GENERATION X SPIDER-MAN (Issue #18)

FOOLS AND THEIR MADNESS

     Peter Parker stared down at his breakfast with very little interest. Scrambled eggs were normally his favorite meal to start the day. Aunt May had gotten up early on this Monday morning to make it just for him. It was the last full week of the school year and he had final exams coming up so she figured that he needed his strength. As May Parker got ready for work that morning, a quick glance revealed that her nephew wasn't eating. The teen boy looked depressed.

"You've got to eat something," she said. "You can't do this forever."

"Do what forever?" he asked.

"You can't keep sulking," May told him. "You made your choice. Now, you have to live with it."

"We needed the money." Peter remarked. "Selling those pictures to the Daily Bugle helped us out so much, May. They paid off all our outstanding bills and put a little money in the bank for us."

"I never asked you to do that," she fired back. "You didn't need to stand Mary Jane up at another dance. I think that you're all caught up in the excitement of taking pictures of Spider-Man. Look what it cost you, honey. She won't even talk to you anymore. How could you do that?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Peter replied.

"Please just eat your breakfast and go to school," May instructed the young man.

As Peter rode his skateboard to school, it amazed him how bad things had gotten. A month ago, he walked to school on a day just like this and was so excited about his life. It was the eve of the junior prom and his very first date with Mary Jane Watson. He had a ten hour phone conversation with her and it seemed like they were soul mates. Then, everything went to hell. Spider-Man was needed in the city, so Peter wasn't able to attend the dance. He disappointed Mary Jane again. Even worse, he had to lie to her about the reasons for his absence. Peter told her that he was busy taking photographs of Spider-Man's heroic actions in the city and that was the reason why he stood her up at another dance. The young man was hurt by her reaction to his explanation. Mary Jane acted nonplussed about the whole thing and the memory of that conversation still haunted him.

"I guess you did what you had to do," she said without much enthusiasm. "You needed the money."

"I'm really sorry," he had said to her the day after the prom.

"Look, I understand." Mary Jane had told him. "But, I can't count on you."

"Can I please just have another chance?" Peter pleaded with her.

"Another chance?" she asked, incredulous. "No, Peter. I'm sorry. You let me down. You hurt me."

Just like that, the magic of that one night where they had spoken on the phone for ten hours was gone. In the four weeks following the prom, it seemed like Mary Jane was avoiding him. Peter would occasionally catch a glimpse of her in the hallways of school, but they didn't speak. They had become estranged from one another and it even affected their small group of friends. Flash Thompson and Randy Robertson weren't really sure what to say to Peter. Betty Brant and Glory Grant were still furious at him for hurting Mary Jane. However, Peter found an unexpected confidante in Liz Allan. She was very sympathetic towards Peter. While the strawberry blonde haired beauty tried her best to console him, it unfortunately did little to lift his spirits. The last four weeks passed slowly and Peter felt isolated from his friends. It left him feeling like a stranger. Eventually, his trek through the streets of Forest Hills reached its end and he finally arrived at Midtown High School on this warm June morning.