“Would you like a receipt?”

“Yeah”

“No problem, have a nice day” the cashier said.

“Thanks” I responded, taking my bag as she handed it to me. I stepped out into the street and glanced in my bag. The gifts seemed reasonable enough. I looked up, taking in my surroundings. Despite the slight winter chill the sky glowed. Sunlight washed over the city bathing everything in an afternoon glow. The streets were busy, people chatting away as they went about their lives. I started making my way down the road, spotting a few stores that were advertising Halloween merchandise for next weekend. We usually had some kind of party at one of our houses, but it probably wouldn’t be appropriate this year. Maybe we could do it next year or have a get together during next month.

I turned the corner and felt myself tense up as I spotted the others standing outside the coffee shop we frequented. They stood talking to each other, smiles across their faces as their laughter spread through the street. I guess everyone had planned to get here a few minutes early just like me. I walked towards them, taking the scene in. Sajani had a cast on her left arm. She hadn’t mentioned that. Grady had a few healing scrapes on his face and Bella looked otherwise fine, but I knew she had a bruised rib.

Grady noticed me first.

“Pete!” he said, his smile growing wider as he stepped towards me pulling me into a hug.

“Hey man” I said hugging him back, tighter than I’d expected. Grady stepped away and Sajani and Bella stepped forward smiling at me. Sajani pulled me into a hug and Bella joined in hugging the both of us. Grady pulled the three of us into a hug and we all pulled away, laughing slightly as we did.

“It’s good to see you Pete” Sajani said. I nodded.

“Yeah, it’s goof to see all of you as well” I responded.

“Let’s go inside” Bella said. We all stepped inside, the smell of coffee and confectionery assaulting us along with a cacophony of noise. The coffee shop bustling with life. It must’ve been popular. I mean it did seem nice. That’s probably why we’d come here. TV screens in the corners played various channels, though no one really seemed to be paying all that much attention to them.

We made our way through the store to the back of the queue. I pulled out my gift bag and pulled out my gifts handing everyone theirs. I’d gotten them all keychains. Sajani a mini paintbrush, Grady a might symbol, and Bella an atom model with moving parts. It wasn’t the best gift, but it was something.

“You shouldn’t have” Bella said, taking her gift with a wide smile.

“Well, I just felt like I had to get you guys something” I said.

“Thanks man” Grady said, “Your food’s on me.”

“You don’t have to-“ I started.

“It’s no problem” he said.

“I was planning to pay for everyone, so neither of you have to worry” Sajani said. I went to say something, but Sajani just shook her head. Well, I wasn’t going to argue that hard.

“So, what’s everyone been up to? Besides staying at home?” Grady asked.

“Literally nothing. Well if lots of Netflix and the occasional doctor’s appointment is nothing” Sajani said.

“I’ve just been writing my blog, so nothing much. Ah, things have also been kind of tense with my landlord, and I don’t really know what’s going to happen. I’m probably going to move though” Bella said.

“I had to

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

They all turned to me.

“Uh… well I’m cleaning out my shed. I… I’m just setting up some of my equipment in there so I can do some experiments. Pass the time you know?” I said.

“What kind of experiments?” Grady asked.

“Just… stuff” I said. Grady went to say something but was interrupted.

“Next please” the cashier said.

We stepped forward and ordered our food, before making our way to an empty table in the corner. We all sat around the table, silent. I glanced around nervously to see that the others had similar expressions. We all didn’t know what to say. The silence lasted a few more seconds before Grady spoke up.

“So… any luck finding jobs?” he chuckled nervously. Sajani snorted and Bella chuckled as well. I felt the corners of my mouth tug up into a slight smile.

“I’ve been too busy with trying to get my parents off my back” Sajani said, “They’ve been so worried about this whole mess they’ve barely let me leave the house.”

“My dad’s the same. He’s never seemed like the doting type but he flew all the way over from home the second he heard what happened” Grady said.

“Oh that’s good, right?”

“Probably. He might’ve been more worried about the BRC than me though” Grady said with a forced laugh. The rest of us chuckled nervously, before returning to an awkward silence. It was obvious what we were all thinking about. The four of us together like this just brought back memories of Gwen.

“Have you guys heard from any of the supervisors yet?” Bella asked.

“I got an email, but it was basically a bunch of nothing” Sajani said.

“I got one from the supervisors too. I think it was automated” Grady said, before turning to me.

“I haven’t been checking my emails, but if you all got one then I probably did too”

“Hmm, I’ll need to check if I got it on a different email” Bella said.

“Oh, Dr Connors also sent me one, but that wasn’t about management it was more personal. He sent one to Hayden and Izzy too.”

“Shoot it probably is a different email. Dr Li probably would’ve done something like that.”

“That’s nice” Sajani said, “I wish Dr Wallen cared about us that much.” The other three shared a glance with each other and bust out laughing.

The sound of their laughter grated against my ears. What the hell was so funny? Why were they laughing at a time like this? Gwen was dead and they were laughing.

Why was I being like this? The irrational anger was unfamiliar, new. Was it because I was with the friend group I usually hung out with when Gwen had been alive. That didn’t make any sense. I’d laughed and been all happy yesterday with Harry and MJ, we’d all been close to Gwen. I clenched my hands into fists as a darkness rose up from my chest. God, I could feel it again. That pit in my stomach. I was going to be sick.

“Pete are you-“

“It was nice to talk to you guys” I said standing up. They all looked up at me concerned.

“Sorry, I should’ve said before but I can’t stay any longer. I have to do something for my mum” I said. They all glanced at each other.

“Sorry, I know I’m forgetful” I said, forcing a chuckle.

“Well… just let us know when you’re free again” Bella said, worried.

“Yeah, we need to all do something together” Grady added.

“Sure thing. Bye guys” I said, turning to leave.

“Pete?” Sajani said, uncertain. “If you need to talk, you can call us, alright?”

I paused then nodded. Walking out of the coffee shop felt exhausting. My body was heavier than usual, and I could almost feel an ache in my bones. I trudged down the street aimlessly, my ears starting to ring. I stumbled and a woman caught me.

“S-sorry” I mumbled embarrassed. I walked off. I shook my head and carried on down the road. I came to a stop at a junction, leaning on a streetlight. I couldn’t believe that had just happened. Dammit. I’d ruined the meet-up with my stupid emotions. Something wasn’t right. I didn’t just feel sick. A low rolled through my brain and settled. I paused, feeling my breath hitch in my throat. Everything felt close. Too close. Suddenly my brain buzzed. I jumped up alert, frantically looking around. My spider-sense only grew louder as I looked around. Everything was dangerous? This didn’t make any sense. I stumbled backwards, my senses all dimmed by the constant buzz. A loud horn cut through the air and I turned to see a car had stopped inches away from me. I stumbled, falling onto the floor and looked around, breathing becoming harder. People stared at me from the street looks of annoyance, shock and confusion filling their faces.

The woman in the car was shouting at me, but I couldn’t hear it over the deafening drone of my spider sense. I stood up, my hands trembling. I clutched the sides of my head as the buzz grew louder and I struggled for breath. I scrambled over to the sidewalk and before I knew it, I was running. I crashed to the floor, the pain sending waves of shock through me. I forced myself up and pulled myself into an alley, barely able to breath now. I felt lightheaded, like I’d just run a marathon. I writhed about in delirium, trying and failing to escape the panic.

I stopped writhing and curled up into a ball, pressing my head against the cold brick wall. The buzzing only got louder as I clamped my eyes shut and struggled for air. The sounds of the street, the smells of the alley, the feeling of the clothes on my skin, everything overwhelmed me. Taking up space in my head and pushing against each other as if fighting for attention, all amplified by the incessant buzzing of my spider sense. I shook, begging for anything to free me.

Eventually the panic started to fade. The relief that came with it was nauseating, and I instantly threw up all over my shoes. I wiped my mouth and breathed deeply, still shaking. I stood up, slowly, holding myself to the wall. I closed my eyes, relaxing against the cold hard stone. I had no idea what had just happened, but I never wanted that to happen again.

I pulled out my phone and called MJ.

“Hey Pete, what’s up?” she said.

“I need you to pick me up”