The Bite of the Spider: Spider-Man

Chapter 14

The light flurry of the first bits of December snow put (Y/n) into quite the happy mood. December was one of her most favorite times of the year, apart from Halloween. Christmas, although a formal event in her home, was always something she looked forward to. She would get together with Gwen in her own home and they'd have their own gift exchange. And even though (Y/n)'s parents were starting to see their fortunes decline, they intended to make a show of the season and try to make it appear to their other rich friends as though nothing was wrong. However, (Y/n) knew the truth.

After the lawyer, Matt Murdock, had told her about the case filed against her parents, they had been low on clients lately. Less and less money was coming into the bank, but Mr. and Mrs. (L/n) were dead set on making it seem as though they were just as rich as always, and not like they were loosing money by the day. (Y/n), honestly, thought it was a good thing. Her parents always thought they were better than everyone else because of the amount of money they had. Now that it was declining, she hoped it gave them the kick they needed to see the truth of the reality they stood in. She herself had enough money from a savings account they had started to stay on her toes should things go sideways for a few months, but she knew she needed to get a real job and not an internship once she was out of school.

Just before school on the third day of December, (Y/n) was in her room finishing a portrait of an elf before she looked to the clock and saw she had to get to school. Today was the day that Gwen would be taking her on a tour through Oscorp, and she was honestly very excited. As she got herself bundled up for the snowy day outside, she couldn't help the jitters in her stomach that erupted as she thought of what it would be like inside that incredible facility. Her parents were already gone for the day, and most likely wouldn't be back for a while as they were trying to fix their financial issues, so (Y/n) was home free for most of the time now.

When she finally reached the school, she shivered as she took off her thick jacket for the warmth of the heated air conditioning in the school. Holding it in her arms, she looked to the locker across from hers to see that Gwen hadn't arrived yet, so she went over to her own locker to place her giant coat in it. Stuffing it in, she heard shuffling beside her and looked to see Peter Parker standing there, a slight bruise on his eye. (Y/n) furrowed her eyebrows at the injury, and hesitated for a moment. It had been weeks since they last spoke, her cowardice getting in the way of any conversations with him.

Taking in a breath, she asked, "What happened to your eye?" She almost immediately regretted it, and when Peter looked over at her in slight confusion, she nodded her head towards his bruise. "You've got a bruise. What happened?"

Peter was a little startled, thinking she wanted nothing to do with him. He wanted to speak with her as Peter now, not as Spider-Man. He was getting tired of hiding behind his mask every time he wanted to have a civil conversation with her. He didn't know why it had to be that way, but he wanted it to change. Glad she made the first move to speak this time, he shrugged slightly and said, "I... got into a fight."

"Oh?" (Y/n) said, not looking up. It wasn't because she was spiteful, it was more because she was fearful of looking into his deep brown eyes and getting trapped there. Furrowing her eyebrows at her thoughts, she shook her head and turned to him, her mind screaming at her to stop. "How did that happen?"

Peter quietly stuttered a little bit, shaking his head as he said, "It was, uh... just some guy on the street. Tried to mug someone." It wasn't exactly a lie, but he left out the fact that there was another four guys behind him that he had to take out. His ribs were aching because of it. If she thought the bruise on his eye way bad, the bruises that littered his stomach and chest would shock the life out of her. Wanting to change the subject, he suddenly stated, "I heard from Gwen that you're going to Oscorp today."