Ultimate Spider-Woman: Change With the Light

Chapter 39: The Way You Make Me Feel

Gwen Stacy lay unmoving on her bed, staring blankly up at the ceiling. She'd been in that same position since the day before, ever since her life had all but fallen to pieces around her. Her grades at school were absolutely terrible, she'd been sexually harassed by Roderick Kingsley, she'd been fired from her job at the coffee shop, her modeling career was almost certainly ruined, she'd lost the theatre role she'd been dreaming of since childhood, and she was about to be evicted from her apartment.

All of those things were just part of one much larger reminder-namely, her failure to live up to her responsibilities.

About all she seemed to be able to do right anymore was fight crime as Spider-Woman, and even now she was glad to be able to help people the way she did.

But that didn't help her deal with her other responsibilities.

SPIDER-WOMAN #39

"THE WAY YOU MAKE ME FEEL"

It was only after Kitty Pryde had headed out to do some errands that Gwen finally rose from her bed. Coming out of her room, she ate some breakfast, showered and dressed without saying a word. As she did so, she stared blankly ahead, as if she was in a trance. Her head felt strangely heavy. She didn't feel the same tension and stress headaches she used to, and indeed didn't feel much of anything beyond a dull weight in her mind. Gwen felt almost detached, watching herself go through the motions of leaving her apartment and starting to wander the New York streets as if she were in someone else's body.

She wasn't sure where she was going or how she was getting there, just that it was all she seemed able to do anymore. Looking around at the people she passed, Gwen didn't recognize any of them, and in fact she preferred it that way. She didn't think she could really face anyone she knew, not after the way she'd been screwing things up lately.

It was only when she'd gotten off the bus that she realized that she was passing through Midtown, surprisingly close to where she'd grown up as a child. Looking around in surprise, Gwen wondered what could have possibly led her back here. Then again, the answer probably wasn't too hard to figure out-as a little girl, at least she'd had an excuse for messing things up as badly as she had.

Gwen was dwelling on that thought as a voice called out her name. Looking up in surprise, she found that she had just passed by Peter Parker's house, and the person who'd called out to her was standing on Peter's front lawn. The person wasn't Peter, though-it was Peter's Uncle Ben, the man who'd raised Peter as his own son after Peter's parents had died in a tragic accident. He had been raking the leaves on his lawn when he'd seen her pass by, and was now coming over to join her.

"Hey there," Ben Parker greeted Gwen, who briefly smiled and nodded. "Were you looking for Peter?"

"What..? No, no I was just passing by," Gwen shook her head, speaking too quickly for Ben's liking. "Take care, I'll see you around!" she smiled briefly and nodded, but Ben caught her arm as she turned to leave.

"Are you okay?" Ben asked Gwen, concern in his voice as he saw the pained look in her eyes. In response, Gwen looked down and away, unable to face Ben.

"It's alright, I'm fine," she muttered as she tried to walk away, but Ben kept a firm grip on her arm.

"No, you're not," Ben shook his head. "There's something bothering you, I can tell."

"Really, it's..." Gwen trailed off. "...It's nothing you need to worry about," she finished.

"Maybe I don't need to worry about it, but I want to worry about it," Ben replied gently. "Did you want to talk about it?"

Gwen hesitated, not wanting to dump her problems on him.