Midtown High School — Front Entrance — Morning
Peter arrived at the school entrance alongside Gwen.
The two of them were the last members of their group to show up that morning.
Harry, Miles, and Anya were already waiting for them outside the gates.
— "Ah! There you are at last!"
— "At least you're not late. Especially you, Peter. Ever since school started, you've changed a lot when it comes to that. I honestly feel like I'm looking at a whole new Peter."
— "Now that I think about it, it's true that a lot of people were talking about that at the beginning of the year. Were you really late all the time before?"
Peter let out a quiet sigh.
— "Yeah, don't even get me started, Miles. It was a nightmare! But things are better now."
Gwen then turned toward the others.
— "So, what about you guys? Are your parents okay with the trip?"
Harry burst out laughing.
— "You know my dad, Gwen. You already know the answer."
— "I'm good to go. What about you two?"
He looked at Peter and Gwen.
— "My aunt said yes, so we're coming too."
— "Awesome!"
The three boys exchanged a friendly handshake.
All of them wore genuine smiles, happy that they would get to experience this trip together.
However, Gwen noticed that Anya was strangely quiet.
She decided to speak to her.
— "What about you, Anya? Are your parents okay with it?"
Anya seemed lost in thought.
She quickly snapped back to reality.
— "O-Oh, uh... yeah... I'm good too."
Suddenly, Peter clapped his hands together, putting an end to a conversation that seemed ready to drag on.
— "Alright! Besides that, maybe we should head inside now, don't you think? Class is about to start."
Anya immediately rolled her eyes.
— "The class nerd has spoken! Let us obey his orders and head to class!"
At her impression, only Gwen let out a small laugh, more out of affection for Anya than because the joke was actually funny.
The four boys, meanwhile, stood there speechless. They were all shocked by how terrible the impression was…
And by the fact that Gwen had actually laughed.
They then walked into the school before calmly making their way to their classroom.
Midtown High School — Classroom — Afternoon
As usual, the students were seated in rows of three. At the front of the room, Roger Harrington stood holding a stack of papers.
— "Alright! You've all turned in your permission slips, and from what I've seen, everyone will be able to come, so that's perfect!"
A wave of excitement immediately spread through the classroom.
— "As for the groups, you'll be divided into two groups of eight since there are sixteen of you."
He cleared his throat slightly.
— "So, about the groups... I'm going to tell you who's with whom..."
At those words, the entire class held its breath. Everyone hoped they'd end up with the right people.
But Harry suddenly raised his hand.
— "Uh, sir!"
— "Yes? What is it, Osborn?"
— "Uh... can't we decide the groups ourselves? Like... choose who goes with who?"
The suggestion was immediately met with unanimous approval.
Several students had already begun talking among themselves before even hearing the teacher's answer.
Roger Harrington knew this scenario all too well.
He immediately raised his hand to restore order.
— "No. If I let you make the groups yourselves, it'll be complete chaos, and you won't be able to agree on anything. We don't have time for that."
Sighs of disappointment echoed throughout the classroom.
Peter exchanged a glance with Gwen, Harry, Miles, and Anya.
They were all hoping for the same thing.
— "Come on... please let us be together...!"
— "So, for the first group, we have..."
The silence became almost absolute.
— "Parker, Stacy, Osborn, Morales, Corazon..."
As their names were called one after another, their faces lit up. Relief instantly replaced the stress. Harry couldn't hold back a shout of excitement.
Before meeting his teacher's stern gaze.
— "S-Sorry..."
— "As I was saying... we have Parker, Stacy, Osborn, Morales, Corazon, Allan, Avril, and finally... Thompson."
The atmosphere changed instantly. First came surprise, then excitement...And finally... disappointment.
Especially on Anya's face. She abruptly stood up and slammed her palm against her desk.
— "You've got to be kidding me?! Those three idiots are going to be with us?! Seriously?!"
Sally looked just as annoyed.
— "She's right! I-I mean... we don't want to be with them either!"
— "Exactly," Flash added.
Liz let out a sigh as well.
— "If it's going to ruin the whole trip... then yeah, that really sucks..."
As the tension continued to rise throughout the classroom, Peter and Gwen exchanged a discreet glance before moving slightly closer together.
— "This doesn't look good..."
— "Oh really? You think...?"
Their teacher calmly looked around the classroom before speaking again.
— "Then consider this an opportunity. Use this trip to get closer to each other... and become friends."
His gaze swept across the students, all of whom remained just as skeptical.
— "Either way, the groups aren't changing. That's non-negotiable. So you have two choices: either you accept it... or you can say goodbye to the trip."
The smile on his face wasn't reassuring in the slightest.
Quite the opposite.
It made it perfectly clear that he wasn't joking at all. Anya let out a frustrated groan. Miles, already exasperated by the thought of the trip, buried his face in his hands.
Peter, Gwen, and Harry exchanged uncertain glances.
As for Flash...Without anyone noticing, he quietly lowered his eyes. An unusual expression crossed his face.
Sadness.
Doubt.
Midtown High School — Front Entrance — Afternoon
With classes over, the students gradually left the building.
Some headed straight home, while others stayed outside the entrance to chat for a while.
Peter and his friends were calmly walking toward the exit.
Anya let out a deep sigh.
— "I still can't believe we're gonna have to go on this trip with those three idiots!"
— "Yeah..."
Miles sighed as well.
Then a faint smile appeared on his face as he thought about the bright side.
— "But at least we're all together. That's something."
Peter nodded.
— "Miles is right. We could've ended up completely separated, but we got really lucky."
He paused briefly.
— "Besides... Flash, Liz, and Sally aren't that awful either. I actually think it could be nice!"
— "...At least, I hope so..."
A shy smile appeared on his face. He was trying just as hard to convince himself as he was his friends.
Harry crossed his arms.
— "Seriously? Did you forget that Flash's been bullying you for who knows how long? He's never been cool, whether it was with you or me. And it's the same with Liz and Sally."
His answer was almost absolute.
— "On this one, I'm kinda on Anya's side. I don't think it's gonna work..."
Surprised, Anya immediately turned toward him. Harry noticed her stare and tilted his head slightly, confused.
— "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
— "I never thought I'd say this but... I think I'm actually happy we're on the same side."
Harry was speechless at first. Then a mischievous grin spread across his face. He answered her in the most natural tone imaginable.
— "...Screw you, Anya."
Anya's eyes widened.
— "W-What?! Are you kidding me?! I say something nice to you and that's what you say?!"
— "That's for all the times you've made fun of me!"
Anya's face puffed up with frustration. She gritted her teeth as her eyes opened wide. She looked ready to jump on him.
— "Damn it, get over here!"
She immediately tried to grab him so she could hit him, but Harry instantly stepped back.
Amused by the scene, Gwen gently stepped between them.
— "Easy, you two!"
Peter, meanwhile, let out a long sigh.
— "Anya, for the love of God...!"
Completely exasperated, he buried his face in his hands.
But suddenly...
A familiar voice called out to them.
— "Hey!"
The group immediately stopped.
They all turned around. To their surprise...It was Flash Thompson. Everyone's expression darkened almost instantly.
Everyone except Peter and Gwen, who mostly looked surprised. Why would he come talk to them?
Under her breath, Anya muttered:
— "Speak of the devil..."
Flash slowly walked toward them. Suspicion was written across nearly everyone's face. Only Peter and Gwen remained perfectly calm.
Flash finally stopped in front of them.
— "Can I talk to you?"
Anya answered immediately.
— "Talk to me? Nah, forget it—"
Flash cut her off without even looking at her.
— "I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to Peter."
Everyone looked at him in confusion.
Even Peter had no idea how to react.
— "Uh... me...?"
He pointed at himself. Flash simply nodded.
Peter's surprise only grew stronger.
— "Uh... y-yeah, sure. Go ahead, I'm listening."
— "I'd rather talk in private. Is that okay with you?"
Still just as surprised, Peter agreed with a slight nod.
— "Uh... s-sure... no problem. I'll come."
The two of them walked away to talk somewhere more private. The rest of the group watched them, intrigued.
Anya frowned.
— "Okay... what the hell is this? Did you guys see how he was so..."
— "Calm? Yeah... that was really weird. I was expecting the start of a fight."
— "You're not the only one..."
Gwen remained silent. She simply kept watching them. Peter followed Flash to a spot far enough away from the other students.
A strange, heavy atmosphere settled between them. Flash seemed to weigh every single word before speaking.
Peter, on the other hand, felt slightly uncomfortable.
— "So, uh... what's up? Why did you want to talk to me in private?"
Flash took a quiet breath.
— "I just wanted to tell you that... I talked to Liz and Sally, and... they're willing to make an effort and not cause any trouble with you guys during the trip. I wanted to ask you to try to do the same with your friends. Well... especially Anya."
Peter froze for a moment.
He had expected anything...
Except that.
— "Uh... yeah, yeah, of course! No problem at all! But back in class, you didn't really seem okay with the idea."
He paused briefly.
— "Can I ask what made you change your mind?"
Flash hesitated for a few moments before answering.
— "I want to go on this trip. Besides... there's no point in fighting."
At those words, Peter felt a vein of frustration throb on his forehead. Internally, he couldn't believe what he had just heard.
— "There's no point in fighting"? Seriously?! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO STARTS THESE ARGUMENTS!"
Even so, he held himself back.
— "To be completely honest with you, I kind of—"
Flash interrupted him before he could finish.
— "You don't understand why I act like this, do you? You're wondering why I'm talking to you so calmly and politely when that's usually not how I act... right?"
Peter blinked.
He hadn't expected that level of self-awareness.
— "...Yeah."
Flash lowered his head slightly.
He gently rubbed the tip of his shoe against the ground, his gaze fixed downward.
His voice became almost inaudible.
— "If... right now... I apologized for everything I've put you through... would you forgive me?"
Peter frowned.
— "W-What? What did you say? I didn't catch that."
Flash abruptly looked back up. He didn't repeat his question.
Instead, a faint smile appeared on his face, as if trying to hide that moment of vulnerability.
He stepped closer to Peter and gently placed a hand on his shoulder.
— "If you do what I asked, the trip will go well, and we won't spend three miserable days together. So don't forget to talk to Anya and the others."
Without waiting for an answer, he turned around and walked away. Peter stood there motionless for a few seconds.
Completely bewildered.
Then he slowly made his way back to Gwen, Harry, Miles, and Anya. As soon as they saw the lost expression on his face, they all looked at him curiously.
Gwen was the first to speak.
— "So? What did he say?"
Peter opened his mouth.
He searched for the right words.
— "Well... actually... I... uh—"
Anya immediately rolled her eyes.
— "You look constipated. Spit it out already, damn it!"
— "I-I don't know!"
His answer surprised everyone.
Even Anya immediately calmed down.
— "I don't know, okay?! It was weird..."
Harry frowned slightly.
— "Weird? What do you mean... weird?"
Peter took a breath before answering.
— "Well... he was really nice, and he asked me to make sure nobody tries to start any trouble with him, Liz, or Sally so the trip goes well."
He continued immediately.
— "He also told me he'd talked to them too, so there shouldn't be any problems on their side."
This time, the whole group was left speechless.
Miles was the first to react.
— "H-He really said that...?"
— "Well... basically... yeah."
Anya crossed her arms. Clearly suspicious.
— "Isn't that just one of his stupid tricks? He probably lied."
Peter gently shook his head.
— "I don't know... he seemed sincere. It really threw me off. I've never seen him like that."
Harry took a deep breath before letting out a long sigh.
— "Well... I guess we'll see, won't we?"
Miles nodded.
— "Yeah... anyway, I just hope this trip goes smoothly without too many problems."
TO BE CONTINUED.