Even though Harry had turned her down, Gwen still walked alongside him.
After all, on the stretch of road between school and Harry's part-time job, they walked the same way for quite a while.
They usually went to and from school together anyway.
They headed down the stairs, Harry chatting with the beautiful Miss Gwen beside him while greeting classmates they passed along the way.
Suddenly, Harry stopped. A huge, knowing grin spread across his face as he looked ahead.
Curious, Gwen followed his line of sight and saw a familiar figure talking to a lively, pretty girl.
That familiar figure was Harry's younger brother, Peter Parker.
Once the girl walked off, Harry came up behind Peter with a smile and clapped him on the shoulder.
"Hey, Peter. If I'm not wrong, you've got yourself a nice little date tonight."
Compared to Harry, Peter was much quieter. His grades were just as outstanding, but he wasn't good at socialising.
This worried Harry a lot. They were in twelfth grade already, and Peter still hadn't had a first girlfriend.
He'd even been thinking of calling in a few favours to introduce a girl to Peter, but it looked like he didn't need to worry anymore.
"That girl seemed pretty nice. You'd better not blow it," Harry said earnestly, like an over-involved older brother.
But to his surprise, Peter stammered,
"N-no, it's not what you think. She just asked me to take a picture of her boyfriend's car for her, so she can frame it and give it to him as a birthday present…"
Harry's smile froze on his face.
"…"
He changed the subject immediately. "Oh, right. Aunt May's making your favourite fruit pizza tonight. Let's hurry home. I've been looking forward to it all day."
The three of them headed outside together, drawing looks from the students they passed.
Under all those gazes, Peter felt uncomfortable. He had never liked being the centre of attention.
But he was a little envious too. He knew perfectly well that the looks from their classmates had nothing to do with him.
Everyone's eyes were drawn to the two most popular stars at Midtown School of Science and Technology—Harry and Gwen. He was just the extra walking between them.
Damn it, why is Harry so popular? We're brothers, so how can our lives be so completely different?
Thinking about how Aunt May and Uncle Ben treated him compared to Harry made Peter feel even worse.
Damn it, why does it feel like Aunt May and Uncle Ben like Harry more? I was here first.
They walked out of the building and onto the campus plaza, where they all stopped instinctively.
In the middle of the schoolyard, a ring of students had formed. Boys and girls alike were chanting in rhythm:
"Eat it! Eat it! Eat it!"
When the three of them pushed through the crowd, they finally saw what was going on.
In the centre stood Midtown's infamous school bully, Eugene "Flash" Thompson. He had one of Harry's classmates, Gordon, hoisted off the ground, forcing his head down into a bowl of food so he had to eat like a dog.
It was, without question, blatant bullying.
Just then, Flash spotted Peter in the crowd. His eyes lit up. He shoved Gordon's face deeper into the rice, then struck a pose and called out to Peter:
"Hey, Parker! Come on, take a few cool shots for us!"
The surrounding students showed not a shred of sympathy for the victim. They egged him on excitedly:
"Take it, Peter! We all know you're the best photographer at Midtown!"
"Yeah! Get some awesome pics of Flash and Gordon and stick them up on the honours wall!"
Even with everyone urging him on, there was no way kind-hearted Peter would join in on something like this.
He shook his head firmly. "No. I'm not taking pictures like that. Put him down, man."
Flash, of course, wasn't going to listen. He glared at Peter and growled,
"Take the picture, Peter. Don't make me say it twice."
Peter looked at Flash's vicious expression and felt a flicker of fear, but even scared, he wouldn't back down from helping someone in trouble. In that, he was just like Harry—kind to the core.
And he wasn't completely helpless, either. After living together for years, Peter knew very well just how "special" Harry was.
So he raised his voice and shouted,
"Flash! Put him down!"
Being yelled at like that made Flash feel like his authority as the school's top dog had been challenged.
He glanced around and caught the strange looks some of the students were giving him. Rage surged up inside him, and he tossed Gordon aside, charging straight at Peter.
"Peter, looks like you need to be taught a lesson."
Peter was a skinny honour student. There was no way he could stand up to someone as big and strong as Flash.
Flash's punch came at him so fast he didn't even have time to react. It was about to hammer into his face—
When an arm suddenly appeared in front of him.
Everyone stared in shock as Flash's heavy punch was casually caught in one hand.
Then they heard an angry voice right beside them—and it belonged to none other than Harry, the straight-A student who'd held the top spot in the grade for years.
None of them had ever imagined that the easy-going, sunny Harry could be this strong, able to stop Flash's punch without even budging.
Harry tightened his grip around Flash's fist, a faint anger on his face.
"Flash, you think bullying classmates is fun? How about picking on me instead?"
Flash was stunned for a moment that his punch had been blocked. He had never expected that Harry's seemingly lean frame hid that kind of strength.
But once he heard the crowd erupt around them, he stopped thinking and felt nothing but burning rage.
He'd been swaggering around this school for so long—how could he let someone else trample on his authority?
"Harry, let go. Don't think I won't hit you just because the teachers like you. Move, or I'll beat you too!"
Harry shook his head. "Give it up. I'm not moving. And honestly, I don't think you've got what it takes to beat me."
The taunt pushed Flash past his limit. He roared and swung his other fist at Harry's face.
But such a straightforward attack was far too easy for Harry to deal with.
Compared to the training he'd gone through at Kamar-Taj, neither Flash nor his clumsy punch even registered as a threat. In terms of hand-to-hand combat, Wong and Mordo were on a completely different level.
Harry yanked Flash's trapped arm forward, and as Flash's body tilted off-balance, Harry hooked a foot around his ankle.
Flash crashed heavily to the ground.
In one smooth motion, Harry pinned his arms and pressed a knee into his back so he couldn't get up.
With the crowd of students gasping all around them, Harry gave his warning.
"Flash, this is your last chance. If I ever see you bullying someone again, it won't end this easily."
…
Once they left the school gates and stepped onto the tree-lined street littered with fallen leaves, Gwen looked at Harry in amazement.
"Harry, I had no idea you were that good in a fight!"