chapter one; rené magritte

"René Magritte was born in Hainaut, Lessines, Belgium on the twenty-first of November in eighteen-ninety-eight. Before his death on the fifteenth of August, nineteen-sixty-seven, he was and still is known as the most celebrated Belgian artist. Some of his works include The Treachery of Images, The Son of Man, The Lovers and Golconda. As you can see, Magritte primarily focused on Surrealism, though he dabbled in Cubism, Post-Impressionism and Modern Art."

"What painting is this?"

"That," Maggie began, pointing to the canvas covered in a variety of shiny oil paints. She smiled a little as she admired it, seeing the delicate marks that had been left where the artist had painted. "Is called 'The Menaced Assassin'. He painted this for his first solo exhibition in nineteen-twenty-seven. This work is one of Magritte's largest and most theatrical creations. Like plenty of the Surrealists at the time, Magritte was a fan of the pre-World War one crime fiction series, Fantômas. He borrowed the positioning of the two detectives' figures bordering the doorframe from the Le Mort Qui Tue, a film from the series that was first released in the early nineteen hundreds. It was Magritte's ambition to create a equivalently engaging and extravagant world on the canvas."

The tourists surrounding the young girl were intrigued by her extensive knowledge regarding the Belgian painter, and Maggie's eyes trailed across the crowd, landing on one of the curators by the entrance of the exhibition. He sent her a thumbs up, and she smiled slightly, feeling her anxiety settle a little. Her trembling hands were laced in front of her torso, and her mouth was slightly dry.

"You sure know your stuff, kid." One of the older tourists muttered, and Maggie nervously laughed, nodding in acknowledgement. She was completely out of her comfort zone, but the fact that she got to ramble about her favourite painters made the job a little easier.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." She responded softly, earning a few chuckles from the group. Tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, she smiled politely. "Feel free to look around the exhibition, I'll be wandering around if you have any further questions."

The tour group muttered a chorus of 'thanks' and dispersed throughout the Magritte exhibition. Maggie suppressed a sigh and straightened out her work t-shirt. She held out her hand to check the time on her watch, and pursed her lips when she saw that there was still an hour before she could go home.

"What's your favourite painting?" A voice caught Maggie's attention, and her heart stopped in her chest. She wasn't expecting someone to ask a question so soon. She looked up to see a pretty middle-aged woman in glasses smiling down at her.

"Oh," Maggie straightened her posture and forced a smile, reached to the wall and picking up one of the pamphlets. She flicked through it and showed the woman when she found the picture she was looking for. "My favourite's called  'La Bataille de l'Argonne', or 'The Battle of the Argonne'. I, uh, like it because Magritte portrays the idea that both a rock and a cloud can appear weightless, I guess. Also, the fact that both are before a calm and beautiful landscape, the art can essentially transport us into other realms in a state of total serenity, outside time."

"Jeez, you sure speak beautifully for a kid your age." The woman said, and Maggie looked down at the ground, flushing at the comment. "How old are you, anyway?"

"I'm fifteen, I started working here about two weeks ago." She responded softly, and the woman seemed slightly shocked at the answer, clearly she had been expecting someone out of high school. Maggie scratched the back of her head bashfully, knowing the reasoning behind the reaction. "Yeah, I know it's a little young, I get that a lot."

"No, I think it's impressive. I should introduce you to my nephew, he's your age." The woman chuckled softly, reaching into her pocket and pulling out her phone. "He should be here with me, but he had to go to the bathroom. The boy's got a bladder the size of a peanut, let me tell you."

"Sounds like my dad." Maggie joked, trying not to make the conversation awkward and uncomfortable like she usually would. She wasn't used to talking to people other than her father (and her dog) for long periods of time, so it was a challenge for her to not fuck it up. "Uh, what's your nephew's name?"

"Peter." The woman responded, and Maggie noticed the way her light eyes gleamed with pride from behind her spectacles as she mentioned the name. Maggie thought it was sweet how much she clearly adored her nephew, even if it was only an allude to the boy. "Peter Parker, he goes to Midtown Science and Tech."

"Oh, I'm starting there when the semester begins again." Maggie replied, and the woman's face lit up. Maggie didn't notice, she was too busy trying not to address the sickening feeling that rose to her stomach at the mention of school. She also didn't wasn't aware of the fact that she was anxiously scrunching the pamphlet in her slightly clammy hands. "I, um, don't know anybody there though."

"I'll introduce you to Peter! He'll adore you, I'm sure." The woman grinned widely, and Maggie forced a smile in return, not wanting to voice how not many people adored her. Her father would often tell her it's those damn hormones and raging insecurities, which was most likely true, but Maggie also knew that not many people enjoyed her anti-social company. Before she could delve into her hellish mind, the woman held her hand out. "I'm May Parker."

"Magnolia Prince." Maggie responded, shaking her hand, before swallowing nervously. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." May was welcoming and kind, and Maggie really liked that. Her actions were motherly and caring, which was something she missed. Sure, her dad tried his best, but sometimes a girl needed a maternal figure in their life. May turned her head almost instinctively, before her smiled widened and she waved someone over. "There he is. Peter!"

"Hey, May. Sorry I took so long, I was just-" A higher pitched voice appeared across the exhibition, and Maggie glanced over to see a brunet kid rushing over to them. A breathless expression adorned his face and his hair was slightly messy, but due to first impressions, Maggie assumed that was what he usually looked like. The boy stopped before them and was cut off when he noticed that his aunt was talking to someone. His eyes trailed over to Maggie, and he smiled awkwardly. "Uh, hey."

"Peter, this is Magnolia Prince." May gestured to Maggie, who shifted her weight from foot to foot, her eyes uneasily flickering between the two people before her. "She's gonna be starting at your school next week."

"Nice to meet you, M-Magnolia." Maggie noticed how rushed Peter's voice was, and how he wrung his hands together in front of him. His shirt was slightly crumpled as if he had barely put in an effort to put it on, and there was what appeared to be a line of sweat brushing against his hairline. "Maybe, maybe uh, we'll see each other around. A-At school, I mean."

"Yeah, maybe." Maggie nodded, before flushing when her phone began loudly buzzing in her pocket. She cleared her throat awkwardly and pulled it out, seeing only a notification from BuzzFeed. 

"Anything interesting?" May was amused. 

Blushing a deeper red, Maggie put her phone away and shook her head. "No, it was just a news story about Spider-Man. He, uh, saved an old lady from being hit by a car or something."

"Oh, him." May humphed, and Maggie smiled a little at the older woman's discontent towards the city hero. "I don't know how I feel about that guy. I wouldn't want to be his mom, that's for sure. If Peter was anything like that, I'd have him incarcerated, or at least on house arrest for the rest of his life."

"Thank God that's not the case." Peter laughed nervously, and Maggie eyed him for a second, before awkwardly chuckling along with May. 

"Uh-huh." May raised an eyebrow, before nudging her nephew and gesturing to Maggie. "Anyway. When Maggie starts school, she's not gonna know anyone. Why don't you and Ned sit with her at lunch so she has some new friends?"

"Um," Peter began, his eyes flickering over to Maggie, who closely resembled a deer caught in headlights. The teenage boy mirrored her expression, before nodding once. "S-Sure, why not? I'll come find you?"

"Yeah, that sounds okay." Maggie responded softly, and May grinned at the two kids, clapping her hands together as if she had just climbed Everest or something. 

Maggie glanced between the Parkers, watching them throw funny banter back and forth for the next five minutes. 

What an odd family. 

☆★

"Marty, wanna go for a walk?" Maggie called out as soon as she opened the creaky front door. The tiny, cramped apartment was still relatively full of boxes, and Maggie felt awful having to leave her dog there for a few hours a day with no one home. 

She stepped further into the apartment as the giant Saint. Bernard bounded over to her, his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth as he barked at her excitedly. The small girl giggled softly as she kneeled down in front of him, burying her face in his fur as she embraced his large body tightly. 

"I missed you today, bud." She chuckled, reaching to the top of one of the boxes in the kitchen for his leash, clipping it to his collar before pushing herself up. She looked around the room for a moment, seeing a bunch of dirty glasses sitting in the sink and a bunch of sticky notes attached to the countertop, reminding her of the countless jobs that needed doing so they could properly settle in. 

Maggie was a relatively optimistic person, but after everything that had happened to her in the last few weeks, she just wanted a break. She didn't know what she would've done without Marty, he was the reason she could breathe every once in a while, and that was because he was the only friend she really had, and he was a dog. 

It took only ten or so minutes before Maggie's feet hit the pavement again, and she was able to inhale the fresh air, happy that she didn't have anywhere specific to be in that moment. Marty was dragging her across the sidewalk, eager to see the new environment that he still wasn't used to after the three weeks they had been in Queens. 

After an hour or so (at least), Maggie pulled her dog over to a park bench, swinging the bag on her back around so she could take out her water bottle. The teenage girl sat on the wooden seat, crossing her legs, before leaning over and tipping the bottle to the side. A slow stream of water dripped from the tip of the bottle, and Marty lifted his head, lapping it up. Maggie smiled down at him, though she laughed as he turned his head to sneeze, before returning to quench his thirst. 

The sun was beginning to set in the sky, gorgeous pinks and oranges melting into one another like a beautiful paint palette. Maggie stared up in awe, peace filling her being and allowing her mind to clear a little. The stress of the fact that she was starting school soon, as well as not being able to see her dog as much, nor her father, was what made her toss and turn at night. She hated the idea that the summer would end and she would be alone again, even if she was surrounded by hundreds of people. 

A sigh escaped her lips, and she returned her gaze to the large Saint Bernard at her feet, who was most likely drooling all over the ground. The girl didn't want to go back to the apartment, she knew her father wouldn't be home anyway. His new job required him to stay back late, which meant she barely ever saw him anymore. 

She didn't even know what his new job was. She knew that he worked for his old best-friend, Adrian Toomes and that he was a driver, but for what? She didn't know. All she knew was that they now left completely different lives, and she hated it. 

Turning to the side and pulling out her notepad from her now discarded backpack, she pursed her lips into a thin line and began to sketch the first thing that appeared in her mind. Therapeutic, almost, was how it felt to have a pencil in hand to Maggie Prince. 

She only wished she could feel like that more often. 

☆★

wow this intro to the book was kinda boring but oH well

next chapter hopefully means she's gonna go to school so that's fun yay but also keep in mind that this story will be moving somewhat quickly due to the fact that I'm not gonna be putting as much effort into it and she won't have a separate storyline and villain like J.D, cause that's a lot of planning n stuff and I'll be trying to focus on updating Patriot Games regularly. 

Anyway!! Hope you all like Maggie so far, she's a lil bean and I want to protect her tbh. 

And she also already met May and Peter cause why not I hate myself ok then bye see you next time !!