Chapter 2 - A Normal Life

Piii! Piii! Piii! 

Slowly, I open my eyes. "What a hellish noise," I mumble, still with blurry eyes. 

The door to my room is kicked open. "VAMOS! WAKE UP! WAKE UP! Breakfast is already served!" my mother shouts. 

'Since when did I join the army, and nobody bothered to tell me?'

"I'm already getting up, mother," I respond, still groggy, and turning off the alarm clock.

"Esse é o meu garoto," she said before leaving.

I quickly get up and force the sleep away. I don't want to face Major Alice's second round. As I put on the school uniform, I head to the bathroom to brush my teeth.

"COME ON! COME ON! WAKE UP QUICKLY!" Even from another room, I hear Alice trying to wake up Gwen.

'I don't know what's worse, the scream that wakes up the entire building or Gwen still not waking up anyway.' I reflect as I leave the room and walk to the table.

Upon arrival, I see that George is already eating. "Good morning, father," I say as I sit down and start filling my plate.

"Good morning, son," he says as he takes his eyes off the newspaper. "Excited about the new school?"

"Yes... sure, I've never been so thrilled, just thinking about it makes me want to jump out the window," I say sarcastically. "Why not go to the school where all your friends are going!? After finally being part of a group! It's better to start from scratch, isn't it!?" I continue as I start eating.

"We've talked about this, son. It's the best for your future," he says before going back to reading the newspaper.

While preparing an argument like never before seen, I see Alice returning triumphantly.

"I finally managed to wake her up," she says proudly. "You look so handsome in that uniform! Estou tão orgulhosa do meu bebê" she continued, looking at me with infinite love reflected in her eyes.

"Thank you, mother. I've never felt happier than in this moment," I say, looking between the two.

"And stop calling me bebê, I'm practically an adult now. I thought father had already talked to you about that," I finish, kicking his leg under the table.

He looks at me over the newspaper before lowering it. "He's right, Alice, you need to-" George stopped speaking as he felt the woman who was smiling with love turn that smile into, at the very least, a threatening one. "Your mother is right; I don't see any harm in her calling you that," he quickly concludes before returning to reading the newspaper.

"Coward," I murmur quietly.

"How do you guys have so much energy in the morning?" Gwen asks as she arrives at the table, still groggy.

"Wow, you look terrible, were you hit by a truck or something?" I remark upon seeing her. 'Maybe she left the window open, and a hurricane passed through?' I think as I analyze her. She has changed her hairstyle since I met her, now letting it go past her shoulders.

"Don't say anything, you zombie. Your eyes are so red that the police might pull you over." She said as she sat down.

"Stop, you two! You're always attacking each other; it's time to turn the page." Our mother stopped the "friendly" rivalry. "Today you two are starting a new school, with different people and customs. You two need to support each other." She said, looking at both of us. "Do you understand!?"

"Yes, Mom," we both respond at the same time.

"Good!" She concluded. "I hope you've already packed your bags." She adds, looking at me exclusively.

!!

"Damn!" I quickly stand up, still with bread in my mouth, and run to my room.

"Watch your language!" I hear George in the background.

***

"...So you can always call me, and I'll be attentive, and..." Alice continues to give us recommendations after ten minutes.

"We already got it, mom," Gwen comments, just as deaf as I am. The truth is, my mom is more protective than a mother bear.

George opens the trunk of the car so we can put our bags away. I slowly look at my suitcase, where I have packed as many clothes as possible in the least organized way imaginable. 'At least I managed to close it.' As I put the suitcase inside, I see the evil in Gwen's eyes.

"Wow, this suitcase is terrible, was it run over by a truck or something?" she said before neatly placing her perfectly packed suitcase into the car and getting in.

( ‾ ʖ̫ ‾)

"...One by one, then," I think as I close the trunk and get into the car.

***

We were almost there when George had the incredible idea of reciting everything mother said.

".... I expect responsibility from both of you, as your mother said, you can call at any...." I tune him out as I look out the window and try to listen to the radio.

[.... Another mysterious seismic tremor was felt last night, sources close to Spider-Man say th-] The radio was turned off by George.

"Spider-Man this, Spider-Man that, that masked guy swings 'zip, zap, zup' once a day and doesn't give anyone satisfaction, right?"

"Yes, Dad," we both started responding at the same time.

"Meanwhile, my men are out on the streets."

"Yeah."

"Risking their lives."

"Yes."

"No mask. We show our faces, we're held accountable."

"We know that, Dad." We were used to his indignation at the masked hero.

"He destroys the city more with these monsters than he helps", he ends his speech. "We're here," he said as he parked the car near the entrance.

'Finally,' I think as I step out of the car, look around, and see many students in the same uniform. Brooklyn Visions Academy, that's where I would be studying now. Our parents didn't have enough money for both of us; lucky for me, I passed a scholarship exam that secured my enrollment (Perhaps unlucky, I knew I had to get the last three wrong).

"New school, new life." I grumble irritably. My reluctance with this school was that I considered it too elitist. Like, look at this guy looking me up and down as he passes by on the sidewalk, the guy had two pots of gel on his head, for God's sake.

"I'm almost sure you'll make it," Gwen said as she picked up her suitcase and patted me on the shoulder.

"Yes... Yes, that's the kind of encouragement I needed," I respond as I grab my super-expanded suitcase and go to bid farewell to George.

"I'm very proud of you two. You two have always been the smartest in the family, but remember, great ability has to come with great seriousness," George said as Gwen and I approached.

"Hahaha! That phrase is all wrong, Dad," Gwen comments laughingly.

"What matters is the intention," he said with a smile as he looked at both of us. "Good luck, love you both." He finished as he started the car.

"We love you too," said Gwen.

"Take care," I added.

He waved to us and drove away. I guess it's official now, I'm alone in a 'jungle' full of playboys. Is starting a conversation by asking about your favorite Star Wars character a good idea?

"I told you that cheese pule was worth it," I hear two guys talking. I think this throws my conversation planning out the window.

"Art, we need to talk," Gwen said, looking at me with serious eyes.

"Okay," I respond resignedly and let her pull me aside. I knew what it was about; we've had these conversations a few times, and it was one of the reasons for our breakup.

"You did it again, didn't you?" Gwen asks as she looks at my hands judgmentally.

We were in a corner out of sight from others as she inspected my body. Looking at her, I remember when this started. What's happening? It's simpler than it seems. When I started getting bullied and even after my parents went to talk to the principal, nothing changed. I decided to take up martial arts and defend myself.

Obviously, I didn't become a Jackie Chan, far from it. The only disciplines I trained in were boxing and capoeira. My goal was simple: improve the strength of my punches and my flexibility.

The result was quite good, except for the first time I got carried away and ended up in a trash can... The second time, wel- Okay, the third and the fourth too.

Returning to the subject, after taking a lot of beatings, I finally managed to defend myself. The problem is that I might have overdone it a little, like hospitalizing someone... That was the first fight I had with Gwen; she didn't approve of my extreme methods.

Since then I started taking care of my body, nothing too muscular; I'm still as thin as ever. After all, my purpose was to defend myself, not to become big like George.

One night last year, as I was returning home from an evening run, I saw a man being robbed. I waited for the police or Spider-Man to show up, but nothing happened. Maybe I forgot to call 911? I was in shock, okay? But the important thing was that I understood that Spider-Man can't save everyone.

Since then, I have been going out at night to 'fight crime'. Stupid? I know. Dangerous? Not a lot. I would just beat up some punks on the street; they had no weapons, at most a baseball bat. It felt right; I felt something in my chest, something calling me, encouraging me to take this risk, motivating me to be more... besides, I loved the emotion of the fight.

Gwen found out one night while waiting hidden in my room. Needless to say, she wanted to run out and call our parents. I managed to stop her that night, I promised I wouldn't do it again. A promise I broke many times.

From that day on, she always kept an eye on me, but I still found ways to escape. It continued like this until that night; Gwen had a performance with her band and I couldn't get there in time; she deduced perfectly what I was doing.

I had never seen her so disappointed and sad before. I broke your trust in me, in our friendship. Our relationship, which was already not going well, ended that night, and even our friendship was never the same again. I knew it was my fault, but even though I was hurt, I continued.

Looking at Gwen now, I just see a girl afraid of losing someone important, but she doesn't understand, even I don't understand this feeling, this need to help people.

"Arthur Maxwell, can you hear me!?" she asks, pointing her finger close to my face, a bit of anger escaping into her voice.

"Yes I am." No, I was not.

"I don't understand this madness of yours. You keep going out late at night to be what? A vigilante? A hero? Let Spider-Man do that job." Gwen said, disappointed in me. "Do you think about what will happen if you die? How will Mom feel? Dad? Me?" She finishes, almost desperate.

"I'm sorry, it won't happen again," I say with non-existent confidence.

"Yeah, I don't believe it," she says, looking into my eyes. "I love you, Arthur, which is why the next detail that comes up from these outings of yours, no matter how small, I'm calling Dad and telling him everything." She finishes resolutely.

"I understand, sorry for everything, Gwen. I know I'm hurting you," I respond, looking into her blue eyes. She was right, I know that, and I know I need to stop doing these things. My mom always said that family comes first, and I'm not thinking about them. Am I just a selfish kid, right?

She continues to look at me, looking for any hint of insincerity. "I'm going in, Art, see you later," Gwen finishes as she turns towards the entrance.

I keep looking at his back as he walks away. I look down; the calluses on my hands revealed a lot. Reflecting, I slowly lift my head, determined to stop these impulses and fix my flaws. I look up at the sky for a moment, feeling a familiar tightness in my chest... 'At least I'll try.'

'Haaa… It's going to be okay, you can do it!' I think as I look at the entrance full of students and start walking in that direction. 

Upon entering, I see various groups of students. I don't spot Gwen in any direction, but knowing her, she won't have trouble making friends.

'Okay, time to start Operation Make Friends,' I think, looking around, recalling all the advice I've absorbed from YouTube.

"Hi, good morning," I say to a group, but judging by their expressions, it doesn't seem like a good idea to continue.

'The first contact attempt failed.'

"The weekend flew by, right?" I said to a passing student. I don't think he even heard it... yes, it must have been the noise.

'Second attempt failed.'

"Wow, what a coincidence, we came with the same jacket." Seriously, is this the best I can do? At least this group laughed a little.

'Third try-' I interrupt my internal monologue when I feel a tap on my shoulder. Okay, stay calm, it's happening now.

"Hi-" "Tie your shoe," I'm interrupted before I can finish. I look down and see my untied shoe. About to say thanks, I realize the student is already gone.

'Operation Make Friends fails catastrophically.' I think bitterly, making a mental note not to trust YouTube next time.

***

After recovering mentally, I stand in front of my dorm, praying to the gods. I open the door slowly. The room is small, an already occupied bunk bed below, two windows and a desk with a computer on top.

"H-hi, I'm Edward Leeds, but my parents call me Ned... I mean... my friends call me Ned," says a chubby boy with Asian features.

"Hello Ned, my name is Arthur Maxwell, but you can call me Art," I reply as I raise my hand to greet him. He quickly raises his hand and we greet each other. His hand was as sweaty as mine.

We keep waving our hands together for a while without knowing what to do. I look around for something I can do to break the awkward situation. On his bed, I see a Death Star Lego with more than 3,000 pieces.

'Finally... a worthy opponent! Our battle will be legendary!' I think, shouting to the heavens in my mind. I let go of his hand and look at him with a growing smile.

"What's your favorite Star Wars character?"

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Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or songs featured in this fic. Additionally, I do not claim ownership of any products or properties mentioned in this novel. This work is entirely fictional.