Chapter 3 - Butterfly Effect

A few days have passed since the almost catastrophic start of school. I don't see much of Gwen, but she seems to be well grouped with other students. The only friend I made was Ned; we formed a formidable duo of nerds, especially after we built the Death Star.

The biggest problem faced so far is the countless school assignments, in addition to the overlapping class schedules. I can hardly get any rest. I knew it would be challenging, but this is practically torture.

I feel trapped; I'm always anxious and tired. I miss wandering around the city, creating my paintings, and listening to music. It's been a while since I've felt so uncertain. Perhaps this is the beginning of depression? Well, it's a 50-50 chance, to be or not to be, that is the question.

At the moment, I'm running through the hallways because I forgot the textbook for class, just another normal and calm day. I quickly reach my dorm room, grab the book, and head towards the classroom.

I just didn't expect a girl to turn the corner right in front of me. I tried to dodge, but it was too late.

Bam!

"Ouch!" I think I broke something. I sit up slowly and look to the side. The girl I hit was very pretty, especially with her platinum blonde, almost white hair. Yes... she was very beautiful.

What am I thinking!? "Are you okay? I'm sorry, I didn't see you." I go towards her, trying to help. She seemed fine, just a little dizzy.

"Y-Yes, I think I'm okay," she says, taking my hand as I help her up.

"You know you can't run in the hallways!?"

"I know, but I'm late for class, extreme situations call for extreme measures," I respond, picking up my books from the floor. "By the way, I'm Arthur Maxwell." I say as I stand up and extend my hand to her. 

"Did you just practically tackle me and introduce yourself like this?" She says while analyzing my body. Did I just feel a shiver down my spine? "Hmm~, I like you; I'm Felicia Hardy." Felicia finishes by shaking my hand.

"Di- Did you like me?"

"For sure, you're quite intriguing. Normal guys wouldn't respond to me like that."

'She liked me and found me interesting??' I continue looking in her direction in shock.

"Weren't you late, Arthur?"

"Yes, I am la— YES, I AM LATE!!!" I turn towards the classroom and start running. "See you later, Felicia."

"Goodbye, Arthur~" I hear her from afar.

***

'I am very late.'

( T ʖ̯ T)

Better not wait any longer, I look at the door in front of me, take a deep breath, and begin to open it slowly. The room is dark; if I crouch down, the teacher might not notice. Trying to blend into the darkness, I am eight steps away from my class.

'Okay, that was 3 steps, onl-'

"Sneaking in, Arthur? Late again!" The teacher speaks right after I enter; I'm not as stealthy as I thought.

Time for improvisation. "Einstein said that time is relative, right? I'm not late, perhaps... you all are just early."

Class: (ー_ー)

Teacher: ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)

Arthur: ( ಠ ͜ʖಠ)

Everyone stared at me in complete silence... it seemed much better in my head. I think I'm going to have a mo-

"Hahaha!... my bad... just trying to lighten the mood." A girl with short hair, sitting next to my desk, interrupted my mental distress; someone chuckled, at least.

"And are you going to stand there or sit down!?" The teacher asked, looking at me 'friendly.'

I quickly walk to my seat. Now seated, I see that the girl who laughed at my improvisation is blonde; I couldn't see her eyes well because of the darkness, but I think they were blue.

'She reminds me of Gwen.' I think, glancing out of the corner of my eye.

"Liked the joke," she whispers to me as she approaches.

"Really?"

"Yeah, it was kind of lame... that's why I laughed."

"It was a desperate improvisation."

"It was clever, I liked it."

"I... had never seen you before."

"Shh!" The teacher walks through our midst, interrupting the conversation.

I feel the student quickly glancing at me before looking ahead. I would like to talk to her a bit more, but this teacher is too scary for the risk.

***

The teacher asked me to stay after class; I didn't know what she wanted, and it didn't seem like something good.

She pushes my answer sheet across the desk; 100/100 was written on it. I did really well, but I still don't understand what she wants.

"100? That's an excellent grade! I don't understand what the issue is here, teacher."

"You are a very intelligent student, Arthur. I see great potential in front of me, a prodigy," she says, looking into my eyes. "I'm sure you have as much potential as names like Tony Stark or Bruce Banner."

"Thank you, teacher."

"But..." I thanked too soon. "I don't see you giving your best; you're always late, not paying attention in class, and I've even caught you napping while I was explaining the material."

I just nod; there's no way to justify it.

"Are you thinking of giving up? Or trying to prove you're better than others? I won't let you waste your potential," the teacher says as she writes in her notebook. "I'm assigning you an essay; it's not about physics, it's about you and the person you want to become."

***

I've been looking at the notebook for half an hour, 'Great Expectations' written at the top of the page. I've never been so blank when faced with a school project. Conclusion? I don't know what I want to be or become. In these situations, it is much easier to fight third-rate thieves.

"Haaa... have I become a person without expectations?" I mutter to myself, leaning back in my chair. I look to the left and see the window; slowly, a plan forms in my mind.

I get up, put on my coat, and grab my backpack, heading towards the door. I am stopped by my friend.

"Art, are you going out?" Ned asks, sitting in front of the computer.

"Just going for a walk, need to clear my head."

"That's a bad idea," he says, approaching. "What if you get caught?" He adds in a whisper, as if I'm about to commit a crime.

"Relax, man, no one will know," I say, leaving the room.

***

[ Sunflower- Post Malone, Swae Lee]

"♫ Needless to say, I keep her in check

She was a bad-bad, nevertheless (yeah)

Callin' it quits now, baby, I'm a wreck (wreck)

Crash at my place, baby, you're a wreck (wreck)... ♫"

I walk through the streets of New York with the sound of my headphones at maximum volume; I'm almost at my special spot. Looking around, I observe the movement of cars and people.

I take a deep breath, feeling the freedom around me. 'Yes, this is exactly what I needed.' With renewed motivation and a pounding heart, I walk faster than before.

***

FIUÍÍÍÍ

I wait for the train to pass and jump onto the tracks. I walk quickly to the tunnel and turn right. In front of me, there's a fence with a 'restricted area' sign. I easily hop over the fence, accustomed to it as I've been here several times before.

I pull the switch down, looking around at the now illuminated place. I see various paintings made by me. I developed the habit of drawing when my father died, isolating myself from everyone, finding freedom on paper. As I grew older, I sought larger places to display my art, explored many parts of the city, and it was by chance that I found this one.

"Now the magic begins," I say to myself as I take off my backpack and grab my spray cans. I look at the only wall still empty; it seems today would be my last time here.

***

40 minutes later

I take a few steps back, analyzing my graffiti. 'No expectations' written large in the middle with various colorful shades around. I sit on an old sofa, admiring my painting. The music still plays in my headphones, looking to the side, I see one of my best paintings: Spider-Man, the hero of New York, is there, looking at me.

I put my hand on my chest, feeling my heart racing, the same unexplainable sensation appearing again.

"It seems like these days haven't changed anything; I still feel this, this drive to be more," I reflect, staring at the drawing.

"Would you understand? Do you also have these feelings, Spider-Man?" I ask, not expecting a response from the wall, but rather some kind of enlightenment.

"OUCH!" I feel a sharp pain in my right hand; raising my arm, I see a spider biting me. I stare at it, and it stares back at me.

"OH GOD." Quickly, I slap it. "Damn, I hope it's not venomous," I say as I examine the bite.

Turning my gaze, I see the dead spider on the ground; I take a picture of it, just in case it's venomous.

"I better head back." I gather my things and leave, hoping that bite won't affect my life.

***

PIIII!PIIII!PIIII!

"Ugh, what's that noise?" I complain as I turn off the alarm, which sounded more like a truck horn. I get out of bed and put on my pants.

'Weird... did my pants shrink? Is this some kind of growth spurt?'

***

"Ned, I'm heading out," I say as I leave the room. I try to adjust my pants, but if I pull them down any further, everyone will see my Spider-Man underwear.

'I urgently need new pants.' I conclude in my mind. But—Wait! Why is the voice in my head so loud!? Why are all the conversations around me loud!?

I start to look around, and it feels like I have a new sense inside my head. 'I think I'm starting to go crazy... or someone drugged me.'

"Oopa!"

I was so immersed in my thoughts that I bumped into someone's back. Turning quickly, I see the girl from yesterday. She really reminds me of Gwen. The visible differences are: her front teeth are separated, her short hair, a piercing above her right eye, the clear absence of the headband, and her scent.

'Why am I thinking so fast!? And scent? Seriously? Since when did I become some kind of dog?'

"Are you okay?" she asks.

"What?... Of course, I'm fine." I started sweating a lot.

'Why am I sweating like this!?'

"Why are you sweating like this?"

Time for improvisation. "It's a hormonal thing, you know? I hit puberty... I mean, I didn't hit puberty - I hit, but I'm already out..." I think I wasn't convincing.

"You're new here, right? I'm Arthur Maxwell." I add, extending my right hand.

"Yes, I'm new here." She confirms my suspicion, greeting me with her hand. "My name is Gwe-Gwanda."

"Wait, your name is Gwanda?" I could have sworn she was going to say Gwen.

"Yeah... it's African, I'm... South African, but without an accent because I was raised here..."

I stop listening to what she was saying and look at our hands, which were still together. I try to let go, but they seem glued.

'Okay, okay, stay calm, take a deep breath, there must be some plausible reason for this to be happening.' I try to calm myself and listen to her again.

"...Just kidding, it's just Wanda, without the G, I was just messing around hehe!" She finishes.

"Got it, it's really nice to meet you... see you around... you can let go of me now."

"Let go of you?" She asks when she pulls her hand, not expecting that they were still stuck, even as she tries to separate them. I lose my balance, and my left hand ends up on her shoulder.

"Ugh, what a weird situation, huh, hehehe." I let out a nervous laugh, trying to disguise my embarrassment. As I take my hand off her shoulder, it gets stuck in her hair.

"OUCH!"

"Sorry, sorry, I'm not doing this on purpose." I say, starting to panic. I pull my right hand forcefully and actually manage to free them.

"Ouch! Ow! You need to calm down, it's all be—AH!" I think I pulled her hair too hard.

Due to my unsuccessful attempt to free my other hand, Wanda ended up hitting my chest, trapping my right hand again, this time in her book.

'DAMN! DAMN! Why is this happening!?' I start to feel the gaze of other students on our 'dance,' we're spinning right in the middle of the school hallway.

"Arthur, let go!!"

"I'm trying!"

"Ouch! Ouch! Ow!"

"It's-It's puberty." Damn, I didn't think before speaking.

"Ouch! I think you don't know what puberty is!!... ouch! You need to relax!"

"Alright, I have a plan." Time for improvisation.

"Great."

"I'm going to pull... forcefully."

"This plan of yours is terrible!"

"1"

"Don't pull!"

"2"

"3!" she said, falling to the ground and putting her foot on my stomach, it was pretty coo- WAIT!

"AAAHHH!"

***

Dzzzt! Dzzzt! Dzzzt!

I hear the noise of the machine shaving Wanda's hair around my hand.

"Ah!" I look at her and see the destruction on the right side of her head.

Arthur= ಠ▄ಠ

Wanda= ( ͡°- ͡°)

"...it was a pleasure." I say dejected.

"...the pleasure was mine."

***

The door closes behind me; I look at my hand and see hair still stuck to it.

'Everyone must have forgotten by now.' I try to reassure myself as I walk down the hallway. Unfortunately, everyone is staring at me.

The more I walk down the hallway, the more I hear their voices inside my head. Some are laughing, others mocking, I don't know why, but I could hear all of them. My head is super sensitive.

"Hey! I know you snuck out last night, Maxwell!!"

I force my brain to calm down and look at the security chief staring at me threateningly.

'What do I say? Better play dumb.'

"Who is this Maxwell guy?" NOT THAT DUMB!

I dodge him and start running; I have too many problems right now to deal with this.

'I need to find a place to hide.' I keep looking around as I flee; I think I saw Gwen along the way. Hopefully, she won't say anything to her dad.

I turn left and enter a room. I thought I was safe until I looked around and realized this is the security guard's room.

'Damn!' I curse the absurdity of my situation.

"Maxwell, what are you doing in my office? OPEN THE DOOR!!" I hear the security guard; I try to move away from the door, but my hand gets stuck.

'Why is everything sticking to me!!!!' I put my foot on the door and push; my hand comes off, but my foot doesn't.

I put the other leg and in an impossible way, I stand on the door. What... is happening here... there's no way this can be possible, only Spider-Man can—No, no, no, no, it can't be that.

"OPEN THE DOOR!!"

I hear the screams from outside, but it doesn't matter now, I'm on the ceiling, perfectly balanced, looking around, getting used to seeing the world from this perspective. 'The door is locked; I should have time- 

"I'M GOING TO BREAK THE DOOR!!"

'...or not.' Looking for an escape route, I spot the window, walking across the ceiling and then down the wall. I glance through the glass; there are plenty of cars and people on the street.

"If I go out, someone might see me," I murmur, looking around. When I go to open the window for a better view, I notice that my hand is invisible.

'Oh my God!! Spider-Man doesn't do this!' I reflect, realizing that not only my arm but my entire body is invisible.

"3" I hear the security guard counting. It's now or never. I crawl out through the window, securing my hands on the wall. With uncertainty, I crawl toward my room.

'Keep sticking, keep sticking, keep...'

***

Finally I reached my room, everything went well... except for the part where I almost got killed by a flock of pigeons hitting my face.

I grab my phone, searching for the photo I took of the spider. 'The image is all blurry.' I must have been shaking a lot at the time. Anyway, it's better to go back there.

I dress up, grab my jacket, and quickly leave the room. The last thing I need now is to have to explain myself to Ned.

***

Due to my super-sensitive senses, I decide to take the train. Reflecting on my situation more calmly, I come to a conclusion.

'I have superpowers....' My life would never be the same again.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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.