"My tea's gone cold I wonder why..."
Peter nodded his head to the beat lightly as he tuned out his surroundings. He was on the bus and there was no avoiding the stares he was getting.
Eyes filled with sympathy and curiosity but Peter just shrugged. He could care less about sympathy from strangers. So he just chose to ignore them.
Graduation was just around the corner and Peter was coming up with ways he could get rich and secure his and May's safety. He had volunteered on small-scale engineering projects for the time being and so by the time he graduated he wouldn't be treated like an amateur.
Peter Parker was one of the most naturally gifted and brilliant minds in the entire Marvel Universe. He had all the access to whatever Peter had learned through his lifetime and his prodigy intellectual and near-photographic memory made it easy for him to digest topics and subjects that had been foreign to him before.
The other thing he did was train his body. With all the power that was gifted to the OG Peter, one would think that he would have tried to make the best out of it right? Yeah, but sadly the OG hadn't even touched the surface of the potential that laid dormant inside his body.
Learning combat and physical training was on top of Peter's priority list. Marvel was seriously off the scale when it came to power levels. World destroying events could take place at any random moment, inter-dimensional beings could pop out of nowhere and wreak havoc simply because there were bored.
Peter needed to power up or else he would just be stomped on and discarded to the sidelines unable to do anything or protect the ones close to him.
He had a lot to work on.
His next move was to intern at any of the leading industry which would give him access to the tools he needed to grow strong.
Stark Industries, OsCorp, Baxters were on top of his list. Stark Industries wouldn't hire a no-name like him. Unless Civil War happens there was no way Iron Man would come looking for him.
And if he remembers well then Captain American has just got out of the ice. So, there is that. OsCorp currently housed the majority of the brilliant minds and future villains, namely Curt Connors, Otto Octavious, Max Dillion, and the head honcho of the would-be boy band called Sinister Six, Norman Osborne.
The place could literally blow up at any time without a warning with all the mad geniuses and Jack asses it housed. Basically, it was a cesspool of walking time-bombs and Peter wanted no part in it unless it was absolutely necessary for him to participate in it.
Baxters was his best shot. Interning then would give him access to all the tools he needed and we will also be provided with funds and privacy to work on his personal projects independently.
That was what he was aiming for.
Peter got off the bus while texting a certain blonde that he had arrived. He got a reply and headed inside the campus and there he saw her standing in front of him.
Gwen Stacy was a gorgeous blonde, a young woman whose brain matched her beauty. She was wearing a black headband, a brown trenchcoat to match the black miniskirt and high shin black boots.
She stood there with a nervous smile on her face but the excitement was visible in her eyes.
Peter smiled in her direction and walked towards her.
"Hello. I believe this is our first time talking in person right?" Peter grinned to which she nodded. "I am Peter. Glad to finally be able to talk to you."
Peter offered her a hand and Gwen shook it with a coy smile.
"Gwen Stacy." Gwen smiled shaking his hands. "I have heard a lot about you from my dad."
"Funny you say that." Peter said causing Gwen to raise an eyebrow in confusion. "He said the same thing when we first meet."
Gwen blushed and smiled sheepishly as Peter grinned.
"I didn't know that I had a secret admirer." Peter teased.
"Oh my! It's nothing like that!" Gwen retorted.
"Sure it isn't." The grin never left his face.
"Ugh!" Gwen turned around and started stomping away.
"Oh boy. What an energetic girl."
"Are you coming or not?! We have classes in five minutes."
"Hey! Wait up. Haha"
"Nerd." Gwen grumbled but it was hard for her to hide that smile.
------
Classes were boring.
That was the only way he could sum it up in short.
Nothing out of the ordinary took place over the course of two hours. Well except for one thing. Gwen Stacy was sitting beside him now.
And that attracted a lot of gazes.
And a lot of words were being thrown around.
And most of them were not kind.
So... Maybe something out of ordinary did happen after all.
"They are staring at us." Gwen nudged him, whispering the obvious to him.
"I wonder who is to blame for that." Peter whispered back as he looked at her with a playful accusatory stare.
"Wah! How rude!" Gwen exclaimed. "Should I not sit beside you now?"
"Who said? Sit here. It's not like I care about their stares." Peter shrugged. "They are just strangers to me."
"Good." Gwen nodded in satisfaction before peeking to see what he was doing. "Are you seriously doodling now?! Exams are just above our head!"
"Is there something you wanna say, Ms. Stacy?" The professor asked sternly surprising her.
"I um-"
"She's feeling cool and asked me to close the window." Peter said getting up and closing the window. He flashed the teacher a disarming smile and sat back again. "Sorry to disturb you, it won't happen again."
"I hope so Mr. Parker." The teacher flared her nose but didn't say anything.
"Geez. Thanks." Gwen whispered.
"It's no biggie." Peter smiled. "I've finished ahead of time. I had too much time on my hand so I kind of ate up most of the syllabus. I still have to write a thesis and flesh out the conclusion of my assignment."
"What?! No fair!" Gwen pouted. "I gave you my notes and you left me behind in the dirt. Peter you big dummy!"
'Figures she would get mad about something like this than the remarks these idiots are making about her.' Peter said as he looked at Mary Jane glaring at them from the corner of his eyes.
Mary Jane did call him.
Yesterday he received a call but he was too busy ignoring her to reply to the text. Plus he had been jotting down plans and trying to predict the major future events and when they would take place. In short, he had his priorities, and high school drama wasn't on top of it.
"If it makes you happy, I will be more than happy to help you with your studies." Peter smiled as Gwen perked up. "Just not today, I have some work tonight."
"Aww... It's alright! Tomorrow after school and I am not taking a no for an answer!"
"Sure."
"Good!" Gwen nodded happily. "Now let me concentrate!"
'But you are the one who started...' Peter just shook his head with a wry smile.
"Oh?" Gwen realized something as she looked back at him. "What work exactly?"
"A part-time job. It pays well and... It's fun." Peter smiled before his face shifted into a shit-eating grin. "Definitely fun."
------
"Argh!"
"Fun definitely." Peter muttered as he socked a burly guy in his stomach making him double over in pain. He grabbed the man by his fair and broke his nose with a sharp hit with his knee. "But boring."
He blew the torn-out hair that was in his hand and looked around the unconscious thugs around him.
"Now to clean this mess up." Peter began pilling up the thugs after he looted their valuables.
"Weed? Seriously? Don't do it, kids. It's bad for you."
"Why do you have a Rolex?"
"Is that a lightsaber?!"
"Fuu... Done." Peter grinned like a mad man as counted the thick stack of dollar bills he had in his hand.
"When justice is swift and sweet."
"Gotta love it right?" Peter was startled as he quickly backflipped avoiding the hand that was about to grab him. He landed behind his assailant and shot out the web nailing him before swinging the now captured person with his full strength and slamming them into the nearby wall.
"Argh!"
Before the assailant could get up Peter webbed them up to the wall.
"Woah!" The unknown assailant exclaimed in amazement. "You gotta do that again! That shit was so fab!"
Peter was shocked as he got a clear look at the assailant's face.
'What is he doing here?!' Peter screamed in his head.
(AN: Any guesses? :P )
"How did you do that?!" The man exclaimed with stars in his eyes like he was some kid on a sugar high. "Is this web? Do you make this? Does this come out of you?! That is so freaky dude! I like it!"
"Oh.My.God. I can not believe this..." Peter muttered in shock.
"Ryan Renolds?!"