A song for Lily

8 AM in the morning, A newspaper stand near the New Gate Plaza Hotel

POV - Lily

She was smoking her favorite brand, Newport.

It was raining.

It always seems to be raining these days.

Her eyes dead, contained none of the joy of her youth.

As she exhaled the smoke, she could hear the voices of her ‘sisters’

Lan was the loudest, “I haven’t seen him since yesterday! Where the hell is he?”

She was the ringleader or otherwise called his ‘Main Bitch’

She could hear Lan complain about how he was never late.

‘Hopefully he’s dead in some gutter.’ she thought to herself

‘How many years has it been since I ran away?’

It was right around this month two years ago when she did it.

She waited till her eighteen birthday to do it.

Since that ‘man’ forced himself on me.

That ‘woman’ did nothing about it.

She knew and even helped cover it up. She abandoned her own daughter!

For what? To please some man!

Running away was all she could do.

Nobody believed her.

She heard Lan speak again, “I’m worried about him, he doesn't do this kind of stuff." whining while she scratched her arm.

She didn’t know if she wanted to cry or laugh. If curtis did go get himself killed then she would be free from him but... then what?

What would she do? There would be no one to protect her from people worse than curtis.

It might have been hard to believe but Curtis wasn't the worst person in this godforsaken city. For all of his faults he was still human unlike others in this terrible city.

She recognized the way Curtis looked at Lan.

It was the same look her mother gave her, when she found out her husband preferred his daughter over her.

It was a strange look.

Contempt!

Lily had a gift. Even her southern evangelical mother admitted that despite calling her stupid frequently.

She had the gift of reading people's nature just by looking into their eyes once.

It helped her greatly in her profession. Her clients were always pleased with her.

She knew their deepest motivations just by glancing into their eyes once.

The eyes told the entire story.

She could take a look at a person and understand who they were, what they wanted most in life.

For some of her clients, it was to be dominated. To be told how powerless they were!

While others wanted to feel strong and powerful.

Most just wanted a half-decent blowjob.

All Curtis wanted was love that he never got.

He probably loved Lan but she was a whore.

Sure she may be his whore but she was a whore nonetheless.

He could never marry her and expected to be taken seriously in this city.

He could only fuck her like a whore and not make love to her like he wanted to. This must have made him resent her very presence.

‘Make Love? What do you know about making love! You suck dick for a living hoe!’ She could hear Curtis' voice warn her.

He hated Lan but he loved her more than he hated her.

So he couldn't and wouldn't get rid of her.

So all he could feel for her was contempt.

The only thing Lan wanted was the drugs. The simple pleasures of a high far interested her than something archaic like love.

She hid it very well. She may have fooled everyone, maybe even Curtis but not her.

Lan would do anything to score a hit.

At the end of the day, if she got high then she was happy.

She knew that behind her cool warm smile was a desperate junkie but Lily never cared about that.

All that mattered to Lily was that Lan was always kind to her.

Lan always took her side when the other woman ganged up on her.

It could be that Lan only cares about her because she gives the drugs meant for her to Lan.

For Lily though all that mattered was that Lan was nice to her when everybody else wasn’t.

“Cmon girls, smoking time’s done. Get back to work.” Lan said with a cheerful smile.

“But Curtis isn’t here-” one of the girls began speaking before Lan cut her off.

“He’ll be pissed if he heard that you were lazing around.”

The other girl looked annoyed but she kept quiet and started heading back to the hotel.

‘Lan always was good at that, probably why she’s his main bitch.’

“Sweetie, you coming? He wouldn’t like it if you started slacking off again!” Lan said to her.

“In a minute, let me finish this.” she said pointing to her cigarette.

Lan looked conflicted, she wanted to say something but was afraid that she might lose her only source of free drugs.

"Fine but don’t take too long though. You know how Curtis is, hurry up okay!” Lan said reluctantly and began heading back to the hotel.

Lan reminded everyone to call Curtis 'daddy' at all times.

Everyone called him Curtis when he wasn't there, everyone but Lan. On the outside she seemed extremely loyal to curtis but she knew that wasn't true.

When the others were around Lan would follow the rule but when she was alone with her she would call him Curtis, like everyone else did.

Probably something about not losing her position.

Which could endanger her sole authority to distribute the drugs to the girls. The authority that gave her the freedom to steal a crap ton of drugs.

She was alone again.

The people passing her on the sidewalk didn't acknowledge her existence. They just kept on carrying on to wherever they were going.

So it was just her and her cigarette.

No bad thoughts or pain.

Only the nicotine smoke to keep her company.

No Curtis, No Lan, None of the other girls.

Just her and her-

“Which brand is that?” The voice of a teenage boy interrupted her.

He was wearing a back hat, a members only jacket, sunglasses and a surgical mask to cover his mouth and nose.

He looked like a weirdo but she wanted to be polite. A habit she never forgot.

Southern manners and all.

“Umm........ Excuse me?” They always told her that she was polite for a hooker.

“Nevermind.”

.

.

.

She got a weird feeling about the man, moreso because she couldn’t get a read on him.

She needed to have naked eye contact to use her gift but the man / boy was wearing shades.

So after she was done with her smoke she began to head back to the hotel when..

“He won’t trouble you again.” the boy said again

"Um I don't know what you're talking about mister but-"

“He won’t trouble you again.”

“Uh……I don’t know who you-’

“You know exactly who!”

A few seconds passed and then her eyes widened with realization.

“Is he….”

The boy removed his sunglasses and simply said

“He won’t trouble you again.”

This drew her into him. His eyes were kind and strong.

“Why…who are you?”

“Do I need a reason to? I saw a person in need and helped them the best way I thought I could.”

“Is he alive?”

“He is but he’ll never trouble you again.”

How could this scrawny kid take on that monstrous man? This had to be some prank.

However when she looked into the boy’s eyes, she didn’t see a liar. She didn’t see some kid who would prank her with false hope.

In his eyes there was only sincerity.

Why was he doing this?

What did he stand to gain?

What did he want?

She knew his intentions were good but she didn't know what he was really after, so she just asked him.

“What do you want?”

“For you to be safe.”

As the words left his mouth, she could feel his kindness.

His compassion and love.

She could also feel the pain he wanted to hide. He was like her, suffering in his own way.

“Take this.” he handed her a black cotton bag.

She was hesitant at first but decided to trust her intuition and grab it.

Opening it, inside she saw a stash of hundreds.

“I placed one like this inside everyone’s room in the hotel with a note. There's about ten thousand dollars in the one you’re holding. That’s three thousand more than the others. I wouldn’t mention that to them though. In fact I suggest you get away from here as soon as you possibly can.”

“How did you get this mone-”

“Curtis had stashed away some money for a rainy day.”

Actually hearing him say his name sent chills to her spine.

“It’s over?”

“It is.”

A feeling of blankness came over her.

“Now what.”

“You decide! You’re free. If you want you could continue….your profession. If I were you, I would contact any relatives i have and get out of this place.”

“I don’t have any relatives.” she said softly. If she did then they might return her back to home.

“Then go to the nearby YMCA or I could give you the name of a couple homeless shelters you can visit. Just make sure to not flash that money though..”

“Then what?”

“Then you get a waitressing job or any job that takes you in. Buy some good clothes and go for interviews. Did you finish high school?”

She nodded, she always wondered what her friends would think if they saw her now.

“That makes it way easier!” He said with a smile but it was hard to see because of the surgical mask.

He continued.

“Get a Gym membership. Even if you don’t have a place to stay, you get a place to shower and brush your teeth. Above all, try to get a job. Until you get that you’ll never stand on your own two feet, there’ll always be another Curtis if you’re not careful. The money in that bag should help you out.”

“And what about after that?”

"A college degree would help you a lot! There are tons of community college programmes tailored for women in NYC."

'A college? her? a whore?' She couldn't imagine, she left any hope of living a life like that a long time ago but she humored him by asking again.

“And after that?”

“Then you can live out the rest of your life happily ever after.”

“Happily?” she said with a frown.

“Yes, Happily! You could start your own family if you wanted to.” the kid said with the excitement. She flinched when he used the word family.

It brought too many bad memories.

A few seconds of silence passed by with no reply. Sensing that he must have said something wrong he corrected himself.

“Or...…Start a business or be a world renowned chef or become a lawyer or a writer or a singer or….anything else you want to be. You’re free, you can do anything you want, be anyone you want to be.” the boy panicked.

She smiled at the boy. He was a good kid, she still didn't know how he ‘took care’ of Curtis but she didn’t feel threatened by him anymore.

“Did you run out of jobs, darling!” her southern accent made the jab funnier.

The boy began rubbing his head and made an apologetic gesture.

Her dead eyes began lighting up with hope.

“You know I was eighteen when I came to this city, I tried running away as much as i could. Fearing what they would do if they sent me back to them I hitched a ride all the way to the city. For about a year I was homeless. Hungry and desolate when Curtis found me. He fed me and made sure I had a roof over my head ever since. He’s been handling everything since then. “

The boy looked horrified, he was going to say something to reassure her but she didn’t let him.

“I don’t know what my life's gonna look like now but…..thank you. For everything. I’ll be fine.” She had tears welling up.

‘I’m a grown woman about to cry in front of a kid I met five minutes ago! I’m a wreck.’

The tears kept on coming, she thought she was done with being weak, done with crying! Snot and tears leaked out of her face.

'God What was I gonna do? I've sinned so much and defiled myself. What am I gonna-'

That was when she felt the tight embrace of the boy.

She was surprised by the act of familiarity but when was the last time anyone bothered to hug her.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"You'll be alright. I believe in you!"

The hug was warm and good. She could feel some of her snot falling on the boy's shoulder but he didn't seem to care about it.

She kept on sobbing, letting it all out. All of the pain of these two years....no ever since that man came into her room that day.

People walking on the sidewalk kept giving them looks but it didn't matter.

They stood like that for some time, hugging tightly.

Stranger to Stranger.

Human to Human

She didn’t even know his name but she knew he was a kindred spirit.

He understood her pain and she, his.

When they let go, they smiled at each other.

He spoke first, “I didn’t know how this would go but I’m glad that I decided to talk to you.”

“Thank you…..” she waited for him to say his name.

“Oh…..I’m Peter.” he said as it finally registered. He even removed his mask to show his face to properly introduce himself.

He was a handsome boy, a bit thin but otherwise handsome.

“My name is Faith, here they call me Lily though.”

“Nice to meet you, Faith.”

“Nice to meet you too Peter.”

The sound of excited screeching came from the hotel. One of them probably found one of the bags in their room.

“Looks like that’s my que.” Peter said

She wanted to him stay, to talk to him a little bit more. She wanted to ask him more about his life but she knew he did more than his part.

“I’ll be leaving from here. Maybe I'll go to a shelter like you said but I can't be here anymore!”

Not after meeting you. Not after giving me hope again.

The future looked uncertain but right now at this moment she was the happiest she’s been in years and for now she’ll take that.

“Good for you Faith. Take care!” he said smiling one last time.

Just before he left though, she felt she owed it to him.

To lessen his pain a little bit.

“You don’t have to save the entire world Peter, just saving a small part of it will do!”

He went still, his eyes widening.

‘Oh no, did I mess up?’ she thought

But right then he said with a grateful smile.

“Thank you, Ma’am. I needed that.”

Like a heavy burden was off of him now his stiff shoulders relaxed.

She heaved an internal sigh of relief.

'I'm glad i was able to help him in some way.'

He nodded once more to her and turned around to join the busy crowd.

Just as she was looking at his back. A feeling of uncertainty came over her.

Something was gnawing at her!

She closed her eyes to think exactly what it was.

Her mind was urging her to think. So that's exactly what she did

Channeling out the noise of the crowd and the honking of the cars! She started to think what she had missed.

What was it?

She scrunched her face.

Thinking harder than she ever thought she could.

Her mind began thinking back on everything that happened.

How Peter introduced himself, his cap, his sunglasses, his cheap knockoff jacket.

The way he carried himself, his bright smile, his thin face and his kind eyes.

Then it hit her.

The boy had the same eyes as the elderly man who saved her. He even had the exact same nose as him.

Her eyes opened and began searching for Peter among the crowd.

She couldn’t find him anymore.

He was consumed by the faces in the busy street. He was gone.

‘So he was related to him.’

She never got the chance to say thank you to the old man. She was knocked out cold by the men, her last memory before she lost consciousness was the old man jumping in to save her.

She could remember his eyes being fierce but there was a unique kindness to them. Like a concerned parent protecting their child.

Something Peter shared with him.

Suddenly everything made sense, why he did what he did.

‘Will I ever see you again Peter? Will I get to talk to you once more?’

The tears she thought were long gone decided to visit her again.

Wiping her eyes with her handkerchief.

She dropped the cigarette butt and started moving to the metro.

She could hear the sounds of Lan calling out her name trying to look for her at the newspaper stand but she didn’t turn back.

She kept on walking, away from Lan’s voice, away from the bustle of the city, away from the crack dens and the drug dealers.

She didn’t look back!

So that she could begin her new life. A better life.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

POV - Peter

‘Oh God, I'm running late for class.’ Sleepless and tired, I sprinted to Midtown High School.

I contemplated using my web shooters again.

I had a good control of them now but swinging without a mask in New York city didn’t seem like a good idea.

I used it to get away from Curtis after freeing him, it really spooked him. I enjoyed that more than I should have.

I observed him for a while on the trees.

He went pale as if he saw a ghost or something when he saw my footprints stopping behind him.

Good!

The more motivation he has to stay away from crime the better.

I felt like I was Batman, watching criminals from afar and striking fear into their hearts.

Later i cringed at myself for thinking like that.

Anyways to recap, I swung my way out of that forest and got a taxi as soon as possible.

It was easier said than done due to it being 2 AM in the morning but I did manage to catch one.

The driver was Indian, I told him I was in a hurry and to go as fast as he could go.

At first he was like, ‘Whatever’ but then I began speaking in Hindi.

To say he was surprised was an understatement.

He wouldn’t stop looking at me like I was some mythical creature.

He had a very unusual accent though, maybe staying in New York influenced his Hindi a little bit. That didn’t stop him from talking with me.

“Where did you learn Hindi?”

“I visited India a lot for work. So I had to learn it for practical reasons!”

“Really? Sir, you look really young.”

“Thank you.” I said it with a bit of an angrezi twist to really sell it.

We conversed for the entire ride. The man was so engrossed in our conversation that he forgot to remove his feet from the gas pedal. I’m pretty sure if it wasn’t for my superpowers I would be puking from motion sickness.

Indians really were built different!

We reached the city in two and half hours.

I paid him with the wad of cash that I found in the car, he was initially reluctant to accept that much but I didn’t back down either.

Almost two times the actual fare because I’m pretty sure he broke a lot of traffic laws to get me here this fast.

He even gave me his telephone number and I got invited to his home!

He wanted to introduce his family to me.

The entire thing put a much needed smile to my face.

Even in this world, Indians were exactly how I remembered them from my previous world.

Loud and Friendly with a small dose of nosiness but inside really good people.

‘Maybe once I’m done with college, I should visit this world’s India and see what's the difference!’

The original plan after getting back to the city was to leave immediately for school but since I was here way too early.

I decided to visit Curtis’s Luxury Condo in Hell's Kitchen since I was in the Manhattan borough anyways.

His journal contained the address, he was extremely proud of it.

I had to make sure that all of the girls who worked for him ended up alright, at least Financially speaking.

So I decided to raid the now hopefully ex-pimp’s home.

Using an impromptu disguise, I brought before I even started the abduction. More importantly with my crawling powers I managed to slip past the light security pretty easily.

I expected the Kingpin’s guards to give me a bit of trouble but there weren’t many of them.

What made it even more easier was the fact that there were no cameras. Makes sense, they were criminals afterall.

I already had experience in covert operations in my previous life so getting in was a cinch.

There was around 100k in actual hard cash and much more in jewelry and diamonds.

My eyes rolled out of their sockets.

I almost wanted to be greedy and clean out his house but my instincts warned me otherwise.

‘This isn’t theft, This isn’t theft! I’m just returning the money to people who he took advantage of!’

Thankfully he had tons of black cotton bags that I could use to store the money in.

I’m pretty sure they were used for his drug drops.

I got out as easily as I came in.

No trigger alarms or trip wires.

I delivered the money to the girls in the hotel. Again my spider powers came really handy here.

I personally delivered one to Lily…..no Faith. I had my doubts about talking to her.

‘What if she got angry with me?’

‘What if she was in love with Curtis?’

Despite it all, my worries were put to rest when I actually did talk to her.

I felt good.

I was glad that it was my Uncle that saved her.

It felt good to help someone.

Even if I was sleeplessly running late to my class now!

This feeling must have been the thing driving me in the comics.

I understand why I did it now. Why I became Spider-Man.

I threw my cheap disguise i got from the dollar store in the trash and proceeded to jet to Midtown High School.

When I finally reached the school it was 9 AM.

Classes must have started.

Goddammit!!!!

My body was completely exhausted and Sweaty from all the running.

I must have looked terrible because I could feel the eyes of the school staff on me!

As I was walking through the corridor, I felt a hand grab my shoulder.

It was the principle!

‘Quick explain why you’re late before he gives you detention.’

“Principal Ditko, I’m sorry for being late. I was-”

He interrupted my thoughts with a wave.

“We have your Uncle in our prayers son.”

“Uh….thank you…..Mr Ditko?”

He simply nodded and left.

‘Who told him about Uncle Ben?’

I’ll take it though, I can't be in detention today. I have to be there at the hospital to meet up with Uncle Ben and Aunt Maybelle for the results.

There’s a good chance he gets cleared and discharged today!

I entered the class sheepishly as Mr White was writing something on the board.

He didn’t say anything to me but I could feel the gaze of the entire class.

I sat near Harry who had a worried look on his face.

“Is your Unce okay, Pete!” he said in a hushed tone

“How..did…you…….Yeah he’s fine now.”

“That's good to hear dude. I almost got a heart attack when I read the paper today.”

‘Don’t tell me they…’

“Oh that’s good to hear by the way dude did anyone tell you look like shit.”

“Yeah it's been a crazy few days”

Mr White threw a chalk at us for causing a disturbance.

Embarrassed, we kept our mouths shut for the rest of his class.

Inorganic chemistry was a cool subject.

Not many high schoolers would say that but I always found it to be an enthralling subject.

I would still find it enthralling if it weren’t the curriculum wasn’t restricted to basic high school chemistry!

Like I said before after the spider bit me, it was like my brain could process information at a much faster rate. I would find this class interesting, if I couldn’t invent a literal Nobel prize winning web shooter. A creation straight out of a comic book.

That and my sleep deprivation made Mr white’s voice sound like nails on a board.

My eyes kept lazily shutting as he kept on droning about different metals and their composition.

My body was inviting me to sleep.

Only opening up when Mr White turned to face the class to ask questions.

He kept zeroing in on me for some reason.

Quizzing me, he would back off for some time when I gave him the correct answer. Only to quiz me again but this time with a harder question!

‘What was his problem anyway?’’

Not everyone received this treatment though some people in the back were straight up napping.

He wouldn't bother any one of them but I come late for a single class and I'm the target.

Maybe he preferred Athletes more than nerds, who knows?

‘Why is he like this today? All because I was 15 minutes late to his class? Once? What an annoying ma-’

“Peter, what is the chemical formula for Aluminum oxide?”

Sigh.

“Mr White, it’s Al₂O₃”

“Okay good.”

The tortuous chemistry session was finally over when the bell rang.

Harry let out a yawn while saying

“God help me if someone says anything about Aluminum one more time! I might go to jail for murder!”

Like I said most high schoolers didn’t dig Inorganic chemistry.

As we were about to get up to go to the next class, Mr white called out to me.

“Peter, stay back for some time.”

Harry and I shared a look but eventually I told him to go on without me.

“Yes Mr White?”

“Do you think it’s acceptable coming that late?”

“Mr White I actually had a good reas-”

“We all have good reasons Peter. I don’t expect much from the others but you….Peter you’re gifted. I read your paper on possible future technological advancements and I have to say I'm impressed but it won’t do you any favors if you are not punctual”

Seriously, all this because I'm late for one class, it's not like I skip class everyday.

“Believe me when I say this Peter. The most successful people aren’t the smartest or the most hardworking. It’s the luckiest! Now I know I don't have to explain probability to you. Being late enough times will make you unlucky.”

It’s funny because at 2 in the morning today I was literally torturing a pimp and now i was getting lectured by a middle aged high school chemistry teacher who kept projecting his dreams onto me.

It's funny how life works like that.

There is no getting out of this lecture, so I just nodded along.

“I know that you're smart Peter but being late and sleeping in class is not acceptable. Not when you’re as talented and capable as yourself. Don’t waste it, you have something a lot of people don’t have! Something that a lot of people would pay tremendous amounts of money to get. Talent!”

He finished the lecture by dismissing me without even looking at me.

He simply got back to grading papers without waiting for me to speak.

So I turned and headed for my next class, Harry was sticking to the door like a video game character.

“Damn, Mr white ripped you a new one. What was all that about?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.” I told him.

I just wanted some sleep, even in my previous life it was the one thing I needed to function properly.

As a Special Forces Soldier, I was trained to operate under sleep deprived conditions but this was my first time doing it here in this world.

I was a good boy who slept exactly at 9:30 and sleeping for a comfortable 8 hours was my usual schedule.

So being up for a whole day was crazy for me! My eyes and head hurt, sunlight made my skin heat up for some reason.

I thought not having sleep for a single day wasn’t a big deal especially when all you had to do was go to school. I mean it’s not like you were actively working, it's just sitting on your ass all day and taking notes.

‘I mean how hard could that be?' I remembered thinking when I was in the taxi.

Now though I could confidently say that I was completely wrong. Should have taken the day off!

However, like with everything in my life I toughed it out and finished the day.

The cafeteria coffee tasted terrible but it did its job in keep me up to see through the day.

When the final bell rang, I couldn't describe the feeling of relief!

All I wanted to do was go home and hit the bed but I had to go to the hospital before that.

Harry was walking alongside me in the crowded hallway. I accepted his offer to drop me off at the hospital. I really didn’t have the energy to take the bus after everything today.

So i appreciated the Limo ride.

“Hey look, it's Jess Thompson.” Said one of the students near me to another.

“Damn what a hottie!!! If Flash wasn’t so protective of her then I would be hitting that.” he motioned to her and dry humped the air.

“Yeah you wish!” the other laughed louder than he had intended.

Which caught the attention of the very blonde girl that they were talking about.

“Shut up, she's looking!!!” the second one murmured, they kept both of their heads down like the cowards they were.

The girl kept staring at them for a few seconds.

Why was I even paying attention to this! I have better things to do with my time-

“Hey you!” She motioned to me

What.

What did she want with me?

‘What me?’ I pointed to myself.

“Hey you, yeah you.” She repeated again but this with much more force than she did initially.

Man I’m too sleepy for this high school drama bullshit.

“What?” i said annoyed

She looked confused for a second and then said

“What did you say about me right now?” she furrowed her brows

Anger simmering in her cool blue eyes.

“I have better things to do.” I said and began to leave, that is when she caught my sleeve. She was surprisingly strong.

“Stop. Answer me first?”

“No” I was much stronger though.

I left her standing there. Harry was observing all this silently. It unnerved me how quiet he was to be honest.

As we kept walking the silence was grating.

“What?” a bit of annoyance seeping into my tone.

“You’ve changed Pete.”

Alarm bells began ringing in my mind and I hoped it didn’t show on my face.

“Uhh…how..do you mean?”

“I don’t know but like there in the hallway, The peter i know wouldn't’ be so...... brash?”

He was right, the old me wouldn’t have done that. In fact the old me would have stuttered and been too shy to even address her, of course he would find it odd how I behaved.

“I’m going through alot now Harry, I don’t have time for some uppity cheerleader to walk all over me. I don’t know dude. This is me now I suppose.” I deflected

We kept walking for some time silently,

“I think it’s the contact lens. You’ve been acting different ever since you got those!” he joked while continuing

“Feeling a bit confident now that you don't need those nerdy specs, eh pete.” he elbowed my sides.

I couldn’t help but laugh with him.

I made up that excuse to convince aunt may, I didn't want to wear spectacles if I could. I was always fond of them but once i got my 20/20 vision back it was a pain to wear them.

We walked up to his Limo, where his personal butler Bernard waited for him.

“Master Harry.” then he looked at me with a small smile

“Master Peter.”

I shook my head and responded, “Mr Bernard, you can call me Peter like everybody else no need to be fancy.”

"Of course Peter." he responded with a light smile

“We'll be going to the Queens general hospital first, Bernie.”

Bernard grimaced. Uh-oh

“What?” harry spoke first, annyonce seeping into his voice.

“Master Harry, your father has requested you to his office as soon as you are free from school.”

I could feel the rage from Harry radiating.

“So you’re telling me that he wants to speak with me the one time Peter asked us for a ride. ARE YOU SERIOUS!”

“Woah chill out dude.” I tried to de-escalate the situation.

Nearly everyone around us turned to see what was happening.

“I’m sorry Master Harry, I would help-”

“Actions Bernie, didn’t you always say those matter more than words!” Harry spat out

“Harry relax, I could still take the bus.” I acted the mediator

I really just wanted to go to the hospital and hit the bed after.

Today’s been way too tiring!

“No Pete…I’m sick of him ruining everything…..” He droned on about how his life was unfair or something.

My sleeplessness was useful here as it tuned out the ramblings of the rich kid.

“I get that! But I have to go visit them as soon as possible. You could give me that lift later, okay”

I really didn’t have the energy for this much drama in a single day.

After another session of whining he finally admitted defeat and went along with his butler.

Bernard gave me an apologetic look but I waved it off.

‘You were just doing your job my dude.’

“See ya tomorrow harry.”

“I’m sorry pete..i thought I could at least help this time.” he pouted

“It's not just actions, the thought count too Lil bro.” I said in a sassy tone.

He reciprocated the light tone with a simple reply.

“Smart-ass!”

I headed over to where the buses were.

It seemed like my luck didn’t completely run out like good ole Mr White predicted. There was one more bus left to leave.

I was about to board it when I heard the sounds of a girl arguing loudly.

“Gene No…Don’t beat him up. I don’t know if it was him……. I shouldn't have told you!!! Gene stop it.”

I turned to see the girl…uh what was her name ‘Tess Thompson?’

Oh and there was that dude Flash along with ten other dudes. Damn he brought the entire football team with him!

“PARKER!!! It’s always you isn’t it?”

‘God Why does everything in my life have to be so complicated?’

I began stretching out, I already could see where this was going.

If i was gonna kick his ass might as well as get a workout out of it.

“What the Fuck are you doing parker.” One of his other minions spoke up

“Okay this is what we are going to do. Let's make a bet. Since you want to kick my ass and I want to go home faster. I’ll follow you outside of school. We’ll fight there uninterrupted. If you win,you don’t get into trouble but if I win I take all your money. Deal.”

I gave away all of the extra cash I had to Faith. With this I could defend myself, not get into trouble again with the school while also getting cab money to the hospital.

I could see the last bus filling up quickly.

“I don’t know about this Flash? He might snitch on us later.” one of his friends spoke up

“I say let's kick his teeth in and show him a lesson.” said another one.

There we go, some Initiative.

His group's overall opinion was favoring to accept my deal but I could see that flash was thinking. ‘Now what was going on with his little peabrain?’ I couldn't help but smirk at this.

This seemed to seal the deal though.

“Alright Parker, let's see what you’re made of.”

“You can’t be serious, they’ll beat you up.” the blonde girl said with rising confusion.

“Jess, go home. We’ll take care of this!” One of his smaller friends spoke up now

‘Ah Jess not Tess! Got it.’

“Shut up Brian, Eugene I don’t know if he’s even the guy who said it and even if he was, it was just talk. Let's go home now. I don’t want you to get in trouble because of me!”

This actually made the douche think for a minute.

‘Oh Crap the bus is leaving.’

“Jesus, make up your mind already. If you're gonna fight me then fight me but if you're not then let me go already. The bus is starting to leave!” I said in annoyance

This really pissed him off and Flash made a mean face.

‘Alright game on.’

“Hey you’re gonna die, go now run away from here. I don’t want Eugene to hurt you. Go now.” she was holding onto flash’s arm and trying to pull him away from me.

The bus started its engine and started moving.

‘Well there goes the peaceful option. Not that I wanted the peaceful route. ’

Kicking their asses, taking a cab straight to the hospital would be the fastest way for me to get back home and sleep.

“Okay so where do you wanna do this?” I said with confidence

This rattled the entire group. Even Flash looked a little intimidated.

If I was in their position, I would think I was carrying a firearm but no one in their group was smart enough to account for such a possibility. Or atleast a knife, why would the nerd be this confident otherwise. If I were in their shoes, bluff or not I would avoid this fight.

The term dumb jocks really does suit them but even dumb jocks had survival instincts. With the bus gone I had no other choice other than to fight them. I had to goad them into it.

“I don’t have all day-”

“Enough talk Parker, I know a place where no one will bother us.”

“Well then what are you looking at me for, lead on partner!”