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ALEX GLANCED UP AT THE SCHOOL IN FRONT OF HER AND SIGHED. It was huge. She might have thought it was bigger than her other school. It was here where she would be condemned for the next few months up until graduation. The thought alone made something crawl at her stomach.
"Here we are." Her mom sounded too happy. "You sound happy. Are you really trying to get rid of me already?" Alex asked, grabbing her bag out of the backseat and reaching for the door.
"No, I'm not. Please, have a good day, and try to make friends." Alex's mom was always adamant about making a friend, which she would attempt to do today.
"I will. I'll see you later, mom." Alex shut the door and made her way up the school steps, her bag slung over her shoulder. When she got inside, it wasn't any better—kids flooded the hallways. Alex repeatedly got pushed around like she was a rag doll.
That was until she bumped into someone. "Oh, I'm sorry. Here."
"No," They both bent down to pick up the scattered textbooks and notebooks. Alex was both surprised and grateful nobody stepped on them. "It's okay. This happens all the time. You're new, aren't you?" Alex let out a small smile as she looked at the blonde-haired girl.
"Geez, is it that obvious? But yeah, I am. I'm Alex Matthews. Again, I'm sorry about all your stuff." The girl waved a hand at her.
"Don't worry. I'm Gwen Stacy. Welcome to Midtown." Gwen then hugged her books to her chest tightly. They wouldn't go flying this time. Alex smiled at Gwen; it was hard not to when she had such a friendly face.
"Thanks. You wouldn't happen to know where the main office is?" Gwen smiled and looked at her.
"I wouldn't mind showing you around. I know the office at this time in the morning can be hectic. They get phone calls or are in meetings most of the day. It wouldn't be a problem. I don't mind." Alex moved a few strands of hair out of her eyes.
"Okay, yeah, thanks, Gwen." Alex handed her schedule to Gwen. She watched as Gwen's eyes scanned over the sheet of paper.
"We have calculus and history together; that's good, and we have lunch together." Gwen and Alex walked side by side in the hallway—the sound of Gwen's shoes being the only sound echoing in the hallway.
"So. Where'd you move from?"
The question momentarily caught Alex off guard. "Uh, California. My dad got this job promotion, so we moved again."
"Again?" She Remarked.
"Yeah, I've moved around a lot." She chuckled nervously. Why was she so nervous? "California was permanent for a while up until now." Gwen was silent, and so was Alex.
Alex and Gwen snapped their heads towards the courtyard. There was a crowd of students yelling and chanting outside. Gwen ran towards the students while Alex followed close behind. "EAT IT! Eat IT! Eat IT!" Alex could hear people chant. She looked at the scene that was unfolding in front of her.
A boy was being hung over his tray of food, his face being pushed into his tray. "Eat your vegetables, Gordon. COME ON!" When the boy looked up, he gave a wicked smile to someone.
"Come on! Take the picture, Parker." Alex looked over at a boy. He has a brown jacket on, a camera around his neck, and a skateboard under his arm. Alex watched as the stranger took a stride forward.
"I'm not taking the picture. Just put him down, Flash." He said. Flash's smirk turned into a scowl. Alex looked at the boy she knew now as Flash, who was now glaring at the boy again.
"So I'm guessing fights happen pretty often," Alex mumbled.
"Not usually," Gwen replied, starting at the scene in front of them.
"Come on, Gordon, don't eat it." He pleaded, "Put him down, Flash."
"I'm going to ask one more time. Take the picture, Parker." The cheering and taunting grew much louder around Gwen and Alex, with Flash still not letting up.
"Put him down, Flash. Put him down, Eugene!" The crowd died down and came to a complete stop. Flash tossed Gordon to the ground with a loud thud. When he went to help Gordon, Flash instantly swung at Peter, knocking him to the ground.
The crowd of students roared again as they watched Flash repeatedly kick at the defenseless boy on the ground. Gwen stomped to Flash, "Yeah, stay down, Parker!" The boy could be heard moaning and rolling back and forth.
"Still not taking the picture." He gasped after just having the wind knocked out of him.
"Hey, Flash! Are we still on for after school today? My house at 3:30? I hope you did your homework. I was very disappointed in you." Gwen sounded like a mother scolding a kid for doing something they knew was wrong.
Flash soon calmed down, and the crowd around him began to disperse as they walked back to class. Alex looked at her feet and saw a camera beside her. The lens was partially cracked as it lay next to the camera.
She picked up and walked towards Gwen. "How about we get to class? Yeah, how about it?" Alex walked over to the boy sitting up, his hair disheveled while his belongings were scattered all over the ground.
"Hey, erm... Here, I found it on the ground." When she handed the camera and lens back to him, Gwen and Alex walked back into the building, leaving the boy alone in the courtyard.
When Alex and Gwen got back inside, it was already time for their 3rd period for the day, which happened to be AP History. Gwen took a seat next to Alex. The whole class looked up when they saw the same guy that had just gotten hammered by Flash.
He came in and sat in a seat next to Alex. With his camera on the desk, he let his head rest on his arms before Gwen spoke. "I thought what you did was great." Alex watched as he lifted his head, looking at her and then at Gwen. "It was stupid. But it was great."
"You should go to the nurse," Alex spoke. "You might have a concussion. He did kick you in the head. Hard."
"What's your name?" Gwen asked.
"You don't know my name?" Gwen let out a small giggle.
"No, I know your name. I just wanted to know if you knew your name." Alex watched as he lifted his head to look at both of them.
"Parker..." Alex and Gwen gave him a look. "Peter...Parker." Gwen let out a sigh of relief.
"Okay, Okay, Good." She laughed, causing Peter to grin.
"You're Gwen, right?" He asked.
"Yup," Gwen answered, popping the 'P' at the end. "Gwen Stacy." Peter turned to look at Alex. Her eyes were already on him. She watched as his baby brown eyes bored into hers.
"I'm Alex. Alex Matthews." Alex's smile was warm and bright, her teeth glinting off the classroom's fluorescent lights. When their teacher arrived and began the class, Alex leaned over a bit towards Peter's desk.
"I'd still go to the nurse." She whispered. When Alex took her pencil out along with her notebook, Peter had rested his chin on his arms, trying to hold back the grin that was making its way onto his face.
