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Peter managed to join MIT and to get a room in a university housing at the beginning of the winter semester thanks to a special authorization from Paula Thompson, the MIT Assistant Vice Chancellor.
Once there, he went to his new student housing, which he knew was already used by two people. After asking his way to older college students, he managed to find the door of his new living place for the rest of the school year.
Wanting to give a good first impression to his roommates, he took a moment to breathe and arrange his haircut. After this, and having gathered a bit more confidence, he resolved himself to knock.
A few seconds later, the door opened, and he saw a familiar face. Indeed, the person who opened to Peter was Ned, his best friend until the battle at the Statue of Liberty and Dr Strange’s spell erasing the knowledge of Peter being Spider-Man from the whole Earth.
“Hey, dude! You’re the new roommate?” Ned asked. “Wait, I think I recognise you!” he added.
“Er, you do?” Peter replied, obviously anxious in case his Man in the Chair recovered his memories.
“Yeah, aren’t you the one who went to that small coffee during the Christmas holidays, Parker something?” he wondered. “Hey MJ, our new roommate is here and I think you know him, remember a Parker from when you worked?”
“Parker you said? The white boy that came and was surprised to see me for some reason?” she answered, joining the two in the living room.
“I think it is him, he looks kinda similar, no?”
“Yeah it’s him, I get the same weird vibes from him that I’ve gotten at the café, and look at him, he seems to have frozen in place for no reason, it’s really weird”
During all the time Ned and MJ spoke, Peter couldn’t move, being extremely surprised to his two former FoS on the same scholar apartment but happy to see them at MIT where they wanted to go.
“Heyo, Peter Parker, remember me? You enjoyed your coffee?” MJ asked him, trying to defreeze Peter.
“Oh, sorry, I don’t know why I stopped randomly” he answered, getting out of his trance. “Yeah, the coffee was good, thanks”.
“Thanks loser. Well, your new room is there, follow me. And just so you know, I’m Michelle, this guy here is Ned” she said, pointing to the latter.
After making him visit, Michelle wanted to know more about her new roommate.
"So, what were you doing before coming here?" she asked.
"Oh, er, I had an internship at Stark Industries, but it’s been hard since my aunt’s death, so I decided I wanted to make her proud from above and do the best job I can."
"Oh, that’s really nice of you!" reacted Ned, having joined them at the end of the presentation of their room. I’m sure you will be good, to managed to get here after all.
“That’s true”, added the only girl of the trio, with her eyes strangely red and a sad look on her face. “Well, let’s change subjects, shall we? What are you studying Parker?”
“Call me Peter please, it will be easier if we have to share a room for six months. And I’m registered for Mechanical Engineering, what about you guys?”
“Oh, that’s true, we didn’t tell you what we were learning, sorry about that. I’m doing Data, Systems and Society, it’s quite interesting in my opinion” Ned answered.
“And I’m learning Comparative Media Studies, we really need to learn more about non-white culture” she replied.
“Er, is it a problem for you to take one of the top bunks? We’ve already taken and used the bottom ones” asked Ned to his new roommate.
“No, don’t worry, I like being high up, it makes me feel like I have the high ground haha” he laughed, then replied more seriously “Really, I don’t mind using the high bunks, it’s ok”.
“You underestimate my power Peter, well, the power of the lower bunks rather, we get more heating”.
“Glad to meet a fellow man of culture, are you a fan of Star Wars?”
“Oh for fuck’s sake, another Star Wars enjoyer, as if the world wasn’t bad enough right now. Enjoy your nerding, nerds! Well, at least you guys have something in common, it could have been worse, you could have been a murderer for example, like Spider-Man is according to Triple J” she told the superhero unknowingly.
“Me, a murderer? No, there is absolutely no risk for me to be a murderer, you are totally safe, I don’t like when people are hurt, I would never harm anyone” he reassured her.
“Hey, talking about murder, I brought some flowers with me” the white boy continues, then realises some aren’t in a good state “Oh no, I’m so sorry about that, I really hope you won’t mind this. I bought them because I really like their rare colour, and some people can be afraid of them, but they’re misunderstood in my opinion, I didn’t plan for them to be the way they are currently”.
“Thank you so much, these are my favourite flowers, as you can probably guess from my necklace” she says happily, while showing it to him.
“Oh, your necklace is broken, could I know why you do keep it?”
“I really don’t mind, I prefer things better when they are broken, it shows me that nothing is eternal, whether it is people or relationships. And the necklace was a gift from someone, I can’t remember who, that’s why I keep it, I hope it will help me remember.”
“I love it, it looks really nice of you”.
“Thanks, hopefully the flowers will be useful as well” she said, while smiling to the person who was her boyfriend before Dr Strange’s spell erased her memories of him.
After this, Michelle decided to sketch her new roommate’s face, thinking she knew him from somewhere else than her work.
Suddenly, while flipping through her previous drawings, she saw Peter in Spider-Man’s suit and sitting on a throne, surrounded with spiders. Seeing this, she felt a wave of souvenirs coming back to the surface of her mind.
“Peter, are you a real lord of the spiders? Can you hypnotize me please, to know if this is real or if I’m dreaming?”
“MJ, did… did you somehow remember me, love?” Peter replied, choking up with emotion, before climbing down the ladder from his bed to hug his girlfriend, whom he never stopped to think about.
“I did Peter, I love you so much!” she exclaimed before going into her boyfriend’s arms, then leaning down to kiss him.
"I love you too Em!"