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Ch. 5

Decathlon practice was awful.  Not only was Flash a regular competitor this year, but he sat right beside Peter.  He'd gotten much better as they grew older, bothering Peter less and less each year, but today he couldn't seem to think of anything to do other than nag Peter about all the articles written about him.  Apparently there were more than just the one Michelle had shown him in the morning or the four that Ned had shown him at lunch.  No, Flash was asking all sorts of questions about the various things he'd read in online magazines or tabloids.

"Did your mom cheat on your dad with him and lie about your real dad this whole time?"  Flash asked, poking Peter in the side when he didn't respond.  Peter let out an irritated huff and turned to face Flash.  "Did she leave you a note to open on your 18th birthday explain—"

"No, Flash,"  Peter hissed, glancing at Michelle out of the corner of his eye.  The last thing he wanted was for Michelle to call him out for not paying attention.  She may be his girlfriend, but that didn't mean she wouldn't embarrass him in front of the team.  "I wasn't even there, it's some other kid.  If you look closely, we don't even have the same eye colour,"  Peter lied.  Flash appeared slightly puzzled at this, wondering how he could have missed something so obvious.  He might have asked Peter why everyone else was saying the same things as he was, but Mr. Harrington dismissed them from practice and Peter was out of his seat before Mr. Harrington could even finish his sentence.

Peter made his way over to where Michelle was packing up the practice flashcard, wrapping a rubber band around the middle then dropping them into her backpack.  Ned hurried down the stairs as fast as he could, trying to keep up with his friend but not doing very well.  By the time he'd gotten to the bottom of the stage, Peter was already talking quietly with Michelle.  They stopped abruptly when Ned appeared beside them, but he didn't care.  If they decided they didn't want Ned to hear, then he probably didn't want to hear it anyway.

"I saw you and Flash had a nice conversation,"  Michelle said as they walked out of the gym.  Peter snorted, his hand flying up to his face to make sure he hadn't actually shot boogers out of his nose.  Michelle rolled her eyes when Peter tried to discretely wipe his nose, thankful when he didn't find anything on the sleeve of his jacket. 

"More like Flash just accused me of either playing Mr. Stark or paying the writers of the articles,"  Peter told her, playing with the strap on his backpack.  He considered leaving out the part about Flash accusing his mom of cheating on his dad with Mr. Stark, but decided he might as well tell his friends the whole things and did.

"Wow,"  Ned said, staring ahead as he tried to wrap his mind around the thought of it.

"What an ass,"  Michelle exclaimed at the same time Ned said,  "What a jerk-face!"

"It's fine,"  Peter shrugged,  "He'll be proven wrong in two weeks anyway and then the whole world will know better."

"I guess,"  Ned agreed.

"That's still an ass move,"  Michelle mumbled as they walked out the front doors.  A sudden flash from Peter's right caught his attention and he turned to see what had created the light.  As soon as he had, three more flashes blinded him as cameramen came rushing towards him, yelling questions as they approached.

"What's your name, kid?"  one asked, reaching out from Peter.  Peter dodged the man's hand and hurried across the parking lot to where Happy was parked.

"Are you really Tony Stark's son?"  another demanded.  Happy looked up at the noise coming from outside the car just in time to see Michelle about to deck a reporter in the face.  He jumped out of the car and directed the reporters away from Peter, Michelle, and Ned.  Michelle was glaring at them even as she ducked into the backseat beside Peter who sat between her and Ned.

"Aren't you supposed to keep them away?"  she asked Happy.  He rolled his eyes and started out of the parking lot.

"I can't predicate when they're about to appear,"  he replied.  Now Michelle rolled her eyes.

"Clearly they were able to hide so well in the empty parking lot,"  she snapped.  Peter grabbed her hand and rubbed his thumb on the back of her palm.  She huffed and looked out the window, letting Happy roll up the divider between driver and passengers.  The car remained silent as they drove from the school to the Stark town house.  When they arrived, Happy stopped at the curb and let them out without saying anything.  After Ned shut the door behind him, Happy drove off, leaving the three outside of the house.

"Well then,"  Ned mumbled.  Peter shrugged and walked up to the house.  After punching in his code and greeting FRIDAY, the doors unlocked and they walked in.

"Who wants cookies?"  Peter asked, leading them into the kitchen.  "Pepper got some, but I'm not allowed to eat them all."

"Ooo!"  Ned said, lunging for the tray of cookies as soon as Peter pulled it out.  Peter set it on the counter and the three crowded around it, chatting happily and eating the cookies until Pepper and Tony returned home.