Hanging by a Thread 🕷 Peter Parker

one

Alexandra

Being a student at Midtown High School had its perks. It was a nice school, overall. Clean, offered excellent classes, and if students did well, they were pretty much guaranteed to get into their first choice college. Alexandra honestly loved going to high school there.

For the past eight and a half years, she had been living in New York City and throughout elementary and middle school, she only had one friend, Peter Parker. She and Peter had been living next to each other since they were seven years old. Now, they were both nearing the end of their sophomore year in high school. Not only that, but they had made a few other friends!

Ned Leeds was a smart, nice kid who loved all things Star Wars. Ned also loved video games and was actually a gifted hacker. Alexandra had learned a trick or two from him about computers. Ned, as sweet as he was, was also a bit awkward. Alexandra suspected that's why they were all such close friends.

He and Peter had a lot in common, their love for Star Wars being one of those things. Ned and Peter had once spent three days building a Lego star destroyer, while Alexandra had just watched, completely confused. ("Why are you guys spending so much time building something made of plastic that you'll never even acknowledge once you're done with it?" She asked. "Excuse you, Alex, this is our greatest masterpiece yet!" Ned replied.)

Michelle Jones, or 'MJ', as she allowed Alexandra to call her, was one of Alexandra's closer friends, but she hung out with Peter and Ned, too. "The only reason I hang out with them is because you do," She told Alexandra once. MJ was somewhat of an outcast at Midtown High, but she was extremely smart. She was on the Academic Decathlon team with Alexandra, Peter, and Ned.

Kai Hale was a beautiful young girl who had recently transferred to Midtown High after moving from Honolulu, Hawaii to New York. Alexandra enjoyed spending time with Kai because she was sweet, and they shared a lot of the same interests. They both enjoyed music (Kai was a member of the marching band), as well as other arts. Alexandra was a photographer for on the yearbook staff as well as the school newspaper, while Kai was in an art class with MJ, and they were both History fanatics as well as science enthusiasts. Well, most students at Midtown High were.

Alexandra was returning home from school one day and she decided to stop by Peter's apartment, as she often did after school. Actually, most days the pair walked to and from school together, but today had been slightly different for some reason. The moment the bell rang for school to get out, Peter had run out the door and off the grounds.

Alexandra knocked on the Parker's door and waited. May Parker was the one to open the door. She smiled. "Alex! So good to see you!" May exclaimed happily. "Come on in!"

"Thanks, May," Alexandra replied. She stepped into the familiar apartment and looked around. The pictures of Ben Parker lined the walls and furniture. Alexandra felt her heart sink. Ben Parker had been taken from them far too soon, and Alexandra knew how hard it had been for Peter when it happened. It had been hard for her as well, Ben had in some ways been a third father to Alexandra. He was kind hearted and always had great advice to give them; it wasn't fair that he was gone. "Is Peter home? He ran off today, I thought maybe he had some homework to start early on or something."

May shrugged. "I thought I heard him come in earlier," She replied. "You're welcome to go and check. And hey, why don't you and your dad come by for dinner this Friday? He told me your other dad's been busy lately."

"That would be great. Thank you." Alexandra replied. "And yeah, he's been pretty busy. I guess being a lawyer does that."

She and May exchanged a few more words before Alexandra headed down the hall to Peter's bedroom and knocked on the door. "Peter?" She asked. There was no response, so Alexandra opened the door. Peter's room was empty. She furrowed her eyebrows. Maybe he's in the bathroom?