Back to School

A lot of society had been damaged by the Snap. Half of the entire world's population had been there one moment, and then gone the next. A lot MORE people had died in the ensuing absence of those who had been snapped out of existence. There was a LOT of damage, so much that Peter wasn't even sure they'd managed to fully categorize everyone even five years later. Five years just wasn't enough time to figure out who was snapped out of existence, who died as a result of that Snap, and who was just plain missing and might be out there somewhere still.

Unfortunately, the Hulk's Reverse Snap (Peter refused to call it the Blip) hadn't fixed all of that. He'd brought back everyone killed by Thanos' original snap, but that didn't mean the world, or the universe was suddenly all better. They'd be recovering from this shit for a long, long time, and Peter was very aware of that fact. It was part of why he felt like he HAD to go out every night as Spider-Man. There were too many people, either evil or just plain down on their luck, trying to harm others for their own selfish reasons. Peter refused to let those people get away with it. He refused to let evil and selfishness win.

But none of that changed the fact that Peter was still technically a teenager. Five years had passed for those who hadn't been Snapped, but for those who had, it was like time had passed them by. Peter should have been in college at this point, he should have been in his twenties. Instead, he was still obligated to attend and finish High School, as annoying as that was.

If not for MJ and Ned, he probably would have asked Toni to help him test out. He was almost certain that he was smart enough for it, and even if he wasn't, some weekend tutoring with Toni, or if she was too busy, with Fri, would probably allow him to get his GED and graduate early with the snap of his fingers… okay, maybe that wasn't a good analogy anymore.

But no, there were at least two people that made going to school tolerable for Peter, and as he enters the front doors of Midtown Tech, it's like those two people materialize out of the crowd to walk beside him.

"Peter, there you are! Oh, hey MJ!"

"Sup."

On the one side is Edward 'Ned' Leeds, Peter's best friend, as excitable as ever and eager to chat. On the other side, completely nonchalant and totally chill like always is Michelle Jones, or 'MJ'… the girl Peter had just been starting to secretly develop a crush on, back before the Snap. And he'd continued developing it after the Reverse Snap.

Except… now he'd had sex. Not just with Friday and Karen in incredibly realistic gynoid bodies, but also with a living breathing human woman, Black Cat. But… the white-haired cat burglar had said clear as day that she wasn't interested in him, right? So, it wasn't like… it wasn't as if he was off the market or anything. Or maybe he should be, because of what he had going on with Friday and Karen?

Peter winces at that. Friday was extremely eager to have him fuck more women. She was all for it, in fact, even egging him on when it'd come to the way he'd… well, the way he'd plowed Black Cat silly. Peter could admit, in his heart of hearts, that he had enjoyed putting the gorgeous white-haired thief in her place. And really, he'd been doing a good thing, hadn't he? A night spent having feelings-free, strings-free sex with him was a night she wasn't out stealing, right?

But would MJ understand that? He had to admit, his closest female friend played her cards close to her chest. She was as cool as a cucumber and could be described as 'chronically nonchalant'. Except, Peter had come to understand her just a little bit better since they got back. He realized now that MJ wore her 'coolness' as a sort of defense. It might be at least partially real, to be fair, but at the same time, he knew she wasn't a robot or anything like that.

Hell, even the robots in his life showed more human emotion then MJ sometimes. That acerbic wit of hers was a defense mechanism, and whether or not she'd actually be down to share him with Artificial Intelligences or cat burglars was very much up in the air. Maybe… maybe it wasn't worth bringing it up. Maybe it was better to just stay friends and not worry about it so much…

Realizing how far they've gotten down the hall while he's been lost in thought and recognizing that both Ned AND MJ are now staring at him curiously, Peter chokes on his spit a little and gives them both a quick smile.

"Oh, sorry. Um, hey Ned, hey MJ. I was just… lost in thought."

MJ raises an eyebrow at that, and the corner of her mouth begins to go up as well. She looks like she's one second away from saying something particularly caustic, before Ned beats her to it, seeming to decide he knows exactly what Peter is talking about and coming to his defense.

"Oh hey, it's no big deal, Peter! You uh, have trouble sleeping last night? Did you try reading a book like I suggested?"

Ned meant well; he really did… but his attempts to cover up for Peter's nightly excursions as Spider-Man were so blatantly obvious it wasn't funny. Still, he was trying, and Peter couldn't fault him for that, now could he?

"… Yeah Ned, I tried reading a book. I uh… I just got too sucked into it to be able to put it down. Ended up reading the entire thing. Maybe next time I'll try a textbook."

MJ snorts at that, and the three of them continue on their way down the hall, exchanging banter and making their way to their home room together. Yeah, at the very least, MJ and Ned tethered Peter to his secret identity in a way no one else besides Aunt May really did. He couldn't just abandon them to suffer here in High School alone. So, he'd stick it out with them, and they'd all graduate together in another year or so. And everything would be fine.

-x-X-x-

"Alright class, settle down! We've got an announcement to make before we begin!"

As Peter turns his head towards the front of the classroom, he belatedly notices a girl he's not chatted with that much staring at him. Felicia Hardy, if he's recalling correctly. A brunette with blue eyes, something about her strikes him as a little familiar… and a little off? Blinking at her, Peter finds himself staring right back. It's her hairline, he realizes. At first glance, her hair looks perfectly fine. But now that he's looking for it…

… Is she wearing a wig? A moment later, Peter feels a spike of guilt at that. So, what if she is, right? It's an incredibly well-made one, from what he can tell. Only because of his enhanced senses is he able to tell that something is off. And there are plenty of very good, very personal reasons that Felicia might be wearing a wig.

At the same moment that Peter is feeling incredibly guilty for thoughts he's never even voiced aloud, Felicia seems to finally realize he's looking back at her. Either that, or she was playing chicken this entire time and finally broke, because she quickly averts her gaze and so does Peter, feeling like an absolute heel.

"Attention, please! Eyes up front, that's right!"

Oh yeah, there was something going on, wasn't there? Peter finally ACTUALLY looks up at the front of the classroom, only for his eyes to widen ever so slightly. There, standing with their homeroom teacher at the front of the class, is a very pretty blonde. It would be an exaggeration to say she's one of the most beautiful girls Peter has ever laid his eyes on. A total, complete exaggeration. And yet, that's still his first, instinctive response, as silly as it is.

"I know it's been a little while since we had a new student join, but given the Blip was only a few months ago, everything is still… shaking up, so to speak. As such, I'd like you all to meet Gwendolyne Stacy, your newest classmate. Gwendolyne, would you like to say something about yourself?"

Her cheeks slightly red at the sudden attention focused her way, Gwendolyne smiles and ducks her head, one hand coming up to curl a lock of her blonde hair back in an incredibly cute display of her nervousness.

"Well, um… please, just call me Gwen. Gwen Stacy. And yes, I am related to that George Stacy, the new Police Commissioner. He's my father. Like many of you, I was Snapped away and then brought back. So now, after a short adjustment period, I'm here to finish my education."

By the time she's done talking, she's found her confidence. Though that doesn't stop her from coming across very prim and proper. Is it bad that Peter is at half-chub right now? Yeah, yeah it's probably bad. Especially when MJ reaches over and punches his leg.

"You're drooling there, loser."

Her tone is playful and Peter grins, even as he ducks his head and averts his gaze. With the introduction done, Gwen goes and takes an empty seat, and classes begin. Oh so very boring High School Classes that Peter doesn't even begin to know what to do with. It's all just… it's stuff he already knows, to be frank. He really is just here for Ned and MJ, at the end of the day. He doesn't even need to take notes, really, so he just doodles until the class comes to an end.

On his way out, he very nearly bumps into the new girl, Gwen Stacy. Only some quick reflexes keep them from colliding, but that's still enough for her to notice him, looking his way. When she gives him a cheery smile and does another hair tuck behind the ear, Peter can't help but smile back. Luckily, he doesn't open his big fat mouth and say anything, because he's sure he'd put his foot in it real bad.

What do you even say to someone, when the only thing the two of you have in common is losing five years of your life? Really, it was better if he just… let it be, wasn't it? He had Ned and MJ; he didn't need to go around bothering Gwen too.

Of course, it's not until his next class that he realizes someone slipped a note into his spiral when he wasn't looking. Which was… not just surprising, but downright shocking. His spidey sense hadn't gone off at all though, so it probably wasn't anything bad, right? The note DID say for him to go behind the bleachers either during lunch or after school for a meeting.

Once again, his spidey sense wasn't tingling… but he was still a little twigged out. He was weirded out enough that he kept the note from even Ned, something that was perhaps a little out of character for him. At the end of the day, Peter just wasn't sure what to do. When lunch arrived, he stuck with Ned and MJ mostly on auto-pilot, and it wasn't until the three of them were all in the cafeteria with their trays, sitting down at their usual table, that Peter finally remembered the note.

At the same time, his eyes had caught on a familiar head of blonde hair. To Peter's surprise, Gwen was sitting alone. Which was weird, right? Because she wasn't just pretty, she was gorgeous, and he'd expect at least one of the cliches to pick her up. Maybe it was her dad being Police Commissioner? Midtown School of Science and Technology was in no way a hive of scum and villainy… but it was full of rebelling teenagers throwing parties and getting drunk and sometimes even doing drugs they really shouldn't be doing.

Befriending the Police Commissioner's daughter probably wasn't anyone's idea of a good time, at least on the first day, especially when she came across so goody two-shoes, Peter supposed. That didn't mean they wouldn't eventually approach her though. Being friends with the Police Commissioner's daughter, especially if she turned out to be cool with some stuff on the downlow, could be a huge boon.

They were assessing the situation, he realized. Like a bunch of fucking animals at a damn watering hole, everyone was trying to get a feel for the new girl still and trying to decide if they wanted to stick their necks out to try and befriend her.

… What if Peter befriended her? He could… go over there and sit with her. Could spend his lunch with her. Ned and MJ would understand. Peter didn't want to involve them… not because of anything untoward, but simply for fear of overloading the new girl with too many people too fast. Yeah, that was it.

But then there was the note too! Who had given him a note?! Damn it, Peter felt like he was being pulled every which way. He was only really here for Ned and MJ… so maybe he should stay with them? Or maybe he should go eat with Gwen Stacy. Or maybe he should see just who was waiting for him behind the bleachers right now, to get to the bottom of that mystery as soon as possible.

Fuuuuck, why was High School just as complicated and hard to navigate as crime-fighting? It wasn't fair!