𝟎𝟎𝟔 ⎯⎯ Picking Up The Pieces

                                    

                                          

                            

                                
                            
                              
                                  
                              
                              
                                
                                  
                                  
                                
                              
                             
                            
                            
                          
                          
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     Mary Anne didn't go to school the next day, and she was pretty sure Peter hadn't gone either.  Her day consisted of staring at the ceiling before bursting into tears, calming herself down, and then repeating the process.  She finally came out of her room around the time of the sunset and had a bowl of cereal at the kitchen table as her brother Leo sat by with their mother, playing a game of cards.  Hardly anyone spoke up.
     "Are we still going out to dinner tomorrow night, mama?"
     Leo and Carly James turned to look at Mary, taking in her appearance.  No showering for her today which meant a usual bedhead, an old pair of sweats, and a loosely wrapped grey robe.  All in all, she looked unrecognizable to them.
     "Si, pero... we don't have to go out if you're not feeling up to it," their mother said.
     "No, it's okay, I would like to go out and eat tomorrow night, if that's alright with you guys," Mary Anne insisted.
     Leo cracked a smile.  "It's alright with me."
     The thing about Mary Anne was that she was only good at pretending to be strong, not actually recovering from things that hurt her.  She pushed them away to a secret hiding spot, tucked away for no one to ever find them.  She did that in hopes that someday they would disappear, and most of the time, her minuscule problems were solved like that.  But someday, she would have to confront her new nightmares head-on.
     "Flash, don't."
     Mary Anne glanced over from her locker, seeing the whole hallway had gone quiet.  While she had her head in the clouds, she had failed to notice how nearly every single person standing by was watching Peter Parker as he walked to his locker very intently, hearing what had happened to him.  Nathan and Samantha were standing by the brunette, trying to convince their friend Flash that he shouldn't go talk to Peter.  It wasn't a bad idea, seeing as Flash was notoriously known for beating Peter up.
     "He's having a hard time.  Like, a very hard time.  You wouldn't want someone bothering you either," Samantha said, holding onto his wrist.
     Flash shook his head, gently shaking off Samantha's hand.  "It's fine, I just want to talk to him."
     Samantha huffed, turning to Mary Anne.  "Can you believe him?  Only days after his uncle dies.  He's gonna hurt him, and we're going to have to pick up the pieces, again.  Unbelievable."
     This would be in reference to all the times that Flash would be kicking Peter in the stomach as the latter laid on the ground in a fetal position with Nathan and Samantha grabbing at Flash's arms trying to get him to stop.  Mary Anne wasn't usually around for those sorts of fights, thankfully.  The couple of times she saw Peter get hurt, they would always end up making a couple of moments worth of heavy eye contact, enough to leave Mary Anne lying awake at night.
     "What's gotten into him?" Mary said to Sam as they watched Flash walk down the hallway.  "Just like a month ago, he was shoving him into the trash can outside."
     "Mm, you mean the fight your majesty over there broke up?" Samantha said a tad bitterly with a nod towards Gwen Stacey's locker.  Samantha was in a current competition with the blonde that was said to last a semester, but it really actually started in middle school when Samantha got yoghurt in her hair on accident, and the two had been going at it since.
     Mary Anne wanted to laugh, but she found that her ribs were tired.  Besides, laughing felt off during a day like this.  "Yeah, that fight."
     "Hey, Parker," Flash said as he approached Peter.
     "Not today," Peter grumbled.
     "Come on, I just want to talk," Flash insisted, swinging his arms by his sides a tad awkwardly.  In the time Mary Anne had known him (which wasn't too long, to be fair), he really had never let his guard down.  And to be honest, the only reason she really hung out with him was that he had this weird friendship with Samantha (Sammy couldn't really explain it either).
     Peter must've felt threatened — or mad, that would've made more sense — because he turned and grabbed Flash by the collar, pulling him up against the lockers with a thud everyone heard.  But Flash didn't even look phased.
     "It feels better, right?  Look, your uncle died.  I'm sorry.  I get it.  I'm sorry. Okay?" Flash said.  Peter slowly released his grip, letting him down.  By now, he was surely aware of everyone looking.
     "They think it was a mugging," Nate said.
     "Who is they?" Samantha asked.
     "Like, the cops."
     "No," Mary shook her head.  "I mean, it was, but it wasn't Ben who was getting mugged."
     "Who's Ben?"
     Mary Anne turned her attention to him, her heart racing.  "Ben Parker, Peter's uncle.  If you're going to go around talking about him, at least have the decency to learn his name." 
     "Where are you going?" Nathan said, throwing his hands up in the air as Mary backed away from him, closing her locker.
     "Figure out how to be a decent human being, then we'll talk."
     "What was that all about?" Nathan asked Samantha.
     "You really don't know?" she asked him, pursing her lips as she watched him shake his head in confusion.  "Well, she used to be friends with Peter growing up.  I mean, she lives next door to him.  Their families were really close."
     "Wanna walk me to class?" Mary Anne asked from behind Peter, most of everyone had gone to their next class by now.  On the contrary, Mary Anne didn't really care about who saw her with Peter anyways.  She knew he shouldn't be alone right now.
     "Mary?" Peter said, turning away from the inside of his locker, where he was currently shoving his face into embarrassment.
     "It's me, baby," she smiled at him as best as she could, and she didn't know it, but it was exactly what he needed to see.
     He smiled back, closing his locker door.  He bit his lip as Mary raised her eyebrows in anticipation.  Finally, he nodded.  "Yeah, I'd really like that."
     Mary wasn't really sure if she could pick up all the pieces, but she would sure as hell try.


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