LOUD MOUTH → PETER PARKER ✓

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Apotelesmatic Principal

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄: THE APOTELESMATIC PRINCIPAL

Callie suffered through the rest of dinner, only to completely break down by the time she and Gwen had gotten back to her house. She'd tearfully rambled through the conversation she had had with him before the actual breaking up happened. As she did so, she realized the worst part: she understood what he meant. But there was some stubborn part of her mind that believed there was another solution than the one he had come up with. She hoped he had at least tried to think of one.

She woke up a few days later in a slight haze, her body tired and reluctant to move. She allowed herself a good five minutes to stare at the ceiling before she got up, got dressed, and made herself coffee. Her internship involved being at the mayor's office by nine, so she was out of the house by 8:30, after her mother had already left for work.

She listened to music on the radio while she drove, but nothing good was on. She eventually turned it off and rode in silence. The last few days had been hell for her, but she made a promise to herself as she drove: she would not let a break up ruin her. She should not let the idea of Peter Parker not being with her immobilize her and make her useless. She functioned before they were together, and she'd function after. Still, it terrified her a bit to think that she had never known a world that he wasn't at least slightly involved in.

While she walked from her parking spot to the office, she stopped, momentarily catching a glance of a red dot in the sky.

"What's going on?" she spoke as she walked out of the elevator, seeing dozens of people crowded around the television.

The television answered before anyone else had a chance to. "This just in, Norman Osborn, the legendary founder and CEO of Oscorp Industries, has died."

Callie walked closer, her brows furrowed. "The Oscorp estate has confirmed, he is survived by his only son, Harry Osborn, who is the sole heir to the Osborn Corporate Empire." Callie stood on her toes to see above the many heads crowded around the television, and on the screen she saw the sullen face of a boy she had once known years ago—Harry Osborn. A two-hundred billion dollar corporation going to a kid not even old enough to drink legally. That put her problems into perspective.

"Alright everyone, he's dead. You can go back to work now." Callie heard the voice of Mayor Lewis speak above the television. She walked in in a grey pantsuit, her curly dark hair pinned up neatly. She exuded an air of authority as she always did, causing  everyone to disperse, leaving Callie standing there with two coffees in hand, hers and Lewis's. The Mayor smiled when she saw her, taking the coffee gratefully. Sure, she was scary when she wanted something done, but Mayor Lewis was a nice woman in general.

"Thank God, I was worried that man might've been immortal." she glanced up at the screen, where a small picture or Norman Osborn was.

"I knew Harry Osborn once." Callie said wistfully. "We were pretty good friends. I bet I'd barely recognize him now." He had looked so solemn on the picture the news showed—certainly not because of his father. Callie knew Harry and Norman had never gotten along well after Norman had shipped him off to boarding school without a care.

"Maybe I should go see him later? You know, to let him know he has a friend at the Mayor's office." Callie asked Lewis.

The mayor nodded, her eyes fixed on the television. "Later. First, we have to talk about this Spider-Man thing."

Callie froze as the Mayor headed into her office. She followed quickly behind, trying not to look too panicked. "What, uh, what Spider-Man thing?"

She waited until Lewis had sat down at her desk to sit in the seat across from her. She held up a newspaper from that morning, a large black and white photo of Spider-Man swinging through the city on the front. And the headline simply said SPIDER-MENACE in big block letters across the top. The Mayor didn't quite look pleased. "He's gotten more and more active in the past few days, and the people aren't liking it."