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"The GEDs are tomorrow," Peter said as he paced his room.
"You will do fine," Elder Peter said.
"You are going to totally ace it, little bro. Did you already ace the SAT and ACT?" Peter Three said happily from the speaker on his phone.
"Yes…but this is different. I mean the stakes are different. I mean there are still stakes but different ones. The stakes before were MIT but I had back up schools and back up plans. This…is my only chance," HE said in a panic.
"Pete, unless the test is different here in your world, it is free. You can take it anytime," The oldest said reassuringly.
"I know…I know. I need to get my GED to get a better job, then maybe I can investigate schools…or even trade school if that isn't possible. Because I know that school is expensive even with scholarships. I don't know if I can get a scholarship because of the spell. I have nothing. GEDs will make me have something….Something with my name on it. It is a start. A chance. I…"
"Okay…first off…breathe. Second, wow, that is some testing anxiety," His middle brother said.
"You should have seen me before the SATs," He mumbled.
"Probably ran around the block a million times."
"No…yes…I may have swung around the city…."
"A million times," Peter-Three added.
The oldest chuckled.
"That does sound like us. Aunt May kicked me out to do yard work and may or may not have worked," The oldest added.
"I ran up and down our stairs…for hours. When fighting bad guys, enhanced stamina rocks but for testing anxiety…not so much," Peter Three added.
"Tell me about it. I feel like a live wire. I can't focus on anything. I tried to do a practice test and I couldn't focus. What if I can't focus during the test tomorrow? What if…" He started rambling.
"Then don't," The oldest cut him off.
"Don't what?" He asked.
"Study."
"But…but!"
"Pete, I have had students who study weeks before a test then fail it. Do you know why?"
"Because they study the wrong material?"
"No, they stress themselves out to the point that they can't think."
"Teach is right. You're overthinking it," Peter-Three said excitedly.
"Then…then what should I do?" He asked.
He needed to do something. He already fought a lot of crime and did a whole bunch of door dash orders.
"I know! A game!" Peter-Three said happily.
He felt a grin form on his face. Maybe, they could do a quiz type thing in relation to his exam! That would be great!
"No." The oldest said.
"Why not?" He groaned.
"Do I need to respond to that or…"
"Why…Oh…OH! Clever, little Pete. Very clever but you shouldn't go up against an experienced teacher like that," Peter three said with a laugh.
"Why did one of us have to grow up to be a teacher?" He groaned again.
"Lack of employment opportunities," Peter-two said mildly.
"Don't worry. I won't become a teacher!" Peter-Three expressed happily.
"No, I'm thinking like a mad scientist."
He laughed at the oldest's comment.
"HEY! No!"
"It's the hair."
Oh my god, he is going to fall off his bed if he laughed any harder.
Peter-Two and his dry sense of humor hit him every time.
"Yes…you definitely have the hair," He stumbled out between breaths.
"HEY! My hair is fine. IT is perfect…" Peter Three mumbled.
"Messy," Peter two added.
He made a high pitch noise.
Peter-three mumbled over the phone.
"I hate both of you."
"No, you don't. You love us. We love you," He said as his laughter died down.
He heard Peter-three mumbled about brothers and scientists.
"I think that you made him blush," Their oldest brother said after a moment.
"Evil siblings…so evil." Peter three mumbled.
He let out a laugh.
"Thanks guys…I really needed that," He said with a smile.
He really did. He felt lighter. In this world, he really didn't have anyone to laugh with anymore. The only thing that he could focus on was crime fighting and his studies. It wasn't like he could make friends anymore. He would have to worry about them getting hurt. The super-heroes that he did know…no longer knew him.
That really hurts.
A lot.
His fellow Spider-man…men?...no, brothers understood. They understood what it was like. The loneliness. The isolation. The hurt that you can't just call someone up. He couldn't call up his Aunt (God, he missed her voice) anymore to complain about weird stuff that he got on his suit or the bad guys that he fought. He couldn't call MJ to get her thoughts on well…everything. He couldn't call up Ned to geek out about the latest Lego set. (He couldn't wait to see what they had plan for the 90th anniversary!)
Now, he couldn't.
He only had his brothers.
He felt a wave of emotion overtake him.
He felt tears forming out of the corner of his eyes.
He was going to cry again. He couldn't. He shouldn't. He cried enough as it.
"Pete?" Peter-Three said.
"I'm…I'm fine. I'm…" He said with a sob.
"It's okay," The oldest said.
"No, it isn't! I cried enough. I shouldn't. I shouldn't be crying over GED or a stupid joke." He said as he struggled to wipe the tears from his face.
"Pete, grief has no timetable," Peter three said.
"He's right. They may be physically there but those friendships are gone. You can mourn those friendships. We will be here for you." Peter Two said softly.
He let out a sob.
It wasn't until much later that he felt embarrassed at his crying. At that moment, he felt a burden remove his shoulders.
Their words of comfort made him feel that someone knew that he exists.
That he mattered as Peter Parker and not as Spider-man.
He didn't know how long he cried but he felt so tired once he was done.
"Why don't you get some rest, huh?" Peter-Three said.
"We will call tomorrow." Peter Two added.
"But…it isn't on the schedule…." He mumbled sleepy.
"Change of plans. Tomorrow, my schedule is open!" Peter-Two said happily.
"I can make something work," Peter-Three added.
"Thank you," He said with relief.
Thank you so much.
End.