"Welcome to Chemistry!" Peter said to his first class of the day. The final bell rang and they were all looking at him expectedly. But after that one short sentence, he'd lost them.

He had a curriculum that was given to him by the principal. Peter didn't read it. He was given a file for each class he was going to teach. Included were the students' names, their current GPA, and emergency contacts. Peter leafed through one of the files and skipped ahead to his budget for labs and such. He'd made a mental breakdown of what he would need before he checked what was available in the classroom. What he didn't notice was what subjects he'd be teaching. He assumed it was Chemistry since the classroom was set up with lab tables and equipment.

"Uh, teacher?" said a boy in the front row. He was a dirty blond with freckles who wore braces. He looked nervous. His voice squeaked. His classmates were giggling behind him. He lifted his book to show the cover. "This is supposed to be Earth Science. Am I in the wrong room? I thought it was the same room I came to yesterday."

"Um, well," Peter said and went around his desk. He looked at the books on the other students' desks and noticed that everyone had the same book. "Maybe I'm in the wrong room? This is room 3A, isn't it?"

The class erupted in laughter. All except for the freckled boy in the front seat. He nodded in answer and gulped. Peter scratched his head. He went to his desk and rifled through his leather briefcase. He found his class assignments. And there it was, proof that his first period was Earth Science.

"Sorry, this is Earth Science. I blame it on first day jitters," Peter said loudly to be heard over the students who were now talking amongst themselves.

"Adults get that too?" said Freckles.

"Oh, of course!" Peter said and crossed his arms over his chest. He leaned back on the desk. "We're just better at hiding it." All the students stared at him with puzzled expressions. "Okay. Let's start over. My name is Richard Peter and apparently, I'm your new Earth Science teacher. You can call me Teacher or Teach." Peter was smirking at the class when he saw their befuddled expressions. And of course, no one laughs at my corny teacher jokes.

A girl in the back of the classroom with pink streaks in her hair raised her hand but started to talk before she was called on.

"Why do you have two first names? Do you not have a last name?"

"Weren't you listening, Erica? His last name is Teacher," said a boy sitting in the middle of the second row. He was tall and lanky. The students around him laughed.

"No, my last name isn't Teacher," Peter told them and sighed. He went to the whiteboard and wrote his name. Richard on top of Peter then added an s to the end of each. "If it's easier for you, you can call me Mr. Peters or Mr. Richards. Either one is fine."

"I like Richards, you look like a Richards," said Erica with her hand up. Most of the other kids nodded in agreement.

"Mr. Richards it is!" Peter erased his name off the whiteboard. Then he wrote Mr. Richards at the top left corner. "All right," Peter said, clapping his hand and pointing at the nervous boy in the front row. "What chapter are we on?"

"Um, fourteen, Mr. Richards," said the boy and wiped his hands on his lap.

"You're supposed to take the attendance, Teacher," said a girl who sat in the front row closest to the door. She was wearing a v-neck white t-shirt that she paired with a black striped tie. She was giving him a you're-an-idiot look.

Peter knew that look from most of the girls he went to school with. "Right! Okay, while I do that, I want you all to write what your goals are for this class." Peter pulled out his class list and the seating arrangement.

"What do you mean?" said a boy closest to the far wall. He was slouched in his seat and all Peter saw of him was his messy brown hair.

Peter looked up and then at the seating arrangement. "What I mean, Tim is that I want you to tell me what you want to accomplish this year. It can be anything from getting an A or what type of experiments you want to take part in. Anything relating to the class."

"Like telling you which one of all these hon—" said a boy with a smug look on his face while he was staring at Erica.

"I'm going to stop you right there, Luca, before you embarrass yourself," Peter said pointing at the kid. The class giggled and teased Luca for being an idiot before Peter started talking again. "If making friends or learning how to better communicate with your peers is one of your goals then yes, you can tell me about it. I want to help you accomplish your goals that will hopefully have an impact on your life inside and outside of this classroom."

All the students looked at one another and then they pulled out their notebooks. They all started to write quietly. When Peter finished the attendance he called Carey up to his desk. She was the girl who was wearing the tie. He gave her the attendance form he filled out assuming she'd take it to the office. Carey giggled and pointed at the computer. Apparently, he was supposed to do it on the desktop. She showed him how to log in to the attendance and then did it for him. Peter rubbed the back of his neck as he watched and berated himself for coming to class unprepared. But at the very least he hadn't been late.

He'd rushed out of the Red Hood's hideout when he realized he didn't have much time to get ready for work. He swiped a change of clothes from a donation box on the way and ducked into an alley to put them on over his suit. He stuffed his mask in his pocket. He was lucky that someone came out of one of the buildings through the alley door. He ducked inside straight into a maintenance room. From there he walked out of the front lobby of an apartment complex. He was only a few blocks from his own building. He made it home in time to take a quick shower, grab his things, and run back out. He grabbed a bagel and coffee before he jumped on the train.

At the Hell Gate Bridge Station, Todd jumped on the train and took a seat next to him. Unlike Peter, he looked wide-awake. He said he'd never been a substitute teacher before and asked what he should expect from the class. Peter told him to not let the students intimidate him. That he needed to project his voice without yelling. And to always sound like he's keeping a secret from them. When Todd raised a questioning eyebrow, Peter chuckled. He said the secret in keeping students engaged was to give them the information they needed with semi-vague explanations. It would then prompt the students to ask questions. He also told Todd to nod while they spoke to encourage them to elaborate on their explanations or questions. Then he said to make sure to not lose his cool.

Peter explained that if someone was acting out, Todd shouldn't automatically start threatening detention. He would need to talk over them with a clever quip to deescalate the situation. Unless it was serious bad behavior, then a threat of detention or suspension, and a call to the office would be necessary. He told Todd he would be fine and to lean into the nerves. Because that was proof that he wanted to do right by the students and that there was nothing wrong with that at all.

When they arrived at the school twenty minutes before the final bell rang, the principal was waiting for them and he gave them a quick tour of the grounds before he took them to their first-period classes. He told them that there was a teachers' meeting after school where he would introduce them to the rest of the staff. Peter was looking forward to meeting the other teachers. He wanted their input about the school as a whole. He was hoping that the school's location in a bad neighborhood didn't mean it was under constant attack. Or that the students were violent offenders.

While the students wrote their goals, Peter gave the chapter a cursory glance using his teacher manual. He quickly decided what he would focus on with the time allowed. When he noticed some of the students had finished writing, he walked up to them to gather their goals. He told them to start reading section one of the chapter. When he'd collected all the goals, he slipped them into a manilla folder and his briefcase to read them later. He gave the students a few more minutes to read before he began to give them pointers on how to take notes so that they could learn the material. Afterwhich, he gave them a quick lecture to cover the material.

At the words 'ice wedging' Luca snickered and mumbled something under his breath that caused the few students within his earshot to chuckle.

"Mind telling the rest of the class when ice wedging occurs, Luca?" Peter said, looking at the boy.

When the students around him stopped laughing and stared at him expectantly, Luca shook his head. "I didn't get that far reading." The class snickered.

"I know, Mr. Richards," said Jale, the nervous boy with the freckles. Peter gestured that he continue. "It's when water seeps into the cracks and freezes…"

His voice had started strong but by the end, it had lowered a few decibels and he swallowed hard. Peter knew the boy wanted to say more but his nerves got the best of him. He smiled at him and nodded.

"Exactly!" Peter said and told the class to look at Figure 2 in the textbooks. "The volume of water expands by ten percent when it turns to ice, which causes what to happen next?"

Erica raised her hand and started to talk before being called on. "It creates pressure that cracks the rock."

"That's right," Peter said and looked at the class. "In fluctuating temperatures, the water can thaw and refreeze. Creating more and more pressure. You put enough pressure on something and it will eventually break. And in time, the process will split the rock apart. So when we hear the term 'as strong as rock' it doesn't necessarily mean unchangeable. Because rocks actually do change in time, through the process of weathering." Peter looked over at the time and clapped his hands. "Write this down. Homework tonight: finish reading section one, define the keywords, describe two forms of mechanical weathering, and find examples of each form of chemical weathering. Don't forget to use your signal words as clues. If you don't bring your completed homework, you will not be able to partake in the labs tomorrow."

The majority of the class groaned and then the bell rang before they could complain.

For his second period, Peter didn't have an assigned class. He took the allotted time to prepare for his next class and the two he had in the afternoon. When he finished, he went over the goals the kids wrote and smiled as he did. He felt a surge of pride at what some of the students wrote. Jale said he wanted to build his confidence and make friends in so many words. Peter knew he would be able to help his students reach their goals. He didn't have to be Spider-man in Gotham full-time. There were already plenty of heroes that could help at a moment's notice. Peter had never felt so free to live a productive life outside of his responsibilities as a hero, or a menace as JJJ proclaimed.

His third-period Chemistry class went by faster than the first. When the time the bell rang and the students were shuffling out, Todd knocked on the door jam and smiled.

"You have a good morning then?" Peter said as he gathered the paperwork on his desk. He'd given the class a pop quiz to figure out what they needed help with. He'd written the questions on the whiteboard ahead of time and took attendance while the class was busy. Now he needed to grade them, but he decided to do that during his free period in the afternoon.

"Yup," Todd said and walked into the classroom once the door was clear of students. "Took your advice. Ready for lunch?"

"You bet," Peter said and grabbed the keys to lock up.

Peter found out that Todd not only had to sub for Gym but also an English class. He'd wondered why he had two free periods and realized that it was probably so that if the need arose, they could ask him to sub for another class as well. He just hoped he wouldn't have to sub for English, that was his worst subject. He just didn't care too much for literature or trying to figure out the author's mood while they wrote something centuries ago. It just didn't seem as relevant to him as math and science. Those subjects were the foundation of all matter. And matter was all around. It was everyone and everything.

Todd left after his last class, but Peter stuck around for the faculty meeting and to grade a few papers. He even had time to prepare for the lab the next morning. His coworkers were great. They had a passion for teaching that Peter admired. And according to them, there were hardly any incidents in the school that involved the students. The principal with the help of the teachers enforced the school rules without exception. Bullying was not tolerated. If a student was found with drugs or weapons on their person, they were expelled without question. The neighborhood may have been a deterrent for teachers but the students should not have to pay for the lack of policing in the area. Peter had enjoyed his first day of teaching in Gotham and was looking forward to the following day.

Peter knew what he needed to do to help the school and the students further, he would make the Narrows safer as Spider-man. He wasn't stupid, he knew why Batman and the others stayed away from the area. Every street and alley would make anyone a sitting duck if the locals turned against them. Luckily for him, he could crawl on walls, and just like a spider, he could scurry away to safety if he needed to. But first, he really needed a new suit. And better webs.