Chapter 1: Maybe It's Time for a Change
Peter sighs as he hikes his messenger bag back into place on his shoulder and starts heading home. Maybe he needs to start looking into a second job? But where would he find the time? Between double majoring and patrolling as a certain masked vigilante, he already barely has the time to be a freelance photographer for the Daily Bugle. Unfortunately, this would be the second week in a row that Jameson refused all of his pictures.
Never mind paying the rent next week, how am I going to eat this week?
He would figure something out. If one thing can be said about Peter Parker, it's that no matter how many times he is beaten down, he'll always get back up. Things may seem bleak now, but somehow it will end up working out. No use stressing over it, he just needs to keep on going.
Peter lets himself into his dingy apartment and gets started making dinner. Money had always been tight growing up and being a broke college student has taught Peter the fine art of stretching a paycheck. He may have been able to get multiple scholarships out of high school, but those only get him so far. Especially with all of the books needed for his course load. Rent in New York isn't a joke either, even for the shit box he lives in. Ramen may not be the most healthy of options but it's cheap and can always be doctored up a little to break up the monotony.
While he eats, Peter glances over his budget for the month and makes some quick calculations. Things aren't dire yet but catastrophe is not far off. He will need to make a quick grocery run in the morning before class to get essentials for the next week. As long as he keeps it under 20, he should be able to make rent next week even if Jameson continues to be difficult.
That train of thought brings him back to the root of his current issue. Frankly speaking, his job sucks. The pay is inconsistent in every manner except for the fact that he is consistently underpaid. Peter isn't usually the type of guy to go around tooting his own horn, but he knows his photos are good. Better than good. Despite the fact that he is slightly cheating by turning in what are essentially selfies; Peter actually spends a decent amount of time setting up the shots and editing them properly. They are definitely better than some of the other shots the daily bugle prints. But paparazzi are common and it can be surprisingly cut-throat. Peter may hold himself to a better standard than the average paparazzo, but the Daily Bugle is only worried about their bottom line and spreading awareness about the "Masked Menace", apparently. It's not even like Peter wants to be a paparazzo, it's just convenient at the moment. He'd much rather be on the photo-journalism side but Jameson keeps trashing his application to be a staff photographer.
Jameson in general is just a pain to work with. Disregarding his never-ending crusade against Peter's alter-ego, he treats Peter (and almost everyone else) like shit. He is always yelling and constantly berates Peter for not getting more incriminating photos of Spider-Man.
But for all the negatives, Peter can't disregard the positive aspects of his job. For one, he can make his own hours which is super helpful for the masked vigilante thing. It also gives him a couple of credits towards his photography major as a work-based learning opportunity. He may not be an actual employee, but Betty is nice enough to sign off on the paperwork for him. Actually being credited on the front page of the newspaper has definitely helped fill out his portfolio. Well, when Jameson actually credits him anyway.
With another soft sigh, Peter cleans up his mess from dinner and settles in to study. This issue wasn't going to be solved tonight and he has a feeling there's going to be a pop quiz in his biomechanics class tomorrow. Glancing at the clock, Peter figures he has just enough time for a brief overview on this module for the quiz and to polish his rough draft essay to submit in his journalism class tomorrow before he goes out for patrol.
The next morning is a little hectic trying to get his shopping done and put safely away in his apartment before his quantitative engineering lab at 10am. Despite that, Peter manages to find a spare 30 minutes to relax at one of the campus coffee spots and peruse an issue of the Daily Globe that he picked up during his shopping trip. He had grabbed it on a whim (and okay - maybe a little bit out of spite) while he was checking out, but had quickly gotten invested in an expose about some pharmaceutical company up north that was involved in illegal human testing. As interesting as it is, Peter can't help but be a little disconcerted. Lately during his patrols, he has noticed a slight decline in criminal activity. Normally that would be considered a good thing but something about how quiet it has been is keeping him on edge.
Just last night on patrol, Peter's spider-sense went off but when he got to the scene of the crime, the victim was in shock and there was no sign of the perpetrator. He couldn't get a word out of her and ended up using her phone to call for paramedics. It's not even the first time something odd like this has happened, but there has been nothing in the news about it. It could just be that the disappearing criminals aren't missed. Normally, Peter isn't usually one to believe in conspiracy theories but he can't help wondering if there's a reason no one is reporting on it.
Idly flipping through the classifieds, a small ad grabs his attention:
HELP WANTED
Seeking experienced photographers. Freelance and contract positions available with flexible hours and competitive pay. Apply in person at The Daily Globe.
Brow wrinkled in thought, Peter folds the paper and puts it in his bag. While the Daily Globe also prints stories about the various vigilantes in New York, he can't remember a time where they focused on one in particular. Especially not to the degree that Jameson uses the Daily Bugle as his personal soapbox against Spider-Man. Their content in general seemed to be less incendiary and more neutral. Not to say that they supported any of the vigilantes either. Just that they didn't hate on them as much as some other newspapers.
Peter had actually gone to them when he first got the idea to sell his pictures but they wouldn't give him the time of day. Though thinking back, that might have been the fact that he was 15 at the time. Lord knows Jameson's morals never got in the way of buying them.
Some of his upper level photography classes had free days set in the schedule for students to roam around taking pictures. After his lab, Peter has one such free period. If he's fast, he might have enough time to run down there and interview before Biomechanics. He'll have to stop by the apartment to grab his portfolio but that shouldn't be an issue.
Grinning, Peter makes his way to lab. I have a good feeling about this.
