The years spent in Midtown slowly grew, and Peter, once a cute 8-year-old, found himself in the prime of life, 18 and graduating, his last year at Midtown High. Academically, he would graduate Valedictorian with scholarships to New York Universities mechanical and electrical engineering departments, a full-ride grant covering all his costs.
Everything was on track, he had the educationplanned, he had an internship with Hammer Technologies planned and accepted. With Harry being the son of Norman Osborn he had even offered to get him an internship there, but Peter had refused. Not out of foolish pride but simply he was afraid that Flash would be there, Gwen had already warned him he had been in the building a few times, speaking to her as if they were friends and Peter knew that if Flash found him, he would either lose his place or the bullying would continue. This was Peter's way of escaping from the hell he had made the past four years, even if Hammer didn't have the most dazzling reputation, it was still one of the big three.
Stark Enterprises would have been his first pick, but no one got an internship with Stark unless you already had a huge line of credentials, with Oscorp being the territory of Flash that left him with Hammer, and he had hollered with joy as he was accepted. Justin Hammer was more of a showman in Peter's eyes, but he still gotmilitary contracts, still got plenty of press, and it was still a huge deal on Peter's C.V.
He had just celebrated his 18th birthday, the cold winter months would soon be coming to an end and with Christmas and the New Year out of the way he only had 6 months left of school to worry about. Exams and the end of year Prom, which once he worked up the courage he would ask Gwen if she wanted to go with him. He was building to it, last week when she said happy birthday she gave him a quick peck on the cheek before scampering off and hiding next to Felicia, who seemed to be annoyed she did it as much as Peter seemed to be happy she did. He had proof she liked him, and he was going to do it, he had even started to look at corsages, which Aunt May began to tease him mercilessly about.
Even with Flash making sure his days at school were miserable he could come home to a safe and welcoming home. Life was good, it could be better, Peter knew it could be but he was still happy. He just hoped that Uncle Ben would be proud of him.
He stared at the permission slip in his hand, Aunt May had already signed it and as he handed it over to the guard they gave it a quick scan and then handed it back.
Peter Parker, Age 18.
Senior Year Photography Project.
Document and Photograph Work Placement for Oscorp.
Was printed on the guest pass and, having clipped it to the lanyard, hung it around his neck. Peter stood waiting with the rest, taking quick snaps of the building. He'd been handed an Oscorp camera and had to hand it back at the end of the tour. Once they had scoured and verified that he hadn't taken a picture of anything secret, it would be downloaded onto a memory card and sent to the school.
It was fascinating being in Oscorp, Harry had told Peter a few times what the place was like and Peter had been promised a tour by Harry's dad, Norman, for years now. This time, with school pass in hand and camera strapped to his neck, he was seeing the working bustling lab that was the beating heart of Oscorp.
Sure, Peter had to follow Gwen and Flash around as the suck-ups and sycophants pointed and made fun of the "nerds" but he didn't care. Flash's parents were on the board and Gwen had been interned here for the past year already. She was smart, plus Flash had been trying to get into her pants forever. Peter often wondered if part of Flash's imagined slight against him was his friendship with the three most popular girls in the school. MJ, Gwen, and then Felicia, his co-chair on the Math team.
It was tough, watching someone dumber than a pet rock, slide into a job and a life Peter would have killed to get, but he couldn't, he wouldn't feel sorry for himself. He had the best grades in class, even higher than Gwens and even if Harry talked a lot of hot air, Peter knew he was trying to get him an in with his Dad.
As the first part of the tour wound down they were headed towards the food court at the bottom of the building again. Flash and the rest of the football team, unimpressed by the science, sat on the tables and laughed at the passersby, even they could recognise the boss's son and gave them a wide berth.
Peter was enjoying his lunch, a bottle of apple juice and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, made and packed by May when he felt the splash and heard the laughter. Flash had launched a soda at him, shouting "oops!" While he and his cronies laughed, Peter was soaked. Pouring the dark sticky liquid from his lunch box, wiping himself down as best he could, Peter swore under his breath and headed towards the toilets to clean off.
He swore at the mirror in the bathroom, knowing he only had 6 more months of Flash's bullshit before he was free. He had his own life after school planned and Flash wasn't a part of that, even if he had to take a lesser internship at Hammer Industries to avoid him. He had no hope of one at Stark Industries, people from all over the world gave up well-paying jobs just to work there, a high school kid had no chance.
As he mopped the soda from his clothes and washed his face, he never noticed the thin web dangling above him, and the faint tickle at the back of his neck as the strangely coloured bright red and blue spider landed on him. As he straightened up he felt something on the back of his neck and as he brought a hand up to find out what it was, he felt a sharp pain where he felt the itch. Gasping for air as the sudden electric jolt shot through him, he crumpled to one knee, finding his legs going weak and all feeling going from his hands. Struggling to stand he feebly reached out towards the door, hoping, praying someone would hear his attempted cries for help.
He struggled weakly as he felt someone tugging at his clothes, and he was sure someone said his name over and over but he couldn't focus, everything was so bright and so loud. He was sure someone took his things, rummaging through his clothing. He felt something wet splash on him and it didn't even register he'd been sick.
"Fuck, get him outta here. If Osborn sees himwe're screwed," and Peter felt the rough hands of a few people pick him up and then the bright glaring light of the outdoors. He was hoistedand thrown into the trash at the back of the building, struggling to rise. Through half-opened eyes, Peter began to try and make his way to the street. Falling several times he gasped and groaned as he found his body unresponsive. He knew there were peoplearound, he could hear the heavy thudding of their footfalls and as he tried to call out for help his tongue was numb and his voice came out slurred.
"Hey, Kid?" Peter's mind was still reeling, nausea and cramps causing his body to tenseand curl up. He was too far gone to reply. Pain, nausea, bright pulsing light all assaulted his senses, and wherever he was, the smell was horrendous. Like raw hot garbage being fried in faeces and puke.
"Yeah, he's a tweaker, tag 'em and bring him in with the rest."