I'm Always A Text Away -- Peter Parker Texting Story

eleven

"OKAY, SO...MJ?" NED asked nervously. 

Michelle looked up from her book, blowing away a strand from her face. Ned sat at her desk, laptop open, his math notebook beside him. MJ had already finished her homework, and was reading her book on her bed. "What, loser?" 

"You know how I said I could search for birth certificates?" Ned asked. The moment the last word left his mouth, MJ swung her legs off the bed and tossed her book aside, hurrying to him. 

"Yes? What did you find?" 

"That's the thing..." Ned turned the computer's screen toward her. "There are a ton of Peter Parkers, and I searched through all of them. But none of them are our Peter Parker." 

"What?" MJ breathed, confused. She frowned, her fingers reaching for her black dahlia necklace. "How is that possible? How does he not have a birth certificate?"

Ned shrugged helplessly. 

"Did you check for any IDs? Student IDs? Licenses?" 

Ned shook his head. "Nothing." 

Is his name really Peter Parker? 

But it was. That memory she'd remembered on the rooftop of Midtown...she had said his last name. Parker. And something about spiders, too. 

"What's going on here, Ned?" she asked in frustration. "Who is this dude?" 

"I don't know." Ned leaned back in her chair and covered his eyes with his palms. "Do you think he's lying?" 

MJ, having already thought of this, shook her head. "No. He's not." 

"I don't know what else we can check." 

The only way to know is if we ask him himself. 

***  

PETER WHISTLED AS HE WALKED, a tiny bag full of groceries swinging from his hands. He had paid a lot of his money for food and didn't have much left for transportation, so he was walking through the busy streets of Queens by himself, dodging important-looking people from trampling over him. 

It was slightly peaceful, really, walking on his own on the streets of New York. But he missed how he had been before; swinging to places, yelling out into the sky as he made detours to save children from being hit by cars or stopping minor robberies in alleyways. 

But this was for the greater good. One sacrifice to make so many people happy. 

Was it selfish that he wished that nothing had happened? That he wished he hadn't asked for the spell? 

He remembered Mr. Delmar suddenly, how Mr. Delmar had told him to do what he loved—be Spider Man. And Peter wished he could, but he was scared. 

Scared that people will slowly figure out, one by one, just like last time, only for it to end horrendously. 

Mr. Stark knew, know. How Mr. Stark had accessed those files or whatever had happened—Peter didn't know, and he didn't want to associate himself with it either. 

Something inside Peter had broke when he'd walked into Mr. Stark's lab to see the bulletin boards, filled with Maguna's drawings of her family. Once upon a time, he'd been in her drawings with her sitting on his shoulders and giving him bunny ears. But now...

And what hurt more was that everything else was gone. Mr. Stark used to have all of Peter's achievements pinned on there, whether it be Peter Parker's or Spider Man's. But it was gone now, and it would probably not come back. 

He shut his eyes momentarily, angrily trying to stifle his thoughts. It was fine! Mr. Stark forgot him, and so what? It was for the better! 

"Yo! Peter!" 

Surprised, Peter glanced behind him to see a girl leaning against the bricked wall of a store, hair flying into her face, the rest of it tied back in a messy ponytail. She had an expression of nonchalance and unconcern on her face, but Peter knew her. 

There was a glimmer of curiosity in her eyes, in the edges of her features. She uncrossed her arms and uprighted herself, walking closer, an eyebrow raised. 

"Hey?" Peter muttered, feeling a bit attacked. His spidey sense didn't tingle; but again, it never did with Michelle Jones. 

MJ tilted her head, chin lifted. "Are you Peter Parker?" 

Peter eyed her. "You called out my name," he told her. 

"Is Peter Parker your real name?" she stressed out, stepping closer. 

"Yes..." Peter swallowed nervously, unsure why she was asking him this. "Why?" 

"Do you not have a birth certificate? Any social media platform? Any ID?" MJ laughed incredulously. "You're lying, Parker. What's your real name?" 

"I..." Peter shook his head, eyes widening. "Wait. Are you stalking me?" 

"Answer my question, loser." 

"I...I d-don't—" he stuttered. 

"Okay, answer this. Did I know you? Like, did we ever talk when you were in Midtown?" 

His lungs constricted and panic bubbled within him. He stared at her for a split second before turning around and sprinting away, MJ yelling out his name behind him. 

Words: 807 

Okay idk what that ending was. 

Today is April 19, I think, which means while y'all are reading this chapter and possibly enjoying this, I will be in my car travelling. 

On April 20 I have a competition which I'm really nervous about, but hey, my only goal is to get past round one. If I don't, then well, damn that's just really sad. 

Soooo yeah! 

Haidlyn <3