Peter swore this was the most agonizing chemistry class he had ever sat through. His mysterious new deskmate, Mona, seemed to have seen straight through his ordinary high school student disguise.
Spider-Man...
Peter bit his lip. Something inside him screamed that Mona hadn't come up with that nickname on a whim. She had to know something!
Had I slipped up while fighting crime? Was it that time my mask snagged on a wire on a building while I was catching that underwear-stealing creep? Had Mona accidentally seen my face?
Peter immediately dismissed that absurd theory. Not only had he covered up the tear right away, but even if it had been that incident, he remembered there being nobody around except him and the creep.
Could a security camera have caught me?
Peter looked thoughtfully at the camera in the upper-right corner of the classroom. He stared at it for two seconds before turning his gaze back to Mona, who was studying the glassware with her head lowered.
Mona, who exactly are you?
The questions in Peter's mind only multiplied.
Mona seemed oblivious to Peter's scrutiny. She poked the glassware with her index finger, lowered her hand, then turned it over to examine the bottom.
"This equipment isn't all that different from what we have back home."
Without looking up, Mona told Peter, "One more thing: the mop's in the girls' restroom."
"Wh... what?"
Her words startled Peter. He glanced around, but the other students were all concentrating on their experiments.
"Are you talking to me?"
Peter's eyes widened.
Mona lifted her head, a faint smile appearing on her fair, delicate face. "You're welcome."
Peter stared blankly at her, unable to make sense of what she meant.
"Peter! Come up here and write out this chemical formula!"
The chemistry teacher's shout