Another Spider-Man Story

3. when he's testing!

This was the address Grayson was supposed to meet the buyer. A piece of him hoped it was Lea Hissim because that would just be great. But then he realized that Lea Hissim actually doesn't like him. But then the events of earlier came back to mind when she talked to him... and there was hope again.

Suddenly there was a girl from a distance walking towards him. The sky was dark because of the time. Grayson kept looking though, unsure of who it was. The girl did not take a long time to get there. She smiled brightly at the boy.

It was not Lea Hissim. It was a different girl from his class. One he barely ever noticed because his eyes were always on Lea. But he would recognize anyone out of school. You learn those things and observe when you've got no friends.

Grayson couldn't take his eyes off of her, and mouth agape he handed her the picture. Still staring at her face, kind of creeping her out.

She didn't show that though. Her red hair draped over her bowed head as she examined the fully colored rainforest artwork. "Wow. This is so good!" She still looked down at the picture.

Grayson finally snapped out of it and frantically shook his head for a few seconds. "Um.... thank you? Thank you."

"No problem Grayson." She stared at his eyes. She saw the confused look on his face. "Well, you're always raising your hand in class." She chuckled.

"Oh, right." Grayson gulped. This was not going well. "Well, yes. But I don't- I didn't catch your name."

She half smiled. "I'm Cynthia. But everyone just calls me Cyn."

A look of awareness spread over Grayson's face. "Well hi, Cyn."

She got serious for a second, purposefully throwing him off and making him a bit nervous. Because, why not?

"Oh, no, no. You don't get to call me Cyn. We're really not there yet." she stuck up her index finger and moved it on her every word. "But... you give me a call and I'll see what I can do." She smiled at Grayson which completely caught him off guard.

Then there was a small piece of paper in his hand. Cynthia left with a smirk. Grayson was left there feeling awkward. And thanking Max for the newfound confidence and for pushing him into that pit of spiders.

Grayson stood in front of his closet. Thinking just how boring his clothes were and how much he blended in with most other boys in school. He didn't want that anymore. Now he wanted to stand out... Grayson made a quick note to go shopping for new clothes.

He closed his closet door and took his hand off the knob-- wait! No, he didn't. He looked back at his hand. "This adhesive thing is pissing me off now. What's the use of it?" He tried to rip his hand away... it's budging... it's moving.....

He stared in amazement at the thing in the space between his hand and the closet door knob.

And just at that time his little brother Sam flew his room door open. "Hey, I was wondering if I could use your colored pencils as..." Sam quickly looked at his brother's reddened hand. "...drumsticks..." He gulped a little. "Please don't tell me that's-"

"Sam, go!"

"Okay, okay! I'm going." He ran back downstairs to practice with his band and get that sight out of his hands.

Why would he even think it's- Grayson took a second look at it. Oh, okay. I see it now.

Grayson knew better than his less smart brother. That's not what he thought it was. He used his unoccupied hand and held it out. Grayson reluctantly inched his hand closer and closer to touch the web that his hand might have just made. It was a string connecting his right hand to the doorknob. His left hand pushed down on it with a bit of strength but it wouldn't break.

"Extremely strong," he noted about the web. "Just how exactly has this happened?"

Thankfully Grayson was ambidextrous. So while his right hand was stuck to a doorknob... in a way... he used his left hand to draw. It was a killer ache running through his biceps brachii but it made for a good picture. He drew the image he saw of a hand connected to a string of web that was connected to a doorknob.

Finally, there was a release in tension and Grayson was ecstatic. He looked back and saw that the web had greatly loosened up. He used his left hand now and the string broke off like a pencil. Thankfully he had already finished his sketch.

He scrambled to his notepad and scrambled down: web string lasts 10 minutes.

That was new. Grayson added "web" to his list of newfound qualities of himself that already included: abs, adhesion, bone density- bone density, that's the word he was looking for!- and now web.

Seriously though... Grayson went over to his mirror in his room and slid his shirt off. Hello, Archie Andrews. His arms were toned and muscular and not only that but he felt physically stronger. He knew he had to test this out.

He jogged downstairs and only make it 3 steps before stopping. An idea quickly popped into his head. He placed his hands on the stair railing and with only a split second to think leapt over it. He was amazed when he landed on his feet. And he wasn't even tired.

Abs, adhesion, bone density, web fluid, increased stamina, strength.

Wait... these things. They reminded him of spiders...

He ran quickly upstairs which was no biggie now that he has increased stamina. He quickly grabbed his notepad and a pencil and once again leaped over the stair railing. Only this time when he got down he was met by confused faces on about 4 boys. One being his brother. They all had a type of musical instrument.

"That's not very safe..." One of them, Robbie, offered.

"Uh..." Grayson Gordon nodded his head slowly. "I'll be back! Here's some money to order something." He placed a few 10s in his brother's hand and ran out the door.

He rode the bus to a playground he used to use as a kid. Not many kids go there now as they're too busy playing Fortnite or whatever- something Grayson had no interest in. It was set with a rock climbing wall, monkey bars, pull-up bars, and tall structures for slides and ladders. He sighed at his childhood play area, feeling a bit of nostalgia.

He went over to a pole. He was never able to climb this as he was too weak. Grayson glanced at his flexed arm and shook his head, this will be a breeze.

He placed one hand on top of another every time. Thankfully it wasn't the spider hairs in his fingers that were working but his strength at the moment.

When he was finally on top of that piece of equipment he dropped down, surprising himself when he unconsciously dove into a safety shoulder roll. He hadn't even thought about doing it, it just happened!

There was no pain where he fell.

Grayson spotted benches and concrete walls. "Prepare to be amazed, people." He said to absolutely no one, as it was empty, and built up some stamina by running.

His hands were placed instinctively on the top of the bench and he pushed his body up and easily leapt his whole body over the thing. A perfect somersault over the bench almost brought Grayson to tears.

Grayson didn't know who was watching him. A bewildered Max and Tyler looked on at the gymnast-like teen. "Uh... did you know freak could do that?" Tyler Ramirez asked, not being able to look away from the boy who was doing advanced parkour moves over obstacles.

Max answered with an angry grunt. Even he wasn't able to complete those moves. "I hope you don't think that that's cool. Guy's still a freak." He seethed and hit Tyler in his shoulder. "Come on." They left Grayson to his own business.

Gray's long hair was proving to be a problem. Every time he couldn't see something on his left because his long bangs covered his sight. He kept moving through.

Grayson went over to the rock climbing wall. His childhood enemy... he went to the back of it though, where there were no protruding pegs. Then, with a deep breath, he put his hand against the grain textured polymer. Then he put his other hand on top a bit higher. Soon he was bringing up his feet. Soon his hands and feet were moving in sync and up the wall he went.