Chapter Text
“Parker! Your bagels!”
“Coming!” Parker, a short, white boy with a round face and fluffy brown hair, freckles and acne dotting his face, round blue eyes and a pointed nose in the center of his face, wearing his black hoodie, black jeans and high tops decorated with pride flags, rushed out of his room to meet his aunt may, who was spreading mixed berry cream cheese onto freshly toasted bagels.
“Thanks, May.” He kissed her cheek happily before taking the bagels to eat. He set them on the table and reached for the coffee pot before his uncle got to it first.
Ben poured the last of the coffee into his mug. “Too slow, slugger.”
“Uncle Ben!” Parker whined.
“I’ll pick you up one of those mermaid coffee bottles on the way to school, don’t worry.” Ben chuckled.
Parker sighed but nodded in agreement as he shoved his bagels in his mouth. “How's your home project going?”
Ben slowed, his demeanor changing to be more serious. “It’s fine, but you know better than to ask about my work.” Ben eyed his nephew.
Parker huffed. “Hey, can I not be interested in my uncle’s revolutionary science discoveries? C’mon, Dr. Princeton.”
Ben chuckled and rolled his eyes. “Let’s get going, kid.”
“Yes sir! Bye, aunt May, love you!” Parker followed his uncle out.
“Bye, boys! Love you!” May yelled behind them.
“So…” Ben hummed. “Your last year of middle school, you ready?”
“Hardly! Augh.” Parker groaned as he got into the car. He noticed a bug on his hand and squealed, panicking when it bit him. He smacked it and it flew out the open window.
“You okay, kiddo?” Ben asked with concern.
“Yeah, just a bug.” He sighed. “I don’t wanna leave middle school. I dunno how many of my classmates plan to do you and Dr. Osborn’s program… I’m gonna miss my friends.”
“Harry is gonna go into the program with you.” Ben smiled hopefully.
“Harry is so pretentious.” Parker muttered as they pulled up to Brooklyn Middle.
“Well, go ahead. Cherish the year and people you won’t see in highschool.” Ben offered a strained smile.
“I’ll try. Love you.” Parker got out of the car and Ben sped off.
Parker groaned as his hand swelled, scratching it. “What kind of bug was that?” He muttered as he made his way to the library. “Aw man, Ben never got me my coffee.” He sighed and sat down on the couch, enjoying the silence of the library compared to the dining hall. Suddenly he covered his face as his hall crush, Jessie Armstrong, passed by. An african indian girl with curly hair shaved on the sides, a hooked nose, slightly narrowed green eyes, normally sporting a large purple hoodie and black jeans, walking in white converse that she would adorn with her favorite fandoms, drawings of cartoon characters, logos and quotes covering them.
“Watch’ya lookin at?” Harry Osborn, the son of uncle Ben’s lab partner, Norman Osborn, sat next to Parker.
“Go away, Harry!” Parker scoffed.
“I see you’re eyeing Jessie.” Harry smirked. “Y’know, she’s the only other one doing the Osborn Princeton program for highschool.”
“Really?” Parker looked at Harry again.
“Yeah, she’s already interning at the lab.” Harry confirmed. “We are getting pret-ty close~”
“Augh, of course. Nothing good ever comes from you.” Parker groaned.
“You don’t have to be mean to me.” He huffed.
“Just because your dad is friends with my uncle doesn’t mean we’re friends.” Parker looked away from him.
Harry clicked his tongue. “I wonder what your uncle would say about that.”
“If Ben has a problem May will let you both know that I have a right to choose my friends.” Parker stood up.
“Ew!” Harry suddenly exclaimed. “Your hand looks diseased, dude!”
“What?” Parker looked at his hand to see the bite had swelled even more. “Crap!” He turned and ran off to the nurse.
…
“Well, most I can do is give you ice.” The nurse informed him.
Parker sighed. “I’ll call my aunt.”
“Don’t bother, it’s just a bug bite.” The nurse scoffed.
Parker huffed, getting off the table, not being able to pick up his hands. “Augh. This table is so sticky.”
“I sanitize it every day.” The nurse snapped back.
“We both know that’s not true.” He tried to pick up his hand and lifted the foam mat from the table.
Both stared. “Well… Maybe not every day.” The nurse admitted. She went to Parker and tried to pull the table and his hand apart, part of the cover to the mat coming off. “Go to the restroom, it’s nothing that won’t come off with water. And look! Your swelling is going down.” Parker groaned in frustration, going to the restroom and washing his hands. The fabric did come off after a bit, but Parker was left angry and with a still hurt hand. And he never got his coffee.
While Parker was actively ignoring the social studies lesson to draw, he got a call from his uncle. “Oh, Ms. Princeton, would your friend like to join class? Answer the call, on speaker.”
“It’s Mr. Princeton. And my uncle is calling.”
“Go into the hall then.”
Parker went out and picked up the call. “Hello?”
“Parker!!!” Ben sounded frantic. “Did you see a spider around the house? Blue? It’s urgent.”
Parker remembered the bug in the car, not wanting to get in trouble for killing the spider Ben was looking for. “N-No. Why?”
“Shit. Do-Don’t worry about it. I’ll-I’ll handle it. Bye.” He hung up before Parker could say goodbye. He groaned and went back into the room. His social studies teacher huffed and continued his lesson, Parker was confused and absolutely worried about it.
Parker got home later that day to hear his caretakers arguing. Despite how nice their lives looked on the outside, this wasn’t uncommon. But this time Ben was yelling about “home projects” and “confidential information” and… Dammit, spiders. Parker made his way to his room to hide from the yelling. He was probably gonna watch some cartoons to get his mind off it, maybe write a bit. Imagine a situation where he lives in the world in his shows instead of this one.
He started to pace as he imagined a fictional world. One where he was swept up by one of his favorite characters and saved from his tiny Brooklyn apartment, leaving behind his aunt and uncle. He’d still visit, for his aunt though. Ben was often too consumed in his work to form a real connection with Parker. They were close-ish though. But in this world, uncle Ben had left to really focus on his work with Norman. It was just Parker, his fake boyfriend and May. And in this world he… He was… ON THE CEILING?! He unstuck and fell, groaning.
“Parker? Is everything okay?” May called.
“Yeah!” Parker called back. “Just dropped a book!”
“A book?” May questioned.
“It was a big boo-book.” He spat out.
“Okay, hon.” May responded. “Hey, have you seen Ben’s Spider Project?”
“No!” Parker groaned.
“Okay, just let us know if you do, love you!” She walked away.
Parker’s mind went back to the table in the nurse’s office. He slowly walked to the wall, taking a deep breath and pressing his hand to it and trying to lift himself up, which he did successfully. He quickly had to also put his feet on the wall, as he didn’t have great upper strength. “This cannot be real…” He climbed off the wall. “Am I hallucinating…?”
“Parker! Dinner! I made cottage pie!” May called.
Parker jumped, then left his room. “Y’know, Harry said his dad makes cottage pie with cheese.”
“We don’t mix dairy and meat in this house.”
“Ho-kaaayy.” Parker sat down, sweating like no tomorrow. He got a bad gut feeling when his frustrated uncle Ben entered the room.
“Ben…” May said quietly. “That boy looks up to you, he wants to be like you. A great scientist. You have the power to mold his brain, and with great power comes great responsibility. Do not waste the time you have with him worrying about the little things. Raise your nephew.”
“You’re right…” Ben visibly calmed as he sat at the table, offering Parker a strained smile.
Parker smiled back, his gut feeling fading but not quite going away until Ben went to bed. When he got back to his room, Parker continued to test his new ability to stick to walls, accidentally knocking over one of his figures and catching it quickly… With a web. “Okay. That’s new.” He muttered, slowly climbing down.
He looked out his window, thinking about what his aunt said. “With great power comes great responsibility”. He had to do something. He had to use these powers for good. He had to come clean to his uncle… Maybe later, when Ben was less angry about losing the spider. For now, he was going to bed and worrying about it tomorrow.