The kid from Queens

Chapter 1

"Parker, pay attention!"
Peter snapped out of his daze, his nose buried inside his book. He looked up to where Ms Warren was standing at the front of the room, clearly waiting for Peter to answer a question, that he hadn't heard. He skimmed over the board before answering, knowing he would be able to quickly piece together the answer. But there wasn't a question peter could answer at all, and he could answer almost anything the teachers asked him. Ms Warren noticed Peters confusion and re asked her question. "Peter, what is your dream?"
Peter looked at his teacher, raising an eyebrow, bewilderment flashing over his face for a second. "Umm...that's easy. To graduate. to get into Harvard."

Ms Warren sighed before shaking her head. "no Peter. forget about school. what do you want to accomplish with your own life."

This caught Peter by suprise. He looked down at his shoes then back at the teacher standing before him before muttering "i don't know" to break the short silence. This immediately caused Flash to laugh at the back of the classroom. Peter believed Flash had many reasons to laugh at him, it was like he could see through him. see all of Peter insecurities.

"Flash, that's enough." Ms Warren said sternly, hesitating before sympathetically nodding at Peter, trying to present a reassuring smile.
He slowly breathed out a sigh of relief before sinking back into his chair, glad that his one minute of, yet again, being the class joke was over.

"ring ringgg"

"Okay end of class!! let's all make sure we're paying full attention next time. for your homework, I want you all to go home and work on your essays 'what's my dream'. they should be handed in by the end of this semester, going 25% towards your end of year grades."

Peter grabbed his stuff, throwing his backpack onto his shoulders and without glancing up, quickly made his way out of class, pushing past the faces he sees everyday... though also the faces he'd never actually spoken to.

After what seemed like forever, Peter reached his locker, unlocking it and shoving his textbooks inside. He closed his eyes for a brief second, leaning his head again the cold locker door taking a small breath out before feeling a hand touch his shoulder. He held his breath, praying that Flash wasn't standing behind him. Right now he couldn't deal with Flash's smart remarks or petty insults, that although Peter wouldn't want to admit, actually gets to him. He whipped around to find Ned smiling back at him. Peter sighed in relief, smiling at his best friend.

"Hey bud, what's up?"