oblivious to it. Then he didn't come by at all, nor did he call. When it came down to it, he was being a horrible friend, and he knew it.

"Well…I guess that happens to the best of us huh? I'm not mad…I'm not mad at all. Just a little irked. But hey, if she needed help, who am I to get on her for going to you. After all…you both get along SO well now."

He eyed her carefully. She sounded different. She was always sarcastic around him, but this time, there was more to it. "Are you okay? Seriously?"

She nodded her head. "I'm fine. I made sure I was okay before I came to school."

He touched her shoulder gently and lifted her head directly toward his so they could see each other eye to eye. "What happened that night?" he asked in a voice barely above a whisper. When the words left his mouth, it amazed him by how much concern was in it. He was truly concerned, but there something else wrapped in the words.

His blue eyes felt like they were burrowing a hole into her own. She saw something in them only for an instant. Suddenly a wave of shyness surrounded her. Looking down to cover herself, she said nonchalantly, "Something went wrong with one of my experiments…nothing for you to worry about." She had already decided that it would be better not to tell him all of what happened…not until she could get everything straightened out.

He looked at her strangely. Everything she did worried him. "Yes it is…are you hurt or anything?"

Still looking down, she turned her focus on her hand. "I'm okay from what I can see. Just got a little gash on my hand." It wasn't lying…directly. "It's nothing serious." At least she hoped it wasn't something serious.

He eyed her hand carefully. He could see the crimson spots leaking through her crude cotton bandage. "Look at this…it looks like it's opened up again." Lifting his head up, he looked for a water fountain.

Kristi, on the other hand, was just itching to get away from him. He made her feel things that she was too afraid to feel. She just stared at his form for a moment. This wasn't supposed to happen. She had willed herself not to let things like this happen simply because something would happen…something would happen to ruin it.

"There's one, over there." He took her to the fountain and began to undo her bandage.

"Pete…look, I'm on my way home, I can just redo it when I get there. Besides," she eyed the water nervously, "this is 'mineral' water. All that rust and iron floating around in there doesn't need to get in my blood stream."

Smiling at her humor, he said with shrugged shoulders, "You were complaining before about not getting enough iron. Here's your chance to fix it." He gripped her soft hand gently, pulling it toward the water.

She laughed at his attempts. Continuing to pull her arm, she said quickly, "If I want iron, I'll naw on a dumbbell. What this is gonna do is give me gangrene. I like my hand just the way it is, I don't like the thought of it falling off anytime soon."

"Stop being a baby and let me put some water on the cloth. Just a little…" He dampened the cotton cloth and began to rub slightly.

She could feel her hand beginning to tremble. His hands engulfed hers and they were just so soft. To cover up, she began to pull it away. "Pete, I can dress my hand myself, but thank you for the gesture." She began to pull it away from him, yet he held on to it.

"I dunno…this is a pretty nice hand. I don't think I can say goodbye to it."

Her eyes widened in humor. "To my hand? That's what they are used for…to wave goodbye. And besides, why would you want to hold a bloody hand?"

"Because it belongs to you darlin!" He threw his cheek on the palm of her hand away from the blood. He threw some goofy eyes her way that forced her to laugh.

God his cheek was smooth…remembering where she was and who she was, she took her hand away from his cheek. "Pete, you are a goober."

"Well, I take that as a compliment." Smiling some more, he took her bloody hand again. He began to wipe it clean and pressed the cotton on the cut again. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his handkerchief.

"Pete, don't use your handkerchief."

"There's nothing else for me to use."

"This is fine for now. I'm going home after I go by Prof Johnson to get some info on the class. All I have to do is go straight to the first aid kit, find more dressing, and I'll be set."

"I already have this right here so why waste time." His eyes caught hers again. "It doesn't have snot or anything on it."

She looked down and nodded her head. "Yup…you are a goober."

He tied the white handkerchief around her hand. It seemed as though his hands lingered just a bit longer than needed…"There. All better." Looking up with a grin, he added, "Maybe I should change my major to medicine."

Flexing her hand, she said with a smile, "If my hand doesn't fall off because of gangrene, then it just might look hopeful for you."

"Well thanks for the bout of confidence." Peter continued to stare at Kristi oddly.

"No prob." Kristi looked up from her hand to be met with blue ones analyzing her. She didn't quite like being under a microscope so Peter's glare freaked her out a little. She nervously pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. "W-what are you looking at?"

Shaking his head to break the trace, he covered his mistake. "N-nothing, I was just, noticing you."

"Just noticing me? Well what have I been doing wrong for so long?" she asked with a smirk.

He shook his head quickly. "No I mean…that came out wrong. There's something different about you." He glanced at her hair. The dark, silky tresses were flowing over her shoulders, an act very rare for them since they are normally secured in a bun. Her skin seemed to have a purer caramel tone to it. Her clothes fit her form, not nearly as loose as normal. Her dark blue jeans weren't quite skin tight but tight enough to show off the shape of her legs. Her cream turtleneck shaped itself around her upper body and her body length leather jacket gave her an air of modesty yet openness was all around her. She just seemed more…interesting to look at.

Looking down at herself, she suddenly became self-conscious. "I'm still me I think," she responded while tugging her jacket closer to her.

He just looked at her. It was almost as if his eyes had been opened to something new, almost as though things were in a different light with something hiding in the mists. "I don't know, you just seem different."

Narrowing her eyes she asked warily, "Good different or bad different?"

"Good! Most definitely good." He looked down in embarrassment. He was never this open with her about her appearance.

She smiled for a moment. "Oh well…thank you," was all she could muster to get out. She had already put her head down out of shyness. She could feel her cheeks giving away to the rush of blood to them.

He could feel her self-awareness and felt like fool for saying what he had said. He knew he sounded stupid, but he couldn't help it for some odd reason. Clearing his throat he said, "Well…would you like to meet up at CC's with our books? We could study for Martin's test?"

"Um well…sure! When do you want to meet there?"

"Well its three now…wanna meet there around six?"

She smiled at him. "Okay. That's fine." Everything seemed, different somehow. His stare was unnerving, but she could have sworn that it was the same stare he had given M.J. so many times. She chuckled to herself at her stupidity. There was no way he'd look at her the same way. It just didn't happen. Snapping herself from her thoughts, she felt his eyes on her again. She was so nervous…Beginning to rock on her heels, she said finally, "Well now…I must be going. I'll see you in a bit I guess."

He nodded his head slowly. "Alright…later Kris."

"Later Pete." Lord help her if she didn't pinch herself…she turned and walked away so he couldn't see the grin of contentment on her face.

This was something new for Peter. It was just Kristi, but it wasn't. She seemed more bold about herself, not nearly as modest. She still held that modest glow, but it seemed to be retreating more and more. For the first time he had seen her, she appeared…beautiful to him. He never thought of her as ugly, but just as Kristi. Now she seemed to have come out of her shell. He always knew that she would be a great person when she finally did, but he never knew beauty would follow. It was just Kristi, and yet she made him feel shy. He smiled slightly. Mumbling to himself, he said, "I think I like her like this…"



Note: Okay….sorry for it being so long folks. I wanted to get a few things in that I thought I would need for this chapter to happen. Sorry again for the long wait. Don't forget to review please!