Chapter one

19.

Today was a good day for Peter Parker. A great day, even. He woke up early, got to eat a full breakfast, didn't forget his homework, and his senses weren't dialled up to somewhere above eleven.

Now , of course, , this lead him to be even more cautious than normal.

And , of course, , the only time he found himself relaxing, his Parker luck strikes.

Peter miserably looked at the whiteboard in front of him. It seemed to mock him. "FIELD TRIP TO STARK INDUSTRIES." The class broke out into chaos, excitedly chatting about the upcoming trip. Mr Harrington tried - and failed - to calm his class. The older man eventually sighed, giving up on his tries. Harrington grabbed two stacks of papers, which Peter could only assume were the permission slips and NDAs. Peter felt like crying. Of course, it had to be a field trip to Stark Industries. It was like the universe hated him. Peter loved the Tower, it was the place where he spent most of his time, but the fact that he was going with his class made him want to curl up and die. Peter let out a groan and dropped his head on the table.

And of course, Flash noticed. In the midst of the chaos, he addressed Peter. "What's up, Parker? Scared that your little lie gets revealed? Man, I can't wait." Flash shut up when Harrington gave his NDA and permission slip. He waited for the teacher to be out of earshot. Peter, however, didn't care about being reprimanded by his teacher and raised his head to say something, but it seemed that Flash found it appropriate to continue. "It's not too late to come clean, you know?" He eyed Peter, looking at him. "It seems like teach' also doesn't believe you. You didn't even get a permission slip." Flash let out a snort and packed the rest of his belongings with newfound triumph. If MJ wasn't sick that day, Peter knew that the conversation would've ended differently. Peter let out another groan that made Ned speak up. "You okay dude?" He eyed Peter with concerned, but poorly hidden excitement in his eyes. Ah, right. Ned, on the other hand, did not have a fake internship to cover his crazy superpowers that made him sticky. No, he was a nerd, a smart one at hand, and going to such a company is something every nerd wanted to do. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him. Peter didn't want to ruin this for him, so he decided not to complain to his friend.

The school bell went off, indicating that the day was over. The class slowly emptied out, Flash and his friends being the first ones that bolted out. Probably telling the whole school about the lack of his NDA and permission slip. Peter elected to ignore Flash and focused on his conversation with his best friend and packing his stuff. "I'm fine, Ned. Just a bit tired." Ned gave Peter an accusatory look that he knew he only got from MJ's influence. Peter sighed. "Really, I'm fine!" Ned playfully rolled his eyes and replied. "When someone usually says they're fine, it means they aren't" Peter and Ned were done packing their stuff and went to leave the classroom, ready to continue their banter on their way to sweet, sweet freedom.

Well, that was the plan, until - "Mr Parker, can I speak with you?" - yeah, that. Peter gave Ned an apologising look and his best friend shrugged. Ned spoke up. "I'll see you tomorrow?" It was more of a question than a statement, Peter knew that, because you'll never know when your superhero friend with freaky spider powers is too hurt to attend school. Peter raised his hand to do their signature handshake. Ned accepted. "Of course! Bye, Ned!" Ned left with a smile, happy that Peter was coming to school tomorrow. Ned was the last person - except for Peter and his teacher - to leave the classroom, so he closed the door. Now it was just Peter and Mr Harrington. Harrington looked at Peter and gestured him over to his desk.

Peter walked towards the desk, toying with the straps of his backpack. Mr Harrington didn't say anything for a while, and it made him nervous. Did he forget to turn something in? As far as Peter knew, he was up to date with all his classes, and he did it good as well. Well, Spanish and English could always get better, and he should not forget to ask Daredevil for his help next time, but that wasn't the point.

Mr Harrington eventually sighed and started speaking. "Look, Peter, this is about the field trip and your internship. As you've noticed, you didn't receive any papers from me." Peter bit his lip. Harrington didn't believe it either, didn't he? So Flash was right?

Harrington noticed his uneasiness and quickly resumed speaking. "Don't worry, I believe you. You have all the legal papers turned in, and if anyone at this school would get an internship like that, it would be you." Peter sighed, some tension leaving his shoulders. He was glad that someone believed besides Ned and MJ.

"But that's not the point." Harrington continued, and Peter's nervousness came back, "The thing is, the rest of the school doesn't believe it. And as much as I want to, I can't do much to stop it. Yes, I could send the people away during the trip, but that won't change much. Well, certainly not at school." Harrington bit his lip. "As you know, or if you didn't you do now, Mr. Stark, Morita, and I have been actively in contact. And we decided that you won't attend the trip as a student."

Peter's eyes widened, his whole body tensed, and he wanted to say something because he couldn't attend. Peter wasn't keen on going with his class, but a tour of the Tower was still a tour of the Tower. He never had any of those. Peter wanted to retort, say anything to defend himself but he quickly got interrupted by his teacher again. "Don't worry, we thought that it would be best for you to stay at the Tower, intern there or blow something up - yes I've heard about that, don't give me that look, - and give the school a demonstration of what you do when we reach the floor that you intern at during the tour."

That was... Surprisingly an amazing idea. One problem? He didn't intern at Stark Industries. He interned for Mr Stark. Yes, they did turn in the legal papers, but that didn't mean anything to him. Peter has never interned there, nor shown his face... But if Mr Stark agreed to it, there surely had to be a solution. Right? Peter realised Mr Harrington had been waiting for an answer, so he paused his train of thoughts, and spoke up, with an annoying voice crack. "Seems like the perfect idea, sir!" Harrington, clearly relieved to have solved a part of this web - ha, web - of conflicts, sighed in contentment when he spoke again. "Alright, that's settled then. Make sure to go over the whole thing with Mr Stark. If you don't have anything else to say, you're dismissed." Peter shook his head, and left the classroom, - "Don't forget your science homework, Peter!" "I won't!"- left the school, and waited for Happy, stuck in traffic, to pick him up. Maybe, he could have a normal field trip for once.

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Oh boy was he wrong.