The Weight of Us ｡ Peter Parker [3]

7 - Weird Science

"Quiet down, quiet down!" 

Laughter died down as the lights darkened in our classroom on a Tuesday afternoon, as a substitute teacher clicked her heels along the flooring. A few kids behind me snickered with our new teacher's appearance; unruly blonde hair and thick rimmed glasses. On my left, Clayton Cole popped an earphone into his ear and slouched low into his chair, already ruling today's lesson as pointless. 

"Mr. Harrington, is out sick today," she said, wandering the room. "Yes, yes, how wonderful. I'm not actually much of a science teacher, so I've selected a documentary from his very extensive collection for you all to watch. I don't mind if you do some classwork or whatnot, just leave me alone to roam dating sites." 

The substitute's humour was lost on a few students as she flicked on the projector, but a tiny grin splashed against my lips. I had seen Ms. Holliday around Midtown High a few times and despite her crazy hair, she seemed really laidback and somewhat cool for a teacher. 

While the documentary started, Peter leaned forward in his seat from behind me. "Hey, has Harry spoken to you about getting into Dr. Connors's head again?"

My thoughts had not strayed far from Harry's idea, not since he had brought it up last week. He was oddly very paranoid that something would go wrong at Oscorp again. "Um, not really. He mentioned something about a fake internship, but that seems a little extensive. I only need one good touch and my little party trick should do the job."

On the projector, a seriously dorky woman was speaking about physics. Peter ignored the presentation on the screen, scrapping his chair closer to mine. He eyed Clayton, who had his eyes closed and his thumb tapping against his knee, indicating the heavy beat he was listening to. "You don't seem overly worried about your last...vision?" 

My eyes slid over to Clayton. "He's not listening, don't worry."

"Oh," Peter let out a sigh of relief. "Good."

I laced my hands together in my lap, turning slightly in my chair to speak with him. Nobody around us was paying attention. Nobody even glanced at the screen where a detailed rambling about parallel universes was currently unfolding. "There are millions of possibilities with parallel worlds, each happening at the same time. In a different parallel dimension there could be..."

"The last vision was a little strange, but not overly worrying." I told Peter quietly. "I mean, I saw the end of the world, remember? There can't really be anything much worse, right?"

Peter gave a vague shrug of his shoulders. "You know, you don't have to play along with Harry's new obsession about Dr. Connors. He's our best friend, but using your powers isn't something he should dictate."

"It's very sweet you care," I reached over and cupped his hand. "But it's okay. I get where Harry's paranoia comes from and with everything that's happened with him and his dad, it wouldn't take much for me to be able to stop his worrying with Connors. I want to help him and if that's the way to do it, then so be it."

Peter shifted back in his chair. "Okay, but only if you want to."

"I do," I said. "I don't think we have anything to worry about. We've been through worse."

With a screeching noise of his chair against the flooring, Clayton was leaning over with a fierce scowl at us both. "I know you guys are all loved up and whatever, but do you mind? Some of us are trying to pay attention to the documentary."

"What kind of documentary is it, Clayton?" I returned his scowl.

He eyed the screen, then returned my gaze with a dirty smirk. "Biology. The fun kind."