Theme Day (1)

The hallways of Midtown High today had turned into a superhero showcase. Peter, dressed as the Tenth Doctor, squinted as he stepped through the school gates, blinded by a riot of colorful spandex. A backpack shaped like Captain America's shield bumped into his shoulder, and a student dressed as the Joker was drawing smiley faces on the glass with a marker. Meanwhile, a large screen hanging in Midtown High continued to loop a student council announcement: "By vote, all activities for this year's homecoming week will adopt a superhero theme."

Peter passed by, a little weirded out but not overly concerned. In America, student councils held immense power, capable of altering the school's organizational structure. Some student council presidents could even initiate votes to change required math classes into electives.

Perhaps this was another facet of America's "happy education" system.

Peter, not paying it much mind, tucked his bag away and curiously scanned his surroundings. His instincts told him something was off; his Spider-Sense tingled faintly, but he saw nothing out of the ordinary. Then, he turned and spotted the Dalek shell Harry had brought, locked onto his locker. Peter smiled knowingly, took out his books, and left.

Carl, who had been hiding in the back dressed as the Hulk, finally dared to approach. He tentatively touched Peter's locker, and upon realizing he couldn't open it, left in disappointment. He didn't notice Peter glance back at him from a distance.

"So Carl's been watching me. Is he planning to put something weird in my locker to scare me?"

Confirming that no dangerous individual was monitoring him, Peter mumbled and walked into the classroom. His Spider-Sense always gave a slight warning when he was being watched, but judging by the intensity, the person posed no threat.

Still, being watched by Carl every day wasn't ideal. He should probably find an opportunity to teach him a lesson and stop him from bullying his classmates.

Peter thought this as he entered the classroom and greeted Harry. "I saw your Dalek shell. You just locked it onto your locker door?"

"What else?"

Harry shrugged, sitting on a base modified from an electric wheelchair. "I kind of regret dressing as a Dalek. It's inconvenient to move, and hard to carry things. I should have dressed as a Cyberman. Look, everyone else is wearing superhero costumes, and I'm stuck... in this thing."

"No, no, no, Daleks are cool. A pepper pot with armor plating, a whisk-like laser, and a toilet plunger..."

"Man!" Harry couldn't help but roll his eyes. "The more you say it, the more I regret it. What about you? What did you bring, Dr. Peter?"

"I didn't bring anything," Peter said with a half-joking tone. "I just wore a suit similar to the Tenth Doctor's. I didn't have an exact replica at home, so I made do."

"Oh, the one played by David Tennant. Very cool."

After a bit of awkward small talk, neither Amadeus had arrived. As class was about to start, Peter took out his phone and made a call. Fortunately, Amadeus sounded fine, just a bit congested, as he asked, "Hello?"

"Hey, Amadeus, are you okay? You didn't come to school today."

"Oh, Peter, I took a leave of absence from the teacher. I have a slight fever today."

Amadeus's voice was muffled, and he sounded genuinely sick. Peter hung up with a hint of worry. Harry also asked, "Is he alright?"

"Just a bit of a fever... he should be fine, right?" Peter finished, then looked at Harry. "Do you know where Amadeus lives? Maybe we can visit him after school."

"I don't know. I only know he's staying with a local family. He's never mentioned where he lives."

"I don't know where you live either, actually... only you guys know where I live," Peter said, feigning a slightly unhappy tone, looking at Harry. Harry immediately started to stammer, mumbling for a long time before sighing, "My relationship with my dad isn't great. He's been very harsh on all my friends since I was little. So, I'm sorry."

"No need to apologize."

Feeling he had further confirmed Harry was indeed Harry Osborn, Peter offered a bit of comfort to his friend. He then noticed Harry watching Spider-Man videos again. "I wanted to ask last time, why do you always seem to be watching Spider-Man whenever you have free time?"

"It's nothing, homework, I guess you could call it that."

As time passed, the classroom became even more absurd. A girl in a Black Widow costume was collecting assignments. Their math teacher, the middle-aged man who always wore plaid shirts, walked in with an elongated rubber mask. "Good morning, class. I am Mister Fantastic, and today I will be teaching you pre-calculus."

"Davos, the teacher," Harry said, looking utterly unmotivated, beginning another day of boring, or rather, peaceful, routine.

With the Avengers having left New York, the entire city seemed to have quieted down. After class, Peter walked along, checking his phone. Even today, there were no special cases requiring Spider-Man's intervention. Just as he felt his mood lift considerably, he saw Carl's friend and another student who looked unfriendly opening his locker. Carl seemed quite nervous. Upon seeing Peter, he immediately patted his companion's back, and the two quickly left.

"Hey! Carl!"

Completely unaware of what had happened, Peter approached his locker and opened his bag to check if anything was missing. Nothing had been taken by Carl. This made him frown. Was Carl planning to put something in his locker to mess with him? Or was he looking for something?

"Is he sure he can find anything..."

"Find what? A smart kid? Or, what should I call you now? Suit-Man?" The opened locker door was tapped. Judging by the sound, Peter knew who it was. He took a step back and saw Gwen leaning against the locker. As expected, Gwen wasn't dressed as any superhero or villain, maintaining her original appearance. Peter stepped back and adjusted the collar of his dark blue suit.

"Hello, I'm the Doctor."

"...Doctor Who?"

"Just Doctor. I knew you'd ask that." Peter chuckled, not realizing Gwen hadn't understood the pun. He then closed the locker door after confirming nothing was missing—he kept his Spider-Disc on him, so it wouldn't be found.

Wait... could Carl be looking for my old suit?

"Carl had someone pick the lock on my locker. I suspect he intended to put something strange in my locker. They were dressed as Thor and Hulk, yet doing this," Peter said, changing the subject. "So, why are you dressed as Gwendolyn Stacy?"

"I am Gwen Stacy. To be precise, the theme day started before I could decide who to dress as. What's worse is this darn theme lasts a whole week." Gwen sighed. Peter thought Gwen's blonde hair would be perfect for cosplaying Supergirl Kara, but she didn't seem to realize it herself.

Gwen rubbed her beautiful blonde hair before finally stating why she was there. "Speaking of this theme day, it's homecoming this weekend. Have you found your prom date?"

"Let me guess, you and your new friends had a competition to see who could find a date first, and you came running to me first, right?"

"Impressive, smart kid. So?"

Peter could only respond with a slightly self-deprecating smile.

"Nobody cares about Peter Parker, or the Doctor, so Gwen, I can tell you with confidence."

"You win."