I DON'T OWN THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN OR STOKED.
-Parker-
Remember how I said that last night was my first good night of sleep since Goblin's death? Let me make a slight revision to the sentence. Last night was the first night that the nightmare didn't keep me from sleeping. The guy with red hair was snoring to the point that at one point I remember my dream of Spidey getting the key to New York city had changed from Jameson being my butler to being a psychotic killer holding a chainsaw. Though to be honest, it wasn't much of a stretch. My lack of sleep was making me want to reach to the false back of my suitcase for the web shooters to block this guys mouth. Maybe help myself and my other roommate. I saw my other roommate squeezing a pillow over his oversized Afro.
"If he does this all summer then I swear that one morning he'll wake up underwater." I said mostly to myself.
"I thought the same. But then all the fish would die." The guys said as he sat up and let the pillow go. "But, can't say I'm not tempted to throw Reef in the water."
I remembered the name Fin was talking about last night. "This is Reef? If we do something to him we'd probably have to give Fin a chance to join or we'd have another person gunning for us." I said. And in my head I finished with 'After all I already have too many super powered enemies wanting Spidey dead. Don't need one enemy who knows where I sleep coming after Peter Parker.' I looked at my alarm clock and was surprised to see the time. "Five am?! How about we do mess with him." I said feeling a mischievous smile forming.
"Dude, your smile is starting to scare me," Broseph said looking freaked out, then matched my smile, "What do you have in mind."
"I'll explain after we get the next member." Broseph knew what I was thinking as he led the way to the girls rooms.
I knocked on the door and we waited several minutes before deciding to leave. As we were walking off Fin answered the door with, "Parker? Danger sense must be on the fritz for you to wake me up this early."
"Oh? Then I guess you wouldn't want to mess with Reef?" I said.
Her squinting eyes were opened wide now and she said, "I see the danger sense is working perfectly." I got the two take their covers and tie them together to form a rope as I told them the idea of my prank. After we got all there's sets of blankets together I readied my camera and told them to help me carry the chainsaw outside. We tied the rope at the end of his legs and I traded the rope with my camera.
"Be careful man." Broseph said.
"Yeah. It would stink if I had to train a new friend."
"I took pictures of big bads, often climbing tall buildings. A tree branch is nothing. Okay make sure to take a picture of this. Maybe that'd make him stop snoring." With one end of the cover in hand I quickly got to a high branch (not as fast as Spider-Man could climb but as fast as Peter Parker could.) I motioned for the two on the ground to the other side of the tree. They did as I told them earlier and started to pull hard on the rope I threw them while I stayed in the tree to make sure the guy didn't fall. This guy was a heavier sleeper than I thought as he slept through the entire rise. While Broseph tied the cover to a tree Fin got to the other side of the tree with the camera pointing at the two of us. I held out my index finger and flipped upside down with my legs supporting me. I looked to the other end of the covers and was given a thumbs up from Broseph. "Wake up!" I yelled.
Reef woke up with a startle then realized where he was. After looking down and seeing the sky he started to wiggle around and was screaming like a girl and yelled, "dude, this is so not cool. Get me down. He saw me looking down at the flashes. And the other "groms" that were walking out of the employee quarters. "Get. Me. Down!" He yelled out again.
"Promise to stop snoring?" I asked.
"Yes! Just get me down."
I looked over and saw how terrified the guy looked. Suddenly I felt like the bullies from New York and became disgusted with what I did. I turned around with as little agility as Parker would have and climbed back to my previous perch. I signaled to Broseph and he slowly fed me more line. After a few minutes we finally got him on the ground. Slower than I got up; I climbed down the tree. "Sorry for that dude." I said walking back in, still feeling awful.
Fin saw this and came behind me, "What's wrong? Your prank went well." She said.
"Exactly, back in New York I was pushed around by just about anyone with enough muscle to do it. They would shove me in my locker, throw water balloons at me, and take my lunch. Only difference between them and me today is that they didn't make me afraid I was going to die."
"He wasn't in any danger."
"Who says he wasn't. We didn't know if the blankets would hold. And even if there wasn't any danger, he didn't know that. Sorry I included you guys."
Reef came over and I was about to apologize again but was stopped. "That was an epic burn. You better sleep with an eye open for the summer."
"Aren't you angry?"
"You kidding? After a prank like that there's no way I'd let the person not be a friend." He said offering his hand, which I shook without hesitation.
After Fin gave me my camera back I deleted the pictures. It was still around five to six hours until my shift so I got out a long sleeved red shirt and blue jeans then pulled out my back pack(a beach is not two sets of clothes friendly). After getting ready I looked around the building for a private place so I can change to Spider-Man. After several minutes I found a drop door. I tried to pull the chain for the fold out ladder. When nothing came down I brought a chair from the kitchen and pushed the door open. I was forced to use some of the spider strength to get it open. Hard to get to: check. Unlikely to have people come around: check check. Now to see if there's any chance of anyone seeing me change. I jumped up and landed on the floor, which started to give. Taking in an inventory of the room I noticed that, other than a hole in the roof, there was no way to see in. Ladies and Gentlemen, I've found Spideys new stomping grounds. I moved closer to Parker's exit and again felt the wood bend. Maybe stomping ground is the wrong name. Jumping down from the Spider-lair I landed back on the chair.
I walked back to my suitcase, pulled out my back pack and was about to pull out the fake back when the guy from the front desk surprised me by saying, "Hey, Parker."
"Hey uhh." I said realizing I didn't know this guys name.
"Johnny. But people call me Front Desk Guy." He said.
"It fits." I replied laying the bag down and standing up.
"Yeah. Hey is it true you took pictures of Spider-Man?"
"Sure do. Speaking of which have you seen my camera?"
"No, but I'll help you find it."
"Thanks. Hey I think I may have left it outside. You look and I'll see if I can find it here." As soon as he left I pulled the false back and with as much speed as I could muster I put the Spider-Man uniform in my backpack and put the false back in place. Finished just in time for the Front Desk Guy to return.
"Didn't see it."
"Huh, wonder where it-" I started pretending to search for it in my pocket. "Always the last place you look. Later" I said walking off. After making sure no one was looking I pushed away the wooden chair and crawled to the door. I pushed on the door to go in. Taking the gear out I webbed a web holder and placed the uniform and web shooters inside.
"Hey Parker, were going on a surf sesh. Wanna come?" I heard Fin call out.
I opened the door and after seeing no one around I preformed a mid-air flip and landed on my feet. "Sure, I'll meet you guys at the beach." I changed into shorts and grabbed my board.
"Hey over here," I heard Emma say. I paddled out a few feet from the group, including Emma, Fin, Reef, and Front Desk Guy.
When I got a few feet to the left of Emma, Reef said, "Lets see what you got grom?" A wave was coming and I did as Fin instructed, letting the wave carry me. After balancing the board I cut to the right and rode to the top. I was launched into the air where I used a touch of Spideys agility to preform two flips. I landed back on the water and faked that I nearly capsized. After all Parker isn't as agile as Spider-Man. I was met with three shocked expressions. And for the first time I thought that Fin probably couldn't tell the others about my skills without revealing the fake information.
We surfed for a few hours and I was actually enjoying the gliding feeling that came with surfing. At some points the only things stopping me from surfing to swimming was my stickitude and spider senses. To avoid suspicions I ignored my spider senses and at points let myself slip. After sometime the other two had to start their shifts and I was left with Fin. Gliding to the shore on the red and blue board I thought I may be doing too well and "capsized" after hitting a rough patch of wave. What I wasn't expecting was that there were rocks under water. The wave that forced me down pushed me down with a large amount of force. My head stung as I swam to the surface.
"Peter!?" Fin yelled out as she came closer.
"I'm fine." I assured her as I grabbed the back of my head. Inspecting my hand, I found it red.
"Fine? Whatever. Let's get you patched up." Grabbing me by the hand she led me to the employee house. After leading me to the bathroom she sat me on the toilet and made me look down. The worried expression she wore made me want to assure her that my powers would leave me with little more than a scar. But I couldn't do that unless I revealed myself as Spider-Man.
"Thanks Fin." I said after she got done putting stitches in.
"Just don't scare me like that and we'll call it even."
"Sure." She led me back to my room and I saw that my shift started in a few minutes. "Aww man. I gotta get ready for my shift." I said pulling out the purple shirt and yellow shorts.
"What? You might have a concussion and your going to work? And the kahuna said you were smart." She said.
"I'm sure Bummer is looking for a reason to fire me." I said then continued without thinking, "besides I have been literally burned and went to school the next day without letting anyone discover." She looked partly confused and partly worried. Maybe I do have a concussion I thought. "You see once when I was first started taking Spider-Man's picture, I was taking pictures of him and got caught in the crossfire. Now remember that stays as far from as Aunt May as possible."
"Yeah, I know I won't tell anyone; but it's mostly for your aunt. But honestly Parker, I'm beginning to question your mental state." She said storming off.
Great. Only my second day here and I had to lie to a new friend. Sometimes this secret can be a real pain in the butt. I thought as I walked to the hotel.
-FINISH-
Sorry about the lack of the Spider-Man. I want to get Peter friends with the groms. Before long, I'll have one of Spider-Mans enemies attack. Will Peter be able to protect his friends and his secret?