Peter looked up from his books and looked at the clock. 8:25. Only three and a half hours of studying left. He slammed his head down into the opened book.
"Dude, I told you not to sweat it," Victor said, looking over from the sink. "Besides, it's Saturday. You still have three days."
"The last test I took completely raped me," Peter replied. "I can't afford that again."
"You got a C. Hardly the end of your college career."
"But I've never gotten a C before."
"Welcome to college. What did I tell you, it would be tough."
Peter sighed.
"It's not just the grade is it . . . " Victor said, trailing off. "Wait a minute, weren't you supposed to be going out with Mary Jane tonight?"
"Note the tense."
"Trouble in paradise?" Victor turned from the sink and leaned up against it, folding his arms.
"I don't know. It just seems like this past month hasn't exactly gone very well. MJ keeps getting . . . I dunno . . . farther away or something."
"I think I know the feeling. Natalie hasn't exactly been replying to my e-mails as fast recently. I keep wanting to say it's because she's getting busier, but my bloodline is too rational."
"Maybe she is too busy."
"Have you been too busy to reply to any e-mails yet?"
"No, but I don't really know anyone on the other side of the country . . . Most of the people I know are here, or I don't talk to much."
"Like Jimmy?"
"I can't seem to find his e-mail address. Everytime I put his name in the website, it crashes on me."
"We're getting off topic. You think MJ's getting too far away?"
"Well . . . "
"Think Gwen might have anything to do with it?"
"How?"
"Um, hot girl that actually can match you in the brains department? And she's your lab partner, which means spending a hell of a lot of time together. No normal girl is ever going to take that the right way, unless you go out of your way to make sure she knows she's appreciated."
"Uh oh . . . "
"You blew her off, didn't you?"
Peter nodded. "Last week, on the way to class . . . "
Peter was walking out of his dorm when he heard a girl calling him.
"Peter! Wait up!"
Peter turned around to see Gwen Stacy rushing up behind him. He could tell that the status quo of fashion had been established on campus, as Gwen had joined the jeans club, like most other girls. The cooler late fall air also had something to do with it. However, Gwen could still dress to impress even with the most casual clothing.
"'Sup?" Peter asked.
"Not much. I stayed up a little too long last night on some math homework."
"How'd that go?"
"As expected. Except I ran into problems when I couldn't read my own writing."
Peter chuckled.
"Hey, did you manage to copy down the third page of notes in Glanvil's class the other day, did you?"
"Most of it. Got the rest from a guy down the hall."
"So it wasn't just me. I knew he took that slide down too fast."
Peter started flipping through his notebook, looking for the notes.
"Morning, Tiger," Mary Jane said, coming up, grabbing Peter's arm.
"Hey," Peter said.
"Hi, Mary Jane," Gwen said.
"Yeah," MJ replied, turning back to Peter. "Going to class?"
"Huh? Yeah. Chemistry."
"So, see you at lunch?"
"Sure, call me with a place and time. Later."
"Yes, later . . . " MJ said, stopping. "Nice seeing you."
"Bye, MJ!" Gwen said as they continued walking.
"You didn't get a call, did you?" Victor asked.
"No, and you and Jason caught me later on campus, and I went with you guys."
Victor stood up. "Get up and put something nicer on."
"Why?"
"I can't let you sit in here and study all night. We're going to a party."
"Party."
"Yes. Social gathering. Lots of people. Even more beer."
"Beer?"
"Malted beverage, usually comes in the light variety in college towns."
"But you're not - "
"Twenty-one, I know. That's the point. It's college."
"But--"
"Peter, I'm the freaking Shadow. You're Spider-Man. We have the early warning system going for us. We're fine. Now, hurry up and let's go."
As Peter and Victor entered the frat house, they were greeted by Jason Todd.
"Jason, this is your party?" Peter asked.
"No, it's actually my cousin's. He's the one in the frat," Jason replied. He led them into the kitchen, where a large array of bottles and cans were sitting on the counter. "What's your choice of poison?"
"I'll take a Coke," Peter said.
"Don't think you're getting out of here without putting something else in that," Victor said.
Peter looked at the counter and sighed. "What do you suggest?"
"Something lightweight to start with," Victor replied, picking up a bottle of clear liquid. He poured a little bit into a red plastic cup. He then filled the rest of the cup with the cranberry juice sitting nearby and shook it around a little. "Try this."
Peter took the cup and put it to his lips. He looked at Victor and Jason. They were nodding their heads. He sipped. "Not bad," he said, surprised.
"Bet you don't even taste the alcohol," Victor said.
"What is it?"
"We call it jungle juice."
"I could get use to this."
"And another one corrupted," Jason interjected. "I'd love to stay and watch this, but I gotta get back to the ice luge."
"Ice luge?" Peter asked.
"Block of ice, you pour drinks down and take shots from," Jason said. "I'll show you later. But, go downstairs, that's where most of the party is at."
Peter lifted his cup and started heading for the stairs. Victor started mixing his own drink. "Hey, Peter, just don't make me have to drag you back to the dorm."
"Sure," Peter said, taking another sip. He walked down the stairs, to the darkened basement. The eighties music that he had faintly heard upstairs was now blaring in his ears. He saw a large mass of people standing in a mostly clear area, dancing.
That's an interesting move, he thought, seeing a couple dance.
"Peter?"
He turned to find out who had called him.
"Gwen?" he asked. She was wearing a white, somewhat tight fitting shirt that showed everything off, but didn't show too much. She put her right arm around his waist, taking a sip from the cup in her left hand.
"You drink?"
"My dad's a cop. What do you think?"
"Rebellion?"
"Something like that. Besides, my grades are good enough. I need at least one skeleton in the closet."
"Are there any sober underaged people in this country?"
"Looks like you still are, babe."
"Babe?"
"Whachu got?"
"Jungle juice. You?"
"151 and Coke. I think. That might have been the last one."
"Last one? How much have you had?"
Gwen put the cup down on the bar next to her and wrapped her now empty left arm around Peter's waist. "Let's dance."
"Uh, okay, just let me -- " Peter took a gulp and put the cup down beside Gwen's. She started pushing him backwards, into the mass of people, and then started swaying. He followed her lead. She started pulling herself closer to Peter.
"Come on, babe, you're not feeling it."
Peter started his attempt at dancing again. Suddenly, Gwen slowed down and stopped. She put her hand to her head.
"Are you okay?" Peter asked.
"I don't feel too good."
"Need to throw up?"
"No! Just, take me upstairs. Living room. I just need to sit for a while."
Five minutes later, Peter found himself sitting on a couch in the small living room, with Gwen laying on his lap. He was holding her around her stomach.
Victor walked by, looking in and giving Peter a thumbs up. Peter gave him an unsure grin back.
"She okay?" Vic asked, coming over.
"I don't know. She just wanted to--"
"I'm fine," Gwen replied. "The room was just spinning too much." She looked up at Peter. "You're cute," she said, playfully slapping his face.
Suddenly, the noise in the next room started getting louder.
"What the hell?" Peter asked.
"Apparently, some girl is drinking Jason's cousin under the table."
"And?"
"His cousin's pretty big. Not an easy task."
"Damn this redhead's on fire!" someone shouted.
"Redhead?" Peter wondered. He took his arms off Gwen. "Come on, let's go watch this."
"Okay," Gwen said, sitting up. Peter stood up and offered his hand to Gwen to help her up.
Walking into the next room, Peter saw a redhead sitting across a small table from a larger man. There were several shot glasses and a lot of mostly empty bottles lying around. The girl was finishing off a shot as the guy just looked at it, his head going in small circles. The girl brought the shot glass down on the table, hard, cracking it.
"Damn, MJ!" Jason exclaimed.
"MJ?" Peter said. He turned to Victor. "Take Gwen." He made his way around the small gathering to get a better glimpse of the girl's face. It was all too familiar. "Damn!" he muttered.
MJ was smiling. Until she choked. And then she bent over, vomiting all over the floor.
"Damn!" Peter repeated, rushing to the front. "MJ! You hear me?"
"Wha . . . Peter?"
"Let's get you out of here."
"That was cool," Victor said, a half hour later, as he sat on the couch beside Gwen.
"Yeah," Jason replied. "But that room's gonna be a bitch to clean up."
"That room? Whole damn house," Victor replied.
"Nnnh," Gwen said, turning her head around.
Victor took another drink, but paused. The back of his neck felt . . . odd.
"You feel that?" he asked.
"What?" Jason answered.
"Like . . . static?"
Suddenly, a sharp pain hit Victor's brain. It caused him to convulse forward, landing on his knees on the floor. As a result, Gwen was tossed to the floor too. "Get out!" he shouted. "Jason, take Gwen!"
And then, there was the explosion.
"I'm back!" a voice shouted, all through the house.
Victor stood up and ran outside.
Damn, no hat or coat! he thought. Surveying the yard, he saw everyone leaving the house, as it started going up in flames. Victor tried using his telepathy to find out who had caused the explosion, but it was too much for his intoxicated system.
Victor could feel the blood start to run out of his nose as the world faded to black, and he started falling down . . .
Peter and Mary Jane walked up to her dorm room, in a relatively empty building.
"Good thing most everyone went out tonight," Peter said.
MJ groaned. "Head . . . spinning . . . Last shot . . . bad . . . "
"You have your . . . keys?" Peter asked.
"Problem?"
"Door's open. Your roommate in?"
"Nuh-uh. She went home!"
Peter used his right hand to cautiously open the door, his left arm still wrapped around Mary Jane. As they walked in, he pulled her arm over his shoulder, and flipped the light switch on.
"Smoke?" MJ asked, still in a drunken daze.
A man stepped out from behind the corner.
"Who are you?" Peter asked.
"I could ask the same of you," the man replied.
"Daddy?" MJ asked.
Need we say continued?