A couple of days after the umpteenth clash with Flash I was enjoying the weekend reading my comics in the best store in Queens, in the company of the nicest man out there: Stan.

Stan’s really cool. He always manages to cheer you up and seems to have the answer to all kinds of problems. Every time I cross a “no” moment he’s there reading comics with me and comforting me, telling me that I’m going to overcome that particular problem. Plus, he’s an old friend of my Uncle Ben’s, he knows about his heroic career, so every month he gives me a number of a comic book of my choice. In a way Stan can find simple answers to complicated questions just by flipping through a comic book, his must be some kind of hidden quirk: you tell him what’s bothering you, he scratches his chin for a while, then he pulls a comic book off the shelf, flips through the pages and reads the answer to the problem directly in front of you, and finally he speaks deep and encouraging words; He’s a person who makes you feel special, and that’s what makes him special.

As soon as he walked into the store, Stan greeted me with the same words as always

“Hey there, true believer!”

“Hey, Stan!”

He called only me a true believer, which made our conversations even more special.

“So, Peter, how are things going?"

“As usual, Stan. Flash beats a guy, I get in the way, and then I get beaten up. Sometimes I wonder if it’s really worth it."

“I’m sure it is, Peter. I’m sure you saved that boy from a beating, and that does you credit. I’m sure your Uncle Ben is very proud of you!"

“Thank you, Stan. I just wish I wasn’t so afraid of Flash, I wish I had courage."

“Oh my dear friend, it takes courage to stand in the middle of a bully and his victim."

“Have any Hornet comics come out recently?"

“Unfortunately not, son. Anyway, I have an interesting number here," and he goes down behind the counter to pick it up "which I think you’re gonna like. There it is."

"But this is. . . this is. . . THIS IS THE LIMITED EDITION OF THE “INVINCIBLE IRON MAN”, WITH THE SCRINTING COVER! You’re the best Stan!”

“I said you’d like it!"

“Stan, you can’t give me this number for free. How much do I owe you?"

“Don’t say nonsense. it’s your birthday present, enjoy it!”

I turned 12 a few days earlier. He always remembered my birthday.

“Unbelievable! Thanks, Stan!”

“How’s it going with your studies, boy?"

“Good as always: Last physics test, I got 100%."

“Very good, Peter! You will see that your scientific knowledge will help you in the future, even save your life! "

"Umm. . . thank you, Stan." yes, okay, he’s a little weird sometimes, but it’s a nice weirdness "Excuse me, Stan, I really have to go now. Thanks again for the number and the chat!"

“For everything I’m always here, Peter. Remember: Never be satisfied, aim higher, higher and beyond, EXCELSIOR!”

After talking to Stan, I headed home. When I got there, May kissed me on the forehead and Ben gave me a hug, and then they asked me where I had been, to which I replied that I had visited Stan. My uncle has great memories of him, but I always thought there was more to it than he didn't tell me. Ten minutes later, May called me to tell me something important.

“Peter, you remember Anna Watson and her granddaughter Mary Jane? "

“Well, not much. You always told me that they’re a nice family and that Mary Jane has a great personality, but other than that, I haven’t seen them much, and then they moved to town last week, so. . .”

“Yes, I understand, well, I just wanted to tell you we’re about to have new neighbors."

“Really? When?"

“What time is it?”

“Five."

“Oh, in that case, I’d say. . . now."

“What?”

At that moment I heard a noise coming from the street. It was a transport truck, preceded by a blue car, from which three people got out: a woman in her thirties, I imagine, with long, wavy black hair, wore a red leather jacket on black shirt, jeans and boots; then a boy came down, my age I think, with white hair, a blue shirt, worn-out short blue jeans and worn-out white shoes, he also had headphones to listen to music, but they weren’t exactly modern, they looked more like the ones my uncle had when he was young. . . oh yes, the walkman;

Finally, a girl, also my age I think, got out of the car, with long brown hair wrapped in a red bow, a red jacket on a black dress and a black skirt, black stockings and red shoes.

The two boys were similar, yet they seemed so different: he seemed strong and self-confident, she seemed shy and insecure, just like me. I turned to May and Ben and saw that they were just ready to welcome the new neighbors. My uncle had put on his favorite jacket, handmade by my aunt: It was similar to his Spider-man suit, only it was red and blue, which confused me when I was a kid, but May explained to me that she had made it to him after he retired and that the different colors represented that bizarre new beginning for everyone.

They approached the front door and uncle Ben put his hand on my shoulder, and in his eyes I caught the message: “We have the power to make those people feel welcome and to help them unload things from the truck, so helping them is our responsibility” so I nodded, and the three of us headed out to welcome that family.

"Hello, welcome to the neighborhood!" said Uncle Ben.

"Oh hello, it's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Natalya Maximoff and these are my children: Wanda and Pietro." replied the woman

"It's nice to finally meet in person, Anna Watson has told us so much about you," said Aunt May.

I noticed right away that Wanda and Pietro had pulled away, I realized that I too could make them feel comfortable and so I took responsibility. I approached them, despite my shyness, and said.

"H-hi, I'm Peter."

Without waiting even a second Peter pulled out a big smile and replied

"Hey there, it's nice to meet you! I'm Pietro and this is my little sister Wanda!"

I don't think she liked being called 'little sister', so she said

"'Little sister'?! But we're twins!"

"I'm twelve minutes older than you."

"Ahh Pietro, you're always the same!"

They went on like this for a while, until she remembered my presence. She turned as red as a tomato, I think a mixture of anger and embarrassment, so I told her

"Hi Wanda, it's nice to meet you."

The atmosphere changed drastically. Suddenly we began to talk about everything: school, comics, superheroes, dreams ... it came irremediably to talk about quirk and Pietro asked me

"By the way, Peter, what kind of quirk do you own?"

Wanda added

"That's right, tell us. I'm sure it's super-intelligence!"

"Or maybe it's a mind power!" Said Pietro

*Here we go...it was nice to have friends for a while* I thought to myself.

"Or m-maybe..." *goodbye friends* "...I d-don't have any..."

They stood looking at me for a while, aware that they had brought up a sensitive subject, then Wanda said

"Don't worry Peter, I don't have a quirk either, I understand."

To say I was shocked is an understatement: for the first time someone wasn't judging me a loser just because I was without any quirk. Then Wanda continued

"The only one here who has a quirk is my incorrigible brother."

"Really?" I began, turning to Pietro "Which one is it?"

So Pietro stood up and...disappeared in the blink of an eye. Then I saw him come back and stop in front of us, carrying a gust of wind and an ice cream cone, which he gave me, saying

"Ta-da!"

Wanda turned to him and said

"And you didn't get me the cone?"

"You're not the one who's sick because you don't have a quirk...besides, I think I ate it on the way here..."

We all laughed heartily and I, for the first time in my life, had found real friends to talk to and hang out with, I was happy.

After an hour, my aunt and uncle and Mrs. Maximoff finished unloading the truck and offered to help out over the next few days with decorating the house. Then May invited the Maximoff family to dinner and I was delighted, they accepted and it was one of the best dinners ever. I told Wanda and Pietro about some of the fantastic adventures of my uncle Ben as Spider-Man, they were amazed and asked a lot of questions. The evening ended sooner than I thought it would, but it ended very well, as Mrs. Maximoff said that Wanda and Pietro would be coming to the same school as me and even in the same class.

It seemed that, finally, life was beginning to smile on me.