The next day, I woke up early.
"Ugh, the sun is bright." I put my arm over my eyes.
Roll off the bed.
"May shouldn't be up yet." I stand up off the floor.
"Why did I roll off the bed? That was dumb."
I walk to the bathroom. "I still can't get used to this." I look in the mirror. "Emmy… I miss you, sis."
I let the memory of Emmy waking me up play, then cut it immediately as a ping of sadness hits me. I sigh, grab my toothbrush, and brush my teeth for a few minutes. I wash my mouth, take a shower, and put on clothes.
I go downstairs and see May.
"Hey, May. I didn't expect you to be up this early."
"Hey, Pete. I made breakfast, and I have work today."
"Yeah, I should have guessed. You're wearing your nurse scrubs."
"You have to get to school, Peter." She looks at me with a little smile.
"Yes, yes, I know May see ya"
May sits up and gives me a kiss on the cheek. "See you, Peter. Have a great day."
"You as well, May."
I walk out and head to school. On the way, I see Flash Thompson—the Flash from the Amazing Spider-Man movies—hitting a kid it was Ned from the mcu.
"Where is my money, Ned?"
"I—I don't have it, Flash."
Flash pulls his fist back. But before he could hit Ned again, I run forward and jump, front-kicking him off Ned.
"Flash, what the hell do you think you're doing? If you need money, go work at your future job—Mark's Fast Food—since your grades are so bad!"
(In my head: I could have done better. That was lame.)
"PETER!" Flash runs at me, and so do his two bodyguards.
I back up and signal Ned to run, which he quickly does. For a big dude, he runs fast.
Flash tries to tackle me, but I run.
"AHHH! STOP CHASING ME! GET A LIFE!" I yell.
"This is my life!" Flash yells back.
"You have a bad life, then man!" I shout.
I run faster and see my classmates at the front door of the school, loading onto the bus. I run to the teacher, and Flash stops, looking pissed, walking in line with his own Crabbe and Goyle.
"Peter, are you okay?" the teacher asks.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't late"
The teacher looks at his watch. "You're early, Peter."
"Yeah, of course. I ran." I rub the back of my neck nervously
The teacher sighs. "Go get on the bus."
I smile and salute him as I board. Someone wraps their arm around my neck. I look up—it's James Franco's Harry Osborn.
"Hey, Pete. I saw you running was it from Flash again—or were you telling the truth? He smiled cheekily already knowing the answer"
I laugh. "I think you can guess, man."
He sits beside me at the back. Ned came a little while ago and said thanks.
"Where is he?" I ask
"He went on the first bus."
"Oh, that makes sense." I lean back.
Harry hits my shoulder softly. "So, you excited to see all the stuff at OsCorp?"
"Of course I am." (I think: because I get powers and I see cool tech.)
Harry fixes his hair, and MJ walks up.
"Hey," she says.
"Hey, MJ."
Harry looks at MJ. "Hey, M. What's up?"
"Nothing really. Just saying hey to a couple of friends."
She pulls on her headphones. Harry takes that as a sign she's no longer conversing and looks back at me and slowly puts her earpods in.I laugh because of the deadpan look on his face.
"So, we're just going to ignore each other?" I say.
His response: he continues to look at his phone.
"Well, that answers my question."
I look out the window and think…
(TIME SKIP)
We arrive at OsCorp. Harry wakes me from my nap.
"Pete, wake up, man."
I open my eyes and yawn as I stand.
"Morning, Harry."
I walk off the bus, and he follows me. Flash pushes past me and walks in front. As we step into OsCorp, the teacher raises his voice:
"Students! Be respectful about everything. Do not touch anything without permission, and do not wander off."
He shuts up, thankfully. A girl casually hits me on the shoulder.
"Hey, Pete."
I look over and from my memory of Peter's life, it's Gwen Stacy—but in this life, I remember her as Jenna Ortega which is insane I think about how crazy it is but I still say.
"Hey, Gwen. How are you?"
I pull her into a little hug. She hugs me back, and I have to bend down slightly to hug her I thought ok wow I'm hugging Jenna Ortega who is Gwen in this universe this is unreal
"Pete, walk with me," she says, grabbing my hand.
I say sure was she started pulling me off with her
Harry and MJ look at us with interest, but Gwen seems to not care. She walks us to one of the guides who leads us around for a while. We meet Ned on the way, and he joins our group of ten, making it eleven.
"Hey, Pete. I want to thank you again for saving my butt back there," Ned says.
Before I could reply, Gwen asks, "Did the booty Warrior find you?"
Ned laughs.
"I understand that reference," I say. "But anyways, no—Flash was trying to beat him for money."
"Should I kick him in the balls again?" Gwen asks.
Ned looks shocked. "You kicked him before?"
"Yes, of course. He was trying to hit on me, so I hit him on the balls."
I look at her. "Oh wow."
I feel a sharp bite on my hand. I let go of Gwen's hand and try to hit the spider, but it moves and bites Gwen. She screams, which makes Ned scream. Her hand flies up, and the spider lands on Ned and bites him. Ned kills it with a heavy slap.
I think: "Shot, shot, shot! Are they going to get spider powers too? Is this going to be like the Silk situation? I hope not—that would be horrible."
The others look at us. I say quickly: "We saw a bug!"
Ned looks pale. Gwen stumbles. I start feeling nauseous and hold them up. We sneak off to the bathroom. Ned throws up in the sink, Gwen in the toilet, and I throw up in the other sink. I let myself fall to my knees, coughing. My stomach hurts so badly that I clutch it and bend over my knees, letting out a pained groan.
Gwen is in a similar position, letting out pained groans. Ned is crying—he's the first to speak up.
"Was that… spider poisonous?" he asks.
Gwen: "Most definitely."
I sit on the floor, push my back against the wall, and let out a sigh.
"Wow. Life is cruel…and hilarious."