ultra - peter parker (on hiatus)

0.5

The sound of an alarm blared from the left of Annaleigh's head as she laid face down on the silky fabric of her new pillowcase, a dark defined gray to match her sheets. The girl groaned and started feeling around her temporary night stand (a spare chair she stole from the apartment attic), searching and searching until she found her buzzing phone and turned it off. A newly awoken mess of tangled hair and dripping saliva, Annaleigh got out of bed and got ready for the day. The sky was still dark, faint stars becoming less discernible as they faded from sight, the sun yet to have risen. Even the sun got to sleep in longer than Annaleigh. As someone who usually woke up between nine in the morning to one in the afternoon, she was not excited about her new wake-up schedule of five in the morning everyday besides the weekends though she doubted those would stay event-free for very long. Her eyes were still partially closed when she entered her bathroom, but they didn't stay that way for long. As she flicked on the light switch, the brightness of the bulbs that hung screwed in above her bathroom mirror forced her lids father apart. She groaned with discomfort and began her morning facial routine, continuing with her other hygiene duties after and finishing by pulling her hair up into a loose bun that would hold until she was ready to style her hair.She left the bathroom to make herself breakfast, a simple frozen breakfast burrito. Most of her meals for the next few days would be frozen, at least until she could go shopping. The list was written, the finances were covered, she just needed to do it. After deciding breakfast burritos would definitely not make a reappearance as a breakfast meal in the future, she grabbed the first day of school outfit she had picked out the previous night. Annaleigh's closet wasn't terrible or mismatched in any way, but it also didn't have what she figured out was called an aesthetic. All of her clothes fit into one of four categories: vintage gab, workout attire, designer brand name gifts, or merch. After a deep pinterest dive and multiple searches of cute trendy outfits she figured out a lot of what girls her age were wearing nowadays was mainly crop tops and unsettling short shorts that weren't made by designer brands or from the 20th century, all of which she could not picture herself in. She settled on a slightly oversized black t-shirt with the cover art of the album 'Midnight Memories' by One Direction paired with light washed mom jeans and a black leather belt to keep her pants over her hips. New York was always freezing in the morning, so she also paired it all with her favorite cozy puffy jacket and a pair of converse, a shoe brand she bought a little too much from with how expensive they were.The rest of her morning flashed by, each second ticking away like autumn leaves falling to the ground below, and soon enough Annaleigh found herself facing the front door to her apartment, backpack strapped on and phone in hand as she was checking her Uber app. With Happy out of the picture for the next few days and her debilitating fear of the metro station after fighting off one too many muggers, Annaleigh decided on using the car service and prayed her driver would be a decent human being. She was old enough to travel by herself now and after careful consideration, and a few calculated equations, she decided riding with one stranger would be much better than riding with many in one compacted space. Annaleigh had it all planned out too, with minimum help from her father schedule wise, she would leave an hour and a half before school started so that she had enough time to get a tour around and an introductory talk with the principal, Mr. Morita, and finally head to her first period. Her father had already set up everything with the school beforehand, handing over his pre-made fake birth certificate with Annaleigh's first name and somehow managing to land Annaleigh in every single class with the Parker boy. She felt ready, nervous as hell, but prepared for the task at hand. All she had to do was attend a high school full of other kids her age who weren't nearly as smart as she was even considering the fact that they went to an advanced school. What could possibly go wrong?After one more glance around her still unfurnished apartment, Annaleigh finally took her last deep breath and walked out the door, her phone letting out a small ping as her driver alerted her that they were outside the building in a blue slug bug.✦✧✦✧✦✧✦ Annaleigh was barely three fourths of the way to school, and already her day was becoming a disaster. Apparently a lot could go wrong, especially in a tight space with a very creepy most likely pedophilic Uber driver. "Are you Richy?" Annaleigh asked the man in the driver's seat of the only blue slug bug around her apartment, reading his profile name from her phone. He was actually almost half a block away from her apartment instead in front of the building like he claimed, but as someone who strongly believed in not assuming the worst of people based on their first impressions, Annaleigh shrugged off her annoyance. The man she was asking nodded and rolled his cracked side window down all the way, a freshly lit cigarette between his lips. The man took it out with two fingers and threw it to the cement sidewalk behind the girl. Ashes surged from its blacked tip as it was smashed beneath the shoe of a passing pedestrian. "Sure am." he replied in what seemed to be a terrible attempt at a seductive voice. "But you can call me Dick." Annaleigh cringed as the realization of her choice hit her. Taking the subway didn't seem nearly as scary now, but it was too late and she felt she still owed the man a chance to redeem himself. She nodded back at the man and while pushing down the bad feeling arising in her gut, she reluctantly hopped in the back, ignoring the man's calls for her to sit in the passenger's side where he could 'get a better look at her.' She clearly requested a back seat in her profile and that was what she was going to get. As soon as the door shut her driver took off, speeding and hitting the brake when traffic pooled in, worsening Annaleigh's already very nasty headache. Traffic hadn't cleared much an hour later, and neither had Richy's attempts at flirting with her. The thick smell of tobacco filled what was supposed to be a smoke free car. Annaleigh was becoming increasingly more impatient by the second."So, how old are you anyways? You must be pretty mature attending this smart school with all the other smarty girls." Richy asked, spit spewing from his blacked yellow teeth.Annaleigh was becoming more and more repulsed by the second. She was very tempted to blast him out of the car with her abilities and drive the rest of the way herself, but her knowledge of consequences for rogue superheroes and her lack of drivers training prevented her from doing anything, but the contrary. She wished silence would be an option. "I'm fifteen sir." she responded, hoping being underage would throw him off her. It did none of the sort, the exact opposite actually. Richy smirked. "I have a friend who's got a girl your age. Maybe we could all meet up sometime and have ourselves a swinging playdate at a park." His lame attempt at covering up his crude language did not throw off Annaleigh for a second. She wasn't as stupid and vulnerable as he seemed to think she was and though she was very motivated to prove that, instead she scoffed to herself and shook her head."I'd rather you just take me to school please. I'm starting to run late.""Sorry sweetheart, it may take us a while. Traffic is no good here, but at least we'll have more time to get to know each other, you haven't told me much about yourself." he replied as the light in front of him turned red. Annaleigh groaned silently and looked up the distance of her school on her phone. It was only a ten minute walk from here, two if she tried teleporting there a bit, but she would need to be cautious about it. She looked around and noticed a parking place that a competent driver could easily pull in from Richy's spot, even in such chaotic traffic."Would you mind pulling over? I can walk from here." Annaleigh asked. Richard laughed, crushing her hopes with the soles of his torn second hand hunting boots."No need! I can get ya there." he said turning to face her, his face grotesque and worn by what Annaleigh guessed was the smoking."What's the rush?" he asked, sliding one of his grimy hands up her knee slowly caressing it. Annaleigh had enough."That's it!" she exclaimed as she slapped his hand away. hard enough to leave a bright red mark and popped open the door to her right before Richy had a chance to lock it. She split away, only stopping once to look at Richy when he spoke in objection."What do you think you're doing?" he demanded. Annaleigh gave him an annoyed look now out of his reach."Leaving." she stated cooly. It was quite obvious."You haven't paid me yet!" he exclaimed and Annaliegh rolled her eyes, reaching for her wallet. She could not believe she was actually considering paying this man for harassing her."How much? She asked, observing how much change she had. There was more than enough."2,000."Annaleigh knew he just wanted a reaction, a reason to give her, a poor young girl in a big city, to stay with him, but she wasn't easily fooled and her father was one of the richest men alive. She pulled out a twenty dollar bill and a sharpie from her side bag pocket and drew two more zeros behind each twenty that was printed on the bill. As a rule follower, she wished vandalizing a US dollar wasn't necessary, but that's the only solution she could think of."Here you go." she said with a fake smile, handing over the money through the passengers window that was now as useless as her driver before walking away once more. For a moment Richy seemed content with the money, but after a few seconds he realized her trick."Hey! This is twenty!" he shouted at her from the now open passenger window. Annaleigh turned around briefly from her unbroken confident walk to the nearby pavement, and returned with "Divide that by the square root of 400, and you'll figure out how many stars I'm giving your profile!" She was well aware that he wouldn't be able to do the simple math and she raised her phone up in the air teasingly before dashing to the closet alley where no one would be able to see her. Acronyms were not her strong suit, but like her father, she could be very witty when she wanted to be, even without trying most times.She came upon a clear alleyway and tried to picture somewhere near she could teleport to without drawing attention or being seen. She hadn't learned how to go somewhere she wasn't familiar with or without the guiding emotion of dark peril from a fellow New Yorker so her only limit was her memory which luckily was fairly good. As she predicted, two minutes had passed by the time she finished figuring out her way to the school with the help of her phone and without anyone seeing her. Now that she had a better look at Midtown, she planned on using her powers the following day instead of taking her chances with another sketchy driver or a metal train full of them. She noted the amount of kids her age and older, following them into what could only be the entrance of the building, across a long football field.The first day of high school. A momentous occasion for some, but not Annaleigh. As someone who was entering her sophomore year with a total of zero years of past school experience behind her, she wasn't as excited as so many others seemed to be in movies and on Instagram. So far, she had really tried to have a positive outlook on the day and many months of education to come, but it was hard when the reality of the situation was as obvious as a badly hidden pantyline underneath tight jeans. This was going to be nothing less than a nightmare, especially for someone who was starting well after the beginning of the school year. It was only then as Annaleigh walked through the dew dropped grass that she realized just how many people were around. There was a flow of students, like a river stream, all headed the same direction into what could only be the entrance of the building. Annaleigh followed them, trying her best to get close to the great doors of the withering school whilst avoiding as much physical contact as possible, maintaining an imaginary two foot bubble with each small step she took. There were kids absolutely everywhere, their groups varying in size and all making different sounds: soft whispers, loud contagious laughter, or snarling with gossip. A sudden faint buzzing noise grew in her mind as she neared the bigger groups, from all the chatter she supposed. As she neared the entrance and the majority of the students, waves of anxiety washed over her causing her gut to sink and her stomach to flip.A group of boys her age gathered around an expensive car looked her up and down as she passed them, one of them having the nerve to whistle at her as if she were a lost animal waiting to be called. She hurried away from them.She peaked inside the building, past the metal doors and marble steps. There were even more kids on the inside. Annaleigh stepped in and felt her headache from earlier that morning growing worse and worse, no longer a headache, but a splitting pain spreading from her skull to the tip of her spine, nearly forcing her to double over in agony. Then came the voices.Hundreds, thousands, millions of different voices rang in her head, all ranging in noise and pitch from the loudest screech to a low mumble. Annaleigh covered her ears thinking it would help with the pain, but there was no way to block out noise that comes from your own conscience by putting your hands up to your ears. She shut her eyes tightly to stop the flow of tears that threatened to spill, only opening one or the other for short increments of time so that she could still make sure she knew where she was. She slumped against a wall, pushing out of the storm of people around her. Through the brief glimpses of her sight, it seemed as if no one noticed her, no one cared that some random girl was almost dying in the hallway. Everyone seemed to be absorbed in their own little worlds, just as Annaleigh was absorbed by her aching skull and the voices. She grunted in pain. The familiar sign of the symbol that represented the women's restroom, a grey stick figure in a triangular dress on a sign above an open doorway, popped into her vision. As quickly as she could manage still without coming near any passing students, she ran to it and ducked into it's white tile walls, booking it to the back most corner that was furthest from the entrance, from all the people. As quickly as it had begun, the noise quieted, returning to the familiar buzzing noise before vanishing all together, the pain along with it, but it left Annaleigh with her panic.She had panic attacks before, moments where she breathed a little too hard to control and found herself rocking back and forth on the floor with a tear stained face once the assault was over, but this was different. This was so much worse. As Annaleigh's mind raced, she felt herself beginning to shake uncontrollably, her own hands losing their use. Sobs stuck in her throat, threatening to come up if she loosened her hold on them, and through her resilience she started hyperventilating, her breath getting deeper and deeper, quickening by the second. Her hands shakily grabbed at her throat, trying to control it, but making the situation worse. Her mind raced, everything she had ever read about starting school and facing anxiety was gone, the dark presence of ignorance and unknowing left her panic to worsen. Suddenly, another voice rang out. Just one, the voice of a young worried man, coming from the body of an actual person instead of Annaleigh's mind. He walked into the restroom and stood only three yards from Annaleigh, respecting her space.Peter Parker stood in the doorway of the restroom, staring at the girl in shock. He thought he saw someone in here, through the crowd of his fellow classmates that usually cramped up the hallways, and though he usually kept his nose in his own business, something about her was off. Something about her felt different. His feet had already started carrying him in the direction of the distressed girl by the time he made up his mind to help."Hello?" he called out, wondering what a girl was doing sprinting into the men's bathroom. He waited for her reply, watching her as she slumped over on one of the porcelain sinks while her other hand shakily gripped her heart."Whoa, oh my gosh! You're having a panic attack!" he exclaimed. Annaleigh looked at him, almost glaring at him for his insolence. Obviously she was having a panic attack. The boy's eyes widened as he realized his mistake."No, that's not what I meant to say! I'm so sorry. That's not helpful." he apologized. The boy stepped forward taking his own bag off and placing it haphazardly on a slightly damp part of the floor, his physics homework from the weekend suddenly becoming his lowest priority. He held his hands out as he approached the girl, checking his tone to make sure he sounded as kind and true as his intentions were. He tried to remember everything, if anything, that he had learned about helping people in panic."Hey, it's okay," he said calmly, reassuring the girl as he approached her. "It's alright." Annaleigh's panic didn't slow, but her mind began to return to her as her face relaxed from shock and pain to a numb neutral expression, not normal yet, but making its way to that point. The boy took a few more steps forward, trying to get as close as possible without being in her face. He understood a few things about panic attacks from being around panicking people in the past, but this was the worst one he had ever seen."I'm going to ask you some questions? Is that okay?" he asked, waiting for permission. Annaleigh nodded her head, giving it to him, the buzzing hadn't begun again so she figured in her slightly out of it daze that he was safe to be around. He look eerily familiar."Okay. I want you to find five things around us that you can see. And then can you tell them to me?" he requested, lowering his hands. Annaleigh once again nodded, coming more into herself as her answers left her mouth."The stalls," she started, her own voice a hoarse whisper. "The sinks, ummm the toilets, that drain, and the lights." she named off the objects as they came to mind between deep breaths, her panic starting to fade slowly."Good, that's good. Now four things you can feel?" he questioned. Annaleigh felt her breath slowing even more as she started to take back control of shaking hands."My jacket, my ring, this sink, and um, my heart." she stated. Though she couldn't physically touch her heart, she felt it as it pounded rapidly in her chest, slowing down more and more as the boy continued to help her."Okay, and now three things you can hear?""My voice, the other people out there, and you." Her anxiety was fading as well, reduced to a light feeling in the pit of her stomach."Now two things you can smell?""My perfume and.." Annaleigh wrinkled her nose in disgust and frowned, her eyebrows furrowing."Sewage," she stated bitterly. The boy laughed, causing a chuckle to slip from Annaleigh's own lips. She was feeling much better now. The mood lightened from one of peril to a light hearted conversation."And lastly, how about one thing you can taste." the boy asked after recovering from his short fit. Annaleigh thought for a moment, her panic gone, before admitting "Nothing beside my toothpaste breath." The boy's lips formed an 'o' shape as he let out an empathetic noise in response."Sorry about that. That sucks." he sympathized, a smile painting itself on his face as he noticed the girl coming into herself after being in such a horrible state of impending doom. Annaleigh sighed and met his stare, smiling just as brightly, unusual for her as a person who unknowingly suffered from extreme social anxiety after being hidden away for so long. After years of avoiding every other person on the planet besides her father and few others, she had been in one of her most vulnerable stages in front of a stranger, a boy her age nonetheless. And she didn't feel embarrassed about it at all. A little flustered, but overall she felt accepted in his presence."Thanks for that." Annaleigh thanked him and the boy shrugged."It's no problem." he admitted truthfully. "I'm Peter by the way." he introduced himself as he extended a hand out to her, politely. Annaleigh's smile turned from one of contentment to one of shock, but she covered it up quickly with her next words."I'm Annaleigh." she stated, holding her own hand out and meeting his. The handshake was brief and weirdly natural considering the two teenagers had never met each other in their entire existence. Annaleigh pulled away first, finally realizing whom she was speaking to, and observed Peter more closely, noticing how the pictures of him that she had been studying for mission purposes did not do justice to the boy in front of her. Peter wasn't very tall for his age compared to the other boys she had seen, only an inch above Annaleigh, but what he didn't have in height, she could barely tell he made up for in muscle. His blue plaid patterned flannel covered his arms, but underneath his science pun shirt (a set of perpendicular line segments with the caption 'I'm always right'), Annaleigh could make out some of the toned chest that lay hidden underneath."Nice shirt." she commented. Peter looked down at his heather gray t-shirt, pulling it down and out to get a better look of it as if he had forgotten what it was and looked up with a light pink blush layered on his cheeks."Thanks." he chuckled while scratching the back of his head out of nervousness. He wasn't used to pretty girls complimenting him, especially not anything relating to his nerdy personality which his best friend Ned sometimes referred to as 'the ultimate cock blocker'.Annaleigh had such a mystical aura around her, he didn't recognize her from anywhere. Dark brown roots that cascaded into lighter ombré ends, stopping just below her shoulders. Deep colored irises with a teal border and variations of mixed greens and blues growing deeper the further they were from the center, a leafy yellow surrounding her pupil. Shiny white teeth hidden behind plump pink lips that formed her smile. She herself was quite a sight for sore eyes, though not one face in their school was the same, he could tell she was an anomaly in a high school full of many other unique girls. A drop of dazzling gold in a silver sea; rare. He had a suspicion Annaleigh had come into his life for a reason, that her value to him would increase the longer he knew her."So, um... are you new around here?" he asked out of curiosity. "Because I don't think I've ever seen you around before."Annaleigh nodded, ready to dig into her fake background after all the prepping she had put herself through."Yeah, I just moved here with my dad." she exclaimed, excited the moment had come at last.Peter nodded in understanding. So he really hadn't seen her before. That explains how he managed to miss noticing her before."How's it been so far?" he questioned. As someone who held more than one life changing event in his past, he understood moving away from what was once a home.Annaleigh debated whether she should tell him the truth or answer bluntly as people do so often when asked how they're holding up. She settled on the answer that might ultimately bring the two closer."Honestly, my morning's been terrible so far." Annaleigh answered admittedly, thinking back to her Uber ride and the effort it took to get to school. She slumped against the cold tile wall and crouched down, sitting on the damp bathroom floor. She looked back up towards Peter and met his empathetic stare, patting the spot next to her as she noticed him coming closer. He sat down, leaving enough room between the two so that they had some space."Was that why you, you know." Peter asked, referring to her attack from minutes earlier. Annaleigh looked down in embarrassment and nodded shamefully."Uh yeah, sorry about that." she apologized. She realized that having attacks were horrible, but a natural reaction to copious amounts of stress, but for some reason she still felt she was obligated to make some sort of effort to make it up to the person who had helped her. Peter shook his head."Don't be. It happens sometimes." he explained from experience. He had his fair share of panic attacks before and in those moments his Aunt had been the one to help him. Annaleigh smiled looking back at him. She was finding that she was starting to become very fond of Peter Parker."Maybe talking about it can help." he suggested, brightening the look on Annaleigh's face. She figured it wouldn't hurt to quickly explain some things. And so Annaleigh briefly went over the wild events of her morning, skipping over when she teleported to the building and how the voices had been the cause of her panic. Peter listened to her intently throughout the entire two minute explanation, never once interrupting her to comment on the pig-like behavior of the man or to inform her about how much time they had left before the first bell of the day rang, only fifteen minutes. He watched how her expressions fluctuated to match the mood of her story, laughing when different turns called for it and nodding throughout to show he understood. It was only when Annaleigh was done that he spoke."-and now I'm sitting on the floor of a public bathroom, boring, pretty much, the only person who's shown me any kindness with my troubles." Peter laughed, his cheeks turning a subtle pink color."I don't think he minds much." he admitted. Annaleigh smiled and looked down at her lap."Thanks," she stated gratefully. As someone who had never had the opportunity to make friends before, Peter felt like a real relief. There was something about him, so kind and inviting, and now they were bonded. "By the way, what made you come into the girl's bathroom?" she asked. Peter looked at her with a guilty expression."Is that why you came in here? You thought it was the girl's?" he asked. Annaleigh felt her heart start to drop, her eyes widened. She could already tell what he was hinting to."Yeah, why?" The words fell from her lips slowly as if she was trying to postpone its reply."I probably wouldn't have helped you if you went into the girl's room, but I saw someone rush into the boy's and I wanted to see if they were okay." Annaleigh cringed, mentally facepalming herself as she finally noticed the obvious urinals near them, a tell sign that she was in fact in the wrong bathroom."Of course I did." she groaned. Peter laughed again forcing another smile out of Annaleigh as he stood up from his seated position, turning to face her."It's really not that bad, no one else noticed and if you hadn't, we probably would have never run into each other." Peter stated optimistically, extending one of his hands out for Annaleigh to take, helping her up. Knowing that no matter what had occurred that morning, she and Peter were guaranteed to meet each other in their classes, she took it and pushed herself up to meet his level. "Well then," she started. "Consider me very grateful for your efforts and a bit embarrassed.""Duly noted." he replied in the same sort of sarcastic manner Annaleigh had taken on. Looking down at the clock on his phone, Peter checked the ongoing time. They now had only thirteen minutes before class started, before he would inevitably have to leave Annaleigh."What time is it?" she asked, looking at the phone he held."7:47." Annaleigh sighed in response. Peter looked at her questionably, wondering if she too was dreading the moment they would part."I missed my tour with Principal Morita." she sighed. But Peter just looked at her with a light smile on his face, wondering how she could assume he wouldn't help her."I can give you a tour." the boy offered and Annaleigh looked at him with a blank expression."Really?" she asked, Peter's smile spreading to her face."Of course, if you don't mind. I mean we don't have enough time to go super in-depth, but I'll show you as much as I can.""How kind of you," Annaleigh remarked, causing a light pink blush to blossom on the apple of Peter's cheeks. "I'd like that. Thanks."And with that the two were off, Peter picked up his bag, slinging it over his shoulders before directing Annaleigh out of the men's restroom and into the hallway. Annaleigh smiled at him and walked out, hiding her nerves. Luckily, there weren't nearly as many people in the halls, most gone to class or outside before the bell. There were a few people, but like when she had met Peter she didn't hear any noise around them. It was all very strange, quite fitting for someone who could literally fight off a gang of men without even twitching.The two teens walked down the halls, only pausing at the doors of teachers and Peter's locker which was conveniently wasn't too far from the bathroom. They continued, Peter supplying her with the subject and surname of each teacher, and a few laughable stories containing embarrassing moments involving some of the ones he had been taught by in the past. It was so blissful, sunlight shone in through the windows, partially illuminating their way, the perfect setting to top off her horrible morning. It was too soon that the warning bell rang, signaling to the teens that in five minutes they would both be tardy for the first period. After showing him her locker number and combination, Peter walked Annaleigh to the locker that was only a few down from his own. ("What a coincidence!" Annaleigh lied knowing her father had something to do with it) After watching her fail on her first through third try, he showed her how to open it and whooped with her when she had finally gotten it, unaware that unlike the story she had been passing about prestigious private schools in California, almost everything school related was completely new to her. Once Annaleigh had stowed everything away that she didn't need for the first few periods, she closed the door and turned to Peter who was leaning against the locker next to her, patiently waiting for her."What's your next period? I can walk you there." he offered again, and Annaleigh didn't hesitate showing him her schedule, laying her pointer finger underneath the class in the first period slot and waiting for Peter's reaction."Oh, no way! I have Advanced Physics first too!" Peter exclaimed. Annaleigh widened her eyes in fake surprise, as if she hadn't already known that her first class along with every class after would be with Peter."Wow! Well, lead the way Peter." she ordered playfully, motioning for Peter to walk down the long row of lockers to the right of them. "It's actually this way," Peter corrected, chuckling with Annaleigh when the girl spun to follow in his direction, taking two long strides to catch up to him as he led the way to the Physics classroom. Peter made sure to stay on Annaleigh's left, the two walking side by side in the brightly lit hallway.