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Peter admits that sometimes he can be clumsy in fights and end up with bruises and cuts, but no one sees them, right?
It was a summer morning, and Peter was getting ready for school. He had some bruises on his face from patrol last night, but no one would notice. Summer break was about to start, and he couldn’t wait. Then he could go out as Spider-Man more and spend time at the Avengers Tower.
As he walked in the school, he saw his classmates staring at him. He shrugged it off, thinking he was just being paranoid, but as the day went on, he kept seeing them. He definitely wasn’t being paranoid.
As the last bell rang, he picked up his bag and walked to acadec practice. He was excited to see Ned and MJ.
When he walked into the classroom, his classmates started whispering. His teacher wasn’t there yet, so he just sat down.
“Do I have something on my face or something?” He whispered to Ned, sitting down.
“No, dude, why?” Ned whispered back.
“Everyone has been looking at me today. I’m probably just being paranoid, though.” Peter said, not bothering to whisper anymore since the sound of his classmates talking was loud enough that they couldn’t hear him.
Suddenly his classmate Cindy walked up to him, the rest following behind her.
“Uh… hi?” Peter said confused as to why they were staring at him.
“Peter, we know you're being abused at home.” Betty said bluntly.
“Wait... you… what?” Peter choked out
“It's either you're some kind of vigilante or you're being abused,” Abe said.
“Wha—I'm not a vigilante.” Peter’s voice was higher than it usually was.
Cindy raised an eyebrow at him.
“so you're being abused at home,” Betty said.
“NO, I’m not being abused, guys, nor am I a vigilante. Where did this come from?”
“you always come to school with bruises and cuts”
Gosh, of course they noticed Peter was stupid to think otherwise. This is it; his life is over.
“Um, Ned, help me out here.” Peter turned to Ned, who looked as shocked as he was.
“Guys, Peter is not being abused!” Ned shouted.
“Then why do you have bruises? Because we all know Peter Parker isn’t a vigilante,” Flash said from across the room.
“Uh—how do I explain this without outing my yk?” He leaned in to Ned. “Identity,” he whispered.
“ I mean, Peter, you look like you went ten rounds with a rhinoceros,” Ned laughed.
“DUDE, NOT HELPING MY CASE” Peter shouted.
“So spill, Parker, what’s the true story?” MJ raised an eyebrow at Peter.
“I just ran into a door,” Peter defended himself.
“Every day of the week?” mj asked not buying it
“Yeah, okay, I'm leaving. Bye!” Peter stood up and grabbed his bag, forgetting his bag was open, his web shooters falling out of it.
Before Peter could pick it up, Cindy did.
“Peter, are these… web shooters?” cindy asked
Peter grabbed them off her. “N-no, I don't know what you're talking about,” he stuttered.
MJ stepped closer to him, blocking his way out. “Peter, are you… spider-man?”
Peter made eye contact with her; the room fell silent, everyone waiting for his answer.
“yeah… I am.”
All the team processed the information, not knowing what to say.
“Peter, why would you do this?” Barry broke the silence.
“What—“ Peter was confused. Were they mad at him?
“Is someone forcing you to do this?” MJ asked with a soft voice.
“What? No, no one is forcing me!” Peter shouted.
Peter raised his hand to calm everyone down, looking at the horrified looks from the team.
“Okay, stop. I'm not being abused. No one is forcing me to be Spider-Man. I chose this.”
“You choose to risk your life every night?” Abe frowned.
“Yes, I have these powers. I should help; if not, and something bad happened, it would be my fault.” Peter begged for them to listen.
“but you're just a kid,” Flash spoke for the first time since Peter confessed.
“Look, I appreciate that you care. But this is my choice. I don’t need saving.” Peter said, fixing his bag and leaving the group watching him go with mixed expressions.
Ned started, “He chose to be Spider-Man; if you guys can’t understand that, then it’s your problem.” He followed Peter out of the room.