Shuri, it seemed, was even more intriguing than Peter initially thought. For starters, she was indeed from central Africa, specifically Uganda, as she had told him and Gwen during lunch that first day. She came to America with some of her aunties to get a different view of life and a good American education, while her parents and her brother stayed back home for work. She didn't talk very long about her parents, just that they ran some big company that's been in her family for years, but she talked with immense pride about her older brother T'Challa, who she said was gearing up to take over the business when her father dies.
"Not that it will happen anytime soon," Shuri made it a point to say as they sat in the cafeteria. "My father is a very healthy man and he works out almost as much as Okoye does."
"Who is Okoye?" Gwen asked.
Shuri almost flushed, but she hid it well, and neither Gwen nor Peter noticed. "Ah… My father's personal trainer. I love her dearly, like an auntie. She trains my brother and I sometimes too, but I have only just started. She says I have a lot to learn before I am ready to –"
She froze in her speech, and to Peter it seemed she was trying not to fumble her words.
"Ready to what?" Gwen pressed, and Peter could have smacked her for her obliviousness.
"My father and my brother run marathons." Shuri said suddenly. "They train for a long time to be able to compete and they win medals very often. Okoye says I am not ready to run with them yet."
"Oh, that's so cool!" Gwen smiled. "My girlfriend M.J. says that she wants to run in a marathon someday with me, but I told her I'd rather marathon Game of Thrones. You've seen that, right Shuri?"
"I have heard of it, but Nakia said it wasn't appropriate for my age."
"Who is Nakia? Wait, how old are you anyway?"
"Nakia is my brother's girlfriend, and my fourteenth birthday was last month."
"You're only fourteen?" Gwen asked incredulously. "My sixteenth birthday is beginning of April, about two weeks from now, and Peter's just turned fifteen because he skipped a grade. Did you skip two grades? How did you end up with us?"
"I took an entrance exam when I transferred here, and they told me I would be in this year of classes. I was never in public formal schooling back home, so I can't say for certain what really happened."
"Were you homeschooled?"
"Yes, in a way." Shuri replied. "I learn a lot of things by doing them myself, to be honest with you. I work in my lab and I –"
She stopped again, and while Gwen couldn't really tell what was going on, Peter thought that there might be things that Shuri didn't want to talk about.
"You have your own lab?" Gwen's eyes went wide, and Peter kicked her under the table this time. "Ow!" She cried out, completely not subtle, and Peter almost groaned.
"I – " Shuri looked at the table with a flush on her face. "I work in a lab that does scientific developments for my father's company, and I just call it 'my' lab sometimes, though there are others who work there. It's not really mine."
"That's super cool!" Gwen gushed. "There's a lab I really want to work in once my birthday passes and I'm sixteen, it's for a company called Oscorp…"
Peter kind of drowned Gwen out at this point, because it made him a bit anxious whenever she talked about it since he wasn't sure how he was going to hide it from her that he worked at Oscorp once she got her own job there. The Doc said he had to keep it a secret, though, and he didn't want to disappoint his own late father's best friend and partner.
Instead, Peter was thinking about Shuri, as he zoned out staring at her face. Uganda wasn't really a country known for its scientific developments, so what exactly did her father's company do? Besides that, there were things she didn't want to talk about or couldn't talk about. Was her father involved in something illegal or immoral, and she was ashamed or scared to admit it?
Eventually, he realized that he had been caught staring as her eyes met his, and he blushed as he looked at his food.
Gwen, completely oblivious to this exchange, kept talking, but Shuri kept sneaking glances at the boy she felt intrigued by.
He reminded her of T'Challa when he was younger. Awkward, quiet, and almost like he would stumble over his own two feet at any given moment. Gwen, on the other hand, seemed to be just like Nakia; confident, intelligent, happy, and sure of her own independence from any man in her life. Of course, Nakia wasn't so independent from men that she was dating exclusively women, but it didn't make much difference to the Wakandans anyways. As long as there were heirs to every tribe, people were free to love as they chose to love.
If Peter grew up to be just like T'Challa, Shuri figured she wouldn't mind staying in his life for a while. A friend like T'Challa would be loyal and fun to be around. She already enjoyed his company, and Gwen's. Maybe they would make America more bearable.
Peter kept thinking about what the possibilities of Shuri's life were later into the day, even after they had left their last class, which happened to have been advanced eleventh grade biology. Gwen's specialty was chemistry, not biology, so she was in the tenth grade biology class, but both Peter and Shuri were in the eleventh grade biology class. He could tell the other nerdy boys were fascinated by this little genius girl from Uganda, and he almost felt kind of jealous, but he knew that he didn't really deserve to feel jealous.
As they said goodbye at the end of the day, and Peter absent-mindedly headed to Oscorp, he couldn't stop thinking about Shuri.
It got to the point where when the Doc asked Peter what he wanted to name their latest little spider, he blurted out Shuri's name.
Dr. Octavius' eyebrows raised. "Thinking about somebody in particular right now, Peter?"
Peter's face flushed. "Uh… Yes, sir, I am, but I won't let it interfere with my work."
"Tell me about her." The Doc teased as he put the newly named Spider-Shuri back into her little glass habitat. "She's clearly somebody special if you're thinking about her instead of our spiders."
"Well – "
Peter spent thirty minutes rambling about Shuri to the Doc, who listened with amusement as he continued his work. He told him about how her favourite American food is Hawaiian pizza, and that she swore in her native language, Xhosa, during biology class, and it almost sounded like she was calling someone a bastard but she had said it roughly translated to 'Mother of Bast', because that's the goddess they worship in her family, and he had noted it was very fascinating that they followed Egyptian polytheism since that was not often found in countries other than Egypt anymore, but she corrected him and said that it wasn't quite like that…
The Doc eventually managed to get Peter back on track and doing his work instead of babbling about Shuri, and they continued for hours being in their own zones until finally there was a knock at the door that made them both jump.
"Dr. Octavius, sir, there's a call for you from May Parker."
Both Peter and the Doc looked at the clock and swore out loud; it was nearly 10 p.m. and this call was probably going to be loud and angry.
"Peter, would you mind putting Shuri and her friends back while I take this call from your aunt? I know she's going to chew me out for a while and I don't want to keep you too long."
"Sure, Doc."
Peter could just make out his aunt's voice through the slightly ajar door into the other room, and she definitely sounded angry.
He rolled his eyes with a groan, and knew that not only would his dinner be cold but his aunt would be chewing him out when he got home, too, for staying at work so long on a school night.
He was so distracted thinking about not only his aunt but about Shuri again that he accidentally picked up one of the spiders a bit wonky. The spider, who was their oldest girl and named Arachne, was startled, and she bit him hard on the finger. He nearly dropped her in surprise, but managed to steady himself and put her back where she belonged.
He didn't think much of the fact that she had bit him, as he left for home, and he didn't tell the Doc or anybody else. He disinfected it after his half-hour lecture from Aunt May, and went to sleep after a reheated dinner and a conversation about responsibilities with his Uncle Ben.
