Chapter Text
Peter couldn’t have been more excited about his first day of freshman year. He was not only starting his first year of high school, but also starting it at Midtown School of Science and Technology! Over the summer between 8th and 9th grade, Peter applied for one of the scholarships that Midtown offers for low-income students. Peter worked for hours on the application and probably reviewed each part a hundred times. He worked so hard because he had always wanted to attend Midtown because of its advanced science programs.
Which is why Peter anxiously awaited his letter for the entire three weeks it took to arrive. One day, his Uncle Ben brought the mail in with a huge smile on his face. Ben's smile only grew as he took a letter from the stack and handed it to Peter. Peter anxiously took the letter and sat down beside May on the couch. Ben then put the rest of the mail on the coffee table and sat down on Peter's other side.
Peter looked down at the letter in his hands before worriedly asking, “What if I didn’t get in, guys?” Ben smiled at Peter and then gave him a couple of gentle pats on the back.
“I’m positive you got in, Peter, you’re the smartest kid I know,” Ben assured him.
“They would be fools not to accept you.” May agreed as she reached over and gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze.
Peter took a shaky breath before ripping the envelope open. He spent a couple of seconds quickly scanning the letter before leaping up with a huge smile.
“I got the scholarship, I'm going to Midtown!” Petter exclaimed while grinning brightly and jumping up and down like an excited puppy. May and Ben jumped up and wrapped him in a huge hug while congratulating him. After they untangled themselves from the hug, Ben stepped back and declared, “This is a cause for celebration!”
When May and Ben took him out to celebrate that night, they went to some of Peter's favorite places. First, they went to Mr. Delmar’s (where Peter got his favorite sandwich), then they went to Flavors Assemble (where they got ice cream and hot chocolate). Then the three of them went back to their apartment, where they built a pillow fort in the living room and had a Star Wars marathon. That day had been one of the best days of Peter's life, not even Parker luck had interfered.
Peter smiles to himself as he walks up Midtown’s stairs, recalling how much fun they had that day. When he walks into school, the first thing he notices is how busy everything is, swarms of students move in and out of hallways looking for classes while teachers yell at them to respect the school’s rules. Peter looks around before he heads toward the cafeteria while doing his best to avoid crashing into anyone. By some miracle, he makes it to the cafeteria without Parker luck striking. As he walks through the cafeteria doors, he grabs a tray and approaches the lunch lady, who has a name tag that reads “Miss Honey”.
“What would you like today?” she asks as he stops in front of her.
“Can I have two pancakes, please?” He asks politely with a smile.
“Of course," Miss Honey replies. She hands Peter his tray back with a smile and a cheerful “Have a great day!”
“Thank you, ma'am. I hope you have a wonderful day.” He replies, grinning brightly.
Peter turns toward the lunch tables and starts walking toward an empty table, only for the universe to immediately decide his day had been too good. Peter crashes into a short Filipino boy with black hair and brown eyes, wearing a dark blue jacket and jeans. He and the boy both stumble back. Peter somehow manages not to drop his breakfast as he falls. The other boy quickly sticks his hand out to help Peter and apologizes. Peter grabs his hand and pulls himself up. He smiles and waves the boy off when he regains his footing.
“It wasn't your fault; I should have been paying more attention to where I was going. I'm sorry for crashing into you. Are you okay?” Peter asks.
The boy shakes his head, “I'm fine, are you okay?” he asks, and then continues, “No, it was my fault, I was distracted.”
“I'm perfectly fine, and I am certain it was my fault. My bad luck always has me crashing into people.” Peter replies. The boy looks like he is going to deny that again until he gets distracted by Peter's shirt, which features Darth Vader holding an open book with the title How to Survive High School. “Do you like Star Wars?” the boy excitedly asks.
“I love Star Wars, how about you?” Peter grins.
The boy gives a bright grin, “Are you kidding? Star Wars is my favorite movie series.”
Peter points over to the empty table he had been walking to. “You want to join me for breakfast and discuss the movies?” Peter questions.
“Of course,” the boy happily says. While they walk toward the table together, Peter realizes that he hasn't introduced himself yet.
“I'm Peter Parker.” He says, holding out his hand.
“I'm Ned Leeds." The b-Ned says.