Hanging by a Thread 🕷 Peter Parker

twenty six

Peter

The rest of the weekend passed by in a blur. That Sunday, Alexandra and Peter spent time with their friends. They took it easy, watching a few of their favorite movies. Peter and Ned practically forced the girls to watch Star Wars after Kai made them watch Twilight—she claimed she didn't want to watch it for the love story, though. ("It's so stupid I hate it so much." "Then why are we watching it?!" "Because, Ned, laughing is good! You and Alex both need to laugh after what happened!")

Alexandra didn't speak much, Peter noticed, she observed and listened. Peter wasn't sure whether or not he should be worried about that.

When Monday finally rolled around, Alexandra practically insisted on going to school, though both of her dads wanted her to take a bit of time off. She ignored the both of them and left for school before Leo had even woken up. Peter left the same time she did, he wasn't going to risk letting her walk to school alone.

Plus—Peter thought that maybe on their walk he would be able to use some of Mr. Stark's advice to ask Alexandra out on a date.

He didn't—he chickened out and was basically silent on the subway.

When they got to school, Ned met them outside and walked in with them. People—who had by now heard about what happened on the bridge—stared at Ned and Alexandra as they walked by. Both of them seemed to be trying to ignore it, but Peter guessed it was pretty hard to do that. Some people whispered as they walked by, too, and thanks to Peter's super hearing, he could listen in on their conversations.

"I heard that guy with the metal arms kidnapped those two," One guy said.

"Why would he be interested in them in the first place?"

"Apparently they're friends with Spider-Man."

"How the heck do they know Spider-Man?"

Peter clenched his fists, but kept his emotions under control. They all walked into their first period class together. There were already a few other students sitting at their desks, talking casually. But when the three of them entered the class, their conversations stopped immediately and they stared at them.

Ned nudged Peter's arm and gestured that they go sit down. They all went and sat in their usual spots towards the back of the classroom, ignoring the other students' gazes.

"You guys okay?" Peter asked them softly.

"Yeah, it's not like we're not used to being talked about." Ned shrugged.

"Yeah, besides, they'll talk about it for a week and then find someone else to talk about," Alexandra added.

So, class proceed as (almost) usual. Every so often, Ned or Alexandra would raise their hand to answer a question and all eyes would be on them, which didn't usually happen. Most people were usually zoned out, or listening to music, not paying any attention.

Lunch finally rolled around and Peter and his friends sat at their usual table in the cafeteria. "I still can't believe that happened to you guys." Kai shook her head as she took her new usual spot beside Michelle. "We were so worried!"

"We're fine, Kai," Alexandra assured her friend. "Don't worry."

"You're lucky Spider-Man showed up, huh?" MJ glanced up from her book at the two of them.

Ned glanced over at Peter for a millisecond before looking back at her. "Yeah—he really saved the day, huh?" Ned laughed a bit. "It was actually pretty awesome,— got to use one of his web shooters! Ooh, and Alex totally kicked Doc Ock in the crotch!"