𝐏𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 (marvel fanfic)

Chapter 10

May Reilly was exhausted after her night shift, so when she came into her apartment, she recoiled at the surprise of a stranger sitting at her table, calmly drinking coffee. Her first reaction was to hold her keys firmly between her knuckles.

"May, welcome home."

She stared with her mouth open as a bruised Peter walked out of the bathroom.

"That's my teacher-"

May didn't seem to hear as she rushed to him. "Peter!" She frantically observed his body, taking in the visible bruises and the distinct forms of bandages under his shirt. "What happened?!"

Peter visibly flinched. May couldn't not notice the glance he sent his teacher who remained silent so she turned around to face the stranger. "Good evening, ms-?"

"Ms. Cano," Sarah answered, starting to regret not having left earlier. She wanted to escape as she saw the worried woman loom over her with a smile that didn't seem in the least happy.

"May I inquire as to why my dear nephew is in that state?"

Sarah resisted the no that almost escaped her traitorous mouth and instead replied with practiced sorrow, "There was an accident this afternoon, a robber while escaping injured him, I was passing by and saw so I decided to help my student."

May seemed to calm down as she expressed her gratitude.

"Does it still hurt," May asked the teenager as she patted his head softly.

"No, thankfully, it is just surface injuries," he lied through his teeth, omitting the bullet wound.

Watching this scene, Sarah was mildly impressed that Peter had it in him to lie to his only living family member. Not that she wouldn't do the exact same. She pitied him a bit, lying was always a burden to carry, one that could only ensue disappointment, betrayal, and sadness. It wasn't her problem though so she sipped her tea peacefully. And maybe she did ignore Peter's pointed glare.

"I'm sorry we have nothing to offer you," May voiced out as she rummaged through her kitchen.

"It's okay, I was leaving anyway." Plus, she could feel that May wanted to be alone with her nephew so she left without looking back. She wasn't good at dealing with May's type, mothers in general—always found a way to guilt-trip her, consciously or not.

Once May closed the door, she stared with her arms crossed at the young man standing awkwardly still. "She seems to be a nice teacher," she probed, watching him for any reaction. When he only nodded, she continued, "But you do know that teacher-student relationships are illegal, right?"

That threw Peter off, he sputtered to answer, a light blush of embarrassment dusting his cheeks, "I know that! And I only consider her to be my teacher, May!"

May burst into laughter, before pulling the teenager into a hug, "I'm glad you're safe." Peter concealed a wince, a hug wasn't the best idea when his whole body hurt but he still clung to the warmth.

The next few days, Peter tried to avoid his teacher but without noticing, they quickly got back to talking together on their way to school and his plan fell apart, though he was fortunate enough to not have a curious teacher with an overbearing sense of responsibility—he wasn't sure if that was a good thing, but it at least allowed him to escape any questions.

His enhanced body allowed him to heal faster and in the span of a few weeks, nobody could notice in his demeanor any traces of him being injured.

Meanwhile, some news flashed here and there about this surging new hero, a man wearing blue pants and a red hoodie swinging through the streets of New York City and saving the day. Of course, Sarah turned a blind eye to this and did as if she didn't notice his growing bruises.

In her home, Sarah sighed heavily, the teenager was growing on her like fungus and a part of her refused to cut off the bubbly student she had grown attached to. With clenched hands, she opened a secret compartment of her bedroom's drawer. There laid a simple black wooden mask. Her slender hand gently caressed the smooth surface for a moment as she stared pensively at it. She shook her head and closed the drawer again. Now was not the time to ruin everything she had worked for.

Back to school, Sarah was staring at the class board on which a video was projected. On it, the iconic supersoldier was dispensing moral lessons. Captain America had nothing better to do or so it seemed to the bored Sarah. She was leaning against the class wall in the back of the classroom, keeping an eye on the students, only half were pretending to listen, the other half was either whispering or on their phones. She couldn't really blame them. She wasn't listening either.

The video was too patriotic to her liking, filled with preaching of justice and responsibility. She felt like gagging at the sickening ideals portrayed by the hero. This wasn't even her planet, why should she care about its wellbeing, she was only a stranger dragged here against her will.

In the corner of her eye, she could see Peter entranced by the video, his eyes shining, and his whole body leaned forward as if it could shorten the distance between his hero and him. One had to be either foolish, naive, or mad to want to sacrifice themselves for others.

This world had already beaten the kindness out of her heart. She couldn't find it in herself to be kind again, to have hope, to be willing to sacrifice herself for a world that had forsaken her. Maybe that was the difference between her and heroes—she had already given up.

And worst of all, one of those heroes was coming to do a speech at her school. Sarah could only wonder if they had that much free time to come and talk to a bunch of teenagers.

If she knew he was here in search of a certain someone, maybe she wouldn't have felt so confident walking in the gymnasium to listen to the arrogant billionaire's speech.

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I'm very happy, this novel will soon reach 1k views :))))