Amelia Lancaster

As I walked to school to start this September Wednesday, I couldn't help but think about my encounter with Spiderman. I have those white eyes staring at me glued to my mind, his words and curious tone from our conversation, and the way his fingers grazed the drawings of him in my sketchbook all on repeat. I wonder what that felt like, looking at yourself through the picture of someone else's perspective. I keep cringing at the image of me following him through the streets too. All I can do is laugh it off and hope I don't run like Phoebe Buffay.

Having a strange gut feeling, I paused my stroll and looked around for a moment, almost wanting his white eyes to be staring at me; no one was watching me, though.

Weird.

~~~

I finally got to school and saw Peter, although I didn't stop him. I knew I would see him in homeroom so I would talk to him then.

Still getting used to my new 7:00 am school routine, I had to practice my locker combo at least 10 times before realizing I was at the wrong locker and then go up the incorrect set of stairs which took me to the wrong homeroom.

Fun morning.

Eventually, I made it to English and saw Peter in his seat with his earbuds in, watching something on his phone.

"Peter," I loudly whispered across from him as I approached his desk.

He didn't hear me though, so I kicked his foot.

That made him lookup.

"What," he said annoyed. "Oh, it's you. Sorry."

"Can I ask you something?" I requested.

"Yeah, I guess. Why are we whispering?"

"Oh, um, private stuff you could say,"

"Alright," He said, his expression a little caught off guard.

"I know this is going to sound odd, but do you know if Spiderman goes up to people and has conversations with them? Like, has he ever done that with you?"

"Um, no. Why? Did you meet him?"

"Oddly, yes."

"Well then what did he say," Peter said, growing eager into hearing the story of my afternoon yesterday.

"So you know how I like to draw him?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I ran for like 2 miles following him but had to stop to catch my breath- I know, the running, embarrassing, not my finest moment- anyways, when I stopped he coincidentally did too, so I figured I could get a picture then,

I pause as I sit down at the desk next to Peter, setting my books down, then turning to face him.

"So I'm looking through the viewfinder getting the right angle, to then look up and see him staring right at me,"

"And?" Peter said suspiciously.

"I was so alarmed that I put my camera back in my bag and ran to find an alley or something to hide in- I did successfully- I remember closing my eyes to try and calm down, because, ya know, those big white eyes can be a bit scary after looking at them for too long, but when I opened my eyes he was there with me,"

"That's strange. What did you two talk about?" Peter asked.

"Well, all he asked me why I was chasing him and with a camera, as one does. I was honest and just told him that I liked to draw him. He had thought that I worked for a newspaper or something- I wish I could say a newspaper took one of my photos or drawings- anyways, I gave him the drawing that I worked on yesterday. Remember, you saw the one of him swinging?"

"Yeah, I can see why he would like it."

"It was strange. Oh! And not to mention, before I realized that he wasn't trying to trap me or something- which ironically he did in the end- I had been trying to run away from him, so to get me to stay he webbed my feet to the ground. When he left and swung away, he forgot to un-web my feet! I stood there for three hours!" I exclaim.

"Were your legs tired?" Peter challenges.

"What do you think?" I snap, smiling sarcastically, rolling my eyes.

The bell rang and class started. We were going to start reading a book by Agatha Christie, I think. Something about a murder on an express. When class ended, I was heading out until I saw Peter run up beside me.

"Hi there," 

"We have calculus together right?" He asks.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Ok. Do you want t-to sit with me, maybe?" He stuttered.

"Sure!" I said, trying not to blush.

We walked together to calculus, and we talked during most of the class; we still paid attention, though. I learned a lot about him. He had lost both of his parents at a young age and lives with his aunt after his uncle recently passed.

Poor guy has been through a lot is only sixteen, I feel bad for him.

He only had one piece of his family left, and she is just a vulnerable as Peter. We are both sort of in the same yet different situation. My mother is sick, and we don't know if we are going to lose her or not. And with my father trying to be able to take care of me, my little brother, and my mother, he is always over-stressed. Peter's Aunt is balancing the same plate, except she already lost her partner.

On a happier note, though, Peter and I both love science and have a disagreement on movies. I love Harry Potter and everything about it. He, on the other hand, loves Star Wars. I saw the first movie and thought it was okay, but he has never seen Harry Potter.

"You've never seen Harry Potter!" I say, shocked.

"Nope, Star Wars is my game,"

"God, Star Wars and Harry Potter are entirely different! " I scoffed.

"What do you have against Star Wars?!" He said, looking offended.

"It's just battling in space. Something with the dark side or Death Star. It was too complicated in one movie," I said.

"Well, that's why there is eight more dummy. You'll have to watch it with me sometime," he said, smirking. 

"Alright, well then I'll show you Harry Potter. Deal?"

"Deal.".

~~~

Class ended, and it was time to go to the gym. Strangely Peter and I had the same exact schedule. We had Gym, English, Maths, Science, Art, and homeroom together. I get to talk to him all day.

I don't think I will ever get used to his brown eyes and cute floppy hair. For him being as shy as he is around people, it is nice when he opens up to you, despite his not-so-occasional nervousness.

Thinking over our conversation in math,  I realized that Peter and I basically just asked each other out. We are only friends though, right?

We would stay that way, friends?

The gym was boring as usual. I had to wear ugly and nasty gym clothes for an hour and barely do anything.

Waste of my perfectly good, free time.

Though it was now lunch, so that is nice. I got my food and found Peter and Ned with someone new sitting with them. I sat down across from Peter, close to the new girl who was reading a book. I looked at Peter and pointed my head to the girl next to me, silently asking who she is to him.

"Oh," Peter said, "Michelle, Amelia-Amelia, Michelle."

"Hi, nice to meet you," I said, trying to be friendly with a smile.

"Hi." 

She went straight back to her book, so I tried not to bother her.

"So, what's up," I said, opening my salad.

"Nothing, but you should tell Ned about your Spiderman incident,"

"What Spiderman incident? Holy shit, wait, did you meet him?!" Ned exclaimed.

"Well, yeah, a sort of."

"How do you just sort of meet someone?" Michelle asked, questioning my words.

"That's a good question," I said laughed.

"Well, what happened?" She said.

I told them everything I told Peter. About the camera, him taking my drawing and talking to me, to leaving me alone with my feet webbed to the ground.

"Wow," said Ned.

"Yeah. You've already met Spiderman, and you have been here a little over a month," Michelle said looking surprised.

"Though the best part was I felt like I could talk to him honestly. Besides the part where he stared at me for a couple of seconds, he seemed nice. Like you know when you start talking to someone, and you feel like you can automatically trust them?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Peter shift, a small smile on his face, but I don't think anything of it.

"Yeah, I feel that," said Ned.

"It was like that. He seemed genuinely kind, and young too." I said.

Peter's smile turned into a blush.

"What is it, Peter?" I asked nicely.

"Oh, nothing. I had a funny thought."