Spider-man: Alone in New York

~ Chapter 16 ~

I shrugged on a shirt that had long sleeves reaching the knuckles of my hands, safely covering up the bruise around my wrist. Luckily, today was the only day that I didn't have gym class. Otherwise, I would have been screwed. No way could I blurt out another excuse for the dark-blue bruise on my wrist.

I grabbed my Spider-man suit and the bixon package, stuffing them into a bag to take with me to Ned's place. It was early, earlier than I usually woke up in the morning, but I needed time to go to Ned and copy his homework. Pushing the side of my head to my door, I tried to hear any noise coming from the kitchen or dining area. I heard nothing, so May was probably asleep in her room.

My nose squished when the door opened, creaking loudly. I chewed on my lip as I walked quietly towards the exit of the apartment, my breath even as to not wake her up.

I only had to pass the living room to get to the- I froze when my eyes met May's angry ones. She was perched on the couch with her arms and legs crossed, seeming to have waited for me to crawl out of my room.

She tilted her head to the side, a small smile on her lips that contrasted the real feelings that could only be seen by looking into her rage-filled eyes. "Where are you going this early in the morning?"

"Uh, hi May," I gulped nervously, "I'm going over to Ned's."

She rose an eyebrow. "Oh, why's that?"

I pursed my lips and stared at my sneakers. One of them was missing its shoelaces. How? I didn't know. Just happened somehow. "We were playing video games yesterday, and I forgot that I had brought my backpack with me to his place. So I need to go back to get it."

"Hm. I must say, I was surprised to see you in bed last night before your curfew ended." Her watching me while I was sleeping caused a shiver to crawl up my spine. I couldn't even lock my door anymore because she had broken it down a couple of months ago. She continued, "Too bad my proud feeling was ruined by what I saw in front of our door when I came in."

She stood up and picked something up at her feet, placing it on the dining table. A big, cardboard box. And then she lifted another one, putting it beside the other one.

My heart hammered in my chest. I had seen those before. Yesterday, at Stark Tower. In the boxes is the stuff he bought for me. Gosh, I didn't even think about what he was saying when I had run out of the building. I was too focused on getting to Ned.

"What the hell is this?" She opened the box, displaying the shoe boxes inside.

I opened my mouth, but no sound came out, so I closed it. I tried again, "Um, I-uh. I don't know."

"Then why is it addressed to you? Right here." She pointed to a slip of white paper on top of the box. "It says Peter B. Parker and our address under it." I stayed quiet as she started to freak out, her voice getting louder by every word. "I can't believe you are so selfish. I can't! I try to keep a job to pay the bills, and what do you do? You buy yourself clothes and expensive sneakers? You already have shoes. You already have clothes. Why are you so selfish?" By that time, she was yelling at the top of her lungs, making her sound shrill and painful to my ears.

"I didn't buy that. I got it as a gift," I tried to explain.

She laughed humorlessly. "A gift? That's your excuse this time? Who would ever give you, you little piece of shit, a gift? Funny. Downright hilarious. How about next time, you make your lie a bit more believable? Honestly, how stupid do you think I am?"

"Tony Stark gave me those. I swear, I have an internship with-"

"Shut up! Stop with these lies! You used the money that you made from your job to buy useless clothes, even though you have everything you need. Selfish, so selfish! I needed that money you got from your job!"