Spider Luck

Chemistry class

'Fuck, fuck, fuck!'

All I hear in my head is that word as I rush out of the second-floor toilets of my school.

The hallways are already deserted and in some of the classes I overtake to reach the chemistry classroom, they are already doing class.

Feeling this, I increase my pace when I go down the stairs to reach where my destination is and, once I arrive in front of it, I open the door wide.

I readily apologize for the delay, but inside it I find neither my companions, nor Professor Connors, who after last year's substitutes that he did, he became our actual professor of chemistry.

Not understanding why there were other people in the classroom where my lecture was supposed to be held, I apologize for disturbing them, then I take two steps back to make sure that was the right class by looking at the number marked on the front door, however, I am interrupted by a voice behind me.

"Mr Parker, if you hadn't been in a hurry, you would have noticed that this is the class you're looking for. Go in, I was just about to close the door and start with the rollcall." Professor Connors tells me, while in the background there are the loud laughs of my classmates. 

Embarrassed I turn to him while I scratch my head and, after thanking him, I enter the class, where I am greeted by even stronger laughter and jokes. 

"Today is the first day, so I will be merciful however I hope that things like this are not frequent, otherwise I will be forced to put an F. This applies to everyone, so try to be on time." Professor Connors says after closing the door.

As the professor goes to sit down, I head to the first open school desk, until, all of a sudden, I feel my spider sense activate.

The reason why it activated is a leg stretched out in such a way as to make me trip if I had passed by there without paying attention. Despite being aware of this thing, I still proceed, and, shortly after, I pretend to trip and slightly lose the balance.

The author of this thing that not even kindergarten children would call a joke is my classmate with a blond buzzcut, the captain of the basketball team of the school, as well as a thorn in the side that I carry since kindergarten, Flash Thompson.

"Watch where you're going Puny Parker, can't you see I'm stretching my legs? Boy, could you at least try not to embarrass yourself for a second! Am I right, Kong?"

"You can't ask Parker to not be ridiculous, is it part of him? At least he never gets us bored ahaha." Kong says.

"You're right ahah!" Flash replies, and then he high-fives his friend while I sit down.

Kong is one of Flash's teammates, as well as his trusted minion.

Together they have the pleasure of tormenting me, and ,although I can teach them a lesson, I never did something about it.

It wouldn't be fair to use my powers this way.

Besides, if the famous puny Parker, all of a sudden, starts talking back to them, everyone's gonna wonder about it, and the last thing I want to do is be the center of attention, so it's best to continue the puny Parker act and stay in the shadows. 

***

Dr Connors' lecture was a simple introduction to what we're going to do this year, yet it was very interesting as usual and I sincerely look forward to attending his future lectures.

When the bell rings, we all say goodbye to the professor and we start going to our next class, but before I could get through the door, I hear Professor Connors calling me.

"Parker, would you give me a few minutes of your time? Don't worry, you won't be late again."

"Parker is in trouble!" Flash says happy, as he is about to leave with Kong on his left and, Elizabeth, who is arm in arm with him on the right side.

Elizabeth Allan, called by all the students, or rather, by those she considers her friends, Liz, is the leader of the cheerleading team, the most beautiful girl in the school and the girlfriend of Flash.

I mean, she's the queen bee of this school, and everyone's hanging on her every word, even Flash follows her orders like a puppy dog.

Her beauty is undeniable, even I am not indifferent and I remain enchanted many times when I see her, but the personality she has, at least here at school, is up to her reputation as a queen bee, so very bad.

Even now that she's noticed I'm looking at her, she looks at me like I'm a lousy bug.

"Nobody's in trouble, Mr Thompson, for now. You can go to your next class if you don't want to be the one with trouble and a report to take to my desk tomorrow morning." Professor Connors replied.

Despite being annoyed by the professor's complaint, Flash shuts up and leaves after being yanked by Liz, who, quietly, tells him that it is not worth arguing with nerds like us.

Following their exit, Professor Connors closes the door and then he sits in front of his desk, inviting me to do the same with the desk in front of him.

"I'm sorry about this morning, Parker, I wish I hadn't complained in front of everyone about your tardiness, but as you know, I have to put stakes. I don't want my students taking advantage of my generosity."

"You don't have to apologize, Professor Connors, you were right to warn me. What did you want to talk about? Is this about my delay?"

"No, not at all. But first I want to step out of my teaching role and ask you how you are after what happened. I guess it wasn't easy to hear the news of Norman and Harry Osborn's death. I could tell you and Harry were great friends, and despite what the investigation found out about Norman Osborn, I know he thought a lot of you, so much that he proposed you for that assistant job for Dr Octavius at the Oscorp."

"Let's say it's not easy, I'm still processing it. Even though it's been a while, I still think about it a lot. Even this morning, I was near the Oscorp tower and it made me think about what happened..." I say as I look down.

"Oh so you were in that area, that's why you were late, I guess. I'm so sorry, Peter.""Thank you for your concern."

"Oscorp had been for a long time the backbone of the scientific and technical world of our state, if not of our world and the Oscorp tower was the symbol of that empire that has now been stained irremediably. It is a pity that we do not know what it will become in the future."

"What do you mean by "we do not know what will become in the future" professor?" I ask intrigued.

"After the disappearance of Dr Osborn and his son, the Oscorp company is now the property of his partner, Dr Mendel Stromm, the shareholders and, in part, the state, one of its main financiers since Oscorp supplied advanced weapons and more to the US army.

Considering what happened this summer and what happened with Dr Octavius, Oscorp has earned a bad reputation, so they're deciding how to proceed.

Given how much the state has invested, I think they're just going to change the name of the company and make some changes to reduce the losses they're suffering. One of those changes is to lease some of Oscorp's labs for own researchers, like myself, and, in case they're working on research that interests them, to fund them.

And here comes the thing I need to talk to you about."