Chapter Text
Friday, 10th March.
The late afternoon sunlight pours in through the large classroom windows, bathing the surroundings in a warm orange glow.
Peter gnaws on his pen lid, stealing quick glances at the clock on the wall before releasing a deep sigh, propping his chin up on his palm. Loud chatter is feeding in from all directions of the classroom as he bounces his right leg up and down underneath his desk, beginning to grow restless.
When he checks the time once more, he expects for at least five minutes to have passed — but no. Only one minute has passed.
The 15 year old groans and slumps backwards on his chair, wondering why time has never been less fleeting. What he desperately wishes he could be doing right now is swinging around New York, feeling the cool breeze gliding past his suit, the exhilaration coursing through his veins—
"You okay there, dude?" A concerned Ned asks, tapping Peter gently on the shoulder.
"Hm? Oh, yeah, it's just—Where the hell is Mr. Harrington?"
"No idea," Ned replies, eyes searching for the person in subject. "It's unlike him. Thought he wouldn't want to risk being late to another lesson again after the uprising incident."
Peter huffs out a laugh, the recent memory flashing through his mind. "That was so funny, though. His face when he walked in!"
"I know right! Wish someone took a picture."
The two talk for a while until the door abruptly slams open and Mr. Harrington is casually strolling inside, his facial features adorned with the biggest smile anyone has ever seen him wear. He walks all the way up to his front desk and then stops — giving a singular clap to attract the attention of the students present.
Everyone quiets down significantly, slightly cautious, maybe intrigued. Nobody knows if this smile means good things or bad things for them. They can only pray that it's the former.
"So, everyone," The teacher starts, his smile widening even more if that's physically possible. "You're probably wondering why I was late."
A few hushed whispers begin to circulate around the room in complete confusion — wondering what got their science teacher in such a good mood. It feels particularly unnerving, since Mr. Harrington's usual appearance is a blank, impassive stare on his face. Any display of emotion is a cause of concern.
Someone from the back row of desks replies, "No, not really." Which causes Mr. Harrington to glare at them slightly, but not for long as the cheshire grin overtakes his face again. ...Yep, it’s probably the apocalypse.
"I was, in fact, speaking to our principle in regards to a certain email we received a week ago. And in that email, it stated something very interesting," Mr. Harrington drawls out, seemingly trying to prolong the reveal of whatever news he comes bearing.
Peter and Ned side-glance each other, thinking about what can possibly be in that email. Michelle appears nonplussed as normal, and only a few people perk up in curiosity. The remaining students look bored out of their poor minds, wanting for Mr. Harrington to just get on with the lesson already.
"You see, Midtown High's Science Department entered in a large raffle. We were competing against other prestigious schools nationwide in a game of luck and chance — a game that we just so happened to win. And with winning... we obtain the prize." Mr. Harrington breathes out in excitement.
"And what exactly is the prize, Sir?" Flash calls out with a little snark in his voice, obviously getting irritated with his teacher's long speech. Did he really need to be so dramatic? Surely what they won can't be that good?
Mr. Harrington rolls his eyes, facing him. "Now now, Flash. I know you're impatient and eager. After all... What we won... Is a full day field trip to Stark Industries!!"
As soon as those words leave his lips, a chorus of shocked gasps fill the classroom.
Was this real? Were they really going to go on a tour inside Stark Tower? Ned's eyes grow comically wide, and his jaw is practically touching his desk. Everyone's buzzing and vibrating in excitement; well, Peter could swear that he saw MJ's lips twitch up into a smile for a brief second. Flash just looks haughty as he crosses his arms, chin held up high, giving off the impression that he had seen this coming a long time ago.
Peter... Peter is amazed. Ecstatic. But... also nervous.
Considering what the media deemed as the 'Civil War' that happened a while back due to the Sokovia Accords, he's scared of his identity getting out. He knows the rogue Avengers had been pardoned and everyone got back together again, but going to the place where they all lived?
Uhh, yeah, he doesn't think so. That's a risk he isn't exactly up for taking. Peter doesn't want to accidentally expose himself as a certain red and blue spandex clad vigilante, especially after Ned, MJ and Aunt May found out by accident. He was definitely getting sloppy with hiding his superhero alias.
With Ned, well... we all know how that went. Peter crawling on the ceiling, Ned dropping the lego death star, it was pretty hard to come up with an excuse for why Peter wasn't Spider-Man when Ned had clearly seen him crawling on the ceiling. It was the most obvious thing ever, so when Peter blatantly lied about it, he received Ned's sarcastic 'Really?' gaze and the whole situation became outright ridiculous.
So, with a heavy sigh from Peter, Ned was let in on the secret and subsequently went on to become Spidey's Guy In The Chair, helping Peter out on numerous missions and patrols through the comm in the new Spider-Man suit they built together. It's much better than his old one which were basically pyjamas. This one has different functions, protocols, and over a hundred different web combinations, and even had its own AI, which Peter had named Karen.
Aunt May had walked in on him wearing his new suit. It was totally by accident — Peter was too absorbed in checking out all the various features of his suit that he didn't hear May walking to the door. After that, he was scolded for the entire evening and was interrogated on how he got his powers, why he decided to become Spider-Man, and a few tears were shed...
But in the end, May had given him rules to abide by to make sure he was safe and sound and got home on time. While Peter cringed at his new midnight curfew, knowing that he would never get the same sort of freedom again (aka staying out until 4am and going to school with panda eyes), he was happy that May had accepted him wholeheartedly and still even let him be Spider-Man at all.
MJ, on the other hand, had nonchalantly walked up to Peter and Ned one morning and said, "Sup losers, rough patrol last night, huh? I saw the news. You guys did a decent job at saving those people. Good going." They just stood there frozen, with stupid shocked expressions on their faces and had only snapped out of it when Michelle slammed her locker shut. She smirked in amusement as Peter and Ned stuttered for a full minute, figuring out how to reply back.
Apparently, she'd overheard their numerous conversations, but only confirmed her suspicions when she saw Peter discreetly making a weird web-looking substance in a conical flask during chemistry one time. The second time, he'd snuck out of a lesson, and came back sporting a massive bruise on his cheek that just happened to be the same place a villain had struck Spider-Man that day, as she saw on the news when she went home. Not to mention that it had almost completely faded when she saw Peter the next day. It wasn't hard for someone as observant as Michelle to put two and two together.
The three of them became much closer and hung out more often. Peter was so grateful to have support from his two best friends and aunt. He couldn't be any happier.
Mr. Harrington gazes around the room, satisfied with the reactions he'd produced. "Now, don't go bragging about this. We're lucky that we are the ones who get to go. There are many other classes in our Science Department, but since I am the leader of the Academic Decathlon Team, the other teachers agreed to let my science class students be the ones to go." He grinned.
Peter blinks, shaking off his daydream. Where is he? Oh right, the field trip. To Stark Tower. Where all the Avengers live. God, who is he kidding? He is definitely screwed. If MJ had found out, it would probably take less than a few seconds for highly trained spies to figure him out. He's just praying that they wouldn't. He sighs loudly, causing Ned and MJ to glimpse at him in concern, unaware of his predicament.
"Dude, this is going to be amazing!! I can't believe we get to go inside Stark Tower!! Do you think we'll get to see the Avengers? Oh man, this is insane," Ned squeals, beaming in delight.
Peter couldn't help but smile, seeing Ned overflowing with positive energy always put him and Michelle in a good mood. But one part of what he said stood out to him.
"Do you think we'll get to see the Avengers?"
Damn, he's so stupid! Peter was overthinking and got worked up over nothing. Of course, there's no guarantee that he'll even see the Avengers, let alone interact with them. After all, why would Earth's mightiest heroes, who surely had much better things to do like saving the city, meet a group of hyperactive high-school kids?
So Peter has nothing to worry about. He's safe. Even if he did bump into them, he'd just avoid them. It would be easy.
Right?