WARNINGS: Mentions of abusive homes. Please please please don't read if it triggers you. It does kind of imply abuse, but obviously it's Peter, so it's not.

~~~

If anyone asked who had the most traumatic childhood, most people would say themselves.

There would be a teenage girl who says that because her toy disappeared that she was unlucky.

There'd be a middle aged man claiming that he'd got run over even though there were no scars to prove it.

You'd get people saying that they had the worst childhood, merely because they want to one-up each other.

Midtown High, however? They'd say Peter Parker.

The poor kid's parents died in a plane crash when he was five, they'd say. He never really got over that experience.

(Either way, Peter Parker hadn't boarded a plane since then.)

His uncle got murdered when he was eight, they whispered. Watched it himself. It still haunts him.

(The blood, the memories - it was all too much -)

His aunt died when he was nine, and he was alone when he was ten. Moved to different foster homes since then.

People could tell when it was a neglectful one, or an abusive one.

Sometimes Peter came into school with a bruise on his cheek. Sometimes he'd get there and realise he had no lunch.

In other words, Midtown High fully agreed that Peter Parker had had the worst childhood.

Nobody wanted to beat that.

~~~

How did Peter Parker keep smiling?

That was the question that ran through most people's heads when Peter came into school one day, a bruise as clear as day on his neck, yet he still smiled.

"Ned! Michelle!" he called, grinning happily. "Guess what happened!"

"... You got punched?" Michelle rolled her eyes, as usual using her deadpan tone.

Peter rubbed his shoulder awkwardly, his smile disappearing for a moment, before it returned and he continued speaking.

(Why did Midtown High feel so overprotective over the boy? He was just - a kid. A kid who had lost everything, but continued to smile.)

"So, at the foster home," Peter started, his smile being the widest in the world, "they gave me a chocolate cookie! And guess this, they made it themselves? It was Bu - James made it. He's a really good chef."

Peter continued rambling about James and how he was such a good cooker but he rarely cooked anything.

Somebody spoke up, pausing Peter's tirade.

"Did he do that to you?"

Peter turned, confused, pointing at himself.

"Yeah. Did he do that to you? James?"

Peter flushed, stuttering.

"I - I - no, of course not! He would never! I - I - I was mugged. Yeah."

He wasn't convincing.

Nobody saw through his lie anyway.

(They desperately wanted it to be true.)

~~~

Another time Peter came in, short sleeves, with obvious marks on his arms - one part was far too red, some parts were purple and blue and green and -

Yet he still continued on walking towards Ned, a smile on his face.

It didn't look fake in the slightest. It worried them, to say the least.

"Hey, Ned!" he greeted brightly, skipping the last few steps to his best friend. Most of the students quieted down, wanting to hear what he would say.

"Hey, Pete. How're you doing?" Ned asked, concern evident in his eyes.

In Midtown's eyes, that practically confirmed their theory.

"Oh, I'm great. Fantastic, even," Peter responded, his grin still wide on his face.

"What are you so happy for, then?" Ned asked the question Peter seemingly hoped he would, as the boy's eyes lit up when he did.

"So, you know Na-Natalie, yeah, Natalie," Peter said, stuttering over the name slightly as he did.

Why?

"Of course I know her, Pete. What about her?" Ned asked, smiling lightly at Peter's enthusiasm.

"Basically, she was taking me out to a restaurant because, like, why not, she wanted to annoy - um - Toby, sure, Toby. Anyway, she took us to this really expensive one, and refused to let me pay! Think of that!"

Ned gave a small laugh.

"Peter, nobody let's you pay. They see you as this - as this -" Ned paused, trying to think of a good word, "- as this adorable puppy that they need to protect. Clearly Natalie sees you like that too."

"Nah," Peter laughed, "she probably sees me as the runt of the pack."

There appeared to be a collective gasp at that statement.

"How did those marks on your arm appear, Parker?" one kid shouted. "Was it her? This - this Natalie lady?"

Peter genuinely looked startled at that question, like he didn't expect it to be asked.

"No!" he finally said when his thoughts caught up. "No, she's fine!"

Midtown really didn't think he was sincere. They left it.

"What about this 'Toby' guy then, huh?" the kid insisted. "If it wasn't Natalie, then it must have been him."

"No, it wasn't either of them, I swear!" Peter said, silently begging them to drop it. "I just - erm - almost got mugged. Again. Toby helped stop it."

The hesitation. Again.

They left it.

Peter continued his conversation with Ned, his ears tinted red as he did so, a clear sign of embarrassment.

~~~

The next few times, they left it. And when it happened nearly daily, they went on with their lives.

After all, maybe Peter just had a magnet for bad luck. Maybe he was just getting mugged all those times, or threatened. Maybe Spider-Man saved him, and maybe Spider-Man just pulled him away too hard with the webs.

Peter was fine.

He may have the worst life out of all of them, but he was fine.

His childhood couldn't have been worse, right?

No. No, of course not. It would've been fine.

Midtown hated how they all doubted that.

Peter's smile continued on, bright as ever.

~~~

As always, the prologue's short, sorry! I actually finished this while I was still doing DIO, actually XD Had writer's block and REALLY wanted to get rid of it.

Also you know how I made the avenger names like hidden and stuff and I named Tony, Toby??? Yeah that was a reference to a typo I made in the last two books XD

I think this is okay? Do you like it???

I like it. I think. I don't know.

I hope you enjoyed the prologue, and I hope things go to plan with this story!

Goodbye!

- Hunter

26.08.20