Five O'clock

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Five O'clock

"Dude, let's go to the Moe's cafe, I hear it's really popular these days. It'll be fun! Apparently that's where all the hot chicks are!"

I stopped and looked at harry,

'Is this guy for real!'

"Dude…really.. If you don't pass this test, it'll tank your GPA! We can just go to my room, there we'll have all the peace and quiet to revise maths."

"BOOO!" He began his typical rich boy high maintenance behaviour,

"C'mon Pete, let's go to the Moe's, we don't hang out too much anyways these days. Plus coffee's on me."

Seeing that I was still unconvinced he continued with his sales pitch.

"Besides, I'm the one paying for the tuition. So don't I get to decide where we study? Cmon Pete. It'll be fun….. I mean it'll be educational!"

"You're paying me to make sure you don't flunk high school. I intend to keep my end of the bargain!" I say sternly

Harry wanted me to help him with some maths, I would have done it for free but he insisted I get paid.

Something told me that he knew about Uncle Ben's situation or at least he knew how badly I needed the cash. Joining the basketball team was all well and good but if I don't start earning right now. Then those insufferable medical bills would burn through our savings.

I was conflicted about taking advantage of a friend's money like that but something told me Harry was okay with it.

"C'mon Pete, Peter, C'mon homeboy, C'mon dude, C'mon Petey, You know you want to go and gawk at chicks, C'mon dude, Seriously you're just gonna ignore me like that. PETEYYY please!!!"

"Alright Fine. God stop talking for some time!"

'This guy is more high maintenance than a runway model!!!'

He flashed his teeth, "I knew you would see sense!!"

"Just this once okay, if we keep goofing around too much then your grades are gonna suffer." I did my best Mr white impression to scold him but it wasn't too effective.

"Yeah sure thing buddy." He said without even thinking twice.

'Yeah sure thing buddy my ass, You're gonna pass with all B's, I'll make sure that you do Harry.'

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POV - Jessica Thompson

"You got it Sarah, at 5 in Moe's Cafe" she said to the shy girl in front of her.

'What a nice girl!' She thought

"Okay see you then." She said and turned back when she could feel something tug her sleeve. It was Sarah's hand!

"You'll be there right?You won't…ditch at the last second?" She looked pained while asking that.

'What did she go through to become like this? God I hate bullies!'

"Of course we'll meet up after class, I promise!" She reassured the blue haired girl.

'She looked like a rebel on the outside but on the inside she was delicate as a flower!'

Jessica didn't know why but she had an innate feeling to protect her. Maybe it was because she reminded her of herself and her old friend.

"Okay c..co.cool, after class then." she said with a shy smile.

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POV - Flash Thompson

It hurt him hearing his classmates gossip about him. Losing to PUN- No he wasn't Puny parker anymore, anyone who can whoop ten people like that deserved respect.

He touched his bruise on his cheek,

'That kick fucking hurt. When did he get so strong?'

He remembered the fight itself as a very brief affair. They cornered him but then that idiot Seymour jumped Parker and the others followed suit.

'I didn't want to fight him like that. it wasn't….right! Father wouldn't be proud of how I handled that. Ganging up on a dude like that!'

Not to mention he lost despite outnumbering him 10 to 1.

He could feel the eyes of the entire class on him as he touched his bruise.

Once they all jumped in, flash couldn't get the one on one fight that he desired.

What surprised him the most was how Parker handled fighting so many people at once. He was really calm about it.

He thought the fight was over when they pinned him to the ground. They all took turns kicking Parker but he still had the energy to jump him when they were all exhausted.

The last memory he could recall from the whole fight was Parker lunging at him. He couldn't even see the kick to his head, he was blinding fast!

He lost consciousness even before he could react to what was happening.

When Jess woke him up, she didn't cry or reprimand him. Little Brian helped him and the rest of the boys up. Once the reality of their situation set in, they couldn't believe it.

There was a discussion about what to do, should they take revenge? Should they bum rush him when he's alone in the toilet?

Everyone came up with different ways to move forward!

Brian came up with the plan of tattling to the teachers.

All this pissed him off even more.

"Revenge? Bum-rush him? Tattling to the teacher? What kind of man fights that way? We lost. End of story." He said to them with finality!

The others didn't like that. Especially when they realised Parker kept his promise of taking all of their cash.

There was something of a fallout within his group that evening.

"I didn't ask you to fight for me! In fact I wanted to beat him up alone. I didn't ask for your help. You came with me to see the fight, not join it!" He said to the group.

At Least for a couple of minutes they had the decency to look down in shame. Then they turned on Little Brian for helping Parker steal their wallets.

The entire group started taking turns beating up little Brian. They took out all of their frustrations out on him.

Once Jess saw this, she left from the scrapyard wordlessly. Not wanting to let his younger sister go alone late in the evening, he chaperoned her.

She wouldn't respond to him, she wouldn't even acknowledge his presence. It was almost like he was a noisy fly following her around.

"At least tell me what I did wrong? Don't be so stuck up Jess."

"STUCK UP!!!!"She exploded when she heard those particular words leave out of his mouth.

It was funny to think about now. Watching his younger sister throw a temper tantrum but at the time he was terrified.

"You idiot. I'm always picking up after you and the one time I told you something in passing you jumped the gun and got your ass kicked!"

It was a hurtful thing to hear but like his mother said the truth sometimes hurts.

"I didn't even know if he was the one who catcalled me. Probably not, considering the fact that he single handedly smacked you meatheads around!"

"Heyyyy I'm not a meat-"

"God… Gene…I don't want you to end up like dad. Why don't you understand that?"

He was speechless when he saw her tears. He immediately went to hug her.

He could get beat up by a hundred men and it still didn't hurt as much as watching his little sister cry.

"Promise me! Promise me that you'll stop fighting so much. Promise me that you'll actually try to get better grades and not rely on just sports scholarship. Promise me you'll try Gene, promise me!"

In a moment of weakness he agreed to his little sister's pleas!

'Looks like I won't get my revenge on you parker!' he thought at the time.

From today onwards she was going to tutor him, even though she was a year younger than him.

'She's right of course, she's always right. I have some growing up to do.' He thought with a goofy smile on his face.

She was even considerate enough to take it easy on him by taking him to Moe's, "We'll slowly build up good habits." His little sister said with motivation.

"If we start in your room or the library you'll get overwhelmed or bored. I read a recent study that said most students quit because it gets boring or they don't get the right stimulation. So a new environment like Moe's cafe is the perfect place to start. Besides we've known Moe since we were kids, I'm sure he'll appreciate us dropping by."

His sister was not only incredibly beautiful but also insanely smart!

He said that with his chest puffed up and proud. She also cared about him. Enough to make a Powerpoint presentation about his grades and habits.

If she wasn't so beautiful then she would most definitely be a nerd!

'I don't deserve a sister like Jess.' He thought sadly.

He looked at Peter Parker sitting at the front, who by the looks of it was gonna kick the rich boy's ass next by the way Osborn was pestering him.

'Still when did he get so freaking strong?'

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POV - Harry Osborn

Harry Osborn didn't know too much about physics or maths, not like Peter anyway. He was pretty clueless about most things in life, his dad once chided him for not knowing how to change a tire.

"Spoiled rotten." His father said to him when he learned of that.

Perhaps his father was right about him not knowing much. Even if that was the case, there was one thing he did know. His friends! He didn't have many of them.

In fact he had only one friend his age, the other one was his butler who didn't count.

It wasn't much but he was happy with having one true friend than a dozen fake ones.

A single friend he knew he could rely even if the world turned against him.

That's just the kind of person Peter Parker was!

His father always ensured to drill it into his head that many people would be after him for his wealth. His father included his own mother in that category but that's besides the point.

So he always tried avoiding people who sucked up too much to him and asked him for money routinely!

Peter wasn't like that at all. The first time they met, he even paid for his lunch money completely oblivious of who he was!

He was this kind, hard working boy who got picked on a little too much for his liking!

So when Harry learned that his soft spoken friend kicked the asses of ten prickly football jocks. He couldn't contain his happiness. He overheard about it from one of the nimrods speaking about it in the morning. He gleefully eavesdropped all of the juicy details.

After getting all the details, he made sure to spread the information to as many people as possible!

He still didn't know how Pete did it but all that matters is that he did!

'His Uncle knocked out those criminals, maybe he taught Pete some special way to fight! Maybe it was Karate. Maybe his uncle will teach me too.'

His mind was running with thoughts like these but all of that changed when he saw Peter's face in the morning.

Tired, sweaty and not to mention almost late to class. That seems to be a common occurrence these days!

Peter told him about how he barely qualified for the team! He said how he wanted to make his uncle proud!

Maybe the fact that his uncle almost died made him insecure about himself.

Calling himself a, "Dumb Dweeb."

Either Ways, he got the impression that Peter wasn't telling the full truth about his situation back home. He couldn't blame him too much though.

Peter wasn't the only one keeping secrets. He learned not a few days ago that his father Norman Osborn, was going to be under investigation by a government regulatory body.

For illegal Human experimentation! Some kind of knockoff Super Serum!! He used Undocumented immigrants as test subjects.

It made him sick to his stomach when he saw his father cry his eyes out confessing everything to him in a moment of weakness.

In that moment no matter how complicated their history was, he couldn't bring to hate his father. Even if he was a vile monster!!!

The end was coming for his father and eventually it's gonna become public. Then they'll cast stones and no longer hide their hands. They'll call him and his father nasty names.

He could live with all that.

What scared him the most was the thought that Peter would abandon him!

He just couldn't bear to think that happening so in a panic he bribed him with money for tuition.

"Teach me Pete. I think I'll flunk this test for real!!"

"Umm….I'm a little busy but…you know what fine. I don't want to hear you whine anymore about the tests. So sure."

"Don't worry I'll pay you."

Peter paused when he heard that.

"You don't have to-"

"I Insist." He didn't leave it to him.

He felt that Peter was looking to make some extra cash, so he took advantage of his friend's financial troubles.

His uncle just got laid off from his job and the economy isn't looking too healthy.

'At least that's what dad says when we're eating breakfast.'

He knew that Peter was too kind hearted to ever judge him for his father's mistake but he didn't want to leave it to chance. His father raised him to be suspicious of everyone. Even the kind looking ones, especially the kind looking ones.

So he didn't want to lose Peter as his friend.

'Maybe this way when the news breaks about my father, you'll still hang out with me. Even if it's just for the tuition money and some coffee.'

He was pathetic.

He knew.

He knew that his friend didn't care for his money or the cheap coffee but he still couldn't leave it to chance!

He looked at Peter who was walking in front of him, they were heading to Moe's cafe.

"I swear Harry, you better be paying attention to me and not flirting with the barista there."

"Oh mom, you know me so well."

"Grr" Pete growled like a dog.

In the end though his friend gave up convincing him

"Fine, do whatever you want!"

"That's the spirit!" Harry replied joyfully.