Shadow // Peter Parker (Book 1)

Part 7

Song: 'Youngblood' by 5 Seconds of Summer
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Ellie POV

"See you Dad" I call as I close the door and leave my apartment. It's finally Friday, which means I can finally relax. This week has been so hectic, I just need a break.

As I walk into the school to my locker, I see everyone engrossed with their phones and gossiping. I can't believe the news of Shadow has spread so quickly.

"Hey!" I hear someone say. I look up and I see Peter smiling at me. You know, the one that sends me into a bottomless pit of blushing and stuttering.

"Hi" is all I can manage.

"So, any plans for the weekend?" He says while he gets his books from his locker. I shrug. With Shadow out of my life for the moment, I don't know what I'm gonna do all weekend.

"Well, Ned and I were going to hang out tomorrow so do you wanna join us?" He asks me.

"Yeah sure!" I smile.

"Okay great! We'll come to your apartment at around 2pm" he says. I nod in agreement.

Suddenly, I see Flash walking towards Peter, but he sees me and quickly walks away. "You have him scared shitless" Peter laughs.

I shrug. "He has nothing to be scared of".

"I know that. You're not a bad person or anything, it's just you know how to stand up for yourself, which is admirable" Peter says. Why does he always compliment me?

"Thanks, I think" I laugh.

"Well, I'll see you later" Peter smiles as he walks to class. I sigh to myself. He really is just too good to be true.

There has to be some flaws or dirty secrets lurking, cos no one can be that perfect! I can't wait to hang out with them tomorrow.

Hopefully I won't completely make a fool of myself.

(End of school)

I wait outside for Peter, but he's really late. I'm getting a little worried. He's usually here on time. I guess I'll have to walk home alone. It's a little weird, since I've been walking home with Peter all week, but I can't always count on him I suppose.

I'm a little nervous though. Those alleyways are dodgy, and since I don't have my suit, and I don't have Peter with me, I'll only have just plain old me to defend myself. I should be fine though. No one will come after me unless it's a petty robber or thug.

I make my way to the apartment, so far so good. I grow more confident with every step. This isn't that bad! I guess I don't need the suit to be confident or bad ass after all.

I go down the final alleyway to get to my building, but there's a dark figure standing in the center of it. I pay no attention to them. Probably a drunk or something.

Suddenly, the figure starts moving towards me. I can see it's a male. I'm getting a bad vibe off this guy. I quickly turn around but there's another man standing behind me. One by one, more men start to appear and there seems to be six in total.

"Look, I have no money if that's what you're wondering" I say raising my hands. Suddenly, one of them grabs my arm and pulls me towards him.

"It's not money we want" he says lowly.

With my free hand, I punch him in the face and I run. But I'm not quick enough, as one of them grabs my hair and pulls it, causing me to let out a shout in pain. "Where's the suit" another man says, yanking my hair harder.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" I exclaim. Another guy punches me in the face.

"Where is it?! Who made it?!" He shouts in my face. I elbow the guy who's holding me in the stomach and kick him onto the ground.

They all start to charge at me, and I start to fight back. It's not as easy without my suit. I'm starting to lose control, but then suddenly something swoops in, sending one of them into the brick wall.

We all look up in confusion. I was not prepared for what I saw. "Hey, your cult gathering was two hours ago! You're all late!".

Spider-Man. Oh my God. He's actually here. Wait. I don't have my suit. So I'm just a normal citizen to him. Thank God for that, cos if he knew I was Shadow, I wouldn't hear the end of him bragging about saving me.

He webs two of the guys to the wall. Another guy charges at him and starts fist fighting him. I want to go and help, but I can't raise any suspicions. He seems to be doing alright without me.

Out of the blue, the guy standing behind me pulls me towards him and puts his arm around my neck to stop me from moving. I try to kick him from behind, but his grasp is too strong I can't move.

"Hey!" He yells at Spider-Man, who is just after knocking out the guy he was fighting. He immediately freezes when he sees me. The guy takes out a gun and puts it at my head. "You move a muscle, and her head gets blown off" he shouts.

Spider-Man stays perfectly still, unsure of what to do. "Right. You're gonna tell me where that suit is, and who made it right now Shadow or I'm gonna send you six feet under" he whispers in my ear.

My heart drops when he says this. I know what he's after. "I'm not telling you a damn thing shithead" I mutter, struggling to escape.

"Okay then! Any last words for your little friend?" He asks me, motioning towards Spider-Man.

I look at Spider-Man. I have an idea. "I've got two things to say actually! First, he's not my friend. And second" I say before winking at Spider-Man to get his attention. "And second, watch your feet" I say nodding at him.

It takes Spider-Man a few seconds to pick up on what I just said, but he does, and he webs the guys legs, causing him to fall over flat on his face. I break free and run away from him, behind Spider-Man, who webs the guy's hands and feet together.

"Wait!" I say. He turns to me confused. I walk up to the guy who threatened me, and I punch him across the jaw for good measure. I turn around to Spider-Man, who just stares at me. I shrug. "He deserved it".

He picks up my bag that was thrown onto the ground and hands it to me. "Thanks" I mumble. I literally can't believe Spider-Man saved me. If he knew I was Shadow, this would be even more embarrassing.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He asks me. I can see him looking at me all over to check if I'm hurt.  The right side of my face hurts from being punched, but I'll be okay. I still can't get over how I was that pathetic that Spider-Man had to save me.

I nod to show I'm okay, but I look down to hide my shame.  "Get home safe okay?" He says brightly before jumping onto the building.

"Hang on a minute!" I call after him. He looks down at me. Jeez, I can't believe I'm about to do this. "Thanks" I say sheepishly. He nods and webs his way into the city.

I can't believe this. I knew something like this would happen if I didn't have my suit. I'm so embarrassed. And ashamed. I guess Spider-Man isn't actually that bad. In fact, I would go as far as to say he's actually okay at what he does.

God there's something I never thought I'd even think about. I kinda feel bad for being so cruel to him. Well, I can't apologize to him now, without my suit to disguise me. I'm gonna have to wait until I get it back so I can talk to him properly.

Until then, I have tomorrow to worry about! I need to pick an outfit and everything. I wonder what we're gonna do, I don't mind whatever it is. Just hanging out with him is enough for me. I feel butterflies in my stomach. Is this what crushing on someone feels like? Cos I think I'm pretty close.