COLORS || P. PARKER

The Washing Machine Effect

High school was boring.

It wasn't more than a week before Marina made this observation. Everyday students followed the same routine. Go to class, do homework, eat, sleep, and repeat. It was an endless cycle of sameness with only a few good moments sprinkled in between. 

By her second week of school, Marina learned that teenagers were lifeless robots. Like clockwork, they would groan about the upcoming assignments, find comfort in their phones, and spend their Friday night getting blackout drunk instead of finishing Mr. Dowery's history paper. Well, most of them did. She supposed there were a few teenagers who weren't robots. Michelle Jones from English class never fell prey to this routine. Peter Parker from Biology wasn't the type to drink underage.

However, all her thoughts were dispelled by the final bell ringing. Students rushed out of Computer Science class as the teacher yelled homework reminders. Marina gathered her belongings and met Curie by the door.

"Dude, I can't wait to do absolutely nothing this weekend," said Curie as the two pushed through the sea of people.

"Yeah that lecture put me to sleep," Marina replied.

Curie dodged a locker flying open. "I know. I saw you drifting off from the other side of the room. You're lucky Ms. Lance doesn't look up from her chalkboard."

Finally, they heaved open the large doors as a crisp wind sent chills up Marina's spine. The girls walked off campus and said their goodbyes.

As the blonde passed by different shops, citizens were rushing in and out of buildings trying to escape the grey sky. Dark clouds loomed over the busy streets of Queens, threatening to storm at any moment.

Marina's hair danced in the wind as she approached her apartment complex. She entered the building just before the first specks of rain began to drop. After making the short journey to her apartment, Marina slipped inside.

Immediately, the sound of the TV blasted through her eardrums. The teen winced and brought a hand to her head. "April turn it down!"

The AI did as commanded. "Good afternoon, Marina. How was school?"

"Were you watching The Office without me?" she asked.

"No."

The girl sighed. "I can literally see the TV on right now."

Suddenly, the TV shut off. "No you can't."

Marina rolled her eyes and stalked off to her room. Thunder clapped and rain dripped down the bedroom window. Just as she was setting down her bags, a loud crash sounded in the alleyway followed by a few curse words. Marina looked out the window, but could only make out a red blur in a dumpster.

She opened her window to get a better view.  A man in a hoodie and pajama pants crawled out of the dumpster. He was muttering something that Marina couldn't quite catch over the pouring rain. The soaking wet stranger tilted his head and caught her eye. At least, she thought so. It was hard to tell with the weird goggles the man wore. That's when she noticed the small spider drawn on the stranger's chest.

This had to be some sort of joke. There is no way that-

"Hey!" yelled the man.

When Marina gave no response, he held out his arm and bent his fingers as if he were aiming something.

Thwip.

A long line of webbing attached itself to the fire escape outside her window.

Thwip.

Another one landed. The man pulled the webs and took running start before launching himself onto the fire escape.

The blonde took a step back. "What the-"