Spider-Man:The Other Option

" Ned, it ' s okay, I don ' t — Mr. Westcott, school is really expensive and—"

"But school is important," says Ned pointedly, in a way that makes Peter think he rehearsed this argument many times on his way over. "It's an investment in our futures. In Peter's future. And I just really, really, really think you should consider it, Mr. Westcott, because no matter what they said about Peter in his—his file or whatever, he's the best person I' ve ever known. He deserves this."

Ned goes red as he says it, and his hands are clenched on his knees like he is desperately holding on to every ounce of courage available, but he doesn't break eye contact with Mr. Westcott, and when he finishes speaking he clenches his jaw and continues to hold it.

Peter, though, has to look away. His eyes are prickling.

Skip looks between the pair of them, still smiling mildly.

" Well,

Ned, convinced me."

you ' ve

certainly

Both boys let out identical breaths. Peter hadn't even realized he was holding his.

"I—I have?" says Ned.

"Yes, though to be fair, I'm probably not the holdout you were expecting," says Skip. " Education is the main focus in all of the work I do with my boys. I had planned to look into schools for you today as it was, Peter. I had no idea you were so gifted, or Midtown would have been top of the list anyway. But it's still lucky you're here, Ned, because I have a feeling Peter isn't one to toot his own horn about these things."

Skip winks at Peter, whose mouth is hanging open. To Ned, he says,

"Give me Principal Morita's number. I'll call him first thing in the morning. Now, do you boys want something to eat while you catch up? I have pizza rolls."

Ned immediately springs into action, fumbling in a backpack at his feet that Peter hadn't noticed until now and jumping to his feet to give Skip the little slip of paper he pulls out of it.

Peter, on the other hand, is too stunned to move. He can't remember the last time anything was this easy. Even when he was living with Uncle Ben, good things didn't just happen , at least not without some sort of emotional or financial tug-of-war. School, in particular, had always been a source of tension: even though Ben never, ever complained, Peter knew his tuition had been a burden, even with his scholarship. Knew Ben had taken extra shifts and spent long nights poring over receipts, trying to make up for the deficit.

But Skip didn't even blink.

(What could that mean, Peter? Because you know it's not you. Good things don't happen to Peter Parker, so think, stupid. What does it mean?) " Do you want to show Ned your room?"

Peter jolts and gets to his feet.

"Yeah. Sorry, I—"

"Actually," says Ned, "I have to go. I'm—my mom—but—thank you for um, having me and—"

"Anytime, Ned. A friend of Peter's is a friend of mine. Why don't you walk your friend out, Pete?"

Numbly, Peter gets to his feet and follows Skip to the front door, Ned trailing in his wake. Skip waves them out, silently pressing a key into Peter' s palm as he passes and winking again. He closes the door after them.

Ned and Peter are silent as they walk down the hall and into the elevator. But as soon as the doors close over them, Ned tackles him. "Oh my god," he says, "oh my god, oh my god, you're alive dude. You're alive and you have all your limbs and you don't have a bunch of prison tattoos on your face and you're here. I can't believe it. This is the best day of my life."

At last, a smile works its way onto Peter's face as he staggers under the weight of his friend ' s hug, and reaches up awkwardly with his uninjured hand to return it. "Wow, you must have a pretty low bar, Ned. I'm actually a little insulted. What about Comic-Con twenty thirteen? Did I get you those tickets for nothing?"

Ned disentangles himself and punches Peter lightly on the arm.

"Oh my God, you're not seriously being a smartass right now, Parker."

Peter continues to grin until Ned steps back, and Peter sees there are tears in his eyes. Ned wipes them quickly, but not quickly enough. Peter ' s grin fades.

"Oh, man, Ned, I'm—I'm so sorry, I didn't mean… I'm okay, man. Look, I'm right here."

"I can't believe it happened twice, dude. You just freaking … disappeared. Again. "

The elevator dings. The boys step absently into the reception area, and Peter only vaguely recognizes that there is a front desk and a doormanmeaning Skip must have even more money than he originally guessedwhile Ned leads him across the entranceway and onto the sidewalk just outside.

"I'm sorry," says Peter. "I wanted to call you, Ned. I wanted to call you so bad, but I couldn't."

"Were you really in prison?" "What? No! Of course I wasn'twho said I was in prison?"

"Flash, mostly. But it was like, the rumor of the century last semester. Everyone said you went nuts and tried to kill your foster family. It was insane, dude, but I couldn't get a hold of you and the teachers wouldn ' t say anything about what actually did happen so—"

Peter groans and puts his face in his hands, then removes them immediately when his injured palm gives a painful throb.

" Woah, Peter, what happened to your hand?"

Peter shakes his head. "It's nothing. It's complicated. I'll tell you I justNed, I can't believe you're here. I can't believe you got me back into school. How—how did you do it so fast?"

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