Little Spy | Peter Parker ✓

[45]

HOW DID ONE RECOVER FROM A TRAGEDY?

In some situations, it took weeks, months, sometimes even years. People would cling to whatever memories they had left of the one that left them and in turn, the thoughts would break them into pieces as each memory faded away into blurs and mumbles of sentences. They'd try to fix themselves, send themselves to therapy and talk to a stranger about how they felt - as if that would help them - and swallow pills to drown out the thousands of screams in their head asking what would have been different if they had just one more day. In the end, relief would come in the form of tears, flowing out of their eyes like waterfalls and freeing the pent-up guilt and anger possessing them.

In other situations, tears weren't the answer, and instead, they held it all in until they exploded with the fury at the news of the death. They would blame themselves for not doing anything about it and hurt not just themselves, but others, because of it. They would close up their heart and bottle it up where no one could touch it for fear of it shattering once more. The sadness would swallow them alive and create a small, shallow bubble around the guilty, leaving them in a world of their own, a world where they could think and see and feel nothing but the pain of losing the one they loved. They'd grow numb and they'd lose it all even when they thought they were saving themselves.

However, in Freya's situation, those feelings did not come into play, for the students of Midtown High would never learn the truth.

Peter discovered she was gone from Mr Warren, who sighed and rubbed his bulbous nose and told him, clapping a hand on his shoulder in a sort of comforting way, that Emily Newman had been told about a family emergency and had left Midtown High just as the semester came to a close. When he heard, it was in a state of shock, for while he had been angry and saddened by the girl's cruel play of his heartstrings, he had still adored her, and her presence had always comforted him. In his head, his reasoning was that at least he had one person who knew about his secret and wouldn't tell another soul. Her empty seats in classes and at lunch gnawed at him for a week, but he began to brush it away, and dwell on more important things than the girl who had broken his heart and ran away with half the pieces. He grew from it and began to work on the skills gifted to him from a mere arachnid, and would grow to become so much more than a simple crime-stopper. The broken heart grew and became whole again, just in time for another adventure for Spiderman.

The other students had a similar, if less extreme, reaction. Mary Jane and Gwen were startled, and at first worried, peppering the principal with questions he could not answer. They eventually gave up but swore to make a visit to Canada one day to meet her again. The three had never really been friends, not in Freya's mind, but to the pair, she had meant something and they would not forget her for a long while.

However, the rest of the school didn't care much and only gasped and shrugged and sighed when they heard the rumours. Some giggled and said how they would like to follow her footsteps and skip exams, while others speculated she had gotten pregnant and was escaping the embarrassment of admitting, while some said that it had been Peter Parker himself who scared her off - though that rumour had been solely started by Sally, who had taunted the boy with it whenever they crossed paths.

Overall, as the semester, then the school year died and summer officially began, Midtown High was fine without Emily Newman, and that was the way Freya Knight wanted it, even if a little part of her had told her otherwise. Peter learned more about his abilities and practised as much as he could, getting into a few bickers with Stark and his advancements into the Avengers, and the girl was more of a fond memory than anything - though he couldn't go back to that same pizza place, not after it happened. He didn't understand why 'Mr Stark' worried about him and made sure of extra security measures, nor would he ever; again, another wish of hers.