Sorry this is so late. But its here now, so I hope you like it. I don't, but maybe you will. Excuse awkward spacing. I'll go back and fix it later.

Peter straightens his glasses and adjusts his bag on his shoulder before walking to his first period class. He tried to ignore the odd looks that were being sent his way.

Honestly Peter just wanted to go back to the tower and hide in his room, but he told Mr. Stark that he didn’t want to be homeschooled and besides, he needed to make a few friends.

The time taken to pick up his schedule that morning had made him more than a few minutes late. The halls were already empty and Peter was about to walk into a classroom full of students he’s never met. Glancing at his schedule one last time, he makes sure he’s at the right classroom. Room 212, Physics.

This is it. His hands shake slightly as he reaches for the door, slowly pushing it open. Whatever discussion the class had been having stops as Peter enters the classroom, and suddenly all eyes are on him.

“Can I help you?” The teacher asks.

“Y-Yes ma’am, I’m Peter Parker. The New student.” Peter stutters.

“Oh, Mr. Parker. Come on in.” The teen steps further into the room and quietly
closes the door behind him. “Why don’t you go ahead and introduce yourself.” Peter nervously runs his hand through his curls as he looks at the room full of students. All of them unfamiliar faces.

“My name i-is Peter Parker. I’m 15 years old.” Peter almost cringes at how thick his accent sounds when he’s nervous. And he isn’t the only one to notice. There are a few whispers, but Peter tries to ignore them. The teacher seems to sense the kid’s

discomfort and dismisses him to his seat. Peter takes an empty seat near the back of the room, the seat next to him empty. Well so much for making friends…

The class was about half way through when the door swung open, interrupting the class for the second time that day. Seconds later a boy walks in.

“Mr. Leeds, you’re late.” Mrs. Warren tells the boy. “Where were you?”

“I-I was...um…”

“Just have a seat Ned. And know that next time I won’t be so lenient.” The boy-Ned- just nods and quickly moves to the only empty seat left. The one right next to Peter. Peter isn’t exactly sure what to say. He’s never been great with social interaction.

Everyone he had known back home he had grown up with. Strangers on the other hand…

Peter decides to just keep to himself for now, in hopes of avoiding any embarrassment. If this boy wants to talk to him, then he will talk to him-

“I’ve never seen you here before. New kid?” The boy speaks up.

“Yeah.” Peter replies awkwardly. He extends a hand. “Peter Parker.” The boy
shakes his hand and gives him a friendly smile.

“Ned Leeds.” The two continue to talk quietly throughout class, being careful to keep their volume low to keep from distracting the class...again. Peter finds that he and Ned have a lot in common, and though he wouldn’t call it a friendship yet (he didn’t want to get his hopes up) he did see this as a step in the right direction.

The bell rings for the next class, and Peter and Ned are the last to leave the room, to caught up in their discussion about Legos and Star Wars to notice the bell. The two walk out of the classroom, and everything that happens next happens all at once.

One minute the two are laughing at a science pun, and the next Ned is on the ground. The boy from the bus that morning, Flash, standing there with an evil look in his eyes.

“Hey fatty. I see you’ve met the other loser.” Flash taunts. Peter rushed over and helps Ned to his feet, but Flash is stronger than both of them. He shoves Ned against the lockers, holding him by the collar of his shirt. “What’s wrong tubby? Can’t fight back.”

“Lay off him Flash!” Peter yells, tugging at Flash’s arm.

“I do what I want.” Flash replies, but let’s Ned go anyway. “And since you don’t like me picking on your friend, I think I’ll go after you instead.” Peter does his best not to back down as Flash steps closer. He has to stand his ground.

“Now I don’t want any trouble Flash. I just want you to leave me and my friend alone.” Peter says, his voice shaking.

“Oh look, the stupid hick is nervous.” Flash replies with a laugh. “Well I’ll tell
you this, Puny Parker, I rule the halls of Midtown. And I told you this morning, nobody talks to me that way.”

Before Peter can understand what’s happening Flash grabs him by his shirt and drags Peter out the door. Peter kicks and tries to get free, but to no avail.

Next thing he knows, their in the alleyway outside the school. Flash just picks Peter up from the back of his sweatshirt and throws Peter into the dumpster that sits against the building and closes the lid. He can hear flash laughing as he walks away, and releases a weary sigh.

This was not how he imagined his first day.

Suddenly the lid to the dumpster is being lifted, and Peter looks up to see Ned standing there, hand extended to help him up. Peter gladly accepts and manages to climb out.

“Thanks.” Peter says, tossing away the garbage that was now on his clothes. And he could immediately tell that the smell wasn’t going to go away anytime soon.

“I should be thanking you.” Ned replies. “No one’s ever stood up for me before.
No one’s ever stood up to Flash before.”

“Well I wasn’t about to just watch him pick on ya. You gotta stand up for
people.”

“Well thanks anyway.” Ned says. “And Flash is wrong. You’re not just a dumb
hick.”

“Then what am I?” Peter asks, his feelings still hurt from the bullies harsh words.

“Well you’re my friend. At least I hope so. I mean, I did help you out of a
dumpster.” Ned replies proudly. “So, friends?”

“Friends.” The teen replies with a smile. He’s made at least one friend and stood
up to a bully twice, so maybe his day hasn’t been all that bad. Other than people avoiding him due to the smell, the rest of his day goes well. He and

Ned manage to avoid Flash and by the time the day’s over Peter’s smiling. For the first time since his mother passed, he feels like things may be looking up.

-Time Skip

“Hey kid, how was school-” Tony starts, but stops as soon as the kid steps closer. “Pete, what is that smell?” The teen visibly cringes.

“It’s bad, I know.”

“Well what happened? No offense, but you smell like garbage. Literally.”

“Some idiot kid threw me in a dumpster.” Peter replies with a shrug. Tony instantly feels protective over his kid. It’s only been barely over a month, but he can’t stand the thought of something happening to the kid.

“Who was it? Do I need to go to the school?”

“No Mr. Stark sir! Not at all.” Peter replies in a panic. “I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s not gonna happen again sir.”

“Alright.” Tony replies hesitantly. “Well first of all stop calling me ‘sir’. It makes
me feel old.”

“Yes sir- I mean, okay Mr. Stark.”

Tony thought ‘Mr. Stark’ wasn’t much better, but at least the sir part would be gone.

“And second, go take a shower and grab a snack. After that you and I can head
down to the workshop and work on some stuff.” This makes Peter smile instantly. He loved working on that car. It was just another reminder of how things used to be, and it seemed to be the one thing that was still normal in his life.

The teen nods and runs off to his room to shower and change. Things may not be normal now, and yes, the teen was still grieving. But what Peter felt was a small bit of hope. Hope that maybe things would work out. As he enters
his room, his mother’s voice pops in his head once more.

“God has a plan for each of us Peter. You just gotta trust that everything will work out exactly as it’s supposed to.”

The kid can’t help but feel a sense of comfort as her words ring in his ears.

Everything will work out, exactly as it’s supposed to…

And there's that. Next chapter coming tomorrow for sure. It's already written and everything, so unless some catastrophe happens it will be posted tomorrow morning.

I larb you all 3000,

Nat