The thing with being super skinny and looking like a mess was, I didn't really want to be in any videos for a while. I didn't look very good; I just looked like a mess and I already had a gut feeling that all that people were seeing was some random sickly fifteen year old and thinking, 'This guy is too young to be Spider-Man!' That was the exact opposite of what I wanted people to think of me.

But,at the same time, every time I strayed into the comment section of my Instagram I had people asking me the same questions over and over. How did I get my powers? What happened the past month? Was still going to be Spider-man? And that was just the most asked questions.

Now, whether I was going to be Spider-Man, I didn't know. Mum and Dad had been pretty quiet on the whole Spider-Man thing. I had no idea if they were going to try and shut it down. I really hoped not.

The other two questions though? I knew the answer. But I didn't want to let anyone get the wrong impression of how it all went down. See my problem?

I was still on bed rest until I had more meat on my bones and more energy. So after waking up at noon I snagged out my phone. It was a Wednesday, which sucked 'cause I couldn't talk to Ganke. I only had the internet to amuse me.

Both Mum and Dad were at work. I was almost positive Mum had left some food for me to eat when I got hungry. After a day or two with no sight of me, the paps had begun to leave me alone. Now there was only the occasional one hanging around, but nothing more. I could go to the store now if I really wanted to! I would still be recognised, probably, but there wouldn't be a whole circus around it. My fifteen minutes of fame were up.

After I had thought about it for a bit, I realised what I could do to control the narrative and still let people talk to me. I could do an online Q and A. And if I did it now, there wouldn't be too many people online since it was the middle of the day! It was perfect!

Instagram wouldn't work for this though. I mean, I had been verified there but it wasn't exactly the best set up for answering questions.

Which is how I ended up with a tumblr account.

After a quick picture and a link to my new account on instagram, I settled in to wait. I had no idea how famous I was. I mean, I knew I was known now, but would anyone actually care to pay any attention to me?

I wouldn't complain if no one did, though.

After playing around on some mindless app for awhile, I finally went into tumblr to see what responses I had gotten. Huh, there were thirty things in my inbox. Not bad!

I got to the first one: Coffee or Tea?

This Q&A thing might not be so bad after all.

I answered with Tea.

How'd you become Spider-man?

Now this one I had been expecting. I had thought about it since I had woken up in hospital, so it didn't take me long to reply.

Answer: I got bitten by a spider like Peter. Peter made me promise to shut down this portal thingy and after a bunch of stuff happened, I got my own suit and the rest is history.

Question: How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Answer: 10

Question: Who kidnapped you?

Answer: I don't know . They wanted me for my blood and that's all they told me.

Question: Are you hurt?

Answer: At the moment? No. Just tired and hungry

Question: Are those webs organic or do you make them

Answer: That would be pretty weird if I made them organically! No, I've got a formula. No, I'm not telling anyone what it is

Question: Are you still going to go to school? Have you thought of taking up Spider-man as a full time gig?

Answer: I am going to school, yeah. I don't plan on dropping out either, Spider-man doesn't exactly pay well

I leaned back. I still had that talk with the school coming up as soon as I was feeling better. I was not looking forward to it, at all. I just hoped they wouldn't expel me or something.

Question: When will you be back out as Spider-man?

Answer: Soon as my costume fits again

My stomach rumbled, reminding me that it was lunchtime and I hadn't eaten. Reluctantly, I got out of bed and wandered into the kitchen. I spotted a note sitting on the kitchen counter.

Some soup in the fridge, take what you want. Mum.

I busied myself with getting some soup in a bowl and into the microwave. As soon as the timer started counting down, I picked my phone back up and looked at my inbox. Forty more messages, damn.

This was going to be a long day. I was almost looking forward to it. It felt… different to be able to talk to people so directly. I liked it!

When I woke up Saturday morning, I wandered out and found both parents sitting on the kitchen stools, idly talking with empty bowls on the counter. I immediately knew I was not going to like the conversation that would follow. Call it a gut feeling.

"Uh, morning?" I mumbled, still half asleep.

"Morning, how did you sleep?" Dad asked, nursing the steaming cup of coffee in his hands.

I shrugged, "Good. So, uh, you guys gonna tell me what this is about? This whole sitting around thing?"

Mum and Dad looked between each other. A silent conversation passed between the two of them that I couldn't make heads or tails of. Finally, Mum was the one to turn back to me. "How about you sit down Miles?"

I sat down, barely able to contain my fidgeting. "If this is about how I didn't make my bed, I'll do it in five minutes, promise," I joked.

"Sorry kiddo, this is about Spider-man," Dad said. Yeah, this conversation had been coming any day now.

"Are you going to let me still be Spider-man?" I asked quietly, eyes dropping down to my lap.

The pause was deafening. You could have heard a pin drop. Dad took a deep breath. "I've had a while to think about Spider-man. I never agreed with Peter's method, you know that, but he did do good. And so have you. But-"

"What he's trying to say," Mum interrupted before he could go off on a tangent, "is that you can still be Spider-man, with some new rules and conditions."

I nodded, "Uh, yeah, I can do rules. What are they?"

Mum stared me straight in the eye, unblinking. "You won't hide any injuries from us. No matter how small. I don't care that you've got increased cell production and heal quicker, if it's so much as a scraped knee you tell me and I will treat it."

"Yeah, makes sense," I said, sitting up straighter.

Dad leaned forward. "You are going to go to some police courses. This isn't because I want you to be a cop, I want you to go to them so you can better work with us and understand how we work."

"So I can be more legal, yeah can do. That won't be too bad," I was quick to concede.

"Self defense classes, every week. No exception. I want you to be able to avoid any injuries where possible. As well as that, you'll be doing some first-aid training," Mum said.

"And last of all, one AM curfew at latest. Sometimes you'll be held up by some big event, but otherwise you will be at home on the dot. Your grades can't drop below a B average either, or you reduce Spider-Man time until you can get it back up. Any objections?" Dad asked, leaning back and taking a sip of his coffee.

I paused a moment to think about it. Really, none of it sounded bad. A bit overwhelming, but once I got a routine it should be pretty easy. I could do it, and best of all, I would still be Spider-Man!

"No, I like it. Thanks Mum and Dad," I said with a smile.

Mum breathed a sigh of relief. "Glad we got that over with. Do you want to have a look online for some courses you would like to do on self-defence?"

"Yeah. I wanna do something hand to hand, I suck at that," I said, shrugging.

"Grab your laptop, we'll have a look now," Dad ordered. I scampered off to follow his demands. It felt like a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders, and I could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Come Monday, I was finally healthy enough to start going back to school. Which was great! Except for the part where the meeting with the school board loomed over me like an anvil about to drop.

To say I wasn't looking forward to it was an understatement.

I was back in my uniform, my pants were still just that bit too tight, and both Mum and Dad had gotten their nice-but-not-too-fancy clothes out for it. And for the first time in six weeks, I was back in front of Visions Academy.

It felt like a lifetime and no time at all had passed. I wasn't ready for it, but that didn't mean I wasn't going to go anyway.

Life was just like that.

There were no students standing around the front. Which wasn't unusual considering it was ten AM on a Monday and everyone was in class. The walk to the office had never been so fast or so slow before.

Twenty minutes later, we were all sitting in a boardroom. This felt like a bigger deal than it should have been, but whatever.

"I take it Miles is back in good health?" asked the principal, Mrs. Smizzer. She casually shuffled some papers into order before looking back at us.

"Yes, he's on his road to being back in full health. A couple more weeks and it'll be like it never happened," Mum reassured her, clasping her hands together.

"And how are you feeling, Miles?" Mrs Smizzer questioned, turning her attentive gaze to me.

"Uh, fine," I mumbled with a shrug.

She tilted her head to look at me from above her glasses. "All of this must have been overwhelming. Do you think you'll be able to cope with your new status while keeping your grades up? Visions Academy expects excellence from all of our students."

"I've been doing Spider-Man for a year and balancing my grades," I quietly pointed out, "and my grades didn't drop. I'll be fine."

"That was without the added stress of your reveal and the likely scrutiny that will follow your every action, Miles," she added, shifting back in her street. "There might be some students morally opposed to what you represent, or students who are big fans."

"I'll be fine, miss, I can deal with it." I finally said, sitting back in my chair. If people tried to pester me in my dorm room, well, the lock had been invented for a reason.

She hummed her acknowledgement. Then she directed her attention to all of us. "And is Spider-Man going to return to the streets?"

I didn't miss the way Mum and Dad looked at each other. Mum was the one to answer. "After much consideration, we have decided to let Miles continue. He has new boundaries, expectations and is taking up additional courses outside of school to make up for any lack of knowledge," it was like Mum had a script or something, wow. "If his grades fall below a B average, he'll be barred from Spider-Man until they rise back up."

Mrs Smizzer nodded, "Additional support will be present here for Miles. Spider-Man has always done good for the community and we always want to help push our students into a successful future." She turned her piercing gaze back on to me. "If there's anything we can do to support you, Miles, do not be afraid to ask."

"Thank you," I smiled. Wow, this was going better than expected.

"Well, now that we've cleared things up, I'm happy to say that you are welcome back any day. You will have to play catch-up to the other students but I'm sure you're bright enough to excel. Thank you for meeting with me today," Mrs Smizzer said, standing up and dismissing us. There were some shaking of hands before the three of us bustled out.

I caught some students in the hallway staring at me, and I shifted uncomfortably. Yeah, that was one thing I wasn't looking forward to. But it couldn't be worse than my first week here last year. That had been a nightmare and a half, even without the spider-man stuff.

That night, I decided now was the time. With a few pins and nifty tools, my costume fit me just about right. As much as I had… exaggerated about how much bigger my costume appeared after everything, it really wasn't that bad. Just a bit loose in some places which was manageable, if annoying.

I glanced at the window, noting the orange light from the sunset streaming through. I had already said over dinner I would do this. I wasn't going to get in trouble. Why was I so nervous?

Whatever, I was going to do this. I was only nervous because everyone knew who I was, so really it was nothing! Right?

I rubbed at my forehead like I was trying to get rid of a headache, trying to clear my thoughts. Focus.

I climbed onto the roof. I shook my hands out then my legs, stretched my neck from side to side and then crouched down like a sprinter getting ready to run.

Here I go.

As if some invisible starting gun had gone off, I shot forward in a sprint and thwipped my first web. It attached to an apartment complex a few buildings down. I launched myself off the edge of the building and whooped. I was in mid-air, only me and the web to keep me from going splat.

The web tightened and sent into an arch, and when I reached the end I yelled "I'm back!" One backflip and a second web later, I was on my way down the block.

I had so missed this!

I heard someone shout a distant "Spidey!"

I grinned, slowing my arch just enough so that when I zipped past the lady who had shouted it, I could give them a salute. It felt good! I felt great!

Going around a corner and squeezing around various signs had never felt so exhilarating.

"Hey Miles!" A new civilian called from down the block. "Can I get a selfie?!"

I totally did not slip on my web and nearly end up face planting into the ground. No, I just nearly did. Some fancy footwork and a roll got me standing back up and looking like I totally did that on purpose. No stumbling involved. At all.

"Uh, hey?" I said, turning 'casually' and strolling up to them. Their red skirt and white blouse made for a very distinctive look, somewhere between fancy and trying too hard. Her blonde hair was pulled up into a bun so tight that it smoothed out the wrinkles on her face. Ouch.

She gestured me closer, holding up her phone like she was trying to sell it to me. "My daughter absolutely loves you, Miles, can I take a picture?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure," I shrugged, getting ready to pose. Should I do a peace sign or a thwip? What about both? No, that would look dumb. Thwip was the better brand symbol.

"Well, wait, can you do it without the mask?" She asked. "Just for your biggest fan? She would adore to see your face!"

"Taking off the mask before the first date? Now that's just not allowed," I joked nervously, rubbing my hands together. It felt wrong. I was supposed to be Spidey, not Miles. I just wanted to be Spidey for a couple of hours. Was that so hard to ask? Apparently it was. Barely a minute out and this was already happening.

The lady pouted, putting her whole heart and soul into it, "please?"

"Would you believe me if I said the mask was attached to the suit?" I asked, shifting back. I really wanted to web away. Was that bad? It was probably bad. I didn't want to be rude but…

"Everyone saw how they took off your mask, Miles." Ah, yep, that didn't make the dread feel any better. I winced. Should I? I shouldn't be making this such a big deal. But I didn't know what to do!

When I didn't reply further, caught up in my spiralling mind, she rolled her eyes, "I should have known, all you Spideys are the same!"

I squinted at her, "Um, what?"

"I just asked for one nice thing for my daughter and you all try to-"

I had had enough. I squeezed my eyes shut and grabbed the hem of my mask, ripping it off in one smooth motion. I saw a couple of New Yorkers on the sidewalk stop and pull out their own phones. I felt like my skin was crawling under the heat of all these onlookers gaze's.

I took a deep breath. It was fine. Everyone already knew who I was. It was fine. "Happy?"

The lady nodded enthusiastically and took a picture before going on her merry way. My smile had probably looked more like a grimace than a smile. Not much I could do about that.

I put my mask back on, much to the disappointment of some onlookers. "Adios!" I shouted, thwipping a web and getting out of there quickly.

The nervous pit in my stomach did not dissipate. It got worse. I wanted to crawl back home and bury myself in my covers. Go back in time, to where if someone tried to manhandle my mask away for a selfie, I could have just left and there would be like zero guilt tripping involved.

Had I said that being a celebrity sucks? Cause, yeah, this celebrity thing sucked…

But if there was someone who would understand, she was in Queens. Hopefully she would be home.