Chapter 7

Despite Dr. Nelson’s extended tour of the labs and her many interludes deriding her fellow researchers, the cheerleading try-outs did not appear to have concluded.

Glad I wasn’t late, I made my way to the bleachers and climbed to the top bench. I was waiting around awkwardly for a while before my mind wandered to the odd package received by Dr. Nelson.

Dutifully, I brought out my journal and began to draw the cabinet from lab sixteen. The container was pretty tall, obviously I didn’t actually measure it but it looked at least three feet tall. I sketched the creepy brain inside as accurately as I could and even illustrated the supposedly useless button on the base - the only button or input visible on the surface of the cabinet. It would be absurd to assume it did nothing, regardless of my experience. It could very well have had a safety lock.

The brain box was an intriguing mystery, to say the least. Making an otherwise lacklustre day far more memorable.

I will admit I may have gotten a bit carried away with my note-making and extrapolation because it wasn’t long before MJ practically screamed at me from the bottom of the bleachers, “Peter!” She must have been calling my name for a while because she seemed quite annoyed.

Interacting with MJ had been an almost surreal experience. I had been trying very hard not to associate the comics and movies from my old world to the people here. From my conversation with Dr. Frost and my own research, I knew that even though a lot of features were the same as the fiction from my past, the nature of them could vary wildly. Frost herself was a surprise, I always knew she was not inherently evil. However, at the very least, she had a healthy professional interest in treating a random patient - despite the oddness.

So, if the Mary Jane Watson I saw in front of me did not match up to the woman from the comics; it was entirely my fault for putting those expectations on her in the first place. Up until that point, I had been expecting something significant would happen when I met a major character like MJ. It was slightly disappointing to realise that she was just another person, really.

But then I remembered the close call that was my encounter with Dr. Frost and decided I did not need that kind of stress in my life. It was pure luck that I had stepped into her life before she was first kidnapped by Magneto.

“Let’s go dweeb,” called Flash from his place between the trio without much malice.

I didn’t like the fact that Flash appeared to be coming with us but making a fuss about it would be ridiculous. He was dating Liz and seemed close enough to MJ as well.

“Yeah, yeah.”

I strapped my bag to my back and hopped down the bleachers two levels at a time. I may not be Spider-Man but that did not mean I wasn’t agile.

I was undeservedly proud of my minor feat and grinned an enthusiastic “Hello,” to the group. They were a tough crowd though. Liz just rolled her eyes and led us away from the grounds.

We made our way towards Liz’ car and I learnt from her that their cheer-leading try-outs had gone well. Both MJ and she had gotten positions on the squad. Liz seemed genuinely excited about meeting to practice every day, but MJ was suspiciously silent throughout the exchange.

Once at the parking lot, before Liz could point out her car, Flash extricated himself from Liz’ grasp and made a beeline to a pair of boys in jerseys - presumably, his teammates.

“Give me a second,” he gritted out as he left.

Once there, Flash grabbed the one on the left by his neck and pulled him behind his car, blocking most of my view. I couldn’t hear what Flash said to him but suddenly the boy’s head disappeared under the hood of the car away from view.

“Ow! Damnit Flash. What the hell?!” whined a pained voice from behind the car. They were rather far away so the fact that I could hear that said quite a lot.

Holy shit!

The sudden violence surprised me, and I whipped my head back to see the reactions of the two girls. Liz was just glaring angrily in the direction Flash had left but was otherwise untroubled by the fate of the boy. Meanwhile MJ appeared to have just turned away guiltily.

What the hell is going on?

When I reduced the distance between myself and the car by about half, I heard his voice again, “He was stalking your girl man! We had to do somethi-”

Once again, I could not hear Flash’s response but seconds later I heard a thump, “No!” the boy grunted in pain, “That’s not what I said!”

I finally made it around the side of the car to find the boy down on his ass, his hair dishevelled. He did not look particularly roughed up beyond the state of his hair, and the small amount of spittle pooled on the ground between his legs was further proof that Flash had resorted to using only body blows.

“Flash! What the hell are you doing!?”

“Mind your own business parker.” He hissed at me without turning around.

Before he could grab the boy’s hair and pull him up for another go at playing piñata, I get between them and push back at Flash.

Oh boy.

Flash was freaking heavy. I realised quickly I probably would not be able to budge him no matter how well I thought I was doing physically, so instead I thought I’d buy some time. I was pretty loud when I stopped him, maybe I drew attention from nearby security.

“Flash, what are you doing? He’s your teammate, isn’t he?” I repeated for lack of anything else to say.

I had no idea what was going on. I knew Flash was supposed to be a bit of a bully in school, but I had not expected him to pick on his own teammates as well. There were no usual signs of bullying; no goading or attention seeking. He was just…hitting him. To be honest, it looked more like a mugging.

To my surprise however, my words proved enough to forestall his will to fight.

He shoved my hands off his body with a disgruntled snarl pointed at the downed footballer, then he walked away. If I did not know any better, I could’ve sworn the psychopath grinned at me as he passed by.

I wanted to ask the two targets of Flash’s rage what had just gone down but a quick glance back at MJ and Liz told me they were already heading towards their transport.

So, for the second time that day, I curbed my curiosity and minded my own business as I left the poor sod to his pal’s administrations. I am certain he would have at least appreciated the greater beating I saved him from.

As I neared Liz’ car I heard the butt end of her conversation with Flash.

“Are you saying you should drive because I’m a girl, Flash?” Liz said somehow both sweetly and menacingly.

In Flash’s defence, he was genuinely taken aback. “What? No!”

Flash could tell as well as I could that Liz tripping him on purpose so he changed tack, “Besides, aren’t you the one who keeps saying I should do more boyfriend-like stuff for you? Come on, babe, let me drive you.”

They were both strangely amused throughout their tiny spat and only once it ended did I realise that it was probably just something of a ritual between the two. They were a surprisingly good pair.

“You can ride shotgun Flash,” she ordained, “Either that or you ride bitch in the back. We can’t leave these two kids without a chaperon after all.” She added once again in that saccharine tone.

Flash followed Liz’ gaze to MJ and then to me as I reached the car. He gave me a smiling nod as I neared and then went in, presumably in a good mood after bloodying his knuckles and kissing his girl.

Freaking caveman.

It goes without saying that he took the seat by the driver, leaving MJ and I to sit at the back.

I was going over what just happened as Liz pulled us out of the parking lot. The annoyance on Liz’ face when I glanced at her was to be expected, she could very well have just been pissed that Flash was making her wait as he pummelled some defenceless kid senseless. Even MJ’s, guilty expression was understandable now that I had gotten a better grasp of her character. It felt like she just didn’t have it in her to be contrary to her best friend.

Liz Allan was quite the monster.

I knew Flash would not explain anything if I asked, so I could only let his good mood persist. Instead, I decide on a relatively safe topic of conversation: school.

“You know that show and tell, Dr. Nelson mentioned in class today?” I ask Flash and Liz.

A glance at MJ confirmed that she heard that in her class as well, so I continued, “I think it may actually be pretty cool!”

“Of course, you do,” snarked Liz as she stopped for a red light.

“No, really! I may have snuck a glance at it after my labwork with her. I’m not sure if she’s showing what I think she is; but if she is, oh boy, are you going to be freaked out.”

I could tell they were wondering now but were too stubborn to revel in curiosity. So I turned to MJ, hoping she would take the bait but she was barely paying attention.

Another Polar Bear bites the dust. Ill-fated to die under the weight of the ice it could not break.

“So, that research gig you’re doing; is that for, like, college credits?” asked Flash after an awkward moment, answering the Bear’s dying prayers.

“Oh, I don’t plan on going to college,” I answered easily.

As soon as the words left my mouth, the car came to an uncomfortable halt. Liz had been nearing another red light and overstepped the brakes in shock.

“What!?” exclaimed all three teenagers.

“This city has a lot of traffic lights, huh.” I said, slightly amused.

I had MJ’s full attention now, I didn’t know she cared so much about college. In fact, had I still been associating her to her comic counterpart, I would bet she did not.

“What do you mean, Peter?” she asked.

“I just don’t see the need to waste years of my life validating my knowledge to some stuck-up elitists when I can just do my own thing.”

“I think it’s safe to say, Peter, that none of us could have expected that,” said Flash with a face looking like I told him football was played with feet, not hands. His utter confusion was sufficiently amusing, and I was glad I had replied so nonchalantly.

“What about you Flash, are you grabbing a sports scholarship for yourself?” I asked, ready to keep the conversation moving.

My words did not have the intended effect, however, because his mood soon worsened considerably.

He had a decidedly negative view of the school’s administration and made that abundantly clear over a short stream of invective. The school’s blatant favouritism towards the Sciences he explained, was making his life far more miserable than it needed to be. He was truly a skilled sportsman, after all and would have had a million and one opportunities anywhere else.

Liz on the other hand, was not sure what she wanted to do. She definitely wanted to have the ‘college experience’, but beyond that she wasn’t so sure.

Curiously, when it was MJ’s turn, she said she wanted to be a film star. A different story from her little rant that morning. She sat a little straighter and her eyes were brighter than when we first started talking. It did her good to have a frank conversation about the future with people of her age.

Well, partly her age.

Liz pulled into the Watsons’ driveway and promptly booted us out the car. She gave us a gracious few seconds to make our goodbyes and drove off dangerously. I wouldn’t say the drive was terrifying, but she drove a faster car than I had ever been in before and she wasn’t afraid to advertise its speed. I could see why Flash wanted to drive the vehicle.

The Porsche quickly reduced to a red speck in the distance and MJ and I were left in increasing silence.

“Well then, I guess I’ll see you later MJ. At school, I mean. Not literally, that would be weird.”

Ugh, I need sleep. I’m rambling. What a day.

“Bye Pete,” MJ gave me a laugh and a jerky wave goodbye, a little awkward because of the relatively small distance between us and scurried off back home.

Once I made it through my own doors, I met my first surprise for the night. Aunt May was home and it was only six o’clock.

“Aunt May!? Is everything alright? Why are you home so early?”

A fleeting thought crossed my mind and my eyes widened in terror, “Did something happen to Uncle Ben?”

Panic had quite easily stepped in. I had not seen nor heard even a whisper of a radioactive spider, but Dr. Frost’s life did not follow her portrayals to the letter either. Events being jumbled around was not too far a stretch for my overactive imagination.

“No, no Peter. Calm down, will you? Oh gosh, Peter, what will I do with you?” She got behind me and began to push me to the living room while massaging my shoulders. “You really need to get out of this habit of assuming the worst will happen. Do you know hard it is to explain why I don’t have Facebook to new friends? They must think I’m so old!”

She interrupts my attempt at a cheeky rebuttal with a, “Hush now let’s go talk to your Uncle.”

“Uncle Ben’s home too?”

I went through a list of the things I could be in trouble for. I could safely say that it was highly improbable that they had found the worst offenders. But they could have easily found something less incriminating lying around.

Uncle Ben’s genial smile at seeing us though erased the thought of any verbal discipline coming my way.

This better not be a birds and bees thing, that would be absurd.

The chiming of the doorbell stops us before we could start, and I rush off to open it in order to buy myself some time to think. Them being home early should have meant food was cooked, but I guess everyone was feeling a bit tired that day.

I opened the door for what I assumed was pizza delivery only to find two redheads carrying food and wine.

I blinked and my brain rebooted at the unexpected visitors; my parting words to MJ made me feel a bit silly now.

I greeted them politely and Aunt May ushered them into the living room to meet Uncle Ben. I closed the door behind the leaving group and rested my head on it for a moment.

A slight laugh from behind me ended my attempt to muster the energy I had left, “Hey Pete.” MJ had presumably left her mother’s fate to May and Ben, opting to wait for the Parker she already knew.

“Hey MJ, did you know about this?” I asked, slightly disgruntled.

“Haha yeah, my mum told me on the porch today morning,” she answered brightly.

I rolled my eyes at her and began to walk her to the living room, “I’m glad you’re amused.”

Nobody tells me anything around here!

When we met with the rest of our families, May’s and Ben’s wry expression told me the little housewarming party wasn’t meant to be quite this much of a surprise.

Regardless, I managed to avoid any social pitfalls despite my lack of information on our two guests. I stayed away from the topic of her father since I didn’t see him, and since he wasn’t brought up, I guess he wasn’t in the picture.

The night ended on a pleasant note after a lovely dinner. We learnt a lot about the Watsons over May’s Roasted Chicken and Mrs. Watson’s Risotto. For one, there was at least a fifty percent chance that cooking was in their genes. Other than that, though, they seemed to have lived an almost uncommonly dull life.

I went to sleep thanking my stars that May and Ben had stayed away from childhood photos, that would have been a little too surreal for me.

Now if only things can remain this calm.