"Why?" I asked for what I felt was the hundredth time.
"Because going to school is what a normal 16-year-old should be doing," Richard replied.
"Really? Do normal sixteen-year-olds work in the same building as the smartest man alive?" I raised an eyebrow.
"No, but you do need to develop people skills, which is why your mother and I wanted you to go to school in the first place."
"I have great people skills!" I called out.
"Really?"
"Yes," I nodded, "I mean heck, how many kids do you know who have Tony Stark's number on speed dial, Cap's home address and Hulk's spare purple pants?"
Richard sighed, "the Avengers aren't regular people, Peter. You need to do this to make friends."
"I have friends!"
"Really? How many?"
"Ah….five?" I blinked. Wow, did I really know so few people?
"You're going to school," Richard replied with a serious glare, "no arguments."
"You know, if you just let me start college already I would get on amazingly with the mature crowd there."
"You have to get used to dealing with morons, Peter — that's the burden of being a genius," Richard replied, grabbing my backpack and throwing it to me, "relax, kiddo, you'll have fun."
I rolled my eyes, "I hate you so much right now."
"I'm sure you do," the man chuckled as I walked out of the house. I saw Ben and May finally coming out from hiding and talking to Richard; I guess they wanted this to be a father and son moment.
I looked at the driveway and smiled at the sight of my car. Well, at least not everything would be the same.
"Hey Peter," MJ called out as she came over from across the street, "ready for a new year?"
I raised an eyebrow, looking at her brand new clothes. She wore a pair of jeans, an open pink shirt over a long-sleeved white shirt with a heart-shaped Spider-Man face in the middle.
"Nice shirt," I smiled, "get in."
MJ chuckled as she sat in the passenger's seat, putting her bag in the back, "so, going to pick up Felicia?"
"No," I told her as I backed out of the driveway, "she said she'll be coming on her own, and Liz said she got her own ride."
"She did?" MJ asked, surprised, "she didn't tell me."
"Me neither," I shrugged, "I just think she's jealous. I mean, come on, what could compare to my baby?"
MJ rolled her eyes, "and just when I thought you couldn't become even more of a nerd."
"Hey! I'm a freaking superhero! How is that being a nerd?!"
"Just because you're a superhero doesn't mean you aren't a nerd," MJ grinned.
"Damn redheads," I chuckled as we drove to school. We arrived quickly — I guess there was a big difference between taking a long, winding bus route and driving a direct trip to school. I did spend some time in the parking lot, though, finding a place to park. Honestly, it was such a pain in the butt; I was almost tempted to just web-swing my way to school.
MJ and I got out of the car just as a familiar Mercedes pulled up beside us. The top was down, so we could see Harry and Flash staring at us and then at the car.
"Damn, where did you get that piece of junk?" Flash laughed as he jumped out and kicked its rims, "what? Was it on sale at the garbage dump?"
"How did you even get that thing to run, Parker?" Harry laughed, "it must have been a pain to restore."
I shrugged, "money well spent," I motioned to MJ and we quickly left.
"Hey, wait up!" Harry called out. Great, just great. He and Flash flanked us as we walked into the school grounds. "So, what happened to Felicia? You guys broke up?"
I raised an eyebrow, "no, why did you think that?"
"Because you arrived at school with her," Harry pointed at MJ, who simply glared back.
"Oh yeah, that makes total sense, and it has nothing to do with the fact that Peter and I are neighbors," MJ rolled her eyes.
"Well, I don't know, man — if I had a girl and ended up coming to school with someone else, well, that's a pretty good sign things are bad," Harry chuckled.
"Hey Pete, would you mind if I tried for Hardy?" Flash asked.
I glared at him, "do it and she'll kick you in the balls."
"Harsh," Harry snorted, "come on Flash, I see some new blood that needs introducing," he pointed at a couple of freshmen walking in.
I glared and moved to stop them when MJ grabbed my shoulder, "relax, Peter — they won't get far," she pointed at the vice principal suddenly walking over. Flash and Harry spotted him too and immediately stopped what they were doing.
I sighed, "first day here and I already have a headache."
"Hm, where's Liz? I figured she would be here by now," MJ asked, looking around.
"Did someone say my name?!" Liz called out as she suddenly came rolling in, throwing her arms around MJ's shoulders, "hey guys!"
"Hey Liz," I smiled, "excited for a new day?"
"You bet your ass I am!" Liz grinned, "anyway, where's Felicia?"
"She said she was coming on her own," MJ shrugged.
"Oh? She got a ride?" Liz asked.
"Not exactly," I said with a smile as I pointed upward. The girls turned just in time to see Felicia, now in costume as the Black Cat, swing over the school and disappear out of sight. Several other students tried to take a picture, but they all lost sight of her quickly. Thank God for big buildings.
"How did...how did she do that?" Liz asked.
"Web shooters — I made her a pair for her birthday," I replied with a shrug.
"Can you make me some?" MJ asked.
"Are you a master gymnast with amazing balance?" I asked.
"Ah….please?"
I chuckled, "fine, I'll see what I can do. But no swinging around — they are strictly for self-defence."
"Oh! I want a set too!" Liz asked.
"No," I replied.
"Why not?"
"Because you'll be irresponsible with it," I told her as we entered the school.
"No I wouldn't!"
"Yes you would," MJ and I said at the same time. Just then the closet door burst open and Felicia came out with a big smile on her face and frizzy hair.
"Hey you, nice day?" I asked, giving her a firm kiss on her lips.
"Yeah," she smiled as we walked down the corridor, "I stopped a guy from jumping, oh and this old lady a block over was lost, so I helped her out. She gave me a granola bar — want it?" she asked, offering me said bar.
"Don't mind if I do," I smiled, quickly opening it up, "remember when you said you would never be a wannabe goody-two-shoes like me?"
Felicia rolled her eyes, "yeah, yeah, you can say I told you so." I grinned but said nothing as I munched on the bar.
"You know, it's so cool that we're best friends with superheroes!" Liz whispered, "I wish I could tell people that," she grumbled, seeing Flash and Harry walk by, whistling at a group of cheerleaders passing by.
"You still hung up on him?" MJ asked.
"Who? Flash? No! It's just," Liz grumbled, "nevermind. Anyway, who do you have first period?"
We compared classes and quickly found that I wouldn't be sharing many classes with them, since most of mine were advanced placements. Felicia was a little saddened, but she understood — if I didn't have something challenging, I would rip my hair off.
So school was the same, pretty much. I had to force myself to keep awake. Luckily, though, it seemed whatever God this universe had decided to cut me some slack and made time go by much faster.
After school ended, I gave MJ the keys to my car after getting a promise from her that she wouldn't total it. Felicia had to see her mom — apparently she had gotten a temp job at her mother's firm. Kitten didn't like it, but it needed to be done. Felicia was looking for more information about her mother's clients, finding new ways to screw them over.
Liz practically vanished at the end of the day, going off to God knows where. But the girl did her own thing, and I could respect that. So that just left me alone with some good one-on-one SHIELD training with Nat.
"Move, Spider!" Natasha yelled, firing off rubber bullets at me.
"This so isn't fair!" I cried out, jumping away as fast as I could. She clipped my arm, but I managed to land safely before being forced to jump away once again, "does Captain America have to deal with this crap?!"
"You wouldn't believe what he does for training," Nat replied as she fired at my head. I just managed to duck under the bullet before springing forward and kicking one of her guns out of her hand.
She grabbed my leg and swept the other one. I came falling down but managed to pull her down with me, rolling over her. She jammed the gun against my neck before I struck it aside and drew back my fist, ready to strike.
Just then I felt my spider sense go off as something cold and metallic was pressed against my junk. I looked down to see a sharp knife in her hand and a cocky smile on her face, "you should expect everything, Spider."
"In my defence, I'm wearing sweats while you're in full gear," I groaned as I got up and offered her a hand.
Nat took it and gathered her weapons, "you need to be ready — you can't always rely on that suit to help you out, you know."
"I know," I sighed, "anyway, I've been meaning to ask you — Jessica Drew, what happened to her?"
"SHIELD has provided Ms. Drew with protection," Nat explained, "she's fine, Peter, I promise."
"Good. You'd better not be experimenting on her — we spiders stick together," I said as I wiped my face with my shirt, showing off my sweat-covered abs. I looked up and saw Nat's eyes flash over to my body. "Pervert."
"You're the exhibitionist here," Nat argued.
"Cradle robber," I glared.
"How old do you think I am?"
"I don't know, 30?" I shrugged. She said nothing, just smiling as we walked out of the training room and sat down at the briefing table. I went to the fridge and got a bottle of water for us both. I sighed as I sipped the cool drink, "so, how did I do?"
"Not bad," she replied, "you're getting better day by day."
I nodded. "Right, so how's Cap? After what Wyndham said…is he alright?"
Nat nodded, "he'll get better. Last I heard he found his son's grave — he and Peggy visited it a week ago."
"Right," I sighed. I really wished that part wasn't real, I really did. "So, anything new for me?"
"A mission?" Nat asked, to which I nodded. "Soon, very soon. But for now, just continue doing what you're doing."
"Right," I emptied the water bottle and threw it away, tossing my sweat-covered sweatshirt into the laundry bin, "I'm going to take a shower."
"Want me to join?" she asked with an amused smile.
"Felicia wouldn't like that," I chuckled, "besides, you can't handle me." Nat raised a challenging eyebrow at that. I think I may have pissed her off just a little. Good.
After a quick change of clothes, I put on my uniform and swung out into the fresh afternoon air.