"What's the best thing about being Spider-Man? Hard to say!"
Morning sunlight spilled across the New York skyline as a red-and-blue figure raced along the glass curtain walls of the city's skyscrapers. If some office worker happened to notice a passing shadow on the street and looked up, they would see Spider-Man with a backpack on, sprinting across a vertical wall. Today he had given up the classic web-swinging routine and decided to run across the buildings instead.
"But not having to squeeze onto the subway every day is definitely top three. Woo!"
Peter took a running leap onto the railing by the Hudson, and with traffic roaring past below, he dove off like an Olympic diver. Just before he hit the water, a web shot out with a snap, carrying him in a perfect arc beneath the Queensboro Bridge.
Ben and George were both busy with work, so in general neither of them drove the kids to school unless it was some special occasion, like the first day of classes.
"Hot dogs loved by Spider-Man! Hot dogs loved by Spider-Man! New York's only Spider-Man-approved hot dogs!"
The owner of the hot dog stand in Midtown Manhattan called out his ad in the flattest voice imaginable. After the Battle of New York, he had been selling hot dogs to Damage Control workers clearing the ruins. But now that the cleanup was finished, he had found a new business opportunity. Spider-Man had given him permission to use his image, so New York's one and only stand serving hot dogs in Spider-Man wrappers had officially been born.
The most eye-catching thing on the stand was the plastic bag hanging from the top of the umbrella.
There was always a specially prepared hot dog waiting inside.
"Boss, is this really the hot dog Spider-Man likes?"
A Midtown freshman named Eugene Thompson shoved his way through the crowd to the stand, eyeing the vendor suspiciously while pulling out his wallet.
"Give me one. Also, if you leave it hanging up there, can Spider-Man really get it?"
"He's Spider-Man. Of course he can."
The vendor looked at his customer without expression and packed up the hot dog with practiced hands, but Thompson kept rambling.
"Yeah, but what if you put it up too early? What if it gets cold? If your hot dog gets cold and Spider-Man gets a stomachache, how's he supposed to fight..."
"Thanks, Paul!"
What cut off Thompson's endless chatter was Spider-Man swinging past the stand on a webline, dropping two one-dollar bills as he flew by. The hot dog hanging from the umbrella vanished in the same instant.
Thompson stared in shock.
Only when the vendor waved the hot dog in front of him did he come back to himself. Then he dug out another five dollars and let out a near-deafening scream.
"Give me two more of Spider-Man's favorite hot dogs! Thanks!!!"
"Morning, Laurie! How's Carl doing today?"
" Carl says he's doing fine. Thanks again for bringing him back."
The middle-aged man on the rooftop had only enough time to get out that single line while preparing to release his pigeons before the figure racing across the wall disappeared around the corner. The startled birds began cooing in panic, and Laurie could only keep petting his old companion.
"Easy now. He just wrapped you up in webbing and mailed you home. It's not like he roasted you and ate you."
That kind of morning routine played out every day.
Spider-Man ate hot dogs while high-fiving the newspaper stand owner, helped old ladies carry shopping bags, and even pointed lost dogs in the right direction. After all, what kind of friendly neighborhood Spider-Man didn't know every block in the neighborhood?
Then, at some point, the red-and-blue suit disappeared among Manhattan's high-rises.
A few minutes later, Peter Parker emerged from a subway station in ordinary clothes at exactly the right moment. Of course, he had not actually taken the subway. This was just a convenient excuse for showing up near school out of nowhere. Two more blocks down was Midtown High, one of New York's top public schools. Even this early in the morning, the school's TV station was already working. On screens all along the hallway, two student anchors were delivering the news.
"Good morning, students. This is Midtown High. I'm your host, Betty."
"And I'm your host, Jess."
After giving the screen a brief glance, Peter walked over to his locker, opened it, slid his backpack inside, and took out the supplies he needed for his morning classes. Before he could shut the door, he heard a familiar voice he already hated with all his heart.
"Parker!"
"Again, Carl?"
Peter's spider-sense did not react at all. He could not even be bothered to fake surprise. He simply shut the locker, stepped back, and watched as Carl marched over and slammed a fist into somebody else's locker, clearly trying to look intimidating.
Peter pointed at the dented door.
"You know that's not my locker, right?"
Carl hesitated, then forced himself back into a glare.
"Listen up, Parker. I'm letting middle school slide. And I don't care about your little loser friends. But if you keep sticking your nose where it doesn't belong, you're finished."
Then, with another loud bang, he punched the poor locker again and stormed off without even giving Peter time to respond, leaving Peter completely baffled.
"Is this some new kind of school bullying? The guy who got humiliated threatening the guy who humiliated him?"
Peter shook his head, unable to make any sense of Carl's behavior. Nearby, the old janitor leaned on his broom and grumbled something similar.
"Every era's got trash students like that. But I've seen punks all my life, kid. Don't be afraid of them. Stand tall, fight back, beat 'em."
"Thanks, Stan."
After thanking old Stan, Peter headed into math class, Peter headed into math class. He, Amadeus, and Harry all had the same math teacher. Gwen had been assigned to a different one.
Carl too, obviously. There was no way a muscle-brained idiot like Carl was ending up in the same math class as Peter Parker.
"Morning, Peter."
Harry dropped into the seat beside him and set a laptop down on the desk. Since class had not started yet, he opened it and immediately started searching for Spider-Man online.
"Spider-Man? Since when are you interested in him?"
"No big reason. Just heard people talking about him and got curious." Harry glanced up. "So, are you going to join the Detective Club? I'm thinking about checking it out."
"Sure, why not? I kind of like mystery puzzles. They're relaxing."
Amadeus arrived a little late, apologized, and took the seat behind them. He was not very tall to begin with, all thin limbs and sharp angles, exactly the kind of nerdy-looking kid who got pushed around easily. Peter was not even sure how well he could see from the back.
Once Amadeus sat down, Harry twisted around to continue the conversation.
"Hey, Amadeus, we're planning to submit our Detective Club forms after school. You in?"
"Sure. Sounds good."
Amadeus nodded, then went quiet for a few seconds. Peter looked at him.
"You okay? Somebody messing with you?"
"No. I'm just short enough that people don't notice me. I got bumped into a few times, that's all."
Amadeus brushed it off like it was nothing, and at that moment the teacher walked in and cut off the conversation.
No matter what country you were in, high school classes were boring.
This one was pre-calculus. At Midtown, the required math classes were a lot harder than at most other schools, covering advanced algebra and introductory calculus. That probably had something to do with the school's partnerships with Oscorp and Stark Industries. At other high schools, math was often much easier. Peter had even heard of schools where students somehow managed to push math into becoming an elective, which still sounded insane to him.
Since the pre-calculus material was far too easy, Peter very quickly got bored. He started spinning a pen, scribbling on paper, then switched the pen to his right hand and kept writing with his left.
"You can write with both hands?"
Harry sounded like he had just discovered something incredible. He lowered his voice.
"Can you write with both hands at the same time?"
Peter's left hand wrote yes on the paper.
"Can you write different things at the same time?"
This time his right hand wrote No.
"All right, guys. We seriously need to find a day to build that LEGO set together."
By the time they survived math class, Harry seemed to have finally remembered what mattered most in life. He looked genuinely happy, and it was obvious he really, really wanted to build the set.
"Works for me. Just pick a day. I'll let May know. She'll be happy to plan dinner for us."
As they headed to their next class, the school news started playing an update on the hallway screens.
"Based on this year's student vote, we've officially confirmed the first Spirit Week theme before Homecoming: Superheroes! Every student who wants to participate should come dressed as either a superhero or a supervillain!"
(End of Chapter)
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