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Library
"My brother got discharged yesterday?" I heard her say,
"Umm…okay." I replied with a blank stare.
She had come to meet me again after my classes were done.
"So it's just Harry now... so are you gonna go meet Harry at the hospital today?"
"Um…no. Actually, his father wants to run some tests on him with his personal doctors. He'll be busy for the entire day! I was actually planning to go home."
Work on perfecting my invention.
"Oh..." she said, disheartened.
'Hmm… She's here again, not to mention she's alone, without her psycho friend hanging behind her.'
Maybe she just wanted to talk with me. Maybe she just needed someone to vent her problems to like yesterday.
I know I had no obligations to her, but... she seemed to be a good person. She never faulted me for anything and held herself with dignity.
In fact, I would argue that she took on more accountability than was asked of her!
I might be selfish, but I couldn't let a person walk around carrying that kind of guilt. Especially when I know how corrosive those feelings could be!
"Um…. So you wanna hang out.. like in the library?" It came out creepier than I expected.
Thankfully, she lightened up.
'She's cute.' These intrusive thoughts just keep coming nonstop.
'Remember....she's only a friend!'
"I would like that!" She responded with a huge smile.
It all went downhill after that, we didn't even speak to each other.
Awkwardly moving at the same pace, we made our way to the library!
I don't even know her very well, so I didn't know how to start the conversation.
"It's chilly today, isn't it?" She asked me.
"Yup!"
"I hear your chemistry teacher, Mr. White, is on an extended leave."
"Yeah," I replied,
"What's your favourite subject? I bet it's math!"
"It's actually physics."
She remained quiet after that exchange.
'Hmm, why did she stop asking questions all of a sudden?'
Oh, wait a minute I know why? It's because I was answering her questions with one word responses like a brain dead zombie. Quickly, I'll ask her about something...
"How's your bro-" She interrupted me before I could finish.
"Do you have a girlfrie-"
We both looked stunned.
'Wait what was she going to ask me?'
"Hey guys!!!" The red haired Mary Jane Watson waved to us from afar.
"Oh, Hey MJ!" I waved back,
She ran up to us and asked, "What are you two doing together? Aren't you like mortal enemies!"
"Yeah..no. Peter and I were supposed to go to the hospital, but it seems Harry's busy with some hospital tests!" Jessica answered her.
"Oh that's right, you weren't there yesterday. So... where are you guys heading to now?" She asked with a smile, but there was a tenseness to it, like it wasn't fully sincere.
"We're going to the library now! We were supposed to hang out and I was free anyway, so I decided to ask her to the library!" I said, covering for Jessica.
"Oh, is that..so?"MJ muttered
'Wait I don't understand why she's acting so strange?'
"You wanna join us?" Jessica invited her.
"Uh I want to but if it's just-"
"It's me, MJ; I'm the one who's asking! We would love to have you! Isn't that right, Peter?" She elbowed me.
"Yeah, of course. I don't mind you tagging along! I won't promise you fun, though."
Mary Jane sighed,
"No.. I have to go to work anyway. You guys carry on." She smiled wistfully.
Jessica shyly asked her, "You sure?"
"Yeah like I told you Jess, I've got to work. "After all, a girl has to eat!"She gave her a wink and turned to me.
"Take care of her, Pete!"
"Uh yeah, sure."
'Take care of her?'
MJ came and went like the wind. 'Geez what was that all about.'
"So shall we get going!" Jessica said with a sudden change in mood. She was bursting with energy, almost giddy.
We reached the dusty, old, brown building.
It had a decent collection of books! It had ten times more books than it did originally when I first visited at nine years of age.
The receptionist and librarian was still the same old lady Pearl. She was the only constant in the sea of changes to the Midtown- High's! She was a white portly lady with thick frame glasses.
"Hey, Ms. P!"
"Oh Peter it's you! I thought I was finally rid of you-" She saw Jessica, and she forgot all about me.
"Jessica! What are you doing here, dear? Shouldn't you be at home by now? Is your arm all good?"
"Hello, Ms. Jackson! I'm all healed up; my arm doesn't hurt anymore. This sling is just for show." She raised her hand.
"When will your idiot brother learn? Back in my days, you would get belted and kicked out of home for pulling stunts like that."
Jessica winced as she listened to the lecture.
"So how is he, by the way?"
"Alive." Jessica responded quickly,
She didn't mention anything about his football career ending or needing surgery. Maybe she didn't want to paint a bad picture of her brother, I suppose! Ms. P did have a bad reputation as a giant gossiper. It's said that half of the rumours' circulating in school are her creations!
I understood Jessica a little bit more, as she conversed with Ms. P.
"So what are you doing with Peter?" She asked all of a sudden,
Which took Jessica by surprise, and I quickly jumped in.
"She asked me to help her out with some math problems!"
Ms. P adjusted her thick glasses and observed me carefully,
"Is that right?"
"Yeah. So here's my Library card and if you're done with the interrogation, we would like to go now."
Ms. Pearl was surprised by the way I had just talked to her. As evident by her mouth hanging in the air.
"C'mon, Jess let's go." I walked to the math section without waiting for her
"Uh.. Pete, wait up!"
We made our way to the math section after climbing a few stairs.
"What was all that about?" Jessica tugged at my sleeve.
"That lady's a huge chatterbox, if we start her up then there's no stopping her! She's also a huge gossiper, so be careful what you disclose to her."
"Yeah I know, but c'mon, she's not that bad." Jessica replied with a huge grin.
Just as she finished speaking, she slightly tripped, and her shoulder bumped into mine.
We both pretended that didn't happen, but the awkward silence returned once more.
We didn't speak for a few minutes, until we reached where we wanted to be.
"So math, huh?" Jessica asked me shyly.
"You asked me if it was my favorite subject before. I'm guessing it's yours!"
"Oh…you remembered." Her cheeks were getting redder by the minute.
"Yeah…I did." I responded with equal awkwardness.
'Man this is so awkward…'
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POV - Norman Osborn.
They were at his testing facility. His son had been running on the treadmill for about twenty minutes now. It was incredible to see him move like that.
He had been in a coma not a few days ago, and now he was running like an Olympic sprinter.
'I could charge millions for a single dose and the army wouldn't blink an eye!'
He could already see how the meeting would go down.
First they would be beyond skeptical, because he would no longer own his company.
They would call the serum fanciful and a fantasy.
Some might even call him crazy, while others would opt for something simple like laughing at him. The press secretary would be concerned about the human rights issues attached to the company.
They would all oppose it initially, but one by one when they see its results, they would change their tunes.
He thought about his pitch, "Imagine ten Steve Rogers on your squad! What do you think they would be able to achieve! They could take over a country, any country of your choosing, in a matter of days with the right intel!"
The United States of America was a powerful country, and it wanted to remain that way.
His serum is the future!
It's the only way his country can remain the top dog. If another country got access to it, they might as well give up on being the world police.
He could make a less potent version of it to cure diseases and treat illnesses alike.
It had virtually limitless potential.
The 21st century would be known as the era of Norman Osborn.
"Alright Harry…..stop running!" Dr. Julie announced through the speaker.
Slowly, the treadmill came to a stop.
Harry was breathing heavily but otherwise in excellent condition. The doctors around him couldn't believe it, he had made a splendid recovery.
His magnum opus was completed. His life's work finished!
He entered the observation room, to speak with his son.
"So how did I do, dad?"
"I'm so proud of you Harry." He hugged him tightly.
"Dad ew.. I'm sweaty. Dad!"
"I'm so glad you're alright!" He said it sincerely, from the bottom of his heart.
'I don't know what I would do if I lost you too!!!'
"Sir.. He's much more than alright. His recovery rate is unbelievable. Not to mention his stamina and overall strength. Have you ever lifted weights, son?" Julie, the chief doctor, inquired.
"No ma'am, I've been a stick since I could remember!" His son responded with humility.
"I see! That's wonderful, you've been blessed with incredible physical gifts Harry!"
She turned to him and asked,
"I would like to test him some more Mr. Osborn!"
He thought about it for a few seconds and finally concluded,
"No, we've done the preliminary tests, and that's good enough for me. I just wanted to have him checked in the lab once that's all!" He concluded.
He didn't want to risk any details regarding the serum getting out. It could put his plans in jeopardy.
He was just as curious as she was to see the limits of his son's evolution, but his pragmatic, sensible side opposed it.
"But sir, If we can-"
"I said no, Dr. Julie. My son is not your lab rat! I did this to gauge his physical and mental state. Seeing that it's done, you are dismissed!" His anger flared.
She backed down when she saw how serious he was.
"Understood Sir." She took her clipboard and exited the room.
The technicians came and removed the wires attached to Harry.
He read through the observation report with a grin.
'A perfect recovery!'
The tests were ordinary and he didn't push his son too much but he was sure if Harry wanted to, he could easily lift a car.
He also wanted to keep him in observation for a couple of days before concluding that he was fully healed.
"So back to the hospital right?"
He took a moment to look at his son once again, grateful that he's fully healthy again.
His son was his pride and joy.
In the pursuit of greatness he almost lost the only thing that mattered to him.
'I should have been a better father to you, son!' He reflected with sadness.
'No more fighting over petty things, I'll make sure that you have the best life possible son! This I guarantee! It's going to be alright.'
"Dad! Are we going back to the hospital?"
"Hmmmm... Oh. We're not!'
"So home….then?"
"Before that you want to get some ice cream!"
His son looked confused, "Ice.. cream?"
"Yeah, you liked Ben and Jerry's, right?"
"Dad.. I'm not a kid anymore….and aren't you busy with work?"
"No…not anymore." He said with a smile.
'From now on, you come first!!'
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POV - Peter
"So that's what matrices actually do!!!" She said with excitement.
"Yeah that's another function, besides basically enabling you to watch TV by coding the pixels."
"I really didn't know that! I thought they were just…weird boxes. Just questions to solve, I didn't think too much about it."
'Yup so did I, in my previous life; It was an easy mistake to make.'
"That's one way of looking at it!"
We were sitting on a table, side by side, discussing math. I never knew it was possible to have this much fun talking to someone.
I decided to share this opinion with her,
"Man… it's really fun talking to you. I love Harry but he doesn't scratch that intellectual itch…if you know what I mean. Not like you do."
"Well we can always talk when you get that itch!" She poked fun at me.
Or maybe she was flirting!
'STOP!!! STOP Thinking about her that way…she might just be joking and not really be into you.'
"We should definitely hang out more!" I say in agreement.
"We should." She smiled like an angel.
'Shit.. I think I'm falling-'
"Ahem…" A lady coughed near us,
It was the Librarian Ms. P 'Oh great what does she want now?'
"The library will be closing soon. We need to do maintenance!"
"Already! It's just 6:30 now, isn't the closing time supposed to be 8." I said with irritation, I don't know why.
"On a normal day, yeah but we close early on Thursdays for regular maintenance." She dismissed my queries.
"Since when? I've been coming here since I was a kid. I haven't heard of a rule like that!"
"New school policy.. since last month. You haven't been coming here as much as you did, Peter Parker."
Me and the old lady locked eyes, neither breaking contact.
'Why does she want me out of here? Sure she's never been nice to me but now it feels as if she's actively trying to be mean!'
"Pete.. It's okay!" Jessica tried to resolve the situation.
"Oh it's Pete now huh?" She said snidely,
"What's that supposed to mean?" I got up from my chair. My vision was completely focused on the lady and my fist turned into a ball.
"Let's go, Peter; it's getting late anyway!"
She turned to the older lady and said,
I'll see you in church this Sunday, Ms. Jackson!"
'Church?'
She had to physically push me away. A part of me wanted to continue the staring contest but I couldn't act like a complete moron in front of Jessica. I don't know why but her opinion matters to me now!
The sun had set and it was dark outside.
"I'll walk you back home again!"
"Oh.. um.. sure, if you want to." She clarified.
"Like hell, I'm letting you walk back alone; didn't you hear about the miscreants? The ones who were found injured, lying unconscious on the street!"
I should know since I was the one who put them there.
"Oh yeah, dad told me about that. It was someone from his squad who found them! They were slurring and crying, apparently they had taken too many drugs or something. Some People even came forward to ID them as muggers, so at least it ends well."
'Oh so they get Jail time. Good!'
We kept talking as we made our way back home, "I don't know why she acted like that! I've never had a bad encounter with her since today."
"She's in my church..so I guess it was her way of looking out for me."
"Look out for you?"
"I'm Catholic, and you're not!"
"Uh so is that a problem?"
'Problem about what? We're just friends….aren't we?' I thought but didn't want to ask that out loud.
"She's old school catholic and she must have misunderstood seeing you and me together."
"Great.. isn't she going to tell everyone in your church about us now?"
"Us?" Jessica stopped walking and asked me.
I was not expecting that… I don't know why but at the moment I really wanted to ask her out for a date.
'Yeah.. You know.. us." I say, instead of making a complete fool of myself.
"Oh…don't worry about that. Our family is the black sheep. They already say things about us…and I guess Eugene doesn't do himself any favours!"
"I'm sorry Jessica. They're going to gossip about you because of me!" I apologised knowing that this might affect her in many ways. If word gets to her family, I'm sure there'll be hell to pay.
"Don't be. I enjoyed the tutoring session!!!"
.
.
"I'm glad."
"Oh and one more thing, my friends call me Jess." She elbowed me, and I let her.
"Oh is that right? Miss Thompson!"
She snorted at my throwback joke. She didn't stop laughing. She lost her composure and started laughing to the point where she had to stop walking to breathe.
"That's my mom, Pete!" She wiped the tears from her eyes.
"I haven't laughed like that since ever! Oh man, you're the best Pete." Her hands swung near me as she walked, and my hands almost touched them.
"Anything for the lady!" I took a small bow.
She giggled.
"So you have any plans for this Sunday afternoon!" She asked me.
I actually did! I wanted to spend the day tweaking the Super Cement's defects before taking them to a reputed investor or bank.
"I'm completely free on Sunday, what do you have in mind!"
The words left my mouth without my knowledge.
'I could always make time for the cement!'
'Great! "So... you want to go to a bookstore and maybe... get some coffee?"
I said nothing for a few seconds, she nervously waited for my response.
She had a smile on her face but I'm sure that wasn't the case on the inside.
"As friends…or?" I asked her for clarification.
She squirmed for a few more seconds before closing her eyes and getting it over with.
"Peter Parker. I'm interested in you! You're kind and nice. I also think you're brilliant, and if you don't mind, I'd like to go on a date with you."
"It would be my pleasure, my lady!" I say, without missing a beat.
"Huh?" She looked confused.
"What's the matter, Jessica?"
"That's it? You accepted it that easily. I thought you were going to turn me down!" She said still reeling from the shock.
"And why would I do that?" It was my turn to be confused.
"Because I'm Flash Thompson's sis-"
"You're more than that!" I interrupted her.
"You're much more than that, Jessica! I also happen to think that you're smart and kind. Don't sell yourself short like that!"
I leaned closer and looked at her blue eyes deeply, the wind blew again, and time slowed down.
'Was this how Theo felt when he activated his power?'
She moved closer to me.
She was about as tall as I was, our noses almost touched. Her face was so close to me, I could practically feel her breath.
Neither of us did anything, we just looked into each other's eyes like we were both hypnotized.
She snapped out of it first and backed away, saying, "I'm sorry about that, Pete. I... got distracted." She said that but any person could tell she was happy on the inside.
"Yeah, me too. let's get you home now!" I said while rubbing the back of my head.
"Yeah lets." She smiled, all her teeth showing.
The sound of a police siren suddenly overpowered my hearing.
A black SUV approached us and stopped just before me.
I shielded her from the car, as it came closer the tinted windows rolled down.
"Jessy! What are you doing this late walking back home? How many times have I told you it's not safe to walk around these areas, especially at this time!" The man looked at me with suspicion.
"Dad.. how did you.."
Probably Ms. Pearl called him right after we left and let him know about me, guess word gets around fast.
"Get in the back now young lady!"
"What about you Pete? You want-"
"Little Pete can walk back home. Get in Jessy!"
"But dad, we live in the same neigh-"
"G.E.T in the car now!" He gritted his teeth as he spoke.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Jess!"
Her father shot me an angry look but said nothing. She smiled as she went to the passenger door.
"See ya Pete!"
"Yeah.. See you around, Pete." Her father repeated with a mean look while the window rolled up.
I watched the SUV leave me in the dust.
"Love, huh, Moe." I say to the sky.