Hanging by a Thread 🕷 Peter Parker

four

Peter

Peter stood on the steps of the library and watched Alexandra go. This was all his fault, why couldn't he have just showed up on time? Patrol. He had been on patrol... and he had stopped three robberies and a mugging! He had valid reasons to be late!

But Alexandra didn't know that, and she could never know that. Ned and Aunt May knowing his secret was bad enough, if Alexandra knew, would that put her in some kind of danger? Did Ned and Aunt May knowing put them in danger?

Peter sighed and pulled out his cell phone. He had a bunch of messages from the group chat his friends had added him to, as well as individual messages from Alexandra.

The group chat messages were pretty straight forward. They talked about how they knew he would be late, and Ned had sort of covered for him when he said Peter would only be a little late. Great, so now Kai was calling him 'reliable' sarcastically.

Alexandra's individual messages made Peter feel even more guilty as he read them.

Allie :P : where'd you run off to? you do know detention is mandatory, right?
2:45 PM

Allie :P : don't know where you are, but you're late.
7:50 PM
Allie :P : again.
7:50 PM

Allie :P : you promised you'd be here, peter.
7:55 PM

Peter groaned at his stupidity and sat down on the library steps, burying his face in his hands. How could he have been so stupid? He had seen her texts when he messaged Ned. If he had just taken two seconds to reply to them, she might not have been so mad at him.

Of course, she still would've been mad at him. That was a no brainer. He had promised that he would be at the session, on time. And he had failed. Again. Maybe Kai's sarcastic use of the word 'reliable' to describe Peter was pretty accurate. Ever since he became Spider-Man, he'd found himself spending less and less time with all of his friends.

The only one he seemed to hang out with at all anymore was Ned, and that was because Ned was the only one who would understand. He was the only one who knew his secret.

Ned. That's who he needed to talk to.

Peter pulled out his cell phone and dialed Ned's phone number. It rang a few times before his friend picked up. "Dude, you are so screwed," Ned said in lieu of a greeting. "Alex was pissed by the time the session was over."

Peter sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I know, I know," He replied. "I showed up at nine, and I guess you guys had already left, but I ran into Alex. Yeah, she was pissed."

Ned snorted on the other end of the line. "Well, what were you expecting?" He asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." Peter ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "But seriously, Ned? I need to ask you something."

Peter heard Ned shift in his chair. He knew Peter was being serious now, so he was, too. "What's up, Pete?" He asked him.

"It's about Spider-Man."

"Ooh, you need me to be your guy in the chair again?" He asked excitedly.

Peter chuckled lightly, but shook his head. "No, not this time," He replied. "I need some advice."

"Okay... shoot."

Peter took a deep breath. "Okay, so Alex is pissed at me because I haven't been around, and I haven't been around because I'm off being Spider-Man, right?" He didn't wait for Ned to reply before he continued. "So do you think—?"