The next day, the cafeteria buzzed with its usual midday chaos. Laughter bounced off plastic tables. The scent of lukewarm pizza, fried chicken, and someone's mystery Tupperware curry drifted through the air like a warning. Raj sat in the corner seat by the window, trying to eat his apple, trying not to burn the world down with his bare hands.
He was trying to eat his apple.
Trying was the keyword.
His fingers trembled as they touched the fruit. Not from nerves. Not from hunger. But because the sun was doing something to him again. It was like light was sinking into his skin and refusing to leave. Each cell hummed, as though singing a note he didn't understand—but couldn't ignore.
He forced his jaw to chew. Bite. Swallow. Smile if anyone looks. Be normal.
Peter Parker sat two tables away, talking animatedly with Ned. He kept sneaking glances at Raj, his brows furrowed like he couldn't figure out a math problem. Peter's Spidey-sense was probably losing its mind, but for now, Raj remained just weird—not dangerous.
Then someone bumped into Raj's shoulder.
"Yo, glowworm," said a tall boy from the basketball team, shoving his tray forward and laughing. "You always sit in the sun like you're charging or something?"
Raj stiffened. The boy moved on, laughing with his friends. It was a dumb joke. A nothing insult.
But Raj's hand—the one gripping the apple—flared with sudden, blinding heat.
Crack.
The apple burst in his hand like it had been microwaved for too long. Steam hissed from his fingers. Juice splattered across the table.
A few heads turned. One girl screamed softly.
Peter half-stood.
Raj dropped what remained of the fruit, his heart hammering.
Don't glow, he begged himself. Don't light up.
He grabbed his hoodie and yanked it up over his arms, pressing his palms against the rough fabric. They were hot. Hot like stove coils. His pulse was erratic, but it wasn't fear driving it. It was light. Energy. Power with nowhere to go.
A cafeteria monitor came over. "Everything all right here?"
Raj nodded too fast. "Just… hot apple. Weird. Microwave. You know."
The monitor raised an eyebrow but moved on.
Peter was still watching. His eyes narrowed behind those big glasses.
Raj had maybe five seconds before the whole place saw something they weren't supposed to.
He shoved his tray away, stood up, and muttered, "Bathroom."
Then he walked—no, power-walked—out of the cafeteria and down the hallway, his sneakers squeaking too loudly against the floor.
The moment he entered the empty boys' bathroom and locked the door behind him, he collapsed against the sink.
He yanked off his hoodie. His arms were glowing again. Not full-on supernova—but veins of light threaded beneath his skin, faint and golden, like lightning trapped under glass. His pulse flashed in color.
"Stop," he whispered. "Please, stop."
But his body didn't listen.
The more sunlight he absorbed, the stronger the effect. And once triggered, the power didn't just turn off. It wanted out. Like a caged storm.
Raj looked up into the mirror.
His reflection stared back—familiar, and yet… wrong.
His eyes weren't just glowing. They burned. Pale, molten gold with cracks of red at the edge. He looked like something forged in a dying star.
He splashed water on his face. It hissed.
Not steamed. Hissed. Like the sink was angry.
And the worst part?
He wasn't afraid.
Not really.
He felt right. For a split second, in that heated bathroom with his heart thundering like a war drum, Raj felt more real than he ever had.
That's the problem, he thought, staring at himself. This isn't fear. It's instinct.
There was a knock on the door.
"Raj?" Peter's voice.
Raj froze.
"I saw what happened. Are you okay?"
Raj considered saying nothing. But then he exhaled and said, "Yeah. Just felt dizzy. Sun got to me."
A pause.
"You looked like you were about to combust."
Raj winced. He couldn't lie to Peter forever.
But not yet.
"Just… overheating," he said. "It's nothing."
Peter didn't sound convinced. "Okay. But if you need help—like, medical or whatever—I can cover for you."
Raj opened the door a crack. Just enough for Peter to see his face.
The glow had faded, mostly. His skin still shimmered faintly, but he could pass as someone who'd just run laps in gym class.
Peter looked concerned. Not suspicious. Not scared. Just… genuinely worried.
Raj gave him a weak smile. "Thanks. I'll be fine."
Peter hesitated. "You sure?"
Raj nodded. "Yeah. But if I do combust, I'll try to aim away from your lunch."
That earned a chuckle. Just enough to ease the tension.
Peter walked off, muttering something about "glowworms and physics violations."
Raj shut the door again and sat on the bathroom floor.
It wasn't just the sunlight. It wasn't just the glowing.
This was power. And power didn't come without cost.
He clenched his fists and forced the light to retreat.
This time, it listened—barely.
His breath slowed. His skin cooled.
And in that quiet, glowing half-dark of the school bathroom, Raj realized something terrifying:
He was going to have to learn control.
Not for safety.
Not for secrecy.
But because if he didn't… he might start to like what he could become.