Into the Light | Peter Parker x OC

Chapter Thirty

A/N: helloo

y'all i wrote the epilogue for this story and had a couple friends read it and we all agreed it was super depressing and bittersweet and i'm so tempted to just summarize the rest of the story and post the epilogue bc i want you guys to read it so bad!! i am so proud of it, i cannot wait to see your reactions when you read it in the future!!

anyway, this chapter is the one that gets the climax rolling so we should be wrapping this arc up in five or so chapters and then: INFINITY WAR!! which can only mean violent lethal destructive pain :)

for now, enjoy the pre iw chapters bc nothing is ever the same after iw in this book...

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"Tell me what hell is going on."

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"Alright, load up! Everybody on the bus!" Mr. Harrington said into his megaphone the next day. It was too early in the morning to give him a megaphone and they had all collectively decided on hiding it from him but he found it somehow.

"Er, Mr. Harrington?" MJ said, tapping his shoulder while standing on the stairs by the door of the bus. He turned over his shoulder to look at her. "Everybody's already on the bus. We're just waiting for you."

"Right. Of course. I was just uh...just making sure we had no stragglers. Anyway, off we go!" he said, climbing onto the bus and the doors closed behind him. He turned to the team, thankfully lowering his megaphone before he spoke. The bus began moving and he nearly fell. He cleared his throat, composing himself. "Alright, academic decathlon! Now I know some of you are disappointed we're not leaving the state this time for the competition, but think about it like this: less chance for you to die, right?"

"Bo-ring," Flash mumbled under his breath. Mr. Harrington gave him a look.

"Flash, feel free to throw yourself into life-threatening situations whenever I'm not in charge of you. Although— I would highly advise against it," Mr. Harrington said.

"What's Mr. Harrington's first name?" Ned whispered to Peter. They were both sitting with their girls, just across the aisle from each other. Peter thought about it.

"Uh, I don't know. Mister?" he said, making Ned laugh. MJ glared at them, shushing them and they both shut up immediately.

"Once we get to the expo center, please stick together. And don't take off your name tags! They're very important!"

"Sir, I'm gonna need you to sit down safely," the bus driver said to Mr. Harrington over his shoulder.

"Er– right. Yeah, okay. I'll give the rest of the instructions at the expo, don't worry guys!" Mr. Harrington said before finally sitting down. The entire bus breathed a sigh of relief. It was just too early for Mr. Harrington and his instructions right now.

Adelaide glanced at Peter, realizing he was bouncing his knee nervously. She frowned, reaching out to hold his knee.

"Are you nervous for the decathlon?" she asked him with a confused smile, "Pete, you do know that you're easily the smartest person on this bus right now, right?"

Peter forced a smile. If only he could tell her that he wasn't nervous about the decathlon, but rather what was going to happen at Rikers Prison today just a little bit away from their decathlon. He swallowed, his hand going to his backpack that held his suit.

"No, yeah, i-it'll be fine," he said, but Ada didn't look convinced.

"What's wrong, love?" she asked softly.