Spider-Man: Just Good Friends

Summer Activities

July 6th, 2020

"Peter."

No answer.

"Peeeteeeerrrr."

A groan.

"Pete. Get up."

Another groan.

"Peter, don't you have somewhere to be?" Wanda asked, standing over the boy as he slept. Her thick accent started to become more and more noticeable as Peter slowly woke up.

"Not until 9." Peter, his eyes still closed, rolled over and put a pillow on top of his head, ignoring the girl behind him.

"Pete?"

Peter didn't answer. Wanda grabbed the pillow with her powers, and threw it to the other side of their room.

"It's 8:45."

Peter's eyes shot open, and he whipped around to look at the clock. She was right, as usual. "Shit!" Peter jumped up and ran to the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

Wanda sat down on the messy bed behind her, and started to time Peter on her phone. Within a minute and a half, Peter was out of the bathroom, and running towards the window.

"New record." Wanda put her phone down, and handed Peter his mask.

"I asked you to stop timing me." Peter frowned, and grabbed his mask.

"You've also asked me to stop using illegal websites to watch tv, yet have I?" Wanda asked, walking away.

"Yeah because you're probably- you know what? We can have this conversation later. I'll see you after." Peter shook his head as he put on his mask, and jumped out his window, swinging towards his school.

...

Peter climbed into the bathroom window, and closed a stall door behind him so he could change. As he reopened the stall door, he was met with a familiar face. The boy in front of him smiled, his curly hair hanging over his face.

"You know, one of these days it's not gonna be me catching you in here."

"Hi Eddie." Peter slowly walked past the boy, and started to fix his hair in the mirror.

"You're late."

"I know, Wanda had to wake me up." Peter turned around from the sink. "What's with the face?"

"I don't know, I just assumed you would be on time the one time we have something interesting happening."

Peter smirked. "You act like getting paid to learn about science isn't interesting in itself. And that thing you think is interesting? Is just a scientist from Oscorp."

Eddie fell silent. "Right. Forgot how you feel about that place."

The two boys remained silent as they walked to the classroom, Eddie only slightly mumbling something as they sat down.

...

The classroom was loud. Most people were only here for the money. While Peter loved science with all his heart, the money was a good plus. Peter turned to look at Eddie, who was deep into his phone, and smiled. Before Peter could get a word out, the door suddenly opened.

"Good morning everyone." The man put his briefcase down on the table at the front of the room, and turned to the class. He only had one arm.

"My name is Dr. Curtis Connors, and yes, in case you're wondering, I am left-handed." The class laughed, and the man smiled and took off his glasses, before sitting on the table. "I'm not a cripple, I'm a scientist. The world's foremost authority on herpetology."

Flash, sitting in front of Peter, raised his hand. "What is that?"

"Reptiles."

Flash turned around to Peter, and whispered. "Are you into this stuff?"

"Kind of. It's sort of cool." Peter said, before Flash turned back around.

The thing about Flash is even though he may be a bully, he has a good heart. After Ben and Gwen, Flash stopped bothering Peter. And Peter really appreciated it. They had become almost friends. Almost.

"Like the Parkinson's patient... who watches on in horror as her body... slowly betrays her, or the man with macular degeneration... whose eyes grow dimmer each day, I long to fix myself." The man pointed towards his arm. "I want to create a world without weakness. Any guesses how?"

A hand was raised. "Stem cells?"

"Promising, but the solution I'm thinking of is more radical." The man waited as the class waited in silence.

"No one?"

"Cross species genetics." Peter called out.

Connors looked at him in shock, unable to believe that he knew.

"Person gets Parkinson's... when the brain cells that produce dopamine... start to disappear. But a zebra fish has the ability... to regenerate cells on command. If you could give this ability... to the woman you're talking about, that's that. She's... She's curing herself." Peter explained, playing with his thumbs as he did.

"Yeah, you just have to look past the gills on her neck." Eddie called out, and the classroom erupted in laughter.

After quieting down the kids, Connors turned back to Peter, still in shock. "I'm sorry, what is your name?"

"Peter Parker."

Dr. Connors' eyes widened, before he mumbled something.

"What was that about?" Eddie asked, turning to Peter.

Peter shrugged, and looked back to the front of the class.

...

As Peter and Eddie began to walk out of the building, they were stopped by the sound of a voice calling out behind them.

"Peter!" Connors' yelled, making the boy turn.

"Eddie, I'll catch up with you later." Eddie nodded, and walked away.

"I'm sorry for chasing, I just, I needed to speak with you."

"Am I in trouble for something?" Peter asked, confused.

"No I- Peter I knew your father." The man handed Peter a picture. Peter looked down in shock, as he stared at a picture of the man before him and his dad.

"What?"

"World is a small place, huh? Me and your father worked on research at Oscorp. And I feel you have the same potential he did, before his untimely passing."

Peter smiled, not knowing what to say.

"Why don't you come by the tower at some point this week? I would love to chat with you outside of class." The man handed Peter his card.

"I- I can't go to Oscorp."

"Why not?"

"There are some bad memories associated with the place."

Connors looked confused.

"My girlfriend was- she-." Peter stopped himself before he got all choked up. "I was personally affected by the whole Norman Osborn Goblin situation."

"I'm so sorry to hear that. The invitation is always open if you change your mind."

Peter nodded, and put the card into his pocket, before walking off. As he walked outside, he met Eddie's eyes who seemed confused.

"You okay? What did he want?"

"Nothing important." Peter lied.

"Oh. Alright. You wanna hang out for a bit?"

"I think I'm gonna go see Gwen, actually." Eddie could see that something was off with Peter, but he wasn't going to push, especially after he brought up Gwen.

"Alright. Are you sure you're okay?" Eddie asked one more time, before Peter nodded.

"I'll see you later, Eddie." Peter smiled and walked away, leaving Eddie confused and concerned.