The Masks we Hide Behind || Peter Parker [1]

twenty-six: yep, definitely not okay

"Mads."

"Mads."

"Madelyn!"

My eyes fly open as I feel a pair of hands on me, shaking me softly. MJ repeats my name forcefully until I sit up, staring around the nearly empty classroom, disoriented from the deep sleep I was in for the majority of the period.

"What time is it?" I ask groggily, yawning shortly after.

"School just ended. You were out cold, dude." MJ urges, standing up from her seat with her backpack on her back. I stand up slowly and follow her out of the classroom and into the noisy hallway.

"I didn't get any sleep last night." I shout over the noise as MJ and I make our way to my locker.

"I can tell," she replies flatly as I open my locker. Her phone buzzes as I pull out my backpack and dump everything into it, and she looks up rather guiltily.

"My mom wants me home." MJ announces with a frown. "I can't study with you tonight, I guess. I'm sorry."

"It's fine," I respond, offering a smile as I slip into my backpack. I shut my locker door and turn to her. "We can do it another time."

She offers me a small smile before she says goodbye and leaves, her backpack bumping against her back as she walks away. I hear a large crackle of thunder from outside, and my eyes flicker to the windows by the exit doors, watching as rain beats down onto the concrete. It's been pouring rain all day, and I didn't even think to bring an umbrella to school. This morning, it wasn't raining too hard, and I was in yet another rush, so I didn't even think to grab one.

I make my way down the crowded hallway and step outside into the rain, listening as thunder sounds again. I smile just slightly as I make my way down the small concrete steps of the school, my feet splashing in the growing puddles beneath me. I've always loved rainy weather, it's always been my favorite, however when you don't have an umbrella when walking a downpour, it sucks.

When I arrive home, I'm soaked from head to toe. Even my backpack is dripping onto the lament floors of my apartment, and I stand in the entryway, practically shivering.

"Lucas?" I call. No answer. He must be out with Liz.

My phone vibrates from my pocket as I drop my soggy backpack onto the floor, unzipping it and taking everything out to let the bag dry. I carry the pile of my binders and journals and set it on my bed and wander into the bathroom. I pull out my phone as I shut the door, reading the message from Peter: Still up for studying tonight w MJ?

I smile slightly and flick the bathroom lights on before I reply. Sure, can you be over around like 5? You can let yourself in.

Peter replies with a simple yes and I set my phone down and start the shower, warming the water up as I quickly get undressed, shivering as goosebumps rise on my skin.

I shower the long day off and let the warm water beat down on me, my wet hair sticking to my face like glue. Peter lingers on my mind and a smile forms on my lips as the warm water trickles down my skin. I soon turn the water off and dry myself, wrapping my hair tightly in a towel piled on top of my head. I change into warm, clean and dry sweatpants, along with my simple Coldplay tee shirt as I dry my hair with the towel.

I plug in the blow dryer and wince as it screams into my ears, all whilst I run a comb painfully through my thick, tangled and wet hair. After awhile it eventually decides to dry and I collapse back into bed, feeling drowsier than I was earlier. When I lay back onto my bed and unlock my phone, I almost immediately fall asleep. I spiral into sleep quickly, but all fall in and out of it, growing very restless very fast. As I toss an turn, I loose all sense of reality as a vivid dream forms.