The Spider & The Butterfly

The Big Game

It was midday in Midtown High. Peter was walking by himself when Flash and his posse stopped him in the hall. 

"Nerd alert! Puny Parker in the house!" Flash yelled out. His friends laughed at Peter's expense before Flash wrapped an arm over Peter's neck and walked with him. "Sorry tiny tutor. Gotta keep up appearances, you know?"

"What's going on here?" a teacher called. "Flash, I've told you a hundred times not to-" He got a better look at who the jock was with. "Mr. Parker?"

"Hi Mr. Salerno." Peter greeted. 

"What are you doing with Flash? Hopefully not to be picked on." he said while looking to the known bully. 

"I was tutoring Flash for your big exam." Peter answered. 

The older man chuckled. "I should've guessed, because Flash passed with flying colors." he said to his student. 

"I- I did?" Flash stuttered out. "Yes! Now you can see me kick Truman High's butt tonight!" 

"Yeah!" Peter exclaimed while caught up in the moment. "Oh, I- I wasn't actually planning on going to the game. I mean, I don't know if I can." he corrected. 

Flash scoffed then wrapped his arm over Pete's neck again. "Oh, you are so there tiny tutor!" 

"So did Flash pass it?" Star asked Peter. The two were in gym class. The latter was doing sit-ups while the former held his feet down and watched. 

"Yeah." he answered while going up. He finished the crunch before continuing. "He also invited me out to watch the game. I tried to decline so we can track down Venom, but he didn't really seem to take no for an answer." 

"You're going to the game? Yes! Now I can help our side rid the enemy from the battlefield!" 

He did a crunch before replying. "What do you mean by that?" he inquired. 

Star looked at her boyfriend like he was insane. "Oh don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about." 

"That's because I really don't." he stated. 

"Whatever. Just tell them to leave the offense to me." she instructed with a wink. 

"Yeah... sure."

It was sunset now, so that means it's game time. Peter sat in the bleachers with his side of the school trying to repair his watch. The crowd whooped to prepare for the start of the game. 

"Tiny tutor! Hey, you made it." Flash called. Pete looked up to see his former bully dressed in his blue and yellow jersey with his helmet in hand. "Where's your foam finger?" he asked. 

"I, uh, must've left it at home." Peter said as an excuse. Then a person wearing the school's mascot, the Tiger, stepped out onto the field. The kid beside Peter blared his air horn.

"Get this crowd cheering Mary Jane!" the football star called to the mascot. 

"Mary Jane? That's Mary Jane Watson?" Peter inquired. 

Flash nodded. "Yeah. She's the school mascot this year."

"Wow. Good for her. Go get em tiger!" Peter yelled. 

That got the crowd into a frenzy. "Go, Tigers! Go, Tigers! Whoo!" they shouted while doing the wave motion. 

"I'm beginning to understand why you felt so much pressure Flash. Are you nervous?"

The jock scoffed at the question. "I'm pumped! Gonna crush those guys!" 

"See? This is the way you show off that Truman quarterback. It's about how you play, not how you fight." Peter said, calling back to yesterday's conversation.