Love At First Sight?

The year was 2012…Peter and Serena’s Freshmen year…

Peter had never had so many books. The lockers were tiny in comparison to middle school. He was a fairly normal looking kid with light brown hair, baby blue eyes with wire framed glasses and fairly light complexion. He wasn’t tall or short or particularly heavy or thin...normal...average in about every way, except for his mind ofcourse.

Peter had the mind of a scientist and a mathematician combined. Though he rarely needed to study he always did and though it would have made his Aunt May less concerned about him if he engaged in the occasional ‘tomfoolery’ that all kids got into from time to time. He never did. His best friend was Harry Osborn whose father was the world renown scientist Norman Osborn, the lead scientist, inventor, owner and Chief Board member of Osborn Corp. his company. Harry had had to fight to get to go to Midtown High School. Normal had wanted him to go to a private school but Harry had threatened not to go. He and Peter were in the same classes and even earned their spots for the Osborn Internship Experiment. The opportunity to spend 3 hours a week at Osborn Corp. doing several different experiments for Osborn Corp. and Harry’s father.

As he juggled the stack of books in his arms a large boy shoved him into his locker. His head hit the front of it hard and his books, papers, pencils and pens went everywhere. Harry had seen the boy and with a furled brow turned around. :”Hey!” He began but Peter stopped him. “Don’t bother, I should have just gotten a backpack,” Peter said as he bent over and began picked up his things. If he could have afforded one, that is. Which he knew he couldn’t.

Harry Osborn was taller, with dark eyes, blonde hair and a face that was appealing to most women. That and his confident, outgoing personality. He had everything Peter didn’t though out of the two, peter was far more intelligent than he was. Harry knew that to and often was his lab partner in most classes. As he straightened up he caught some movement out of the corner of his eye. He shifted barely catching a book that looked as if it were about to fall again. His eyes were not on his books though, they were on the two girls that passed them.

“Hey Serena, Hey Melissa,” Harry said with his best smile. Peter had seen Serena before but she...never looked like that! He thought. He wanted to say Hello to her to but all that came out was an odd sort of gurgle.

Serena had practically had to beg her parents to let her attend a normal public high school. She had been privately tutored up through middle school, but she had decided that she wanted to try to have a somewhat normal life. As the daughter of Tony and Isabella Stark, she was in the spotlight almost as much as her parents were, though they did their best to shield her from photographers and reporters. As her parents had assumed, she was extremely intelligent and had a very logical and analytical mind. She loved science, math, technology, and engineering and spent more time in her father’s lab than she did anywhere else. She and her father were very close and he was extremely protective of her as she was their only child. She knew that something had happened to her mother to prevent her from having another baby, but she had never asked them for details about that event. She figured it wasn’t any of her business.

Growing up in the Avenger’s Tower was both exciting and frustrating for the teenager. She hated feeling like she was locked away and her parent’s finally gave in her to desire to attend a public school and make some friends that were her own age. Her father wouldn’t allow her to take public transportation though. She had to be driven to and from school by Happy. Serena reluctantly agreed to this, even though it still made her stand out from the rest of the students.

From the moment she first set foot in Midtown High School she was the instantly the most talked about person in the building. She was stared at and whispered about. Serena was not necessarily always the most outgoing. She liked having her privacy and only selected a small number of people to become friends with. While she had inherited her father’s intelligence, she had inherited her mother’s looks. She was beautiful with soft, smooth skin, big, bright eyes, full lips and a beautiful figure. Her hair had been longer, but this past weekend she had gone to the salon and had cut it to just slightly longer than shoulder length and had lightened up the color slightly, making it a little more on the auburn side. The color made her eyes pop even more.

She was walking to her history class with Melissa and discussing their weekend homework when suddenly they heard someone say hello to them. They both turned and looked to see Harry Osborn and Peter Parker. Melissa grinned at Harry. She knew he liked Serena but Serena was playing hard to get with him and Melissa was hoping he would eventually give up and shift his attention to her.

“Hi Harry.”

Serena gave Harry a polite nod. “Hello Harry.” She then looked at Peter and gave him a small smile. “Hello Peter.” Of all the people in the school Peter was really the only one that was on her level in terms of intelligence.

As the moment drew on Harry glanced over at Peter who appeared to be grinning like some village idiot. With a hard nonchalant elbow to the shoulder Peter spoke up. “Uh...Hi! Uh...Serena,” He managed to get out but if by accident or perhaps unconsciously his voice caressed her name warmly. He did have a nice smile when it went past the silly grinning part which it was now. “So I suppose we can be a trio then?” Harry said and purposefully let that sit in the air a moment. He could see Melissa’s mind working that over trying to figure out what he really meant though by how she blinked she took it exactly how he meant her to. “For the Osborn Internship, I saw your name Serena on the acceptance list in my father’s study,” he said. “Peter even beat out your scores Serena, he’s number one right now and is going to be tough to beat...as usual,” Harry said as if he was used to being somewhere beneath Peter academically.

"Well, your looking pretty dapper today Harry, maybe you should give Peter some pointers on how to to look...yummy," She said deciding to just lay it on thick if Serena was playing hard to get. Harry raised an eyebrow at her then gave Serena a knowing wink. He knew exactly what Serena was doing and that was just fine by him. 'Sauce for the goose' as his father always said when it came to a challenge.

Serena had to force herself not to roll her eyes at Melissa's comment about Harry. To be honest, Serena wasn't sure how she felt about Harry. She knew he liked her and he flirted with her quite a bit, but whenever he was with Peter she found herself more interested in him. Peter could make her smile with his awkwardness. There was also a genuineness to him that she rarely saw in people. She wanted to get to know him better, but Harry was always with him and always tried to intercept her attention.

"Well Peter, I guess the challenge is set then," she said with a slightly flirtatious smile. She then took out a piece of paper and wrote something down. When she handed him the slip he would see a string of 10 digits. "Here's my number in case you ever want to study together."

Both Harry and Melissa gaped at Serena. Peter didn’t and he stared at the small piece of paper as if he had never seen it before. Slowly he reached out and took it from her, his fingers grazing hers ever so slightly. Harry smiled when he heard it was only for ‘studying’. It would have to be, wouldn’t it? He wondered. It was just a short touching of fingers but it sent electricity up and down Peter’s spine nonetheless. “Thank you, I’d...like that,” Peter said as he smiled brightly at Serena. “I’d like that very much,” He added as their eyes locked onto one another’s eyes. There was a moment when he felt...something looking into her eyes but before the moment could linger the first bell rang. “Well, we don’t want to be late Serena...again,” Melissa said and tugged on Serena’s arm. “Us neither,” Harry said and tugged on Peter’s arm. They were all in the same class together in this first period but Peter and Harry sat in front on the left while Serena and Melissa sat on the right near the middle. It was not easy to keep his mind on the class though and he kept looking over toward Serena all through class.

Those that went to Osborn Corp. were excused from 5th and 6th periods on monday and wednesdays. Since today was monday they boarded a small bus that would take them to Osborn Corp. then back to the high school. There were only 2 girls and the rest were boys. Harry thought it would be a grand joke to hip check Peter into the empty seat next to Serena. He liked to watch him squirm sometimes.

“Ow, Harry!” Peter said but his complaints died out once he saw who was in the other seat. “Oh...Ah. Hi Serena, I’m sorry Harry is being such a screwball I don’t know what has gotten into him,” Peter said. He smiled at her and tried to think about something to talk about. “I found out what we’re going to be looking at today, radioactivity in insects,” Peter said and winced. “I hope it’s not spiders,” he said truthfully, he hated spiders.

Serena didn't know why she felt such a pull towards Peter. His intelligence? Slightly awkward smile? His sincerity? She hoped they could at least be friends. She needed someone to challenge her intellectually who was also her own age and she could hang out with. Peter didn't seem...pushy like a lot of the other guys in school. Half were only interested in her because of her looks and the other half were only interested in her because of her parents. She wanted to find a guy who was interested in her as a whole person.

As Peter reached out and took the sheet of paper his fingers grazed across hers. She felt the same electricity he did and she gave him a small smile before being led away by Melissa to class. After 4th period she boarded the bus to head to Osborn Corp. for the internship. She sat in a seat towards the back and by the window, leaving the seat next to her open. She had put in her headphones to listen to some music and was gazing out the window when suddenly she was startled by someone sitting down next to her. As she looked over she was pleased to see it was Peter. She smiled at him and pulled out her headphones so she could talk to him. "Radioactive insects? That sounds cool." She grinned at him when he said he hoped there wouldn't be any spiders. "Why not? Spiders are amazing creatures."

Peter once again felt his throat clench when he looked at Serena. She was very beautiful and way out of his league. That and she was Tony Stark’s daughter! One of the richest and most powerful men in the world. And an Avenger Superhero to boot. Both of her parents were! She was rich, intelligent, beautiful and famous and he was? One of those things…Harry was talking to the other girl Tamara Graves just one seat up, across the isle in the bus. She was quite pretty as well and seemed quite pleased that Harry was talking to her.

‘When opportunity comes, no matter how it comes, you take it,’ Peter’s uncle Ben said several times. He sighed feeling a little sad though it was a passing feeling that lasted only a moment. “Serena, you ever think that...something extraordinary is about to happen but you won’t know until it does?” Peter asked. “I ‘ve been feeling like that...lately,” He said. She might think he meant her but what he really meant was something grander. He had been feeling this way for some time now and not knowing what to say his assertion...just slipped out. He hadn’t meant it for a line but if he had, it was a very good one. If for nothing else, his statement’s earnesty.

Serena looked at Peter more closely and studied his face and his eyes. There was something about them that pulled her in. While she knew a lot of other girls wouldn't, she found Peter to be cute and easy to talk to. Most people changed who they were when they were around her or her parents just because of who and what their family was. It was frustrating for Serena because everyone acted fake around her just to get her attention. Not Peter though. Peter didn't try to be anyone other than himself and she appreciated that because she wanted to get to know him better.

She smiled at what he said. She knew what he meant and she nodded. She then glanced around to ensure no one was listening in to their conversation and she leaned in closer to Peter to whisper to him. "I know what you mean. I once felt that way too...right before I developed my mutant abilities. It was like I didn't know what was going to happen, but I knew something was and then when it did happen it was terrifying and exciting."

Peter looked around and his cheeks colored when Serena told him she was a mutant. He hadn’t known that. It was certainly not common knowledge. He blinked as he stared forward at the back of the seat in front of him as his mind worked out what she said. That and a million questions suddenly popped into his head. He had never before carried a conversation on this long with a girl and it surprised him that it felt...effortless with Serena.

“You're a mutant?” He said excitedly in a whisper. “What can you do? Anything...you know, cool?” He said in the same tone. Harry glanced back at them and smiled seeing their heads together and whispering. ‘Go get her Peter!’ he thought, pleased Peter and Serena were getting on. Yet he was more than a little jealous to. He liked Serena alot.

Serena's grin grew even wider when Peter became excited about what she told him. She glanced around again before telling him more. "Well, the way Professor Charles Xavier explained it, I can harness my body's own energy to create protective energy shields around myself and or others, create blasts of energy, and..." she took one more glance around before she turned over her right palm so it was facing upwards. When she did Peter would see a pulsating, glowing, red orb which hovered a few inches in the air. It was slightly smaller than the size of a baseball. "...energy orbs."

Peter’s surprised grin grew more and more as she told him all about her power and then actually risked showing him. Harry thought he saw a reddish glow appear for a moment and he frowned wondering what that was. It wasn’t there very long and he was distracted by Tamara as well who was nearly gushing at his attentions. Tamara was half asian on her mother’s side with long, silky black hair, tilted brown eyes and an olive complexion. An exotic beauty with perfect skin and an athletic body. She was equally skilled in sports as she was in academics which usually put her above most of the other girls. But her shyness and modesty was a hindrance. Her and Serena knew one another, often competed against one another for top honors and was also quite wealthy to boot. She was extremely shy though and rarely spoke to anyone accept Serena and a few other girls in their circle of friends. This sitting with Harry though had opened her up like a geyser and she was talking Harry’s ears off.

“Thats...amazing Serena. You must have an incredible metabolism. I bet you have to eat a lot more than a normal person if you use your own bodies resources to produce energy,” He said almost exactly how it was described to her. His blue eyes were alight with interest and awe when he looked at her. “We should test it...experiment maybe...like what you can cut through or how fine you can make an energy beam,” He said as his mind worked.

Serena’s parent’s had told her not to reveal her abilities to anyone. The only people that knew where her parents and the others at the Tower. Serena felt she could trust Peter though. She nodded a little when he mentioned her high metabolism. “I do eat quite a lot. I have also figured out that if I use my powers for too long it drains my energy.” Her smile brightened when Peter suggested they experiment. “I would love that! I need to know that you will keep my secret though. The only other people that know are my parents and the other Avengers.”

“Oh...I won’t tell another soul Serena, I promise,” Peter whispered and then got a whif of her perfume. It spawned thoughts about her that he had never had about anyone and his cheeks colored so brightly that he had to look away.

When they arrived they were all greeted by Osborn’s assistant, Emily Johnson. A short woman, full bodied with long, wavy blonde hair, bright blue eyes and blue fringed glasses. Her breasts were large for her short stature, something that made some of the boys stare while others either grinned at her like nerds or looked away so that they would not end up leering at her. She had on a white lab coat with dark blue pants and a black blouse that showed a considerable amount of her ample cleavage. The lobby was all glass and the ceiling was high up. It was fancifully decored with large paintings and unique sculptures. The floor was a white and black marble and there were doors that led to different place further into the building and also stairs and elevators. Monitors on the walls lit up when someone walked near them and a man or woman showed up on them and began to talk about the various products Osborn Corp. developed or were developing. They had a safety course on lab safety and everyone had to sign it after. They were provided white lab coats, name tags and safety glasses. There were 15 students in all, 13 boys and 2 girls from the entire student body. Serena, Peter, Harry and Tamara were the only freshmen.

They were led further into the build and had a short tour where they were shown the various labs, the animal center, the research center and cafeteria. In one of the labs there was a human-sized capsule in there and whatever it was for, it was so secret that they could only get a look from the hall that overlooked into the lab. Serena would have seen a sketch similar to the capsule, one her grandfather had made that dispersed the super soldier serum into Steve Rogers. This one was far more advanced but it definitely resembled something like that.

Finally they were brought to the lab they all would be working in. It had all kinds of apparatus including several white tables with microscopes, tiny centrifuges and other diagnostic tools they would use to do their studies. They each had to sign NDA agreements and then Emily explained what they were going to do today.

“Ok students, you will be dealing with cutting edge technology during your short time here at Osborn Corp. Today we will be taking samples of spiders that have been exposed to various amounts of radiation and a combination of chemicals. Each table has two spiders in their glasses cases and all of the tools you’ll need to complete the investigation. And remember, take copious notes on your findings. They may well make it to Mr. Osborn’s desk for further development,” She said. “Pick your partners and we’ll split up in two man, two ‘person’ teams today,” She said as she picked up a clipboard and readied her pen. Serena was near Peter but Peter was looking around at all of the stuff in the room. Serena saw Harry looking at Peter and then at Emily, obviously about to announce that he and Peter would be a team...if Serena didn’t speak up first, that is.

Serena grinned at Peter when he agreed to keep her secret. She knew her parents would likely be angry at her for telling him about her abilities, but she didn't care. She had a friend now that she felt she could fully trust and rely on and that meant a lot to her. During the rest of the bus ride to Osborn Corp. they talked about all kinds of things and found that they liked a lot of the same things. As they finally arrived they all got off the bus and headed inside. Serena stayed near the other Freshmen as they were shown around by Emily Johnson. Serena had already spent a lot of time in her father's lab so she wasn't as wide eyed as some of the other students. The only thing that really did catch her eye was the human-sized capsule that they were only able to look at from afar. She thought it looked a lot like the sketch she had seen of the capsule her grandfather had built to inject the Super Soldier Serum into Steve Rogers. She noticed that this one looked far more advanced and made a mental note to speak to her father about that. She was curious as to what they could be doing with it.

When they reached the lab where they would be working Serena saw the spiders and she grinned at Peter. She was happy to learn that they would get to pick their teams. She saw Harry glance at Peter, but she raised her hand and spoke up before he could. "Peter Parker and I will be partners."

Peter’s attention shifted back to Serena when he heard his name being spoken. Before he knew it he and Serena were being directed to one of the tables and harry who picked Tamara was at the one closest to them. There was one kid who was by himself but Emily said she would aid him in doing his experiments which was already planned.

The glass box supposedly had 2 irradiated spiders in them however the lone kid said his only had 1. Emily, their instructor for today didn’t understand that as each box was supposed to have 2 but considering that they had an uneven number of students she thought that the lab assistants that set up the lab must have already known that. Though they couldn’t see it, a small spider ran down the leg of the table onto the floor. It went unnoticed do to its relatively small size. It moved across the floor toward the front of the room. Toward Peter and Serena’s table.

The glass boxes had gloves inserts and tool holders. The idea was they were supposed to use the magnification camera attachments in one hand and the tissue sample collector in the other hand. For this Peter was more than happy to let Serena collect the sample as he wrote their notes on the collection process. Spiders were covered with small, very fine hairs. The idea was to collect a few of the tiny hairs and a little bit of their blood and put it into the tiny glass slide. The slide would then be removed via a small retractable tray that shifted into the electronic microscope.

“So, living with the Avengers has to be kinda cool. I don’t even know who's on the team right now, it seems to change all the time,” Peter said. Right now it was The Hulk, Ironman, Sapphire, Thor, Black Panther, Captain America and Hawkeye. But several of those members were barely around much so they were looking for others to take their place.

“I bet its not boring there at all,” Peter said as he set down the clipboard and leaned on the large table onto his elbows in order to get a closer look at what Serena was doing. The students doing the collecting had to sit down in the provided chairs to get close enough to the glass to see when they weren’t using the magnification scopes. Peter and Serena’s faces were fairly close though Peter thought nothing of it. He was daydreaming about being an avenger like Tony Stark or Captain America.

Serena moved over to the table where she and Peter were going to be working. She was very interested in the spiders and she was looking closely at the two on their table and therefore didn't hear that one of the boxes apparently only had one. Peter seemed ok with taking notes so Serena sat down and inserted her hands into the gloves and began to use one of the tools and the magnifying glass to begin removing some of the fine hairs and placing them on the glass slide. She had no idea that a spider had gotten loose and was currently heading towards their table.

She glanced up at Peter when he mentioned that it must be cool living with the Avengers. "It's hard for me to say one way or another because this is just my life as I know it. Steve Rogers is pretty much an uncle to me. I've known him my entire life. It's just normal for me."

She suddenly gave him a little grin. "Perhaps sometime I can take you to the Tower to meet everyone."

Peter jerked up so quickly that his clip board slid then fell onto the floor. He was smiling at her and had a look of excitedness. “Are you serious? Oh man, that,” he began but noticed he had been talking to loudly and everyone was looking at him now. When he stopped talking all those faces went back to what they were doing. His cheeks colored briefly in embarrassment. “That would be awesome,” He said in barely more than a whisper. When he moved around the desk to get he clip board, he bent down and scooped it up with his hands. When he did he felt a jolt of pain on the back of his hand and he straightened up quickly. With the clipboard pressed against his chest he examined his hand and saw nothing. “Hmm,” He said then shifted back around to continue to take notes on what they were observing.

After Serena got her samples and readied the microscope they both peered into it to examine the spider’s cells. She took several enhanced photos of what they saw and watched as the cells reproduced and died as they should. The radioactivity of the cells made the cells give off a yellow light but other then that they didn’t react any different than regular cells.

As the experiment rapped up though Peter knew he didn’t feel very well. He felt light-headed and sick to his stomach. “Boy, I’m not feeling very good,” he said softly as Emily was giving her lecture. Peter looked flush in the face and neck and sweaty but he continued on even though Serena asked if he were coming down with something. On the ride home he decided to sit alone up front incase what he had was catching and Henry’s driver gave him a ride home after school let out.

Serena smiled when Peter expressed his excitement at the possibility of coming over to the Avenger's Tower and meeting everyone. She wasn't entirely sure how her father would react, but she wasn't terribly worried about it. She continued to collect hairs from the spiders and didn't notice when Peter reacted to something while bent down to pick up his clipboard. She was focused and often tuned out the rest of the world temporarily when she was focused on something, much like her father.

After the samples were collected she and Peter both peered through the microscope to examine the cells. It was interesting to see the yellow light that the cells gave off due to the radioactivity. Serena was excited about everything, but that excitement died down when she saw how sick Peter suddenly looked. She began to wonder if he didn't have the flu due to how quickly his symptoms came about. She quietly checked on him and asked if he wanted her to call Happy to drive him home, but he turned down her offer. She sat alone on the bus ride back to school. Once school was out Happy was there as usual to pick her up.

When she got back to the Tower she went to find her father. As usual he was in his lab. She told him about her day as she ate some almonds and dried cranberries as a snack. As she talked about Osborn Corp. she suddenly remembered the capsule. "Oh! I almost forgot. I saw something during our tour of Osborn Corp. It was a human sized capsule that looked a lot like the one grandfather built to inject the Super Soldier Serum into Steve. Why would they have something like that?"

Tony stopped what he was doing to give Serena a hug. He was working on a modification to Isabella’s suit Gauntlet and he had it in a small clamp. “Serena! How was your first day at Osborn Corp.? Did you get to meet Norman? The man is a genius,” he said as he rubbed her arms briskly. When she told him about her day he listened intently and then frowned after what she said about the capsule.

“Hmm, I don’t know,” he said. He knew Norman. Knew how ambitious and reckless he could be. “I guess I’ll have to pay him a visit and find out eh?” He said. “Did you meet his son, Harry at least? I’m told he’s quite good looking,” he said and gave her a wink. A sign that if she were to date him that he was likely to approve.

Serena knew that her father knew Norman Osborn and she hoped that perhaps he could shed some light on what the capsule was. When he commented about him being a genius she smiled at him. "You're the genius Dad." She looked at the modifications her father was making to her mother's suit gauntlet when her father brought up Harry. She looked at her father a little. "I know Harry from school. He's nice. Actually though I wanted to tell you about Peter Parker. He actually scored the highest on the test for the internship. I wasn't too far behind him though. He's a fan of the Avengers. I thought maybe sometime I could bring him by and show him around."

He smiled at her, pleased that she was making her own decisions. He really wasn’t very concerned about Serena. She was a strong young woman and more than capable of selecting her own friends. “Peter Parker...I feel I’ve heard that name before somewhere but I can’t remember where,” Tony said in thought. He shrugged as the memory didn’t come. “Well, Your mother’s in the kitchen, why don’t you help her finish up supper,” He said. He knew by the way she looked at what he was doing that she would much rather help him but he felt it was important for her to learn other things too...like cooking. When she seemed to hesitate he chuckled. “Go on, I’ll need your smaller hands after dinner,” He said hoping that that would mullify her. “Your mother is dying to know about your first day as well,” Tony said.

Serena finally left and went to the kitchen to help her mother with dinner. Hawkeye and Steve were going to be joining them that night so Isabella was making a lasagna with meat sauce that would feed the hungry men. She also never knew when Thor would quite literally drop out of the sky and he always had a huge appetite. Serena helped make the side salad and Isabella had some bread that she would warm in the oven just before serving the meal. While helping her mother, she told her about her first day at the internship and a little about Peter Parker. She was worried about him but didn't have his number and so she couldn't check up on him. After doing her homework she hung out with her father down in his lab and helped him with a few things.

The following day after being dropped off by Happy she stopped by her locker before heading to her first class of the day, which was Calculus. Peter had this class with her and she glanced around for him as she walked into the room.