Living With Secrets

Weirdo

"So he never showed up? And he's still not there?" Ned asked, his voice slightly cracking through the computer.

Peter shook his head. "Nope, wasn't here all night and wasn't here when I got up. I went and got food a bit ago, but he's still not here."

Ned sat back in his chair. "And his stuff is there?"

"Yup," Peter said, turning in his desk chair. "I just want to get it over with, like, we all know he's gonna be like 'O.M.G. you're that Stark kid!'"

Ned laughed. "Hey, at least your roommate isn't a crazy freak about lights out."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot!! Tell me about that!"

"Okay, so he was fine, like nothing too special, but chill. And I'm unpacking while he's on his phone, all of a sudden, he jumps up and he's like, 'its 9, man, lights out,'" Ned put on a special voice for his roommate, a deep, mocking voice. "So I was like, dude. I do 'lights out' at like, 2am. Anyways, I spent most of my night in darkness, listening to the guy snore."

Peter laughed at his friend, and Ned soon joined in. There was a sudden sound on Ned's end, like someone shutting the door.

"Hey, Pete, I gotta go. My roommate just got back and we're going down to the welcome fair together."

"Okay, man," Peter said. He did a little wave. "Bye!"

The two boys signed off, and Peter slumped back in his chair. He missed Ned, and it had only been a couple days without him.

"Pull yourself together," Peter groaned running his hands through his hair. Sure, he missed his girlfriend and best friend more than anything, but he also knew that they were really happy on the west coast, and he was in love with MIT, so there wasn't anything to be done about it.

Text the family, Peter thought suddenly. He pulled out his phone and texted the group chat.

Spidey: Hey, can I come down for the weekend? I could leave on Friday.

Satisfied that he would get to see his family this weekend, and sure that would make him feel much better, Peter went to work on his watch. He wanted to add a hologram projector, like the one his father had recently installed in the situation room.

After about an hour of tinkering with the watch, Peter heard the door open softly. He looked up, surprised to see his roommate finally.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wade walked into the room, feeling a littler nervous about meeting his roommate after dipping out last night.

"Hey, you're Wade, right?" The boy, who had just been seated at his desk, got up and stuck out a hand. Wade took it cautiously, and when the two stepped away, Peter laid back on his bed.

"And you're Peter," he said, throwing his bag onto his bed.

"Yeah," Peter said awkwardly. The two sat in relative silence, both thinking the same thing: this was weird.

"So," Peter started, drawing out the 'o'. "Are we gonna talk about who I am?"

"You mean, like, 'how old you are' and all that '20 questions get-to-know-you' crap?" Wade's face was contorted into a look of disgust. "Can't I just learn about you throughout the year? I mean, we will be living together."

"Uh, no, not what I meant," Peter said with a dramatic sigh. This guy was kind of a jerk. "I meant, like, who I am! Don't you read the news, I'm Peter Stark."

"Like the Starks as in Tony Stark as in Stark Industries?" Wade's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Yeah, don't you read the news?"

Wade shrugged as if it was no big deal. "Honestly, no. I never had cable or really a TV, 'cause Blind Al always said we didn't need it. I only ever use Netty or watch old VCR tapes."

Peter furrowed his brow. "Blind Al?"

"The lady I lived with. Reason I'm here, actually."

"Alright," Peter said simply, not pushing the subject. He knew what it was like to have a confusing backstory and a difficult living situation. "So you have no idea who I am?"

"I mean, I know you are a Stark, and I know what your dad does, but no, I don't know who you are."

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Peter thought about this for a moment. Other people wouldn't tell Wade about that other part of Peter's identity, and that was the part that really mattered. As long as he could keep that a secret, he was good to go. Other people were nosy, but ever since last night when Peter had returned after dinner, he had discovered that most people here weren't really going to say anything about it, seeing as no one had mentioned it in the dining hall, the building, or the dorms.

"Alright, then," Peter said, standing up. "I was going to go grab some food, wanna come?"

The brunet turned, only to see his roommate looking at the watch on Peter's desk. "You're working on this?"

Peter laughed nervously. "Yeah, I actually built that one from scratch. Karen? Can you please tell Wade more about yourself?"

The AI sprang to life. "Sure, Peter. Hello, Wade, it's nice to meet you. I am Peter's AI, and the only reason he's still alive! I can control his car, his watch, and his suit, and I am also accessible through his sunglasses, his earbuds, and his arc reactor."

Wade jumped backwards, startled. "You have an AI? That you made?"

"Programmed," Peter corrected. "Now, about dinner?"

Wade shrugged, trying to make himself appear unimpressed, but internally, he was freaking out. His roommate was a genius!

"I guess," he said, standing up.

As the two boys made their way down to the cafeteria, Peter couldn't help but notice that his roommate wouldn't take his hood down. He's kind of a weirdo, Peter thought. But nice. And I think keeping Spiderman a secret will be easy as pie.

Wade caught his roommate, who was a few inches shorted, staring up at him. He smirked. "Whatcha staring at? My devastatingly good looks?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Peter burst out laughing. "No, no, sorry, I was just thinking." As if just realizing what he had said, he quickly amended his statement. "Not that you aren't attractive, I mean, you're not ugly, I just meant-"

Wade cut him off. "Chill, dude, I got your point the first time. He's jumpy. And he's never seen my face, so he is no expert on my looks, the taller teen thought. But if his observation skills are anywhere as good at his programming skills, then keeping my side job a secret will be the hardest part of this year.