The next day, I woke up early.
"Ugh, the sun is bright." I put my arm over my eyes.
I roll off the bed.
"May shouldn't be up yet." I stand up off the floor.
"Why did I roll off the bed? That was dumb."
I walk to the bathroom. "I still can't get used to this." I look in the mirror. "Emmy… I miss you, sis."
I let the memory of Emmy waking me up play, then cut it immediately as a ping of sadness hits me. I sigh, grab my toothbrush, and brush my teeth for a few minutes. I rinse my mouth, take a shower, and put on clothes.
I go downstairs and see May.
"Hey, May. I didn't expect you to be up this early."
"Hey, Pete. I made breakfast, and I have work today."
"Yeah, I should have guessed. You're wearing your nurse scrubs."
"You have to get to school, Peter." She looks at me with a little smile.
"Yes, yes, I know, May. See ya."
May sits up and gives me a kiss on the cheek. "See you, Peter. Have a great day."
"You as well, May."
I walk out and head to school. On the way, I see Flash Thompson—the Flash from The Amazing Spider-Man movies—hitting a kid. It was Ned from the MCU.
"Where is my money, Ned?"
"I—I don't have it, Flash."
Flash pulls his fist back, but before he could hit Ned again, I run forward and jump, front-kicking him off Ned.
"Flash, what the hell do you think you're doing? If you need money, go work at your future job—Mark's Fast Food—since your grades are so bad!"
(In my head: I could have done better. That was lame.)
"PETER!" Flash runs at me, and so do his two bodyguards.
I back up and signal Ned to run, which he quickly does. For a big dude, he runs fast.
Flash tries to tackle me, but I run.
"AHHH! STOP CHASING ME! GET A LIFE!" I yell.
"This is my life!" Flash yells back.
"You have a bad life, then, man!" I shout.
I run faster and see my classmates at the front door of the school, loading onto the bus. I run to the teacher, and Flash stops, looking pissed, walking in line with his own Crabbe and Goyle.
"Peter, are you okay?" the teacher asks.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't late."
The teacher looks at his watch. "You're early, Peter."
"Yeah, of course. I ran." I rub the back of my neck nervously.
The teacher sighs. "Go get on the bus."
I smile and salute him as I board. Someone wraps their arm around my neck. I look up—it's James Franco's Harry Osborn.
"Hey, Pete. I saw you running. Was it from Flash again, or were you telling the truth?" He smiled cheekily, already knowing the answer.
I laugh. "I think you can guess, man."
He sits beside me at the back. Ned came a little while ago and said thanks.
"Where is he?" I ask.
"He went on the first bus."
"Oh, that makes sense." I lean back.
Harry hits my shoulder softly. "So, you excited to see all the stuff at Oscorp?"
"Of course I am." (I think: because I get powers and I see cool tech.)
Harry fixes his hair, and MJ walks up.
"Hey," she says.
"Hey, MJ."
Harry looks at MJ. "Hey, M. What's up?"
"Nothing really. Just saying hey to a couple of friends."
She pulls on her headphones. Harry takes that as a sign she's no longer conversing and looks back at me, then slowly puts his AirPods in. I laugh because of the deadpan look on his face.
"So, we're just going to ignore each other?" I say.
His response: he continues to look at his phone.
"Well, that answers my question."
I look out the window and think…
(TIME SKIP)
We arrive at Oscorp. Harry wakes me from my nap.
"Pete, wake up, man."
I open my eyes and yawn as I stand.
"Morning, Harry."
I walk off the bus, and he follows me. Flash pushes past me and walks in front. As we step into Oscorp, the teacher raises his voice:
"Students! Be respectful about everything. Do not touch anything without permission, and do not wander off."
He shuts up, thankfully. A girl casually hits me on the shoulder.
"Hey, Pete."
I look over, and from my memory of Peter's life, it's Gwen Stacy—but in this life, I remember her as Jenna Ortega, which is insane. I think about how crazy it is, but I still say, "Hey, Gwen. How are you?"
I pull her into a little hug. She hugs me back, and I have to bend down slightly to hug her. I think, Okay, wow, I'm hugging Jenna Ortega, who is Gwen in this universe. This is unreal.
"Pete, walk with me," she says, grabbing my hand.
I say sure as she starts pulling me off with her.
Harry and MJ look at us with interest, but Gwen seems not to care. She walks us to one of the guides, who leads us around for a while. We meet Ned on the way, and he joins our group of ten, making it eleven.
"Hey, Pete. I want to thank you again for saving my butt back there," Ned says.
Before I could reply, Gwen asks, "Did the Booty Warrior find you?"
Ned laughs.
"I understand that reference," I say. "But anyways, no—Flash was trying to beat him up for money."
"Should I kick him in the balls again?" Gwen asks.
Ned looks shocked. "You kicked him before?"
"Yes, of course. He was trying to hit on me, so I hit him in the balls."
I look at her. "Oh, wow."
I feel a sharp bite on my hand. I let go of Gwen's hand—wait, why was Gwen holding my hand? I pause. Then I feel something crawl up my arm, and I slap it. I pull out a plastic bag I had on me for this exact reason, lightly trap the spider in the bag, and put it in my bag.
Gwen and Ned continue walking. I think she would look back, but I guess when I moved my hand, she got embarrassed. I walk forward and grab her hand. She looks at me but doesn't mention it.
The rest of the day goes by pretty fast—almost in a flash. Anyways, I'm back home, and Aunt May says, "Hey, Pete, how was your trip?"
At this point, I already start feeling dizzy. I say "Good" quickly and run up to my room and lie down on my bed, groaning in pain. Oh my goodness, everything hurts, and I black out.
This is the end of the chapter. Have a great New Year, and let's try to stick with our new plans, yeah? Alright, peace.