'Protect Her' ✘ Peter Parker || EN

- T H R E E -

Peter // 9.22 am

I examined the red and blue fabric, my fingers tracing the area someone had tried to pierce with a fork the day before. Not a mark to be seen. The suit kept amazing me as it survived each battle.

My shoulder, on the contrary, had a bruise that looked like every color of the rainbow. The suit was basically impenetrable, but that didn't take away the fact that each unanticipated assault hurt like absolute hell.

I stuffed the suit into my backpack and zipped it to a close. I took a brief look in the mirror, to check if I looked okay.. then mentally punched myself, realizing no one would see my face anyway. As I stood in the doorway, I glanced back once more, to detect any traces that would give away where I was truly hiding out. When I didn't, I shut my bedroom door and turned on my heel to enter the living room. May sat at the dinner table, behind her laptop. Her head shot up as I greeted her.

'Where are you going?' She asked, with the end of her pen between her teeth. I showed her my backpack. 'I'm just going to the library. Thought I'd get ahead of the schoolyear.' I lied. She watched me for a few seconds, while her lips slowly stretched into a smile. 'You're such a smart boy. It doesn't surprise me that Stark chose you.' She chirped, proudly. I smiled shyly but felt a pit in my stomach, knowing I wasn't actually doing the work and thus lying to her.

'Maybe you can take over Stark Industries someday.' She said, winking at me. I rolled my eyes. 'I wish, May. Besides, I'm pretty sure he has relatives for that.' I said, collecting my shoes and kneeling down to put them on. 

'Yeah, I guess so. But you never know... She's your age, isn't she?' May said, a serious tone in her voice. I stood up, sighed, and gave her a death stare. May always joked about crazy ideas, but somehow she really thought they were possible. 'Yes, she is. And you-' I pointed at her as I walked backward, towards the door. '-are insane.' I said, grabbing the doorknob. May scowled. 'Hey, life is full of surprises! I mean, you already have a link to Stark-'

'Bye, May!' I shouted as I stepped into the hallway. She rolled her eyes, chuckling to herself as I threw the door to a close. 

I left the building, then walked around it, towards the back. There, I snuck into an empty alleyway, where I normally changed as well. The complex I lived in, consisted of a few buildings, and they were all connected through alleyways. No one ever came out there. There was usually just a bunch of trash placed outside the backdoors, so whenever I hung up my backpack, I always made sure the garbage collectors wouldn't count it as trash as well. 

I quickly changed into my suit, in the corner of the alley, and hid my backpack under the stairs. After checking my web-shooters, I jumped up and down a few times to warm up my legs and ankles, stretched briefly, and finally shot some webs to the two buildings beside me, launching myself through them.

The city was buzzing, as always. Despite it still being morning, the streets were filled with noises from cars, people shouting, dogs barking, and music playing. I swung through the city, on my way to my high school, where Jade Stark was headed as well. She was supposed to make some tests today, as part of her admittance to the school. I'd never seen Jade Stark in real life. The media rarely ever covered her, thanks to her parents' efforts to keep her life as private and separate from the public, as possible. It was weird to think that, soon, she would literally be my classmate. 

It only took me two minutes to get there. Never had I been there during summer break, or any school break for that matter, so it was weird to see the parking lot so deserted. As I waited, I paced around on the roof of the school for a while, making sure no one would see me. I did some stretches, asked Karen to scan the building below me and check how many people were down there, and hummed some songs to myself. 

No 5 minutes later, a black, sleek-looking car pulled up in front of the school. I neared the edge, kneeling down to prevent anyone from noticing me, and watched as Happy stepped out the car. He politely went to open the cardoor to where, I would assume, Jade was sitting, but that door opened before he even reached it. 

Jade stepped out by herself, not accompanied by anyone. She waved Happy off, and I could hear her joke, saying that she was a 'big girl'.

Her voice laughter and her banter with Happy... sounded like music to my ears. Never before, had I heard a voice that confident, yet soft. I laid down on my front, only the top of my head sticking out over the edge, as I studied her every move.

As far as I could see, she was the perfect mix between her parents. The way she carried herself, reminded me exactly of Mr. Stark. Self-assured, with her chest puffed out and a cocky smirk on her face as she teased Happy. But her laugh sounded kind and compassionate, which reminded me of Mrs. Potts... But she had her very own style.  I was mesmerized by the way her hair moved, as she walked up the stairs to the entrance of the school. Her hair color resembled that of Mr. Stark, as did the features of her face.

I watched as Happy walked by her side. When they entered the building, and I thus lost sight of them, I got back up on my feet and dusted myself off.

I could only hope no one saw me up here. That would be weird.

As I started running towards the back edge of the roof, I shot a web towards one of the skyscrapers across the road and started making my way to Downtown Manhatten.