It was just one of those days.

Don't get the wrong idea, Peter loved being Spiderman. Yes, it was a big job and yes, he did find himself in dangerous situations more often than not, but all that was totally worth it for the adrenaline rush and that feeling when he knew he had kept an innocent citizen safe.

One consequence Peter hadn't fully considered was the late nights. Really, when compared to the big picture and the overall impact which, he hoped, Spiderman was having in Queens, a few hours of missed beauty sleep were a small price to pay. But Peter found it difficult to think of the big picture when his alarm clock started screaming at him after what felt like just a few hours of sleep, just like it did that morning. Like every other morning, Peter considered pulling a sickie. He was sure Ned would give him a copy of his notes and whatever homework they would be set, but, like every other morning, he thought the better of it. He didn't need the school on his back about attendance on top of everything else on his plate at the moment.

So, it was fair to say that a bleary-eyed Peter Parker was not in the brightest of moods when walking from the train to school that morning. With his earphones in and music blaring in a feeble attempt to liven himself up for the day, it took Peter longer than it should have to notice that everyone was looking at him, but not only looking, they were laughing at him. His head shot up from where he was staring at his shoes and his paranoia set in instantly, with a number of ridiculous scenarios flitting through his head as explanations for why he was suddenly the most hilarious sight at Midtown School of Science and Technology.

Pulling out his earphones, he instantly found the answer.

The sound of obnoxious revving behind him made him spin around and, sure enough, he was met with the sight of a laughing, smug looking Flash, lapping up the attention from the driver's seat of his convertible Audi TT. Stepping out from the path of the car, Peter realised that Flash must have been crawling behind him in his car, revving it as loudly as possible and just generally being his annoying, attention-seeking self, and frankly, Peter was really not in the mood for it today. He watched, red-faced and angry, as Flash drove by him laughing and conducting the onlooking crowd expertly in his own favour and against Peter. Shoving one earphone back in, but leaving one out just in case, Peter continued his walk towards class. This time, however, it was more of a strop and Peter was wearing a notable scowl.

It took Ned until around 8 minutes into their first class to notice that Peter wasn't in the best of moods. Actually, he was fuming following his mass embarrassment at the hands of Flash this morning. Taking note of his quiet staring into space, or scowling into space (if that's even a saying, Ned pondered, well if it's not it should be…), along with his slumped position in the stool, chin leaning on his hand, Ned knew something was up with his best friend.

"Hey man, what's up with you this morning?", Ned whispered.

Peter blinked out of whatever stupor he was in and turned to Ned, "huh… what, nothing, I'm fine", he answered attempting to look clueless. Now Ned knew something was wrong, because he was Peter's best friend and he knew they trusted each other no matter what.

"Dude, it's me. You can tell me what's wrong, you know that."

Peter sighed, his shoulders slumping even further (Ned didn't know they could even slump further than they already were). "Sorry… look, I'm sorry. I'm just tired because I was out late last night", he answered while giving Ned a look to make sure he knew what he was up to last night, "yeah and Flash was on my back this morning, so I'm not in the best of moods right now, you know". He sighed again, turning around and trying once more to pay attention to what Mr Harrington was saying.

"Don't worry about Flash, you can easily get back at him later by showing up at practice, you know how much he hates that," Ned whispered, trying to get a smile from his best friend, who seemed to be channelling Eeyore today. Instead, however, it earned him a sharp shocked look. Clearly Peter had forgotten about practice after school today.

"I totally forgot about practice today dude!" Peter whisper yelled. "I still have to do our lab report for tomorrow – I was going to do it last night, but I got caught up! Aw man, I am so screwed!", he whined, holding his face in his hands.

"Mr Parker, could you repeat what I just said for the class?" Mr Harrington asked, clearly noticing that Peter had become just a little distracted during his lecture. Peter's head shot up towards his teacher, mouth gaping like a fish while trying to figure out what he was supposed to say to avoid getting another detention.

"No, I thought not. Detention, lunch time Mr Parker. And please pay attention during my class", Mr Harrington announced with a bored tone.

"Yes sir. Sorry sir", Peter replied, feeling thoroughly abashed. Ned watched guiltily as his chin returned to the palm of his hand and his best friend once again tried to pay attention. He noticed a scowl forming on Peter's features as he saw Flash spin around quickly, shooting Peter a decidedly smug look. I really need to cheer him up after this, Ned considered.

By the time the bell sounded, signalling the end of the school day, Peter had decided he was completely and utterly done with this day. And he still had decathlon practice to go before he could go home and hide under his covers for an hour or two to recover. Can't wait for this, Peter thought bitterly.

Walking into the hall, Peter was met by a smiling Ned and a smug looking Flash amongst the rest of the team. Taking his seat at the table beside Ned, who shot him a smile which clearly said you know what to do, Peter managed a weak smile in return. Peter had noticed that Ned had been doing his best all day to cheer him up, so figured the least he could do was make an effort to go through with this idea. Besides, it could be fun to completely wipe the floor with Flash. This thought was vindicated when Flash turned to him and loudly declared, "Parker, I didn't think we would see you today. You certainly haven't seemed to be on top of... Well… anything today!"

Yeah, Peter thought, I think Ned may have been on to something here.

And damn was Ned right. Given the motivation, and fuelled by frustration and humiliation, Peter answered around 70% of Mr Harrington's practice questions and had adopted Flash's smug smile as his own. At the end of practice, Flash stormed off without comment, and Peter considered that as a win for him. He turned to his best friend and saw him yet again giving him his beaming smile.

"That's what I was talking about, man, that was awesome!" Ned exclaimed, patting Peter on the shoulder.

"Thanks, man. This was all you", Peter replied, extremely grateful to have a friend who knew him like Ned knew him.

"Did you see Flash's face when he walked out of here! Man, I wish I got a picture of that!" Ned laughed, as they stood, collecting their things and walking from the hall.

"Yeah, me too", Peter replied, with him own beaming smile to match that on Ned's face.

Peter walked towards the train in pace with his best friend, in a decidedly better mood than that morning.

Thanks for reading!

This chapter was the hardest to come up with an idea for, so I feel like its kinda jumbled up and a bit messy but sure, whatever, it's done now.

And thank you for the review galahsrock, it's great to get feedback on work! On that note, feel free to leave a review (constructive cricism welcomed!)