Writing Shorts

(MCU Spider-Man) New Normalcy

This is an excerpt from a MCU story I may or may not be planning to write in the future. 

This is set post-Endgame, but Spider-Man: Far From Home does not happen.  This is only a preliminary chapter, but the story would center around Peter Parker (Spider-Man) and Michelle Jones a.k.a "MJ."  

...

Talkin' to myself and feeling old.
Sometimes I'd like to quit.
Nothin' ever seems to fit.

Hangin' around, nothin' to do but frown.
Rainy days and Mondays always get me down.

-  The Carpenters ("Rainy Days and Mondays")

...

Peter walked through the hallways of Midtown School of Science and Technology, his high school.

Most of the faces among him looked completely unfamiliar. The world truly seemed to move on without him.

Five years. He still couldn't believe it.

He was glad Ned was still there, having exchanged the heartfelt handshake and embrace with his best friend earlier this morning.   Apparently, the Decimation—the Blip, as people were calling it—had claimed the lives of many of his classmates, including Ned, Betty, Flash, and Michelle. Thanks to the Hulk, they were back, and so was he.

He gazed at the trophy display case, of Midtown's Decathlon team.  The team who had won without him.

Why did some of them still want me around? Not just Ned, but MJ, and Cindy, and....

Some people would call these hallways home.   But not him.   Not when he spent a quarter of his sophomore year yearning to rise to the same league as the Avengers.

First, his home was the apartment in which he lived with his aunt and now-late uncle.   Then, he had dreamed of a sweet room in the Avengers' compound with famed heroes like War Machine or Vision, made even more tempting by Stark's invitation to join the Avengers.

Now... he had no clue.

Michelle Jones joined him at the trophy case.  She glanced at Peter before giving a quick nod in greeting. "Peter."

"Hey, MJ," he responded.

The two turned to look at the trophy case.  The trophy itself gleamed as it where it stood on the platform.   Above it was a photo, of the same trophy held up triumphantly by an Asian girl that Peter recognized as Cindy Moon from his old class.

"Cindy... Abe... Sally... most of them moved on already," Peter muttered.

"The principal told me that Cindy took over as the Decathlon captain after I was... was Blipped," Michelle's voice trailed off.   "She graduated already, but chances are, I'm not getting that spot back."

Peter looked away for a second, not wanting to think about having to ditch the Decathlon team to stop those bad guys working for the Vulture.   It was as if trying to impress Stark felt worthless now...

"Isn't it weird, Peter...?" Michelle muttered.

Peter looked at her, half-alarmed. Don't tell me you fi—

"...what felt like a few months ago, they were exactly our age," she finished.  "Now, they're five years ahead of us."

Peter's shoulders slumped in relief, and he let out the half of a breath he just realized he was holding.  If MJ noticed his reaction, she didn't speak up about it.