Midtown High

don't miss the train

beep beep. beep beep. beep beep.

Peter sat straight up in bed, a cold sweat lining his forehead. He hit his alarm clock to turn it off and kicked his feet out from under the covers, resting his forearms on his knees. Yawning hugely and stretching, Peter slid onto the cold floor where he just lay looking up at the ceiling instead of actually doing anything. He started thinking about that odd dream-- more like nightmare-- he just had, but shook it off and stood up slowly, stretching the whole time. Shuffling over to his closet, he reached in and pulled out some jeans and a button down long-sleeved shirt. Yanking his Midtown High sweatshirt over his head, Peter hopped his way into the bathroom across the hall in order to shimmy on his jeans.

"Peter? Is that you?" Aunt May called from her room. "It had better be because your train leaves in fifteen minutes based on my clock which is always right."

"Y-yeah I got it. I'm about to brush my teeth and I will head out right away."

Peter ran water over his toothbrush and squeezed out some toothpaste. As he brushed his teeth, he meandered back across the hall into his messy room to find a pair of socks. He slipped them on and pulled on some old sneakers as he rushed back to the bathroom to spit out his toothpaste. He splashed water on his face and examined himself in the mirror. 

Yeah, this is gonna have to do. 

His hair was a mess, but a glance at his watch told him that at this point it didn't matter, he needed to leave or he would miss his train. He grabbed all of his books and stuffed them into his backpack, slinging it over his shoulder as he closed his door and marched down the hallway. 

Sitting in the kitchen, Aunt May was reading over the morning paper. She had the same mug she had last night between her hands as she absent-mindedly handed Peter a thermos and a brown paper sack, keeping her focus on the paper. 

"Thanks, May," Peter breathed as he leaned down to kiss her on the cheek. "Have a good day, might be home later tonight, I will text you." 

"Bye, Peter. have a great day. Ace your physics test!" Aunt May said looking up from the paper and winking. "Hurry now, you have five minutes to catch the train," she warned as she looked at the clock on the oven. 

"Piece of cake. Love you!" 

Peter stuffed the brown sack into his already full backpack and sipped  the tea in his thermos as he slid down the rail on the stair case. Dashing out the entrance to the apartment building, Peter heard the train coming down the tracks. Picking up his pace, he broke into a run and finally he slid between the doors of the train just as they were closing. Pleasantly surprised he turned and pumped his fist as the train jolted forward. He grabbed a handle over head and finished up the tea May had made for him, slipping the thermos into the side pocket. Peter pulled out his phone and discreetly slid some earbuds into his ears, searching for something to wake him up on the way to school. He landed on a cheery tune that always made him smile, Time to Pretend by MGMT. Closing his eyes, he leaned on the side of the train as it lumbered towards Midtown High. 

With a jolt, the train suddenly stopped outside of the football stadium. Peter left his earbuds in and headed out of the doors. He lightly skipped down the steps and took a left, heading towards the pleasant school. Peter smiled to himself. While high school wasn't all that easy, he did enjoy learning. And Midtown High was very good at feeding that hunger for knowledge. One of his favorite places in the world was the Midtown High library. Its vast shelves were full of knowledge that Peter was always eager to soak up. 

The song came to an end right as Peter walked up to where his two best friends were sitting. Michelle and Ned were arguing about something, as they usually were. Peter pulled out his earbuds and dropped his backpack to the ground. 

"Hey, guys. What's up?"

"Oh Peter. There you are. I need you to side with me really quickly," Ned huffed as he shot a mean look at Michelle. "Michelle here is trying to tell me that Spider-Man is a hoax and he's definitely not real. But he totally is! I analyzed the clips for photoshop, and there isn't any!"

"All I'm saying is, why in the world would there be a dude that dresses up in red and blue tights, slinging webs everywhere, and calling himself 'Spider-Man'? It doesn't make sense. He would've come out to the public and stated that he is in fact a super hero. I think that it's just some kid messing around who happens to be good at acrobatics or has some serious photoshop skills," Michelle stated matter-of-factly with her glasses resting at the tip of her nose. 

"Well what do you think Peter? Peter is going to tell us which of us is right, namely ME," Ned said pointedly at Michelle. "Well go on, tell me I'm right. He's a hero who really cares about the city."

Peter laughed nervously and sat down. 

"Well, um. He's really um talented in the acrobatic department I think," Peter said cautiously. "I think it could go either way. He's either really good at photoshop, or he's a guy who just wants to help out, you know what I'm saying?"

Ned stared at Peter, eyes wide in disbelief. 

"You mean to say you are siding with Michelle?" He exclaimed incredulously. "Bro code! What about the Bro Code! We are in this together!"

Peter held his hands up in defense. 

"Woah there bud. I didn't side with either of you. I just really don't know who or what he or it is. Maybe it's a prank, maybe he's a good guy fighting crime. I'm not sure, so let's just drop it."

Peter pulled out his physics book and buried his face in it sighing and thinking to himself,

If only you guys knew.