sorry wrong number

Part 28

peter's POV

The water flowed slowly into the cracked sink, as the sun slowly rose over the tall buildings of New York. It was finally getting warmer around here, something to be especially thankful for this year, as our heating was slowly betraying me, which allowed the chilling cold to seep in throughout the long winter. Splashing the freezing water on my face, I looked directly in the toothpaste stained mirror, my brown eyes staring back at me. My skin was ghastly pale from the cold, it made the various shades blues and greens and and angry yellows and reds painted on my face stand out more than they should have.

'The sun will do me some good' I murmured, to no one in particular but my reflection. Checking all the angles of my face, I was hoping some of the bruises would have lightened overnight. Sure they weren't as dark as they could've been, but some of them were still visible. I needed to find something to eat. Scrutinising eyes would ask complicated questions that I couldn't afford to answer. I slowly started to brush my teeth, the initial excitement of the morning fading, as my arms ached and my stomach grumbled. I had to make good impressions today, I had no other choice. This was my lifeline, and it was going to go well.

It was still only 6am, after I finished showering. It seemed like Aunt May wasn't home, I probably would have woken up from her yelling rather than the hunger pains in my stomach. This way was better. Much much better. I walked into the kitchen, feeling surprisingly more calm than I thought I would have been. I opened up the fridge, the smell of stale food, on the brink of going off, hit my senses. Whiskey too. I saw a whole loaf of bread. Aunt May must have been eating out lately, cause I had bought this loaf almost a week ago.

'Thank you Mr Delamar' I thought in my head for drilling it into me that keeping bread in the fridge kept it from getting mouldy. I quickly took out four slices.

'My luck might be turning around' I thought, as I found a few slices of cheese and a bit of butter. I put the bread in the toaster, my day was getting better and better. I sat down at the dining table. I wanted to message Mr Grammar, but he seemed mad when I messaged him earlier. It was better if I didn't disturb him again, I didn't want to give him a reason to hate me.

I took out my physics textbook, my Spiderman duties had started to take a toll on my school work and I was rapidly falling behind. But there was nothing I loved more than physics questions. The numbers and equations numbed my mind and preoccupied it long enough to distract me from the other worries in my life. I quickly got started on the assigned work, my music pouring into the hollowness of the apartment.

When the toast finally popped, I made quick work to make two sandwiches. Feeling like the king of the world, I scarfed down one of them, and packed one away for lunch. I had a feeling this day could be long, and as the sandwich halted the hunger in my stomach, the nerves and butterflies filled it instead. Today was the day. I was going to work at Stark Industries. A lifelong dream of mine was actually coming true, and I honestly couldn't believe it. But if I were to die tomorrow, I would die pretty happy. I remembered back when Uncle Ben was alive, we had dreamt about this very moment so many times.

'You're going to work at Stark Industries one day Petey' Uncle Ben said, with so much conviction that seven year old me had no choice but to believe him. 'Just you wait and see, one day it'll happen'.

'And then I'll work with Iron Man' I replied excitedly. 'And we'll be the best of friends, Right?' a smile wide on my face. We were sitting on the balcony, the sun was bright and shone in my eyes. Or maybe that was Uncle Ben, his glow was contagious.

Uncle Ben chuckled, 'Of course Petey, who wouldn't want to be best friends with you?'

'Flash' I replied, a frown spreading on my face. He wasn't the nicest kid in school, and he especially wasn't nice to me.

'Well Flash isn't going to be best friends with Iron Man anyway, so you ignore him Petey, he doesn't deserve your time.' Uncle Ben replied firmly. 'Either way you'll alway have me'

That made me smile. Uncle Ben was my favourite person in the whole wide world. Well him and Aunt May.

'You promise?' I whispered to him, as if it was a secret. As if saying it quietly would be able to change the winds of fate.

'I promise', He whispered right back. I believed him. I trusted him.

'AND THEN WE CAN BE BEST FRIENDS WITH IRON MAN TOGETHER!!' I stated, excitement getting the better of me.

'Who's going to be best friends with Iron Man?' Aunt May said out of the blue, stepping out onto the balcony. She reached down and gave me a quick hug, she always smelt like honey and home.

'ME AND UNCLE BEN' I replied passionately. 'AND WE'RE GOING TO GO AND WORK AT STARK INDUSTRIES TOGETHER AND WE'RE GONNA EAT HIS BREAD', I declared. Uncle Ben loved bread a lot, he said it was one of the few things that was always in his kitchen growing up, and the smell of freshly baked bread reminded him of his mom.

'Peter you can't just go and eat people's bread' Aunt May playfully scolded. I frowned at this, refusing to believe it.

'But we would be best friends, so it would be ok right?' I asked, eyebrows furrowed trying to find the problem in eating bread.

Aunt May and Uncle Ben bursted out in laughter, making my eyebrows furrow even more in confusion.

'You're right Pete, my bad' Aunt May said, a smile on her face. I smiled back, like we were sharing a joke. Maybe we were, just a joke I didn't really understand. Either way I was happy.

'Ok, speaking of bread, let's go to Delamar's for lunch?' Uncle Ben proposed.

'Yes!' I cheered. I loved Delamar's. We all loved Delamar's. 'And then can we go see Stark Towers? Please?' I pleaded.

'Again' Aunt May groaned. We had gone only a few weeks ago, but I loved the building. It was so tall.

'Of course May,' Uncle Ben scolded, as if it was preposterous to think we would go anywhere else, 'So then one day we'll be able to take him there and he'll actually be working there'. He smiled down at me. As if he knew what the future was holding. 'Ain't that the dream Petey?'

'That's the dream Uncle Ben' I stated matter-of-factly.