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015. fresh start
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐅𝐓𝐎𝐏 𝐎𝐅 𝐌𝐈𝐃𝐓𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐇 𝐁𝐄𝐂𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑 𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐏𝐄, a quiet haven hidden from the chaos that trailed their lives. Up here, they were just Ingrid and Peter — two kids trying to steal a moment of peace before being pulled back into the whirlwind of rumors, expectations, and secrets. Every day, when Peter’s classes ended, Ingrid was already there waiting for him, perched on the rooftop ledge, her face turned to the autumn sun like it might wash away all the worries she carried.
And every day, as they lingered there, they'd feel the weight of time slipping away, dreading the moment they would have to go back down. Back to a world that didn’t seem to understand them and sometimes felt like it was out to get them.
Ingrid tried not to think about what lay ahead. She avoided thinking about the crowd who’d be waiting to throw the latest rumor at them, their words like ammunition. She pushed away the nagging reminder that college was on the horizon, an inevitability she hadn’t quite wrapped her head around. Up here, none of it mattered. For a few precious hours, her anxieties faded as her back hit the rough concrete, and she let herself melt into the quiet.
The late afternoon sunlight painted her freckled face in warm tones, and her eyes were lost in the crinkled pages of the newspaper she clutched, her shoulders visibly relaxing in the cool breeze. Peter lay beside her, lost in his thoughts, until suddenly, as if some grand revelation struck him, he turned to her, his face lit with a rare, earnest seriousness.
“Can we just… stay up here all day?” he asked, his voice low, almost a plea. “It’s so crazy down there.”
She didn’t answer right away. Instead, a giggle escaped her, surprising even herself — it was a sound that felt strange, foreign. Laughter had been rare lately. “Wait, listen to this!” she managed between fits of laughter that grew with each word she read.
Clearing her throat dramatically, Ingrid held up the paper. “‘Some suggest that Parker’s powers include the male spider’s ability to hypnotize females,’” she read, stifling more laughter but failing miserably. “‘Which he used to seduce Solar Flare into his cult of personality—’”
“Stop!” Peter’s protest was half-hearted, though a smile played at his lips, betraying his annoyance. He dropped his head onto his chemistry textbook, which served as his makeshift pillow. “Please, stop…”
Ingrid let out a deep, exaggerated sigh as she adopted an overly serious tone. “Of course, my seductive Spider-Lord.”
Peter couldn’t hold back a giggle this time, a sound so rare that Ingrid felt her chest tighten at the joy of it. “Please,” he said, struggling to keep a straight face, “never call me that again.”
