Marvel Imagines: Book One

Redemption (p.p)

Pairing: Tom!Peter Parker x Teen!Reader

Warnings: bullying (from you), feeling guilty and sad for treating him such, angst

Summary: You don't hate Peter. You hate that you're jealous of him. You hate that he always gets good grades without trying while you bust your ass and fail. When you find his diary, you learn more about Peter than you probably should know.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's another peaceful walk to school. Your apartment building is only a few blocks from your high school, so your mom allows you to walk it if you only stick to the well-known paths and avoid strange people on the sidewalk. She's been paranoid ever since she saw in the news about some little girl getting kidnapped by someone on the streets. It took a lot to convince her that you would be fine, so she agreed if you stuck to her terms, which you do.

You're blaring your favorite music through your headphones as you tune out everyone around you. You're looking down at the sidewalk so you don't see someone come barreling your way. The person almost knocks you to the ground, so you yank your headphones off and glare at the person who did it.

Of course, it's Peter fucking Parker. He catches his footing and continues to walk past you as if he has somewhere else more important to be.

"Watch where you're going, asshat!" you yell after him.

Peter mumbles an apology without so much as a look back at you, and you roll your eyes in annoyance. Out of everyone in school, he's the one who annoys you the most. He thinks just because he's so fucking smart that the rest of the rules don't apply to him. When he gets in trouble, the teachers end up giving him a slap-on-the-wrist punishment because he gets good grades and keeps to himself.

He doesn't pay attention half the time but he gets stellar grades. You work your ass off and the best you can get is a B, mostly C's. He pisses you off because you're so jealous of him. It's not him as a person, he's actually quite nice, it's the fact that he doesn't even try and still gets everything he wants. You try so hard but still fail. Your annoyance and pissy mood have evolved into snappy comments and rude stares.

You walk the rest of the way without music, and you immediately head to your first class which so happens to be science. You're not doing well in that class but Peter is, and he makes sure to show off intentionally or not. Today in class is lab day, and you're supposed to mix certain chemicals to create a foamy mixture that grows a lot.

Peter shifts in his seat anxiously and watches the clock count down. You grab the ingredients that are listed in the book and glance at Peter.

"Peter, I need your help. I don't know what I'm doing." Peter snaps out of his trance and sets up the main portion of the lab. He grabs his phone to check the time and ends up getting distracted by one of his notifications. "I think we need this one, right?" When Peter doesn't answer, you kick his chair lightly. "Peter, is this the right one?"

"Hold on, give me a second."

You roll your eyes and pour what you think is the right amount of the chemical you believe to be right. The mixture doesn't match and ends up exploding, sending shards of glass across your table. The mixture spills onto the desk and you quickly move the papers to avoid them from getting ruined.

"Fuck!"

"Y/N! Language!" your teacher scolds. A few students laugh at your failure, and you feel tears prick your eyes. "Don't move, let me get paper towels."

"If Peter bothered to help me, then maybe I might actually get something done right. He's staring at his phone."

"Peter, put your phone away before I take it for the day."