A/N: I own nothing.

Chapter 4: Blood Night prt 1

Though Perenna wasn't a big fan of football, she had cheered all the same when Eddie's team won the game, and had given him hug, genuinely oblivious to the fact their frequent displays of public affection had already started rumors that had yet to reach the girl's ears.

How she had remained unaware was due to blithe naïveté on her part and having little interest in school gossip.

Perenna was currently waiting outside the boy's locker room as her blond friend had told her he was going to drive her home. She had closed her eyes for a brief moment before she was hit with freezing cold water. She let out a gasp and shivered, wrapping her arms around herself.

Perenna looked over and saw Flash standing there holding the now empty water jug that the players had been drinking. "You looked like you could use a drink!" he laughed.

The brunette gritted her teeth, her face turning slightly rosy because of the cold water as her body attempted to heat itself up. She stalked over to the jock, glaring all the way. "Real funny." She spat sarcastically. "Tell me, do you really enjoy tormenting me so much you'd stoop so low to throw freezing damn water at me-oh wait, you already did you jackass!" she hissed.

"What did just call me, nerd?" Flash retorted, no longer laughing.

"I called you a jackass!" Perenna repeated angrily. "And why don't you pick on someone your own size."

"What are you gonna do about it, sick your boyfriend on me?" Flash taunted.

Perenna scowled. "I don't have a boyfriend." She said waspishly. "And even if I did, I wouldn't let some guy fight my battles for me, unlike you, who needs an audience."

"There's no one here now." Flash pointed out smugly. "Besides, this was just for-"

"What's going on?"

Perenna looked back at her blond friend who came out of the locker room and was looking at Perenna's soaked form and the jug Flash was holding. The brunette glared at the blond bully before turning on her heel dismissively. "Nothing, Eddie, I just wanna go home and get changed."

"Well, put this on, you're gonna be freezing outside." Eddie said handing Perenna his letterman jacket.

Perenna put it on and smiled. "Thanks." She said as she closed it around herself and they both headed outside to the blonde's car. When they got into the vehicle, the heater was turned up to make sure Perenna didn't freeze.

"Good game. You won again." She started off.

"See, you are lucky." Eddie replied smugly.

Perenna smirked and shook her head. "If I was lucky, then I'd be able to get a date."

"Oh, you haven't heard have you?" The blond asked amused.

"Heard what?" Perenna questioned tilting her head.

"That you and I are apparently dating."

Perenna stared at Eddie in disbelief. "Are you serious? Everyone thinks that? Why?"

"I think it has something to do with the fact you're always hugging me in public." Eddie replied dryly.

Perenna shook her head again, this time in disbelief. "That's strange-that people could jump to conclusions like that, not the idea of going out with you." She added hastily to makes sure she wasn't being insulting. "Besides, it probably wouldn't work out."

"What? Why not?" The blond questioned.

Perenna gave him a look. "Eddie, I'm 15." She emphasized. "And you're 18. If we'd already been going out we'd have to break up soon anyway."

"I suppose you have a point." Eddie admitted grudgingly. "What if we broke up at school on Friday to show we're not going out?"

Perenna furrowed her brow in thought. "That sounds good, but why not tomorrow?"

"Well, I was thinking that maybe I could take you on a real date, even if only this one time." The blond replied with a slight smile, trying to be nonchalant about how much he wanted her to agree to this.

Perenna thought it over internally. She'd honestly never saw Eddie as more than just a brother-figure, but the idea of being out on a date, probably the only date she'd have a chance of getting with her luck, made her feel giddy. "Sure." She agreed. "Tomorrow we can go out, then we can pretend to break up from our rumor-started relationship." She said dryly.

The car stopped in front of her house, the small moving fan in front made Perenna pause for a moment before she brushed it off. She patted her friend on the shoulder before going into the house. She knew dinner wouldn't be made for another hour or so, and she found her aunt and uncle watching television.

While she was thinking of some way to tell them about the fact she was going on her first date the next day, Aunt May noticed her first. "Perenna, did you see the moving van next door?"

Perenna nodded. "Did your friend Anna move out?" she asked tilting her head.

Aunt May shook her head. "No, her niece Mary Jane is moving in with her, Anna finally wrestled custody of the poor dear."

Perenna knew better than to ask what she meant. She knew she wouldn't like the answer though, so she settled for a safer question. "Oh, how old is Mary Jane?"

"Your age." Aunt May replied. "She'll be going to your school in fact next week."

"Oh, it'll be nice to know someone else I know going to the same school." Perenna said lightly, and then decided to broach the subject she wanted to talk about. "Uh, and speaking of people I know. You know Eddie right, kid that I practically grew up with? Well, he wants to talk me out on a date tomorrow."

The words hadn't even fully left Perenna's mouth before Uncle Ben was already on his feet. "What? A date?" he repeated. "Perenna, you're 15, you're too young to think about dating, not to mention that boy's too old to date you."

Perenna wanted to let out a sigh; she knew she'd have to deal with an overprotective uncle, though she hoped her case would make him reconsider getting the shotgun out. "Hear me out first. Eddie's been with me since…forever really. You had no problem when he would come over here for sleepovers. You should give him more credit."

"There's also a reason we said he couldn't sleep over anymore when you turned 13." Uncle Ben muttered. "Look, I know Eddie's a good kid, but he's just a bit too old for you, and I'm sure that you and him dating is illegal."

Perenna was ready to start pulling her hair out in frustration, and the worst part was that her uncle was right about it being illegal…if they did anything that was. Which they wouldn't do.

Aunt May then came to her rescue. "Now, Ben, we can trust Eddie, because like Perenna said, they practically grew up together. He'd never make her do anything she didn't want to do."

Perenna sent her aunt a grateful look and looked hopefully at her uncle, who after a moment, grumbled out an 'oh alright.' She resisted the urge to 'whoop' as it were and the doorbell rang. "I'll get it." She said and opened the door, her eyes widening in surprise as she stared a very attractive red-haired girl that was a bit taller than her. 'Wow. She thought blushing.

The girl's eyes glinted playfully. "Hello there." She said and upon noticing the girl's blush, winked.

Perenna's blush deepened. "Hi." She mumbled back.

Aunt May once again came to her rescue. "Hello Mary Jane." She said cordially. "Perenna, this is Mary Jane Watson. Mary Jane, this is my niece Perenna." She said gesturing to the blushing girl. "Would you like to come in, Mary Jane?"

"That would be nice, Mrs. Parker." The red-haired girl said politely and stepped into the house. "Aunt Anna said you had a niece that was my age that I could hang out with."

"Run along then you two and get acquainted with one another." Aunt May encouraged and the two girls somewhat awkwardly went upstairs to Perenna's room. "But keep the door open!"

Perenna's face flushed a deep red and she dashed upstairs while Mary Jane chuckled and followed at a more leisurely pace. The brunette was found sitting on her bed with her face in her hands. "That was so embarrassing." Perenna muttered.

Mary Jane smiled humorously at her and then noticed the alignment Perenna's window had with the one next door. "Hey, your window is right across from mine."

Curious, Perenna got up from the bed and looked out. "Really?" she asked nonchalantly. "That's…strange."

"That our windows are right across from one another? Yeah, it is strange." Mary Jane agreed before moving away from the window. "So what's Midtown like?"

"Oh, just like any regular old high school really." Perenna shrugged as she leaned her hands and back against the window pane. "Got your jerk jocks and cheerleaders picking on the smart kids."

"And which one are you?" Mary Jane asked tilting her head. "No wait, let me guess. You're…a cheerleader!" Perenna balked at that. "No? Then you must be a brain."

"That's probably the nicest name for 'nerd' that anyone's ever called me." Perenna replied dryly. "You know something funny? Our names are sort of plant related." She mused.

Mary Jane smiled lopsidedly. "Yeah, mine's slag for marijuana and yours is another name for 'plants coming back to life every year.'"

"That's…" Perenna shook her head at the logic and grinned slightly. "You're the funny one apparently. My jokes suck don't they?"

"Aw I wouldn't say that, maybe you just need some proper motivation." Mary Jane suggested.

Perenna raised a brow. "Like what?" she asked waving one of her hands nonchalantly out the window, but a white flash of something in the corner of her eye made her look outside. She worriedly looked over at the red-haired girl. "Did you happen to see anything go by?"

"No, why?" Mary Jane asked curiously.

Perenna was about to explain, but thought better of it; it might have been just nothing after all. "Never mind, it was probably nothing."

"By the way," Mary Jane said suddenly, "why are you all wet?"

Perenna stared at her somewhat flatly. "Because the bane of my existence thought it would be funny to throw icy cold water on me."

"Ah." Mary Jane nodded. "I see. I guess it'll be a new experience for me then, getting teased." She said somewhat mockingly.

Perenna snorted. "Like you'll get teased, they won't go after you I you're around me that's for sure."

Mary Jane raised a brow. "Then I guess I better stick around you."

Perenna rolled her eyes before pulling her hoodie off. "Yeah, you do that." She replied smirking. "I gotta go wash my hoodie."

"You have a washer here? Great, then I'll know where to go if Aunt Anna's washer breaks down." Mary Jane said smirking back at the brunette.

Perenna shook her head in amusement. "If you're allowed to use our washer." She corrected playfully.

"Uh-oh." Harry muttered.

Perenna looked at her from the side of her locker door. "What do you mean, uh-" he eyes widened as the scene slowed down and her vision spun to include a 360 degree angle, seeing all the things the other students were doing, but the thing that caught her attention was the fact Flash was about to smash his fist into her head.

She moved to the side quickly and Flash banged right into the open locker, hitting his head on the top of it in the process and stumbled back. He turned around and glared at her, clutching his forehead. "You're in for it now!" he snapped.

"What is this even about?" Perenna questioned in confusion as never before had the bullying escalated to violence and even his friends were thinking that this was undeserved.

"Dude, you can't hit a girl, that ain't cool." Kenny said in reproach.

"It's not a girl, it's Parker." Flash retorted and Perenna glowered at him.

"Just leave Perry alone Flash; what has she ever done to you?" Harry questioned as he stood in front of his friend.

"Stay out this, Osborn or you'll be going to the nurse's office along with her." Flash replied pushing Harry out of his way.

In a quick action, Perenna grabbed a hold of the blonde's arm as she glared at him, her grip steadily getting tighter. "You can bug me all you want, but don't you dare mess with my friends." There was an audible cracking sound and the blonde let out a pain-filled shout.

Perenna let go and backed in away in shock as Flash's friends crowded around him, Sally looking back at her with a scornful expression. "You really are a freak, Parker." She spat.

Perenna looked down at her hand in horror, she hadn't meant to do that, she had only been angry. What was happening to her? Perenna ran from the hall and out the school, not stopping until she was leaning against the alleyway at the side of the school.

Questions began flooding into her mind, asking how she could have seen that Flash was about to hit her, or how she'd probably broken his arm. She had just meant to try and make him back off, she hadn't meant to hurt him.

Perenna put one of her hands on the brick wall and her eyes caught sight of the spot where the spider had bitten her. She stared at it and everything seemed to click in her mind.

Her vision had cleared up after getting bitten. She seemed to gain freakish amounts of strength after getting bitten. She'd gotten a hot new body after getting bitten. And she'd bet that the white stuff had also been from the bite.

From a spider bite. Was she like...like a spider woman now? 'Wait,' Perenna thought, 'there's already a Spider-Woman, I'm more like a spider…girl.' She added and stared at both hands this time, an idea forming in her mind.

If she had gained spider powers, then could that also mean she could…

Perenna stared from her hands to the wall and placed both hands on it. She hesitantly tried to climb up, and to her immense surprise…she wasn't falling on her butt. She climbed a few more paces before looking down to make sure she was actually off the ground.

She was.

Perenna climbed back down and once her feet were back on the ground, she looked at the pale patches on her fingertips. She nonchalantly tried to make it work like she had apparently done at home, but nothing happened.

Perenna pouted and was about to try again when she heard someone shout, "Perry, there you are!"

The brunette girl looked up to see Harry running over to her, carrying his and her packs. "Oh, uh, hi."

"Perry, how the hell did you do that?" Harry questioned and for a second, Perenna thought he'd seen her climb the wall.

"Do what?" she cautiously asked.

"Manage to break Flash's arm." Harry answered.

Perenna felt another stab of guilt. "It was just an accident, he made me mad, that's all."

"Remind me to never make you angry then." Harry quipped and handed the girl her pack. "It was kinda strange though, seeing you mad."

'You should have seen me yesterday then.' Perenna thought dryly. "Good thing it's the end of the week, 'cause I don't think I could have faced anyone after the episode in the hall. How's Flash anyway?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "He keeps exaggerating how painful it is, even though he's basically admitting that he got beaten up by a girl; though he went to the hospital in an ambulance."

"Huh." Perenna hummed thoughtfully. "I better be heading home, 'cause I just know that this is gonna bite me in the ass somehow."

"Then why don't I offer you a drive home?" Harry offered politely.

Perenna smiled. "Well, I never rode in a limo before." She said sardonically and followed after her friend. The limo pulled up and Harry opened the back door, only to balk.

"Dad!" Perenna blinked at the tone Harry used in surprise. Her friend sounded worried and he looked back over his shoulder at her. "Maybe you should catch the bus." He said amending his earlier offer, looking very desperate for her to take up the suggestion.

Before she could answer though, a deep, older voice spoke. "Nonsense boy, there's plenty of room."

Harry paled, but lowered his eyes. "Yes, dad." He said quietly and gestured for Perenna to come in after he got into the back.

When Perenna got in, she saw a man sitting on the opposite side of the car and looked like an older version of her friend and he was staring at her shrewdly. It made her slightly uncomfortable. "Hello Mr. Osborn, I'm Harry's friend, Perenna Parker."

There was the briefest flash of surprise in the older man's eyes before it was gone. "Perry? Harry had never mentioned that you were a girl." He said giving his son a look that wasn't at all nice.

Perenna quickly thought up an excuse. "Harry probably just forgot to mention it." She offered quietly.

Osborn turned his piercing gaze to her. "He did though tell me that you were number one in your school."

"Yeah, she's gotten A's on all the science tests, and helped me through middle and high school so far." Harry added, before cringing back into his seat.

"Really?" Osborn leaned forward slightly. "I wonder now why I haven't met you before, Parker." He gave his son another scathing look.

"I didn't think you'd be interested in meeting my friends." Harry muttered. "And you were always busy whenever Perry would come over that we didn't want to disturb you."

Perenna wondered how much of the lie-most of it anyway-Osborn bought. Not much apparently if his narrowing eyes were any indication. She deliberately made an offhand gesture to the door as the limo stopped in front of her house. "Oh, I'm home. I better head on inside, nice to meet you Mr. Osborn, and I'll see you at school on Monday, Harry." She said stepping out of the car and walked a little too briskly up to the door.

She let out a deep sigh once she was behind the closed door. Now she knew why Harry had never wanted her to meet his dad. She made her way upstairs to prepare for her date, though there was no reason she couldn't try and get used to her powers beforehand.

Especially the webbing.