Chapter Text
Peters POV
“Peter Parker.”
“Here,” Peter responded without looking up, his focus almost entirely on the history homework in front of him.
Now, if you asked Peter, he would tell you that it was pointless to have a history class at a science school. Or at the very least, there shouldn’t be homework in said history class. But, seeing as no one had asked for his opinion on the matter, here he was.
Here was actually in Mr. Harrington’s science class at the moment, and considering it was nine in the morning, he would’ve rather been listening to the man boringly rattle off the rest of the names for attendance. However, more homework meant less patrolling.
And less patrolling meant more crime.
And more crime meant more lives at stake.
And if the only way Peter could motivate himself to do history work was to tell himself that lives depended on it? Well, whatever worked.
“Hey… Peter.” A whisper and a sharp poke from Ned interrupted his train of thought.
“Hmm?”
“MJ said she’s bringing the new girl from math class to lunch. Apparently they’re friends already.”
Peter stared at the paper in front of him, attempting to comprehend both the paper and Ned’s words at once. Needless to say, he didn’t do a very good job of either. Oftentimes, on days where it was a bit too early and he had been up a bit too late, Peter’s mind wandered very easily. At this moment, he had decided that if he were a laptop, he would be a 2007 Dell computer. Trusty, but very laggy. Currently laggy.
“What?” Peter finally looked up and made eye contact with his best friend. “New girl?”
Ned waved his hands around in a little gesture to emphasize the words, “Yeah, the girl in our math class.”
“Ned, I wasn’t in math today.” Ned was a new Macbook that had been dropped one too many times. That sounds harsh, but Ned would agree.
“Oh yeah!” Ned said a bit too loudly for Peter’s liking. “That car chase on fourth street, right? I saw a video on YouTube. Dude, that flip over the stoplight was so wicked, and then you-“
“Ned!” Peter said through clenched teeth. “I overslept, remember?”
“Oh! Right, overslept,” Ned echoed, adding in a wink for reassurance.
Peter sighed at his friends' antics before smiling softly. “…the flip looked cool?”
“So cool!”
“Parker, Leeds.” Mr. Harrington set down his laser pointer as he called out the pair. “I assume you're having a very exhilarating conversation about the different nitrogen bases found in the nucleotides of DNA, correct?”
There was scattered laughter. More accurately, there were a few amused huffs of breath and one Flash Thompson laughing his ass off. Peter was unfazed.
Ned nodded his head enthusiastically. “Yep, absolutely, Mr. Harrington!”
“Really? Which one?”
Ned shared a quick panic filled glance with Peter before responding. “Peter, actually, was the one who brought it up.”
Thanks, Ned.
Peter laughed awkwardly. The fans on his 2007 Dell brain kicked into high gear. “Oh yeah, you know, I just think that- that they’re all so cool!” Peter stumbled out. “I mean thymine? It’s awesome, right? Totally my favorite.”
There was a moment of silence as the room digested Peter’s answer. He could practically feel his face turning the shade of his Spider-Man mask.
Eventually, Mr. Harrington raised an eyebrow. “Is that so?”
“I completely agree.”
The entire room, Peter and Ned included, turned their attention to the back of the room where the voice originated.
Peter was surprised to find a girl he didn’t recognize. Her blonde hair was held back by a black headband, matching her black turtleneck. However, what really stuck out to Peter was the bright green jacket around her shoulders. Compared to the rest of the students in the class wearing various shades of blue, black, and gray, she stuck out quite a bit.
Not in a bad way, he thought to himself. More like a rose in a field of dandelions. No, that’s dumb. Roses grow in bushes. Oh, whatever.
“There’s a reason thymine replaces uracil as RNA converts to DNA,” she continued, undeterred by the stares of her classmates. “Thymine is much more resistant to genetic mutations which makes the entire DNA strand stronger in the long run.”
Peter blinked. That… actually made a lot of sense. Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Peter continued it as if that’s what he had been thinking the whole time.
“Yeah, exactly! Uracil is designed to be more resistant to oxidation which only occurs outside of the nucleus anyway.” Peter turned back towards the front as he talked. “Our cells being able to notice that and make our DNA stronger in more useful ways by using thymine instead is just really cool.”
Mr. Harrington opened his mouth to respond, but appeared to find no words and closed it again.
In the teacher’s momentary lapse, Peter side-eyed Ned.
“Who was that?” he mouthed.
“New girl!” Ned answered with a grin.
By then, Mr. Harrington seemed to register what had just happened and finally managed to create a response. “I don’t know what’s going on anymore. Please just- just save the conversation for another time, alright? Ms. Stacy, I would like to speak with you after class. As I was saying-”
The poor teacher jumped back into his lesson, allowing Peter and Ned to share relieved glances with one other.
Peter tried to focus on said lesson, or even back on his incomplete history homework, but his mind kept drifting back to the girl. Ms. Stacy.
Despite this being an advanced level biology class, this was still the basics for Peter. It wasn’t common for someone to know enough to be able to bullshit their way through a response like Peter can, especially about biology. Having literally had his DNA altered by a radioactive spider, could you really blame him for taking an interest in the subject? Physics would always be number one for Peter, but still.
Who was she? He didn’t even know her name.
As if on cue, like Ned often seems to be, Peter’s question was answered as the boy whispered, “I think MJ called her Gwen.”
Peter chewed on the end of his pen as he mulled over the last five minutes of his life, history homework long forgotten.
-
Gwens POV
“Gwendolyn Stacy,” Mr. Harrington greeted as she approached his desk.
She smiled. “Gwen is alright, Mr. Harrington.”
“Gwen it is.”
“I’d like to apologize for earlier,” Gwen started. “I know I spoke out of turn-“
“Apologies won’t be necessary, Gwen.” Mr. Harrington offered a warm smile. “I actually wanted to offer you an opportunity.”
Gwen raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Opportunity?”
“Yeah. Your explanation earlier showed an advanced knowledge of DNA, much more than we have gotten to at this point in the school year. I was impressed.”
“Oh,” Gwen answered sheepishly. “Thanks.”
“I knew students here liked science, but I never expected them to be thinking about DNA structures outside of class,” Mr. Harrington explained happily.
Gwen almost laughed at that, but she managed to keep a straight face as she nodded seriously. She was probably one of the only ones who thought about science outside of class, it wasn’t a very common hobby. But hey, if he wanted to be that optimistic about his students, so be it. “Yeah, it’s an interest of mine.”
Mr. Harrington gestured to the room around him wildly. “Mine too.” He turned around and reached into his desk, pulling out a stack of papers he started to flip through. “I used to be more of a chemistry man myself, but I met my ex-wife in a college biology class. It really grew my love for the subject. I let her copy my homework, she let me hang out with her and her friends.” He paused and stared at the papers. “I guess cheaters will always be cheaters, huh?”
“Um… yeah,” Gwen agreed slowly.
Mr. Harrington blinked and finally pulled out a packet. “Anyway, are you aware of our academic decathlon team?”
Gwen shook her head slowly.
“Long story short, it’s like a science competition, but with every subject. Does that make sense?”
Gwen raised an eyebrow. “Sorta?”
“Awesome! Here’s a packet with more information.” He handed her the papers as he continued. “If you have time, we’re having a little meet after school that you’re free to go to, just to watch.”
“Oh, uh, cool?” Gwen stared at the packet in her hands. Mr. Harrington had somehow managed to give too much information and barely any at all at the exact same time. It was almost impressive.
He stared at her for a moment before speaking again. “You seem confused. Are you confused?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “That was confusing. Here, follow me.”
Mr. Harrington led her out into the hallway. “Peter! Could you come here for a sec?” He asked loudly over the sea of kids.
A boy about halfway down the hallway turned around with a bewildered look on his face.
Hold on, Gwen thought, that’s thymine boy!
As the boy, Peter, approached, Gwen couldn’t help but make out some details about him that she hadn’t before. Back in the classroom, she had time to appreciate his slightly wavy hair that curled at the ends. But by the disgruntled way he brushed the hair out of his face at least three times as he walked the hallway, she could tell he didn’t care for it nearly as much as she did. His shirt said something about atoms, but Gwen couldn’t read it around the blue flannel he wore.
She didn’t really have time to analyze much else, Peter being surprisingly good at slipping through the hallway in minimal time. She’d have to ask how he did that.
Mr. Harrington spoke up before Peter had the chance to. “Gwen, I assume you know Peter. I think Ms. Warren mentioned you were both in her first hour for AB Calc?”
Gwen squinted her eyes as she looked between Peter and the teacher. “Actually, I didn’t see-”
“Yep!” Peter responded quickly, cutting her off. “Yeah, this morning.” Peter side eyed her quickly, a visible plea of please don’t rat me out.
For the second time that day, for reasons unknown, Gwen found herself covering for Peter. “This morning,” she repeated slowly.
Mr. Harrington looked between the two of them, somewhat aware that he had missed something, but he didn’t go into it. “I was just mentioning to Gwen that she should check out our Academic Decathlon team. We have an open spot, with Liz moving and all.”
Had Gwen not already been watching Peter with suspicion, she might’ve missed the small wince he gave at Mr. Harrington’s words, one that was easily covered up with a smile. Every moment she spent staring at Peter added another level of mystery to whoever he was.
She pulled her eyes away from Peter and back towards Mr. Harrington, who was still talking obliviously. “Would you mind explaining it to her a bit more at lunch or something? I wouldn’t want to make you two late for your next classes. I’m sure the information would also be more useful coming from another student.”
Peter nodded before responding. “I- yeah, uh, I can do that. No problem.”
The teacher clapped his hands together once and smiled brightly. “Perfect! Now go be smart elsewhere. I’ll hopefully see you both after school.” And with that, Mr. Harrington strode back into his classroom, leaving both Peter and Gwen in awkward silence. At least it felt that way, despite the other groups of students chattering just a few feet away.
This would be a fun conversation.