Chapter Text
Flash woke with a start, his phone alarm singing in his ear. He excitedly rolled out of bed, ready to face the day.
For the most part, the huge house he and his parents lived in was always empty, aside from the butler and the maid. On the outside, Flash was cocky and full of himself. Behind closed doors, he was actually very lonely and always tried to hide the truth, not wanting anyone to feel sorry for him.
But today was the day, the local freshmen mixer for all incoming MIT students. He could finally begin his fresh start. Away from this lonely home, and hopefully making life long friends. Who knows? Maybe even meeting his future wife.
He wasn’t the nicest guy at MidTown and his current friend situation, or lack thereof, was proof of that. He was ready to be a new man and a friend that people could depend on. And sure, he had his Spider-Man blog with quite a few followers but did that really count? Plus nowadays it was an equal mix of supporters and haters due to the whole Mysterio debacle and big name reveal.
Moving on though, he needed to get ready for the party, and that he was good at.
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By the time he arrived, the place was packed and music was booming through the windows. He was late, because showing up early was a party no-no. Flash pushed himself inside, ready to mingle.
Across the room he spotted Michelle and Ned. But wait, where was nerdy Parker? Him and Michelle had been glued together ever sense the Europe trip, especially after his secret identity was blasted to the world.
“Hey Michelle! Where’s your nerdy boyfriend?” Flash yelled across the room. Ya, sure, Peter Parker was Spider-Man but Flash had to keep up the ‘I don’t care’ facade.
Michelle and Ned stared at him like an alien with three heads.
“Umm…what boyfriend?” Michelle asked frowning.
“Peter Parker?? Nerd supreme??” Flash watched in amazement as no recognition flitted across her face. What was going on? Was this some kind of joke?
Michelle rolled her eyes and pushed past him, muttering how stupid his joke was and who the hell was Peter Parker?
Flash grimaced, glancing at Ned who just shrugged, “Sounds like a made up name man. See you around.”
Ok, now he was really confused. Michelle and Ned didn’t know who Parker was? This had to be a prank on him. The WHOLE world knew who Peter was at this point.
Then his body froze, his ears zoning in on the TV that was playing in the corner, that horrible reporter, Jameson was it?, spewing his lies.
“Spider-Man is at it again! The Statue of Liberty nearly obliterated!! What is it with him and monuments?! Come out you coward and show your face! Who is behind the mask?! I assure you people, I will find out!”
Flash looked at the cup in his hand, wondering if maybe someone slipped something inside. He was surely losing it…right? His brow started to sweat, his pulse racing.
He ran up to a random group of people, “Hey, hey! Do you know who Spider-Man is?!”
“Umm…does anyone?” A kid with glasses answered.
Flash ignored him and moved to another group of people, “Hey! Tell me who Spider-Man is!”
A girl scoffed, “You tell us! No one knows.”
Flash visibly paled, clutching his chest. His vision swam in front of him and whispers of ‘Hey man, you ok?’ echoed in the distance. It was too much, too much!
He ran out the door, sucking in huge gulps of air. No one knew…no one knew…no one knew!
He sped home, pulled into the garage, and ran into his library. He immediately pulled off a few yearbooks from the shelf. Flipping through the pages, his shaking fingers making it difficult, he paused in the “P” section. No such Peter Parker existed. He checked the next one, and the next one, still no Peter Parker. He checked the Decathlon photos- no nerdy Parker in sight.
Oh God, what was happening?!